Highlights

The 2022 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) was hailed as a historic landmark for biodiversity conservation. GBF consists of four goals that set out a vision for 2050 of a world living in harmony with nature. In this issue of the Monthly Highlights newsletter, ENVI Chair Pascal Canfin presents the new briefing with key insights into what progress has been achieved already and where more progress needs to be demanded when parties meet again at COP16 in October.

Parliament's committees will meet representatives of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union to discuss its priorities in relation to the committees' respective areas of responsibility. These meetings will start taking place in the week of 22 January 2024. The Belgian Presidency started in the beginning of January and will run until the end of June.

The petitions process in the Parliament ensures that all European citizens and residents can communicate with the Parliament and express their right to petition. The Petitions Web portal allows submitting petitions electronically, following a user-friendly registration process. The portal also provides information about petitions already received, and communicates the issues that are raised with Petitions Committee by others, in a summary form.

Voters in the EU will elect new Members of the European Parliament during the European elections of 6 to 9 June. The newly elected Members, representing EU citizens until 2029, will meet in July to elect their President, Vice-Presidents and Quaestors. They will decide on the composition of Parliament’s standing and sub committees - thereby launching the new legislative term. The committees will then hold their first meetings to elect their respective Chairs and Vice-Chairs.

The European Parliament’s calendar for 2024 is available through the link below. Parliament decides its annual calendar of work on the basis of a proposal by the Conference of Presidents. It is divided into plenary sittings (part-sessions) and meetings.

Parliament’s policy departments provide high-level independent expertise, analysis and advice at the request of committees and other parliamentary bodies. Covering all areas of activity of Parliament, they deliver policy analysis in a wide variety of formats, feeding directly into the legislative work of committees or members' delegations. They organise events, including workshops and expert panels, to enhance Parliament’s analytical capacity and develop common approaches to political issues.