In primo piano

The Committee on Budgets will go over the funding strategy for the 750 billion euro recovery instrument, Next Generation EU, with Budget and Human Resources Commissioner, Johannes Hahn. The instrument will be financed through the issuance of common debt by the European Commission, building on previous experience - notably, the recent issuance of social bonds under the Support to mitigate Unemployment Risk in an Emergency (SURE) programme. The meeting will take place on 14 April.

The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs will look into the results of the European Central Bank’s public consultation on the digital euro on 14 April, with ECB Executive Board Member and Chair of the Eurosystem High-Level Task Force on Central Bank Digital Currency, Fabio Panetta. The public consultation follows the publication of the ECB's report on the digital euro in October 2020, which examined the issuance of a central bank digital currency from the perspective of the Eurosystem.

The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development will hold a debate with Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, on 14 April. This debate will follow up on the presentation of the Commission’s Action Plan for the development of EU organic production as one of the main actions in the EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy and the Farm to Fork Strategy.

The Committee on Transport and Tourism will hold a hearing on boosting the use of alternative fuels in the transport sector, on 14 April. The hearing will focus on increasing the uptake of sustainable alternative fuels in road, maritime and aviation transport, and on the requirements for developing a sustainable alternative fuel infrastructure. The Committee will also discuss the situation facing the tourism sector ahead of the upcoming summer season, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Subcommittee on Security and Defence will hold a hearing with experts on the security situation in the Sahel, addressing the difficulties faced by Sahel countries from the African perspective, on 14 April. The debates will focus on the political, societal and military challenges posed to the security situation in the region, on the evolution of the mandates of CSDP missions, and on the EU’s involvement in the process of redeployment of state services in the areas where the missions operate.

The Committee on International Trade will hold a hearing with experts on the reform of the EU Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), under which the EU grants unilateral tariff preferences to developing countries, on 14 April. The Committee will also discuss the planned mechanism to deter and counteract coercive action by non-EU countries. It will then go over the first draft of its own-initiative report on COVID-19 trade related aspects and implications, on 15 April.

The Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety will discuss and vote on a new procedure to facilitate and accelerate the EU-wide approval of vaccines adapted to COVID-19 variants, on 15 and 16 April. The motion for a resolution on encouraging the sustainable use of soil will also be voted. The Committee will also hold its annual debate with the European Food Safety Authority, more specifically with the Authority’s Executive Director, Bernhard Url.

The Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection will hold a Structured Dialogue with Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, on 15 April. The debate is set to focus on the implementation of the Commission Work Programme 2021, the general state of play of legislation in the Commissioner’s field of competence, and the follow-up to the commitments made during his hearing of 2019.

The Committee on Transport and Tourism will go over the discuss the progress and challenges in the implementation of the TEN-T core network with the European Coordinators in charge of the Baltic-Adriatic corridor, the North Sea-Mediterranean corridor and the Motorways the Sea, on 15 April. A Structured Dialogue with Transport Commissioner Vălean will be held on the same day, to go over the state of play in the field of transport policy and the Commission’s upcoming initiatives.