Agenda plenary session from 9th-12th February 2015, Strasbourg

MEPs will give their input on possible EU counter-terrorism measures in a debate with the Council and Commission on Wednesday at 09.00 and a resolution, also to be voted on Wednesday. This issue will top the agenda at an informal meeting of EU heads of state on government in Brussels on 12 February.

MEPs are to call for an end to impunity in a resolution on US Senate revelations of the CIA’s use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the alleged or acknowledged complicity of some EU member states. The vote takes place on Wednesday.

The grave humanitarian crisis in Syria and Iraq, aggravated by the violence of the so-called Islamic State, will be debated with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Wednesday. Over 7.6 million Syrians have been displaced inside the country, and 3.8 million more have fled to neighbouring ones. In Iraq, over 2.1 million people were displaced in 2014 and the UNHCR estimates that some 330,000 refugees face a winter living in sub-standard shelters. A resolution will be voted on Thursday.

Ideas for an “EU framework for democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights”, to assess whether EU member states live up to their obligations in these areas, will be debated with Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans and the Latvian Presidency on Wednesday evening.

The roles, resources and capabilities of the EU border agency Frontex and the European Asylum Support Office will be debated with the Council and Commission on Wednesday evening.

Meat used as an ingredient in processed foods, such as lasagne, should be made subject to country of origin labelling rules similar to those for fresh beef, MEPs will urge in a debate on Monday evening. A resolution to be voted on Wednesday is likely to urge the Commission to table legislation to this end.

Concerns that patients may be deprived of innovative medicines due to their cost will be back on Parliament’s agenda in a debate with Council and the Commission on Wednesday. The high prices of new treatments for diseases such as Hepatitis C recently prompted MEPs and certain EU member states to reopen the debate on possible EU-wide measures to help patients to access affordable and innovative therapies.