The European Parliament session begins in Strasbourg. Its main point will be a debate with Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The head of the Polish government will present the priorities of the Polish presidency on Wednesday. MEPs will also discuss relations with the USA after the inauguration of Donald Trump.
The agenda of the four-day meeting of the European Parliament also included the issue of the dispute over Elon Musk's Platform X and Russian attempts to destroy infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.
European Parliament is also expected to adopt a resolution condemning the repression Belarus. Next Sunday, the country is to hold “presidential elections”, which the opposition calls “no-elections”, and which are intended to help dictator Alexander Lukashenko stay in power for the seventh consecutive term.
On Monday, a motion to waive the immunity of MEP Daniel Obajtek will be read in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Application was transferred on December 19, 2024.
Priorities of the Polish presidency
Prime Minister Tusk will present the priorities of the Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union on Wednesday at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The debate between MEPs and the head of the Polish government will start at 10.30 a.m. and will last nearly two hours. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will participate in it. The Polish presidency began on January 1 and will last six months. The government is implementing it under the slogan “Security, Europe!”. As we read on the EP website, Poland emphasizes that its second Polish presidency falls “at a time of uncertainty and anxiety” in connection with war in Ukrainegrowing geopolitical tensions, migration pressure and declining European competitiveness. Warsaw therefore proposes to strengthen European security in seven dimensions: external, internal, information, economic, energy, food and health.
Polish Presidency of the EU Council. Banner of the campaign welcoming foreign guests to WarsawPAP/Marcin Obara
Poland took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union for the second time in the history of its membership in the Union – the first presidency took place in the second half of 2011. At that time, Tusk, as the head of the Polish government, also presented its priorities in the European Parliament. He then emphasized the need to fight Eurosceptic tendencies in Europe.
New EU regulations and relations with the USA
During the meeting next week, MEPs will also discuss a number of current issues. On Tuesday morning, a discussion was scheduled on the use of EU law to fight illegal content on the Internet and interference in elections.
Responsible for enforcing the EU's new Digital Services Rules (DSA). European Commission. The body supervised by von der Leyen has come under pressure in recent weeks in connection with an interview conducted by Elon Musk, the owner of the X platform, with the leader of the far-right Alternative for German Alice Weidel. On the one hand, the EC was accused of limiting freedom of speech, and on the other – of being too slow in enforcing the new law, which allows for imposing penalties on platforms for improper content moderation.
After the debate on the platforms, MEPs will discuss the future of the European Union's relations with the United States in connection with Donald Trump's inauguration as president. “The debate is expected to focus on support for Ukraine, relations with Russia, China, the Middle East, climate change and trade. MEPs are also expected to raise security issues, in light of Donald Trump's repeated demands for Europe to spend more on defense.” announced the EP.
Destruction of infrastructure in the Baltic Sea and Hungarian spies
On Tuesday, MEPs will also address the issue of Russian attempts to destroy infrastructure in the Baltic Sea in the context of the incident at the end of December 2024 related to damage to undersea transmission cables between Estonia and Finland. The person responsible for this was most likely a Russian tanker belonging to the so-called shadow fleets, i.e. old, often uninsured ships with Russia exports oil, circumventing international sanctions. Already in November 2024, the EP adopted a resolution in which it called for more targeted sanctions to be imposed on these ships.
A debate on illegal spying by… Hungary representatives of EU bodies. These are reports by independent Hungarian investigative journalists, according to which the Information Office of that country allegedly spied on representatives of the EU Anti-Fraud Office OLAF during an investigation in Hungary.
Main photo source: EPA