Migration and bailouts on the agenda this WEEK

Migration continues to be on top of the agenda in the EU this week, as pressure grows on German chancellor Angela Merkel i to reverse her welcoming policy towards asylum seekers.

Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte i painted a bleak picture as he opened the Dutch presidency of the EU last week in the European Parliament, stating that the EU has 6-8 weeks to “sharply reduce” the number of refugees.

“We are running out of time,” Rutte said.

French prime minister Manuel Valls warned on Friday (22 January) that Europe's migration crisis was putting the EU at grave risk.

Justice and home affairs ministers will meet on Monday (25 January) and Tuesday (26 January) informally in Amsterdam to discuss ongoing migration issues and counter-terrorism legislation.

PMI decision?

The EU budget commissioner, Kristalina Georgieva, is due to report to the European Parliament budget committee on Monday (25 January). She is also expected to be questioned by MEPs on where the assessment of a 12-year agreement with tobacco multinational Philip Morris International (PMI) stands.

The deal, which made PMI, the EU and its member states allies in the fight against cigarette smuggling and involved PMI paying more than €1 billion, is set to expire in July. The issue is whether the EU wants to renew it.

MEPs are expected to ask Georgieva for the commission’s opinion on the issue.

Checking on the checks

The European Court of Auditors i (ECA) will publish on Tuesday (26 January) a report on whether the EU Commission appropriately managed the financial assistance programmes provided to Hungary, Latvia, Romania, Ireland and Portugal during the debt crisis.

EU auditors looked at the commission’s management of assistance provided under the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM), the bloc’s temporary bailout fund, for which the EU executive borrowed on the capital markets using the EU budget as guarantee.

Former UK prime minister Tony Blair i will pay a visit to Brussels Tuesday (26 January), and will discuss the “current EU policy agenda” with commission president Jean-Claude Juncker i, a commission spokesperson announced.

The UK’s referendum on its membership of the EU certainly will be high on that agenda.