EP deze week: begroting, economie, paardenvlees, aantal EP-leden, en emissiehandel (en)

MEPs will discuss the EU's long-term budget, debate with ECB president Mario Draghi, vote on new rules on criminal assets that have been seized and question the European Commission over the horse meat scandal. Votes will also be held to determine the number of MEPs per country and to support media freedom in Europe.

Economy

Political group leaders will debate the EU 2014-2020 budget agreement with Council president Herman Van Rompuy and Commission president José Manuel Barroso on Monday. MEPs have already criticised this deal, which was agreed on 8 February by heads of state and government, and Parliament is in a position to veto it.

Also on Monday, the economic affairs committee holds its regular meeting with Mario Draghi in his dual capacities as president of the European Central Bank i and chairman of the European Systemic Risk Board. Mr Draghi will discuss ECB measures to alleviate the crisis and the euro exchange rate.

Committees

The environment committee will on Monday debate the EU's response to the scandal concerning horse meat being mislabelled as beef in Europe with representatives of the European Commission and the European Food Safety Authority.

The constitutional affairs committee will vote Tuesday on proposals to establish how many MEPs each country should have as the total number will go down from 754 to 751 after the 2014 elections in line with the Lisbon Treaty.

The environment committee will vote Tuesday on whether to delay auctioning a number of carbon credits. This is part of the EU's scheme to boost green investment and reduce harmful emissions.

The civil liberties committee will vote Wednesday on draft legislation concerning member states freezing or seizing assets gained by criminal activities. The day after that it will vote on a draft resolution calling for support of media freedom and investigative journalism across the EU.

Other business

On Tuesday the EP i hosts the Aladdin project, set up by UNESCO to fight against Holocaust denial, anti-Semitism and racism as well as to allow a better understanding of Muslim culture. The afternoon conference will be opened by EP vice-president Isabelle Durant i, a Belgian member of the Green group.