The constitutive meetings of Parliament's new committees, established in June 2020, will take place on 23 September. During these meetings, each new special committee, committee of inquiry, and subcommittee will elect its respective bureau, made up of a Chair and Vice-Chairs, for the duration of the committee’s mandate.

The Foreign Affairs Committee will discuss the situation in Belarus with opposition leader Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya, on 21 September. The Committee will also hold a debate with Zhang Ming, Head of the Chinese Mission to the EU. The latter discussions are expected to focus on the ongoing negotiations to conclude a long-standing investment deal between the EU and China, disinformation, the situation in Hong Kong, human rights, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Committee on Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs will go over the New Pact on Asylum and Migration with Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, and Ylva Johansson, Commissioner for Home Affairs, on 24 September. The New Pact is expected to set out the asylum and migration policy of the Von der Leyen Commission and to end the deadlock in the Council on the reform of the Common European Asylum System, which has been pending since 2016.

The Committees on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, and on Industry, Research and Energy, will hold a hearing on securing access to COVID-19 vaccines for EU citizens, focusing on the questions of adequate clinical trials, speedy manufacturing and commercialisation, and an equitable distribution of a safe vaccine. The hearing will take place on 22 September, with the participation of the pharmaceutical industry, academia, civil society and the European Medicines Agency.

The Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs will hold a meeting with the United States Congress and the United States Helsinki Commission, on racial equity, equality and justice. The aim is to reinforce US-EU parliamentary coordination to combat racism and systemic discrimination, while strengthening dialogue and promoting equality. The meeting will be held on 22 September, in association with Parliament’s Delegation for relations with the US.

The Committee on Budgets will go over a working document regarding the Council’s position on the 2021 budget, on 22 September. In line with the July European Council conclusions on the EU's long-term budget, Member States are proposing to reduce the level of EU financing proposed in the Commission's Draft Budget by EUR 3,8 billion, targeting particularly research and innovation programmes, Erasmus +, the Just Transition Fund, migration and border management funds, and external action.

The Tourism Task Force of the Committee on Transport and Tourism will hold a debate with stakeholders to take stock of the situation of the EU tourism sector, in light of the recovery process from the coronavirus crisis. Members will also seek to obtain input relevant to a forthcoming report on establishing a sustainable tourism strategy. The meeting will take place on 23 September.

The Committee on Regional Development will vote on its opinion on the proposed Public Sector Loan Facility under the Just Transition Mechanism, on 24 September. The aim is to support public investment in the territories most negatively affected by the climate transition. The Committee will also vote on its opinion on a Recovery and Resilience Facility, aiming to support reforms and investments by Member States to mitigate the economic and social consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which posed a serious challenge to the work of Parliament, several measures were quickly adopted in order to ensure the continuation of the legislative and democratic life of the EU, while focusing on its response to the COVID-19 crisis. This Thematic Digest contains an overview of the principal debates held by Parliament’s committees and delegations, and of the decisions made as a result of their work, following the COVID-19 outbreak.