Pressrum 

All of the EP’s 20 standing committees and two subcommittees held their constitutive meetings on Wednesday to elect their chair and vice-chairs.

Ministers are outlining the priorities of the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the EU to parliamentary committees, in a series of meetings.

Environment MEPs proposed to raise the EU renewable energy goals for 2030.

Waning public confidence in vaccination is a major challenge and has already brought about health consequences, Health Committee MEPs said on Tuesday.

The growing threat posed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria can be tackled through a “One Health” approach, MEPs said on Wednesday.

Plans to boost greenhouse-gas emission curbs through the EU carbon market (EU ETS) were informally agreed between MEPs and Council Presidency on Thursday.

Draft plans to tighten up official controls from farm to fork were informally agreed by food safety MEPs and the Dutch Presidency of the Council on Wednesday. It aims to guarantee that the food consumers buy and eat in Europe is safe and wholesome, hence improving consumer’s health and preventing food crises.

Environment MEPs advocate a full and immediate EU-wide ban on ivory and rhinoceros horn trade, and call for common sanctions at EU level against wildlife trafficking, in a resolution voted on Thursday. Wildlife trafficking is worth an estimated €20 billion annually. It has grown in recent years, becoming one of the biggest and most profitable forms of organised cross-border crime.

A draft law to make smoking less attractive to the young by banning the use of "characterised" flavours such as strawberry or menthol in tobacco products was backed by Public Health Committee MEPs on Wednesday. But they also amended the draft to require health warnings on every side of a cigarette pack and ban slim cigarettes and "attractive" packaging.

In a hearing today, MEPs demanded clarity on vaccine deliveries and insisted that pharmaceutical companies honour their contracts.

Ministers outlined the priorities of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU to parliamentary committees, in a series of meetings.

Parliament’s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee calls for a fact-based approach to the EU vaccines rollout to avoid disinformation.

To raise global climate ambition and prevent ‘carbon leakage’, the EU must place a carbon price on imports from less climate-ambitious countries, say Environment MEPs.

CO2 emitted by transport, farming, buildings and waste must be cut by 30%, and CO2 emitted and absorbed by forestry and land use must balance out, by 2030.

Environment Committee MEPs voted to make climate neutrality obligatory by 2050 in both EU and member states and call for a more ambitious 2030 emissions reduction target.

A provisional deal on the EU programme for Environment and Climate Action (LIFE) to boost EU action in 2021-2027 was agreed with member states.

MEPs call on the Commission to put forward rules to stop EU-driven global deforestation through mandatory due diligence for companies placing products on the EU market.

On Tuesday, MEPs quizzed the European Commission and European Medicines Agency on latest developments concerning the authorisation and purchase of COVID-19 vaccines.

MEPs debated ways to secure a quick and safe supply of COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday, with representatives of pharmaceutical companies, research , and civil society.

MEPs will debate how to increase capacity and improve delivery of COVID-19 vaccines with pharmaceutical companies and Commissioners Breton and Kyriakides.