Newsletter

Should self-employed bus and lorry drivers be subject to the same rules on working hours as drivers employed by companies? The Employment and Social Affairs Committee says they should, but it will up to the full Parliament to decide when it votes in Strasbourg next week.

With health problems such as obesity and diabetes on the rise in Europe, Parliament will vote on substantial changes to EU food labelling rules to enable consumers to make better-informed choices.

MEPs will discuss Israel's Tzahal commando operation on the humanitarian aid convoy that was heading for Gaza, as well as the general humanitarian situation in Gaza, with EU High Representative Catherine Ashton on Wednesday. The debate will be followed up with a vote on a resolution on Thursday.

A British football fan arrested in Portugal would have the right to interpretation during police questioning, court proceedings and communications with his lawyer, if Parliament approves a new law to guarantee EU citizens access to translation and interpreting services when facing a criminal trial in another Member State.

Divorce between international couples is set to become the very first issue on which only a limited group of EU countries will legislate, thereby taking the lead over the rest of the EU. Parliament is being asked to authorise 14 Member States to go ahead with plans to allow international couples to choose which national law applies to their divorce.

The trade in derivatives - the often complex financial instruments widely criticised in the wake of the Greek debt crisis - must not only be made less opaque, it must also be regulated more strictly, says a draft resolution by the Economic Affairs Committee.

A swifter, more effective response to earthquakes, floods, oil spills and other major disasters should be possible by 2014 thanks to a planned EU earth observation satellite system, once it gets the green light from Parliament.

Innovative development funding mechanisms such as a financial transaction tax need to be backed by the EU - the world's leading aid donor - if the Millennium Development Goals are to be met by the 2015 deadline, says a draft resolution by the Development Committee to be put to a plenary vote on Tuesday.

MEPs will vote on a resolution on economic governance in the EU which will provide an insight into the main arguments the EP will be making over the coming months as work on reforming economic decision-making picks up speed. In a separate resolution on the EU2020 strategy, Parliament will aim to set its stamp on the strategy to be followed on economic growth and employment in the next ten years.

EU states should ban all trade in torture implements such as spiked batons, thumb-cuffs and body-worn electric-shock devices, believe MEPs. The EP foreign affairs and international trade committees will raise this issue in plenary, asking the Commission to update current EU law to add these objects to the list of banned or strictly regulated torture equipment.

MEP's will raise their concerns about the way credit rating agencies (CRAs) underestimated risks and even compounded the Greek crisis, in a debate with the Commission in Strasbourg. Separately, the plenary will debate the problem of poor deficit data submitted by Member States and the Commission will be questioned about its plans and views on this matter and the idea of giving Eurostat more investigative powers.

Over 2000 former construction workers in Spain and nearly 600 ex-employees of Irish glass company Waterford Crystal and its suppliers could receive a total of €11 million in aid from the EU Globalisation Adjustment Fund to help with training, business start-ups and job guidance if Parliament backs the measures in Strasbourg.