Luxembourg Presidency priorities discussed by EP committees

The priorities of Luxembourg EU Council Presidency will be outlined to the various parliamentary committees by Luxembourg ministers in a series of meetings to be held during this week.

Culture and Education

Culture’s role in development policy will be the key focus for the six coming months, ministers for culture Maggy Nagel and education and research Claude Meisch told the Culture and Education Committee on Tuesday. Completing the digital single market is another of the Luxembourg ministers’ priorities. Concerning education, priority will be given to integrating national education systems, lowering the dropout rate and promoting an active civic engagement of young people, to prevent marginalization and youth radicalization.

MEPs asked about and debated issues to do with funding education, supporting multilingualism and striking a fair balance between access to content and remunerating its creators in the digital world.

Women’s Rights and Gender Equality

The Presidency will urge EU member states to ratify and implement the Istanbul Convention on preventing violence against women, equal opportunities minister Lydia Mutsch and family affairs and integration minister Corinne Cahen told the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee on Tuesday. The women on company boards directive is also a priority: “we will seek compromise in the Council to support quotas, so as to get more women into top positions”, Ms Mutsch said.

As to the maternity leave directive, the Presidency will invite the Commission to present a new initiative as soon as possible. Parental and paternity leave are equally important, to enable fathers to make more flexible arrangements and take up more family responsibilities, the ministers said.

Transport and Tourism

The Presidency will focus on finding an agreement on the 4th Railway Package governance and public contracting rules, the “political pillar”, transport minister François Bausch told the Transport and Tourism Committee on Tuesday. The second priority is aviation, and particularly air passenger rights. Mr Bausch also listed emissions from the transport sector, investment in transport infrastructure, and road safety as key concerns. The Presidency would like the December Council meeting to tackle social issues in transport and plans to hold an informal Council meeting on urban mobility in October, the minister added.

International Trade

Putting forward a reformed mechanism to settle investor -state disputes, in line with the resolution approved by Parliament on 8 July, will be a Presidency priority in talks with the US on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), foreign and European affairs minister Jean Asselborn told the International Trade Committee on Tuesday. Mr Asselborn, also promised Trade MEPs that the agreement already concluded with Canada (CETA) will not reintroduce the “old ISDS” via the back door and reported that talks were already under way between Canada and EU member state ministers on ways to include courts, judges, public hearings and appellate system in the mechanism.

Concluding a trade deal with Vietnam, more progress with Japan, launching trade talks with Tunisia and re-launching those with India were also on his “to do” list.

Legal Affairs

Reforming the Court of Justice by increasing the number of judges in the General Court will be a key priority for the Presidency, justice minister Féliz Braz told the Legal Affairs Committee on Tuesday. This would involve costs, but not doing anything would also have a price tag as well, he added. On the trade secrets proposal, the Presidency will aim to finalize negotiations as soon as possible, seeking a balanced deal which ensures employee mobility and proper protection for whistle blowers, economic affairs minister Etienne Schneider added.

Replying to MEPs questions on the revision of shareholders’ rights and proposals for a country-by-country tax reporting requirement, the ministers promised they will take Parliament’s call seriously and consult the member states before starting negotiations with MEPs.

REF. : 20150714IPR81309