EP Today, Thursday 13 February | News | European Parliament

EU-Mercosur free-trade agreement

At 9.00, MEPs and Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič will review the recently concluded EU-Mercosur free-trade deal, amidst a new geopolitical context of increasing unilateralism, and concerns over the deal’s potential effects on European agriculture. If ratified, the deal would gradually phase out duties on 91% of EU exports to Mercosur and 92% of Mercosur exports to the EU. Parliament must give its consent before the agreement can enter into force.

Eszter ZALÁN

(+32) 477 99 20 73

EP Trade

Threats to EU sovereignty over communication infrastructure

From around 10.30, MEPs and Commissioner Micallef will assess the EU’s progress in reducing its strategic dependencies in the area of critical communication infrastructure. MEPs are expected to voice concerns that member states may resort to non-EU suppliers of governmental communication infrastructure before the EU’s own system, IRIS² (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) is operational in 2030.

Baptiste CHATAIN

(+32) 498 98 13 37

EP_Industry

In brief

Georgia. In a resolution to be voted on at noon, MEPs are set to declare that Georgia’s self-proclaimed authorities have no legitimacy, and are expected to call for EU sanctions against leading Georgian politicians. In the draft text, Parliament also recognises Salome Zourabichvili as Georgia’s legitimate president.

Congo. At noon, MEPs will vote on a resolution on the escalation of violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The draft text demands the suspension of the EU deal with Rwanda on sustainable value chains for critical raw materials and calls on the Rwandan government to withdraw its troops from the DRC’s territory and cease cooperation with the M23 rebels.

Votes

At noon, plenary will also vote on:

• the recent dismissals and arrests of mayors in Türkiye,
• the repression by the Ortega-Murillo regime in Nicaragua, targeting human rights defenders, political opponents and religious communities in particular, and
• the continued detention and risk of the death penalty for individuals in Nigeria charged with blasphemy, notably the case of Yahaya Sharif-Aminu.

Live coverage of the plenary session can be found on Parliament’s webstreaming and on EbS+.

For detailed information on the session, please also see our newsletter.

Find more information regarding plenary.