A provisional deal on proposed legislation for the safety of offshore oil and gas operations was struck by MEPs and Council negotiators on Thursday. Before oil and gas firms could get a licence to drill, the directive would require them to submit major hazard reports and emergency response plans and prove their ability to remedy any environmental damage caused.

The European defence industry's role in ensuring the EU's strategic independence must come before competitiveness, said security and defence MEPs in their debate on Wednesday with Commissioner Michel Barnier. Mr Barnier called for a new impetus for European defence policy.

Investigative journalism should be supported in the EU and media independence protected from political and economic pressures, says the Civil Liberties Committee in a resolution on media freedom voted on Thursday. MEPs want annual EU-wide monitoring of media laws and measures, both to protect media freedom and to help prevent excessive media concentration.

Ukrainian journalists, civil society representatives, NGOs and young people would face fewer hurdles to travel to the EU under an amended EU-Ukraine visa facilitation agreement backed by the Civil Liberties Committee on Thursday.

The European Commission is proposing to open domestic rail passenger markets to competition by 2019 to complete the European railway market. Views differ amongst transport committee MEPs, with fears that unprofitable lines will be closed down.

The next batch of EU economic governance legislation should do more to deliver growth and the European Commission's new powers to vet Eurozone countries' budgets will be better democratically controlled, thanks to a draft "two-pack" deal struck by EP and Council negotiators on Wednesday. It also lays down clear rules for countries seeking EU financial help.

The foreign affairs committee said accession talks with Iceland should be completed as soon as both sides are ready, in a vote on Tuesday on Iceland's progress towards joining the EU. It welcomed the opening of 21 chapters in the negotiations but would have preferred all to be opened.

Fisheries Committee MEPs backed a proposed ban on discarding unwanted fish of 35 species caught in the Skagerrak (between the North Sea and the Baltic) in a vote on Tuesday. The ban, to take effect gradually between 2014 and 2016, would be enforced with a remote electronic monitoring system.

Conform Tratatului de la Lisabona, după alegerile din 2014 Parlamentul European trebuie să aibă 751 de membri, cu 15 mai puțin decât în prezent. Pentru a reduce cât mai mult pierderile, 12 state membre vor pierde câte un loc, iar altele nu vor câștiga niciun loc în plus. Aceasta este "soluția pragmatică" propusă marți de comisia pentru afaceri constituționale. Deputații au cerut, de asemenea, ca o revizuire a voturilor în Consiliu să fie inclusă într-o reformă viitoare a tratelor Uniunii.

Croatia is on track to accede to the EU on 1 July, the Foreign Affairs committee said in a vote on Tuesday. MEPs stressed their confidence in the strength and maturity of the country's democracy, social market economy and capacity to fulfil the obligations of membership. They also called on the three member states that have not yet approved Croatia's accession to do so without delay.