This WEEK in the European Union
ELITSA VUCHEVA
29.08.2008 @ 17:45 CET
EUOBSERVER / AGENDA (1 – 8 August) – Next week will see the first European Parliament plenary session after the summer break, but the main event will be an extraordinary EU leaders' meeting to discuss the situation in Georgia.
The emergency summit, called by France - currently chairing the six-month rotating EU presidency, take place on Monday (1 September) in Brussels and will aim to reassess the bloc's relation with Russia, after Moscow's attack on Georgia earlier this month and its decision to recognise the independence of Georgia's two breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
EU leaders will meet on Monday to reassess the bloc's relations with Russia following the crisis in Georgia. (Photo: kremlin.ru)
French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner said that sanctions would be among the measures considered by the bloc's leaders – but his statement was met with mockery by Moscow and later rejected by another French diplomat who noted: "the time for sanctions has not yet come."
Additionally, EU diplomats indicated this week that despite the increasing tension, only a small number of countries are currently pushing for a tough line against again Russia, while most EU states are reluctant to take punitive measures and sanctions are unlikely to go beyond a possible postponement of negotiations on a new EU-Russia treaty.
Besides reassessing EU-Russia relations, the bloc's leaders will on Monday discuss aid measures to Tbilisi as well, with Poland, Estonia and Latvia earlier this week urging for international observers and humanitarian aid for Georgia.
"Georgia requires Europe's support in order to recover from the destruction of the war, which in the short term means extensive humanitarian aid for relieving the problems of war refugees and people who have lost their homes," the presidents of the three countries said in a statement.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday Cyprus' president, Demetris Christofias, and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will meet in this context to launch talks on the reunification of the island, with Mr Talat saying that the aim is to "solve the Cyprus problem within 2008," Turkish daily Hurriyet reports.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, with the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus being recognised only by Turkey internationally.
Talks between the two sides have not been progressing since 2004 when Greek Cypriots rejected a UN peace plan approved by Turkish Cypriots.
Plenary session in the European Parliament
This week, the European Parliament will also resume its activities and hold its first plenary session after the summer break, with several items on the agenda.
On Tuesday, MEPs will debate at first reading changes to a proposed telecom regulation including internet access rules and consumer protection. They will also discuss European Commission proposals in the sphere of social policy, including labour rights, patients rights and anti-discrimination rules.
On Wednesday, the parliamentarians will debate and vote on rules referring to how chemicals present in products should be indicated on packages, as well as vote on a resolution on animal cloning and its presence in food production.
The same day, the institution's president Hans-Gert Poettering will meet the president of EU hopeful Serbia, Boris Tadic, while on Thursday, the parliament's transport committee will vote on changes to the EU rules for the shipping industry.
The plenary session will exceptionally take place in Brussels rather than Strasbourg, after a collapse on 7 August of the ceiling in the main hemicycle in the European Parliament building in the Alsatian capital.