Lehdistötiedotteet - Yleistä

For the first time the European Parliament will be represented at the UN General Assembly opening next Tuesday in New York. On Wednesday 26 September, its Vice-President Othmar Karas will represent it at a high-level meeting on the rule of law. From 24 to 27 September, he will also represent Parliament in the EU delegation, along with the European Commission and Council, thus giving it a parliamentary, democratic dimension.

Parliament is to play a full role, alongside the Council, Commission, European Central Bank and Eurogroup, in the negotiations on deeper EU economic and monetary integration ahead of the October European Council. A delegation appointed on Thursday, 13 September by Parliament's group leaders, led by President Schulz and including Elmar Brok, Roberto Gualtieri, Guy Verhofstadt and Daniel Cohn-Bendit (substitute member), will start work next week.

Public opinion about the EU has improved markedly, reveals a new Eurobarometer survey commissioned by the European Parliament and published on Thursday. A majority of respondents said the European Parliament is the institution that best represents the Union and that voting in the European elections is the best way to make their voice heard.

The priorities of Cyprus' Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers are being presented to European Parliament committees by Cypriot ministers this week. This compilation will be updated daily during this week.

The question as to why EU Member State officials proposed deep cuts in the growth and jobs headings of the EU's 2013 budget last week, even though their Heads of State and Government had called on 29 June for more EU funding for growth and jobs, was not settled by Monday's three-way meeting of the Council's Cypriot Presidency, the European Commission and MEPs.

All news published by European Parliament players can now be read in one place: the "EP Newshub", an online tool launched on Monday. It relays live all items published by MEPs, political groups, the President and the institution on their communication channels: websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube...

The official selection of ten films competing for this year’s European Parliament LUX Prize was unveiled at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Czech Republic), for the second year in a row, on 1 July. The selection reflects the excellence and rich variety of contemporary European cinema. Well known film-makers will show their works alongside young and promising authors including a number of female directors.

The EU Transparency Register celebrated its first birthday on 23 June with 5,150 interest groups registered with the European Parliament or European Commission, the Council considering whether to join them, and a public consultation to gather user feedback.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz made the following statement on the results on parliamentary elections in Greece:

A provisional deal on the proposed energy efficiency directive was struck by MEPs and Council negotiators on Thursday, after months of negotiations. The directive would require Member States to set themselves indicative national targets and save energy in specific ways, such as renovating buildings and stipulating the size of energy savings to be delivered by utilities.