Highlights

The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs will hold a hearing with experts on improving the accountability of the European Central Bank, on 2 December. The discussions will focus on the accountability concerning the impact of ECB policies in the euro area, and on the experience with central bank accountability in Member States and third countries, including the impact of parliaments on the respective national central banks.

The Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age will hold a hearing with experts and stakeholders on artificial intelligence and health, on 2 December. The hearing will focus on digital governance, on the uses of artificial intelligence in the health sector, and on current challenges and opportunities.

The Committee on Culture and Education will hold a hearing with experts and stakeholders on the aims, challenges and prospects of the Commission’s Education Package, on 2 December. The hearing aims to feed into two reports that the Committee is currently working on. The report on shaping digital education policy discusses the revised Digital Education Action Plan, whereas the report on the European Education Area deals with a shared holistic approach to education, skills and competences.

The Committee on Protection of Animals during Transport will hold a meeting with Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, on 2 December. The aim is to discuss the transportation of live animals as an important element of modern EU agricultural policy.

The Committee on Petitions will hold a Structured Dialogue with Commissioner Šefčovič, on 3 December. It will also discuss two petitions on the issue of toxic substances and chemical residues present in the Baltic Sea, and generated by dumped World War II weapons. The petitioners call on the EU institutions to support the decontamination of the Baltic Sea in the spirit of the Paris Agreement.

The Foreign Affairs Committee will hold an Inter-parliamentary Committee Meeting with national parliaments on 2 December. The first session of the meeting will focus on the situation in the Western Balkans, 25 years after the Dayton Accords, whilst the second will deal with Belarus and the EU response in support of democratic change in the country.

The Committee on Regional Policy will vote on the agreement reached in interinstitutional negotiations on the REACT-EU proposal, on 3 December. REACT-EU is set to make EUR 47,5 billion available for COVID recovery over the next two years, within the framework of Cohesion Policy. The Committee will also discuss the report on the gender dimension in Cohesion Policy, which explores how internalisation of gender equality can benefit socio-economic growth and sustainable development.

The Committee on Legal Affairs will go over the Commission Communications on Digitalisation of justice in the EU and on the European Judicial Training Strategy for 2021-2024. The meeting will take place on 3 December, with the participation of Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders

The Special Committee on Beating Cancer will hold a hearing with seven leading specialists in cancer prevention the go over the most common lifestyle-related causes of cancer, such as tobacco and alcohol use, malnutrition and physical inactivity. The hearing will be held on 2 December and will also focus on prevention strategies.