A quick glance at the main forthcoming events in the European Union including EU Council, Commission and Parliament meetings and other EU-related conferences and events. Events for the week of 1-5 April 2019.
On Monday 1 April, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker visited Rome, Italy, starting with a meeting with Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of Italy.
The Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Karmenu Vella will be in Beijing, China (until 03/04) to co-chairs the “EU – China Environment Policy Dialogue”, with Mr Li Ganjie, Minister for Ecology and Environment of China.
In the European Parliament, Brussels, a series of European Parliament Committee Meetings are scheduled including that of the Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) and the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) where there will be an exchange of views with Fabrice Leggeri, Executive Director of Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.
The European Central Bank delivers it’s annual report 2018 with an exchange of views following the presentation of the by the ECB Vice-President, Luis De Guindos. On the same day, the Committee on Legal Affairs will have an exchange of views with representatives of the European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence on the “Draft Ethics Guidelines for trustworthy Artificial Intelligence” as well as the presentation of the study commissioned by the Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs on Artificial Intelligence and Civil Law: liability rules for drones.
Tuesday 2 April, The award ceremony of the #EUMovers social media contest will take place in Brussels. To celebrate 60 years of social security coordination and 50 years of free movement in the EU, the European Commission encouraged citizens who have benefited from these rights to share their story on social media. The #EUMovers campaign ran from 22 October to 21 December 2018.
Also the annual conference organised by the European Commission, The European Forum on the rights of the child, opens in Brussels. It gathers key actors from EU countries (as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and the Western Balkans), international organisations, NGOs, Ombudspersons for children, practitioners, academics, and EU institutions to promote good practice on the rights of the child. This year it will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the rights of the child and the 10th anniversary of entry into force of the EU Charter of the fundamental right.
On the same day, in Cascais, Portugal, the 4th Union for the Mediterranean ministerial conference on employment and labour opens.
Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the European Commission, visits the Keukenhof tulip garden in Lisse, the Netherlands, to dedicate a special tulip to HE Ambassador Peter Kok, who passed away last year.
Wednesday 3 April, Federica Mogherini, the EU Foreign Policy Head, delivers a speech at the conference “Food Security in Times of Crises”, in Brussels. In Beijing, China, Karmenu Vella meets EU business representatives from the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC) involved in environmental issues. In Brussels the European Migration Forum, the dialogue platform on migration, asylum and migrant integration, opens. This year, the forum’s theme is: ‘From global to local governance of migration: How to ensure safe and regular pathways to the EU’.
It focuses on safe and regular migration, for humanitarian and other reasons, including a reflection on how to implement the Global Compacts on migration and refugees, and on the role that the civil society organisations and other local actors can play in this interaction between the international and the local dimension.
On Wednesday as well, during the European Parliament Committee Meetings, Parliament is set to debate the state of play on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU with the Council and the Commission.
Thursday 4 April, MEPs in Brussels will adopt new legislation on the EU gas market to ensure that the same rules will apply both to gas pipelines inside the EU and to those coming into the EU from non-EU countries. Members will also vote on a proposal to limit member states’ ability to introduce temporary border controls within the Schengen area to a maximum period of one year, instead of two.
On the same day the European Innovation Council (EIC) pilot of the European Commission is organising an exclusive pitching event dedicated to empowering women innovators. Participants will have the opportunity to pitch their business to top-tier European investors, meet with like-minded women entrepreneurs and investors, and discuss how to tackle the financing gap for women entrepreneurs.
Friday 5 April, Federica Mogherini will be in St. Malo/Dinant, France to participate in the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. The Eurogroup also holds it’s informal meeting of economic and financial affairs ministers.
