Highlights

The Committee on Budgets will receive high-level speakers to discuss the EU budget and its impact on EU external action and its crisis response capacity on 28 March. Prof. Esther Duflo and Dominic Crowley will elaborate on how the EU budget can deliver efficiently on development and humanitarian issues. Andreas Papaconstantinou and Mariella Di Ciommo will look into case studies: the EU support to Turkey and Syria following the recent earthquakes, and the food crisis.

The Committee on Budgets will vote on the political priorities for the 2024 budget and on the EU instrument to reinforce defence industrial capabilities, and on asset recovery and confiscation on 27-28 March. The Committee will also debate the proposal to mobilise the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers to support 303 workers made redundant following the liquidation of the Spanish company Alu Ibérica.

The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs will hold a follow-up public hearing on "Energy derivatives markets, oversight challenges related to market integrity and financial stability risks" on 27 March. This public hearing will contribute to understanding the current situation regarding the energy derivatives markets and potential actions needed at Union level to contain financial stability risks.

The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy will receive Commissioner Simson, who will present the Electricity Market Design Package, on 27 March. The reform aims to reduce the impact of fossil fuels on the final energy bills as well as boosting open and fair competition in the wholesale markets by increasing transparency and integrity.

The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy will receive Commissioner Breton on 28 March. The Commissioner will present to ITRE the Net-Zero Industry Act and the Critical Raw Materials Act. Both acts were announced in the Green Deal Industrial Plan and aim to enhance the Union’s resilience, competitiveness and autonomy.

The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy will receive Vice-President Šefčovič on 28 March. Mr Šefčovič will present the latest developments in gas joint purchases and the 2022 Strategic Foresight Report.

The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety will jointly discuss the Commission’s proposal for sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS) to facilitate the movements of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland on 28 March. The proposal pertains to the “Windsor Framework”.

The Committee on Fisheries in association with the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and the Committee on Petitions will hold a public hearing on the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) "Stop Finning – Stop the Trade". The Citizens' Initiative was officially submitted to the European Commission in January after having gathered the support of over 1.1 million signatures with the minimum threshold reached in 15 Member States.

The Committee on Fisheries will hold a public hearing on "Marine pollution (in particular plastic pollution) and its impact on fisheries" on 28 March. This hearing aims at understanding the complexities of plastic pollution from the perspective of fisheries: What has been done so far to reduce the plastic pollution's impact on fisheries? How can fishers contribute to tackling this problem?