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Week ahead: Time for Facebook to ‘fess up

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This week is a mini-plenary week (10-11 November), when MEPs and the whole machinery of parliament are spared the drudgery of packing up their goods and chattels and heading off to Strasbourg to vote. 

That’s right, it’s perfectly possible to avoid the trip to Strasbourg and hold the plenary right here in Brussels. A solvable problem that would reduce costs and the institution's carbon footprint, which will almost certainly never happen.

The mini-plenary also means that it’s a mini-committee week and the week will kick off with Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen. Haugen’s revelations showed how the company was unable and/or unwilling to rein in its most damaging consequences and requires more effective regulation. The hearing is well-timed coming two weeks ahead of Commissioner Jourova’s proposal on online political advertising and on disinformation (23 November).

The hearing is organized by the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee who are also on the verge of adopting reports on the Digital Markets and Digital Services Act (DSA). 

Christel Schaldemose (S&D, Denmark), lead MEP on the DSA report, said the revelations will have an impact on the DSA and therefore European users of Facebook and other platforms in the near future. The discussion will kick off at 16:45.

In other tech news, Google/Alphabet will find out this week (10 November) if the European Court of Justice will uphold the €2.42 billion Commission fine for abuse of a dominant position it applied in 2017. The Commission found that Google has abused its market dominance as a search engine by giving an illegal advantage to another Google product, its comparison shopping service.

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Digital Euro

The Eurogroup will meet on Monday (8 November), ministers will - among other things - have the first of four themed discussions on the digital euro. The discussions will consider the policy objectives and the uses of a digital euro given the fast pace of digitaliszation of the global economy. 

The Eurogroup (in inclusive format, all 27 states represented) have agreed that sufficient progress has been made to introduce a backstop under the European Stability Mechanism facility for the Single Resolution Fund ahead of schedule. The SRF and its backstop will only be used in a crisis and after all other measures have been exhausted. 

Economic and finance ministers will discuss economic governance and recovery on Tuesday (9 November), including the incorporation of the European Pillar of Social Rights in the bi-annual 'European Semester' assessment. Ministers will also discuss the Commission’s proposals presented at the end of October (27) review of EU banking rules (the Capital Requirements Regulation and the Capital Requirements Directive).

Trade

On 11 November, there will be a Foreign Affairs Council focused on trade issues. The agenda includes a discussion on World Trade Organization (WTO) reform and preparations for the next WTO Ministerial Conference, an informal exchange of views with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and a brief update on the state of play with other bilateral trade negotiations. 

COP26 continues

A Parliamentary delegation will be in Glasgow for the UN COP26 Climate Change Conference. MEPs want accelerated climate action worldwide, all G20 countries to commit to being climate neutral by 2050 and at least $100bn in climate finance per year for developing countries.

European Parliament plenary summary

Corporate tax transparency: A new law obliging multinationals to publicly declare what taxes they pay in each EU country for the benefit of the public and tax authorities, also known as public country-by-country reporting, is set to get the final approval from MEPs (debate on Wednesday (10 November), vote on Thursday (11 November)).

EU Agency for Asylum: MEPs should give the final green light to the creation of the EU Agency for Asylum. The former Asylum Support Office (EASO) will be transformed into a fully-fledged agency and will have greater powers to facilitate cooperation among member states (vote Thursday).

Media Freedom/SLAPP: MEPs will put forward a package of proposals to counteract the threat that Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) pose to journalists, NGOs and civil society (Thursday).

Poland/De facto abortion ban: MEPs will adopt a resolution on the one-year anniversary of the near-total abortion ban in Poland. The controversial ruling made by Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal restricts legal abortion to cases of rape, incest, or when a pregnancy endangers the mother’s life (vote Thursday).

European political parties and foundations: Parliament is set to adopt recommendations to strengthen European democracy. Among the proposals are removing red tape, making donations more transparent and withholding funds from parties that do not comply with EU values (debate and vote on Thursday).

UN High Commissioner for Refugees: Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, will address the Plenary and debate with political groups’ speakers at the start of the session (Wednesday).

Other news

European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič will meet with Lord Frost in London on Friday. The Vice President gave a gloomy assessment of the UK’s engagement with the EU following last week's negotiations, saying that the EU has seen no movement at all from the UK side, despite an ambitious package of measures from the EU. 

And a reminder that the US (finally) agreed to lift its travel ban for EU citizens travelling to the US. Here's Thierry Breton reminding y'all that the EU is the most vaccinated continent on earth.

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