This week in the EP

This week there are no official parliamentary meetings scheduled in Brussels to give MEPs the chance to return to their home country and get in touch with their constituents. In addition it will be a busy week for Parliamentary delegations visiting countries in and outside the EU, with the highlight being EP president Martin Schulz going to Italy from Thursday to Sunday.

In his first official visit to Italy, president Schulz will be meeting the country's president Giorgio Napolitano, Italian parliament and senate speakers Gianfranco Fini and Renato Schifani, as well as prime minister Mario Monti. Mr Schulz will also meet representatives of civil society and participate in the commemoration of the Marzabotto massacre that took place during World War II.

The South Caucasus, the Ukraine, Bangladesh, Mauritania, Bosnia, Norway, Senegal, Turkey, India and Saudi Arabia will all be visited by Parliament delegations throughout the week, starting on Monday. A four-member delegation will visit Armenia and Azerbaijan for meetings with the two countries' presidents, while a women's' rights delegation will be visiting Turkey to assess the state of gender equality.

Throughout the week MEPs will be meeting national parliamentarians in Norway, Bangladesh, Mauritania and the Ukraine, while an election observation mission will start work in Senegal on Wednesday ahead of that country's presidential elections and a development committee delegation will be visiting India and budgetary control committee MEPs will be in Haiti.

Finally, from Friday to Sunday, Austrian Christian-Democrat Othmar Karas, vice-president in charge of multilateral questions and bodies and international financial institutions, will represent the European Parliament at the meeting of G20 parliamentary speakers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.