Search

During its June plenary session, Parliament is due to debate the report of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) on Ensuring food security and the long-term resilience of EU agriculture. Parliament is also to vote on policy recommendations to address global and EU food security and strengthen the EU's agricultural resilience.

Batteries are critical to the EU's clean energy transition. In December 2020, the European Commission tabled a proposal to modernise the regulatory framework for batteries and secure the sustainability and competitiveness of EU battery value chains. Two years later, the European Parliament and the Council reached a trilogue agreement on the proposal. The agreed text is due to be put to the vote in plenary in June.

Following revelations that several EU governments used the Pegasus spyware software against journalists, politicians, officials and other public figures, the European Parliament set up a Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware (PEGA). Parliament is set to hold a debate on PEGA's findings and vote on a recommendation to the Council and Commission during the June 2023 session.

In May 2022, the European Commission launched a new strategy aimed at improving living conditions in the EU's outermost regions, fostering their development and sustainable recovery and growth, and unlocking their potential. An own-initiative report on the assessment of the Commission's strategy, tabled by the European Parliament's Committee on Regional Development, is scheduled for a plenary vote in June.

During the June part-session, Parliament is due to vote on giving consent to concluding a new implementing protocol to the EU's fisheries agreement with Mauritius. The protocol, which allows EU vessels to fish in Mauritian waters, sets out the fishing opportunities available to the EU fleet and the EU's financial contribution.

The European Commission tabled a proposal for an EU regulatory framework on artificial intelligence (AI) in April 2021. The draft AI act is the first comprehensive EU legislation to regulate AI and address its potential harms. Parliament is preparing to debate and vote on the joint report from the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and Civil Liberties (LIBE) Committees during its June plenary session. This would then set Parliament's position for trilogue negotiations with the Council ...

In January 2022, the European Commission proposed a stronger mandate for the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) to ensure that the Agency can react effectively to new challenges, provide better support to Member States, and contribute to developments at the international level. During the June 2023 plenary session, Parliament is set to vote on the provisional agreement resulting from interinstitutional negotiations.

During the June plenary session, the Parliament is expected to vote on the trilogue agreement reached with the Council on two Commission proposals revolutionising cross-border access to electronic evidence across the EU.

Under current EU law, EU Member States are free to set their minimum national voting age for European elections. This age is set at 16 in Austria, Germany and Malta, 17 in Greece, and 18 in the remaining Member States. In Belgium, EU citizens can, following a recent change, request to vote in European elections from the age of 16.

The European Electoral Act of 1976 allows the EU Member States to set the minimum age for standing as a candidate in European elections. While in May 2022 Parliament proposed a uniform minimum age of 18, the next round of elections – in 2024 – will be governed by the existing rules. The minimum age therefore varies among the Member States, ranging from 18 (in the majority of countries) to 25 (Italy and Greece).