Return to the chamber

After the summer recess, the European Parliament has resumed its work: the plenary session of the EP is currently being held in Strasbourg, from 4 to 7 September. Its agenda is dominated by some issues of particular relevance: situation in the Middle East, human rights in China, programme of combating violence against women and children. Other questions to be debated include the European social model, the protection of the cultural heritage of the EU and summer fires. MEPs are also called to vote on a series of provisions, including: the Riis-Jørgensen report on the taxation of vehicles – that introduces the principle of the “calculation of tax on the basis of the level of harmful emissions” and supports the Commission’s proposal for the abolition of car licence tax -; the Gröner report on combating violence; and the Bowis report welcoming the Green Paper of the Commission on mental health in the EU. Also awaited are the Declarations of Council and Commission on the national Plans of attribution (2008-2012) in compliance with the Kyoto Protocol and its system of trading quotas of greenhouse gas emissions, the Declarations of the Council on the Accord of association between the EU and Albania, and the report of the Foreign Affairs Commission on the progress being made by Turkey in its EU membership negotiations. Lastly, the Finnish Presidency of the European Council will present the EP with its draft general budget for the European Union for the financial year 2007. FOREIGN POLICY. The plenary session was opened by a report of the President of the EP JOSEP BORRELL on the main questions of current affairs. On the situation in the Lebanon – a question to be debated during the priority discussion on the Middle East on Wednesday 6 September – he recalled the efforts made by the EP to reach the ceasefire, which led to a “more energetic Declaration than that of the Council”. In the debate scheduled for 6 September, the EP will analyse the geopolitical consequences of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and assess the European contribution – in military, humanitarian and financial terms – to the search for a stable and lasting peace throughout the region. The EP will then adopt a Resolution on the matter. In his opening address Borrell also tackled the current emergency of clandestine immigration, insisting on the need for the EU to adopt a “common policy of the management of migratory flows”. Lastly, with regard to the recent abortive plots to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners, the President urged Europe to “increase its vigilance without placing civil liberties at risk”. COMBATING VIOLENCE. MEPs approved, on Tuesday 5 September, during its first reading, the report of LISSY GRÖNER on the draft Decision of the EP and the Council that institutes the specific Programme “Combating violence (Daphne) and prevention and information on drugs for the period 2007-2013”, together with the corresponding draft legislative Resolution. While the EP welcomed the proposal of the Commission that sets out in schematic form the Daphne programme (now in its third year and endowed with a budget of 138 million euros), it placed the emphasis on the more vulnerable victims of violence through a series of amendments to the original text aimed at giving priority to combating domestic violence, female genital mutilation, the trafficking of human beings, forced prostitution, the development of initiatives in favour of ethnic minorities and also activities of information and prevention. The first amendment is also significant: it suggests that the title be changed to “Specific Programme for the prevention and curbing of violence against children, youth and women, and the protection of the victims and groups at risk (Daphne III) for the period 2007-2013 as part of the general Programme of Fundamental Rights and Justice”, in confirmation of the particular attention that should be paid to the most exposed and defenceless victims. MENTAL HEALTH. The plenary session also gave final approval to the report of the English MEP JOHN BOWIS on the improvement of the mental health of the population, which follows up the Green Paper “Towards a strategy on mental health for the European Union”, presented by the Executive in 2005. Altogether, MEPs gave a positive reception to the proposal of the European Commission, accepting the invitation to implement a common strategy capable of addressing all the facets of a pathology that is still too often ignored. In particular, the Bowis report places the emphasis on the specific problems of women and adolescents and on the urgent political need to reform and harmonise the European services of prevention and treatment of mental illness. Apart from the purely medical aspects, it also emphasises the need to give “priority to the fight against the discrimination suffered by persons affected by mental pathologies”.