European Parliament’s Conference of Presidents (President and political group leaders) will meet Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday to discuss the use of personal data of millions of Facebook EU users. After the meeting, EP President Antonio Tajani will brief the media on the discussions.
Foreign Affairs Council will meet on Tuesday to discuss trade and development issues. The Council is expected to adopt a decision recommending the opening of negotiations on free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand, as well as the respective negotiating mandates for the European Commission.
Trade agreements with both countries would primarily aim at further reducing existing barriers to trade, removing customs duties on goods and giving better access to services and public procurement in Australia and New Zealand.
Ministers are also due to adopt conclusions on the new architecture and methodology for the negotiation of EU trade agreements. The conclusions tackle in particular the issue of splitting trade provisions related to investment and other areas into separate agreements.
Trade ministers will hold an exchange of views on the trade agreements with Japan and Singapore. The European Commission presented the outcome of negotiations for the two trade agreements in April 2018, in view of their signature and conclusion.
Ministers will also discuss recent developments in EU-U.S. trade relations.
This is in light of the expiry - on June 1 - of the exemptions granted to the EU by the U.S. administration regarding the new tariffs it seeks to impose on steel and aluminum.
The Council will hold an exchange of views on the EU emergency trust fund for Africa (EUTF). Ministers will touch upon the foreign aid budget for the 2021-2027 period, on the basis of the European Commission proposals for the future multiannual financial framework
Education, Youth, Culture and Sports Council will meet in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday. Ministers will hold a policy debate on the potential of universities for regional growth and to promote entrepreneurial and innovative skills. Education ministers are due to adopt conclusions on moving towards a vision of a European education area. The Council will discuss the future priorities for the EU youth policy. The Council will have a policy debate on a long-term vision for the contribution of culture to the EU after 2020.
A special press event with EP President Antonio Tajani will take place on Wednesday. It will mark the start of the 365-day countdown to the next European elections, taking place on May 23-26, 2019.
Budgets Commissioner Gunther Oettinger will present the draft annual EU budget for 2019 to the Budgets Committee on Wednesday. MEPs’ priorities are
growth, innovation, competitiveness, security, fighting climate change, the transition to renewable energy and migration.
Updated EU-wide principles for road charging that aim to boost cleaner road transport and ensure fair treatment of road users, will be up for a vote in the
Transport Committee on Thursday. They include a proposal to progressively introduce only distance-based tolls, instead of time-based ones. These rules will apply when an EU country already has, or decides to introduce, charges for road transport.
The Euro Group will meet on Thursday in Brussels.
Economic and Financial Affairs Council will gather in Brussels on Friday.
Ministers will be called on to agree on measures aimed at reducing risks in the banking industry, strengthening rules on capital requirements and on the recovery and resolution of banks in difficulty.
They will also assess 'in-depth reviews' of macroeconomic imbalances, and discuss projections for age-related expenditure in the member states.
The Council is expected to approve measures to boost administrative cooperation in the area of VAT. It may be called on to agree on two other VAT proposals: reduced rates for e-publications and an optional reversal of liability to prevent fraud.
Ministers are expected to make adjustments to the EU's list of non-cooperative jurisdictions in taxation matters, and to approve a standard provision on taxation to be included in agreements with third countries.
The Council is also expected to adopt directives making permanent the minimum standard rate of VAT currently in force, and boosting transparency regarding tax intermediaries.
The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) enters into force on Friday, May 25.
