The European Parliament’s plenary sessions will take place in Strasbourg this week. Tuesday will see members of the European Parliament (MEPs) vote on plans to improve consumers' trust in drinking water from the tap by tightening the maximum limits for certain pollutants. The MEP’s also propose setting up free water fountains where feasible and providing tap water for free, or for a low service fee, in restaurants, canteens and through catering services.
On Wednesday, Parliament will vote on a new law to forbid the sale of single-use plastic products such as cutlery, cotton buds, plates, straws, beverage stirrers balloon sticks within the EU from 2021.
Also on Wednesday, MEPs will confirm their negotiating position for the 2019 EU budget, before starting talks with the Council of ministers. They are set to demand that the budget focuses on Erasmus+, tackling youth unemployment and migration, research, infrastructure investments climate protection.
The European Commission has organized a stakeholder event to be held Wednesday on the future of emission standards for the automotive industry in Brussels. The event will bring together scientific evidence from the Joint Research Center and academia, as well as gather the opinions of different stakeholders on the future of emission standards for passenger cars, light commercial vehicles heavy-duty vehicles.
On Thursday, EP members will vote on a law limiting the use of antibiotics on farms to keep resistant bacteria out of food and halt the spread of drug resistance from animals to humans. To help tackle antimicrobial resistance, the law would also empower the EU Commission to select antimicrobials to be reserved only for treating humans.
MEPs are expected to urge Facebook to allow EU bodies to carry out a full audit assessing data protection and security of users’ personal data on Thursday. They also plan to call for the prevention of election manipulation on social platforms and for action to update EU competition rules to reflect the digital reality.
The European Commission’s First Vice President Frans Timmermans will meet with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Thursday in Brussels.
MEPs will vote on the reform of EU road charging rules on Thursday, which will oblige EU countries imposing time-based road use charges to switch to distance-based charging.