10 things we learned in the April plenary

This week in Strasbourg the EP adopted the new PNR agreement on sharing EU air passengers' data with US authorities. EP President Martin Schulz welcomed twelve Croatian observers and King Abdullah II of Jordan talked about the opportunities created by the Arab Spring in a speech to MEPs. Once again, MEPs debated with Commission President Barroso about how to tackle the economic crisis. Find out the highlights of the 17-20 April plenary session.

There are twelve more seats in the plenary room for Croatian observers. They will take part in group and committee meetings to prepare for full representation when their country joins the EU in July 2013.

On Wednesday King Abdullah II of Jordan made a speech to MEPs, reminding them that the Arab Spring represented "an opportunity" for democratisation and the peace process. He also encouraged Israel and Palestine to go for a two state solution.

In a debate on the economic crisis MEPs called on Commission president Barroso to come up with concrete steps to promote growth and fight high unemployment in the EU.

MEPs approved the annual human rights report for 2010. According to a resolution, EU should have new rules for monitoring internet censorship by autocratic regimes.

Common rules for calculating the consolidated corporate tax base should be made obligatory for companies operating in the EU rather than optional as suggested by the Commission, the Parliament said in a report.

On Thursday the European Parliament opposed ending diesel's tax advantage because it would lead to a price hike.

A new agreement on the transfer of EU air passengers' personal data to the US authorities was approved by the European Parliament on Thursday. After the vote Dutch Liberal-Democrat Sophie in 't Veld, who was responsible for steering the recommendation through Parliament, withdrew her name from the report since it was not in line with her recommendation.

The term "locally produced food" is becoming more and more popular and MEPs in a debate with the Commission said it needs to be clarified to ensure transparency and avoid deceiving consumers. 

MEPs welcomed in a resolution the conduct of the by-elections in Myanmar on 1 April and the recent steps by the authorities to implement democratic reforms. They also called for suspension of the EU restrictive measures currently in place against the country for an initial period of one year.

Biodiversity is our natural capital, but the EU failed to meet its 2010 target. That's why higher political priority should go to preserving and restoring damaged ecosystems, MEPs said in a resolution approved on Friday. They also voted in favour of a number of amendments.