Agendapunten plenaire sessie Europees Parlement (en)
EUOBSERVER / WEEKLY AGENDA (4-10 April) - Events in Libya and the Ivory Coast, as well as the fallout from the Japanese nuclear disaster will feature high on the agenda of EU lawmakers this week, as they gather in Strasbourg for their monthly plenary session.
EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy i on Tuesday (5 April) will brief MEPs what leaders have agreed during a summit 10 days ago, dedicated both to the Libya and Japan, as well as the euro-plus pact that 23 nations within and outside the single currency have subscribed to.
More than two weeks after the international coalition has started airstrikes on the Gaddafi regime - with Nato having taken over the military operations last week-end, MEPs were also set to debate the Libyan situation with the bloc's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton i on Wednesday. Syria and Bahrain are also on the agenda. Another EU commissioner is likely to step in for Ashton, however, as she is heading to the US this week - a decision that is likely to fuel further criticism about her not delivering the adequate EU response to the Arab spring.
In reaction to the atrocities in the Ivory Coast, MEPs on Thursday are likely to question why the international response has been so weak, compared to the relatively quick reaction to the Libyan oppression.
Immigration from the Arab world, particularly Tunisia, which has seen over 20,000 nationals cross over the Mediterranean to Italy, is being examined on Monday evening.
Europe's own neglected and abused minority - the Roma - features prominently on Tuesday, with the commission set to produce a strategy on how to improve their situation, six months after a row with France following ethnic profiling and mass evacuation of Roma camps.
Ideas of how to improve the delivery of aid to developing countries will be heard from Microsoft founder and international charity star Bill Gates - who has meetings both with MEPs and the commission in Strasbourg.
The nuclear disaster in Japan and its impact on Europe's own nuclear policies are subject of debate on Wednesday, with commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso i also briefing MEPs on the topic one day earlier.
On the economic front, the commission is presenting fresh proposals on Tuesday on how to examine and evaluate the effectiveness of EU corporate governance principles.