Newsletter

President François Hollande of France will debate the future of the European Union and the Eurozone, the economic crisis and the EU budget for 2014 to 2020 with political group leaders and Commission President José Manuel Barroso in the Chamber from 10.30 on Tuesday.

MEPs will debate the EU's budget for 2014-2020 with the Irish Presidency and the European Commission on Wednesday at 09:00. They are likely to warn member states that the more they cut the initial proposal, the less likely Parliament will be to give it the necessary blessing.

The likely short-term impact of fiscal consolidation on growth, employment and social inclusion must be properly assessed, say Employment MEPs in their position on the Commission's annual growth survey, on which Parliament will vote a resolution on Thursday. The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee is to vote its position on Monday evening.

MEPs will insist that the EU's new fisheries policy is sustainable when they vote on a radical reform proposal on Wednesday. They want to end overfishing, widely seen as the worst failure of the current Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), and ban discards, where unwanted, dead fish are thrown back into the sea.

More transparency and specific time limits for EU countries' decisions on the pricing and reimbursement of medicines are needed to improve patients' access to affordable treatments and remove barriers to getting medicines to market, says draft legislation to be voted on Wednesday.

Motor vehicle noise limits would be drastically lowered to protect the health of EU citizens under a draft law to be voted on Wednesday. This law would also introduce a noise labelling scheme for new cars and set standards for making electric vehicles audible to pedestrians.

Moncef Marzouki, President of the Tunisian Republic, will address Parliament on Wednesday at noon. Tunisia's constituent assembly presented a delayed draft of the new constitution in January, amid concerns over the role of religion and women's rights. Tunisia will hold legislative and presidential elections in June 2013, the government announced in October.