Europese Commissie presenteert deze week een juridische analyse over de Roma-kwestie (en)
EUOBSERVER i / WEEKLY AGENDA (27 Sept - 2 Oct) - Arguably the highlight of next week comes on Wednesday when the European Commission i is set to announce whether it will launch legal proceedings against France regarding its treatment of the Roma ethnic minority group.
Justice commissioner Viviane Reding i is scheduled to present the results of a legal analysis on whether Paris breached EU i rules to her colleagues in the morning, with the college of 27 commissioners then set to take a decision.
Earlier this month the Luxembourgish commissioner reacted to a controversial circular in France which apparently authorised French officials to target the Roma group, delivering a fiery speech to journalists in which she called Paris' behaviour a "disgrace".
But it was references to World War Two that appeared to rile French President Nicolas Sarkozy i the most, with the French leader reportedly engaging in a shouting match with commissioner president Jose Manuel Barroso i at a recent European Summit.
Also on Wednesday, the civil liberties committee in the European Parliament i is scheduled to hold an extraordinary meeting during the evening to discuss the Roma issue, with the relevant three commissioners expected to attend.
It's the Economy...
EU officials will also continue their efforts to heal Europe's sickly economy next week, with the commission set to come forward with legislative proposals on Wednesday on improving the bloc's economic governance.
With weak budgetary rules being widely blamed for the eurozone's ongoing fiscal crisis that saw Greece run for an EU-IMF i loan in May, the plans from Brussels are set to include a list of measures to reduce the likelihood of member states running up the huge debt piles and ballooning budgetary deficits that have so scared financial markets of late.
In parallel to the commission proposals, European Council President i Herman Van Rompuy i is set to discuss the final shape of his report on the same issue on Monday with members of his economic "taskforce."
Later in the week (Thursday-Friday), EU finance ministers will gather in Brussels for an informal pow-wow to discuss the potential for a European financial transactions tax, among other issues.
The tax has the strong support of centre-left and Green MEPs in the European Parliament who feel the extra revenue could finance a plethora of environmental and social projects, although others question its viability in the face of strong US opposition.
"Bring me my machine gun"
Other upcoming issues include a first debate on Monday by EU agriculture ministers on the commission's recent proposal on GMOs, intended to break a long-standing deadlock and allow some member states to ban their cultivation while simultaneously allowing others to move ahead.
On Thursday MEPs in the budget committee will deliver their verdict on the proposed budget for 2011, with members also set to vote on revised EU legislation that would facilitate the setting up of the new EU External Action Service.
An EU-South Africa summit on Tuesday will see the African country's controversial president Jacob Zuma sweep into town, the man popularly known for his party war-cry, which starts with the words "Bring me my machine gun."
The ANC chief who took over as South Africa's leader from Thabo Mbeki last year will meet with a list of top EU officials including European Parliamentary president Jerzy Buzek i.