“The Parliament, with the other European institutions, will tackle in 2006 the implementation of the so-called Lisbon Strategy, aimed at turning the EU into the most competitive economic area in the world by 2010”. The calendar of work of the European Parliament, including the indication of some programmatic lines, is published on its official website (www.europarl.eu.int). Apart from the Lisbon Strategy, a further priority will be the re-launch of the process of ratification of the European Constitution, interrupted after the double French and Dutch “no” and the pause for reflection decreed by the EU Council in June: “The Parliament will continue to give proof of its support for the Constitution by adopting, in January, a position paper on the future of the institutional process”. According to the EP calendar, the first session of Parliament in 2006 will be held in Strasbourg from 16 to 19 January; meanwhile the parliamentary commissions have resumed their work after the Christmas break (3 January). The representatives of Parliament will meet with the Barroso Commission and the Austrian Presidency on 24 January, for a preliminary assessment of the Financial Perspectives 2007/2013: after an inter-institutional negotiation, the budget document should reach the EP by March. According to a press release, the Parliament “is looking ahead, to a year that promises to be full of debates and controversial issues, such as the directive on the free circulation of services”.
