Today's Movers & Shakers are about: latest news from the European Parliament, appointments in the Commission and public affairs, the new ambassadors and heads of missions to the EU, Brexit and more.
European Parliament:
Intergroups:
Intergroup on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development: Jytte GUTELAND (S&D, SE) and Herbert DORFMANN (EPP, IT) were appointed as co-chairs of the sustainable forest management working group.
National delegations’ spokespersons:
Nosheena MOBARIK (ECR, UK) was appointed as spokesperson of the UK Conservatives delegation on women’s rights and gender equality issues.
MEP’s news:
On 10 April, German Green MEPs Sven GIEGOLD and Jan Philipp ALBRECHT sent a letter to Parliament’s President Antonio TAJANI proposing to invite Facebook Chair Mark ZUCKERBERG to the European Parliament for a hearing on the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal organised by the committees on civil liberties, justice and home affairs (LIBE) and constitutional affairs (AFCO).
The European Parliament has issued another invitation to Mr ZUCKERBERG to appear before a joint hearing of four committees, while the political groups also extended an invitation. The chamber will discuss the issue during its plenary on Thursday 19 April.
Kaja KALLAS (ALDE) was elected as the new chairwoman of the Estonian Reform Party.
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Committees’ news:
The committee on budgetary control will hold a hearing of the Commission's shortlisted candidates for the post of director of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) on 16 April. The candidates are: Ville ITÄLÄ, Ivailo KALFIN, François KRUGER and Andreas MLITZKE.
Plenary session:
MEPs are in Strasbourg from Monday 16 to Thursday 19 April.
French President Emmanuel MACRON will address the chamber on the future of Europe.
Get to know:
Miapetra KUMPULA-NATRI (S&D, FI) in 5 questions.
She has been an MEP since 2014 and is a member of the committee on industry, research and energy (ITRE), the delegation to the Euronest parliamentary assembly (D-EPA), and the delegation to the EU-Moldova parliamentary association committee (D-MD). She was also Parliament's rapporteur on the legislation which abolished roaming charges within the EU.
Interview with Soraya POST (S&D, SE):
Soraya POST talked to Parliament Magazine ahead of Roma Week, which took place from 9 to 12 April. In her interview she discussed the impact of #MeToo and intersectionality. The Swedish deputy, who has more than 30 years of experience in fighting against discrimination and working for minority rights, talked about feminism and explained why we should all be feminists.
An MEP since 2014, she is the first - and currently only - MEP from an ideologically feminist party. She is Parliament's rapporteur on fundamental rights aspects in Roma integration in the EU: fighting anti-Gypsyism. She is also this year's justice and civil liberties MEP Awards winner. Read her interview.
European Commission:
Commissioners’ cabinets:
Valdis DOMBROVSKI’s team: Maria Luisa LLANO CARDENAL joined the cabinet as member, replacing Raquel LUCAS. Ms LLANO CARDENAL was previously head of unit, coordination in the employment, social affairs and inclusion Directorate General. In her new role, Ms LLANO CARDENAL will be in charge of employment and social affairs, the digital single market, education, culture, youth, sports, Finland, Belgium, Ireland, Denmark and Spain.
Directorates-General:
Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations (NEAR):
Directorate A – Strategy and Turkey: Barbara BANKI replaced Bernard BRUNET on an acting basis as head of unit, thematic support, economic governance and IFIs, public administration reform. Bernard BRUNET was appointed as head of unit, Turkey, replacing Patrick PAQUET.
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Trade:
Directorate A – Resources, Information and Policy coordination: Michelangelo MARGHERITA was appointed as head of unit, information, communication and civil society.
Missions to the EU:
The President of the European Council received the letters of credentials of:
Commonwealth of Australia: Justin Hugh BROWN, Ambassador, Head of Mission.
Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Principe: Maria d'Assunção DE BARROS AMARAL AGUIAR, Ambassador, Head of Mission.
Jamaica: Sheila SEALY MONTEITH, Ambassador, Head of Mission.
Socialist Republic of Viet Nam: VU Anh Quang Ambassador, Head of Mission.
Public affairs:
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European Barge Union (EBU): Paul GORIS was elected President, succeeding Gunther JAEGER.
European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA): Bernard UYTTENDAELE is stepping down from his role as CEO to pursue a new career. Steven SERNEELS, member of the Board was appointed as interim CEO, until the recruitment of a new CEO.
FIEC - European Construction Industry Federation: Kjetil TONNING was elected as the new president, taking over from Jean-Louis MARCHAND. Mr TONNING is currently area manager, Heavy Construction, at Veidekke Entreprenør AS, which is Norway's largest construction company.
RED FLAG: Roxana TURCANU has been promoted to Senior Account Executive.
Smoke Free Partnership (SFP): Anca TOMA FRIEDLANDER was appointed as acting director, after Florence BERTELETTI stepped down from the role on 9 April. Ms BERTELETTI will remain at SFP as a consultant until the end of May, as on 1 June she will take on a new role as director for advocacy at the World Heart Federation.
News in a nutshell:
Bulgaria: Dynamic, innovative and entrepreneurial: The Parliament Magazine and Microsoft organised a reception in the European Parliament to celebrate Bulgaria's EU Council presidency. Throughout the evening, MEPs, Commission representatives, Bulgarian entrepreneurs and keynote speaker Lilyana PAVLOVA talked about how the country is dynamic, innovative and entrepreneurial, has a higher percentage of women working in ICT than any other EU member state and is at the forefront of Europe's digital transformation. Read more
Brexit: the European Commission published a notice to stakeholders on the UK’s withdrawal and the EU rules on fisheries and aquaculture. According to the notice, if a transitional arrangement is not reached by the withdrawal date (30 March 2019), there will be four main consequences as the common fisheries policy rules will cease to apply to the UK and the UK will be considered a third country.
First, access to the European Union waters by UK fishing vessels will be subject to authorisation by the European Commission, while access by EU fishing vessels to UK waters will be subject to UK authorisation, as well as authorisation by the vessel’s member state. On the latter, the European Commission has the right to object to the granting of such fishing authorisation.
Second, access to UK ports and landing of catches by EU vessels will be subject to UK rules. Likewise, access to EU member states’ ports by UK vessels will be conditional to the UK abiding by the rules of the EU regulation to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Third, the import of fishery and aquaculture products caught by UK vessels into the EU will be conditional to EU rules which include, among others, prior flag state notification and the issuing of a validated catch certificate. In addition, import of such products into the EU market will be conditional to consumer information and market requirements and other applicable EU food rules. UK certificate of organic aquaculture products will not be valid as of the withdrawal date for EU market access.
Last but not least, producer and inter-branch organisations in this context will need to be re-recognised by the relevant authorities.
In an interview with European press agencies, EU chief negotiator Michel BARNIER said that even though progress is being made, the most difficult part is still to come. BARNIER named a number of thorny issues, such as the role of the European Court of Justice, the protection of the geographical indications, trademarks, appellations of origin and Ireland.
In citizens’ rights news, New Europeans, a group that campaigns for the rights of citizens affected by Brexit warned that the proposed ‘settled status’ is confusing. According to the group’s CEO, Roger CASALE, one problem is how to verify someone’s status or how long they have been at a particular address if they don’t have National Insurance or tax records.
