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Plenary, Strasbourg Tobacco. A proposed law to make tobacco less attractive to young people, for example by banning sweet or fruity flavours, is to be put to a vote. The draft, as amended by the Public Health Committee, would also require more health warnings on packets and subject electronic cigarettes to EU rules on medicinal products. (Debate and vote Tuesday)NSA snooping/SWIFT. MEPs and Commissioner Malmström will discuss whether the EU should put on hold the Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP) in response to the NSA's alleged tapping of the SWIFT company's international bank-transfer data. (Wednesday)Shale gas. EU rules on environmental impact assessments could also apply to shale gas extraction projects in future, if Parliament supports Environment Committee proposals to update the existing legislation. (Wednesday)Pilot flight tim...

European Semester economic policy coordination needs many fixes, not least to take proper account of growth, employment, investment and social concerns, warned the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in a resolution voted on Monday. MEPs also called for more rules to ensure economic convergence and again underlined that democratic accountability and ownership must be improved.
Committee on Economic and Monetary AffairsSource : © European Union, 2013 - EP

The finalists for this year’s Sakharov Prize have been named as Belarusian political prisoners Ales Bialatski, Eduard Lobau and Mykola Statkevich, NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden and Pakistani campaigner for girls' education Malala Yousafzai. The laureate will be selected by EP president Martin Schulz and the leaders of the political groups on 10 October and the ceremony will take place in Strasbourg on 20 November.
Committee on Development
Committee on Foreign AffairsSource : © European Union, 2013 - EP

The possibility of suspending EU-US trade talks, the idea of creating international standards of privacy protection and the need for genuine parliamentary oversight of surveillance activities were among the issues discussed on Monday at the fourth hearing of the Civil Liberties Committee inquiry into US and EU countries' spying on EU citizens.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home AffairsSource : © European Union, 2013 - EP

Belarusian political prisoners Ales Bialatski, Eduard Lobau and Mykola Statkevich, US spying whistleblower Edward Snowden and Pakistani campaigner for girls' education Malala Yousafzai are the shortlisted finalists for this year's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The laureate will be announced on 10 October, and the €50,000 prize will be awarded in Strasbourg on 20 November.
Subcommittee on Human Rights
Committee on Development
Committee on Foreign AffairsSource : © European Union, 2013 - EP

Transport MEPs voted against new flight time limitation measures on Monday. MEPs rejected the adaptation of current rules on on-duty and rest times for pilots and cabin crew and asked the European Commission to come up with another proposal as a matter of urgency. The rejection by the transport committee will now go to the full House for a vote in plenary.
Committee on Transport and TourismSource : © European Union, 2013 - EP

Legislation for the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was endorsed by the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee on Monday, following last week's informal agreement in talks between Parliament, the Council and the Commission.
Committee on Agriculture and Rural DevelopmentSource : © European Union, 2013 - EP

General : The reform of the EU's agricultural policy is one of the main points on the EP's agenda this week. The three finalists for the 2013 Sakharov Prize will also be announced and there will be another hearing about the NSA surveillance of Europeans. In addition the budgets committee will vote on next year's EU budget, which is aimed at boosting growth and creating jobs for young people.Source : © European Union, 2013 - EP

Committees and political groups meetings, BrusselsSource : © European Union, 2013 - EP

European businesses are losing billions of euros by paying for inclusion in business directories that are either fake or insignificant. They also get pestered by non-existing patent organisations or chambers of commerce. The internal market committee adopted on 26 September recommendations on how to fight these misleading marketing practices. We talked to report author Cornelis de Jong, a Dutch member of the GUE/NGL group, about how the EU can help stop these scams.Source : © European Union, 2013 - EP

Medical devices are in need of a health check following recent scandals with breast and hip implants across Europe. New rules requiring stricter safety checks were approved by the Parliament's public health committee on 25 September. MEPs also called for stricter rules on informed consent on DNA testing. The new rules are expected to be put to a vote in plenary at the end of October.Source : © European Union, 2013 - EP

A universal charger for all mobile phones should be introduced to cut costs and waste for users, proposed the Internal Market Committee on Thursday, in an amendment to a draft law on radio equipment. The committee also cut some red tape, by deleting a rule that would have required manufacturers to register certain categories of devices before placing them on the market.
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer ProtectionSource : © European Union, 2013 - EP

Attracting new participants, strengthening support for small firms and better controlling EU spending are the key aims achieved by Industry and Research Committee MEPs on Thursday when they approved the research and innovation programme Horizon 2020 and the SMEs programme COSME.
Committee on Industry, Research and EnergySource : © European Union, 2013 - EP

Are allegations of the NSA misusing SWIFT banking data true and if so, should this lead to cooperation on terrorism being suspended? These are the questions dealt with during the third hearing of the civil liberties committee's inquiry into the electronic mass surveillance of Europeans on 24 September. If the SWIFT allegations are proved true, it could have consequences for the EU-US Terrorist Finance Tracking (TFTP) programme, which aims to detect terrorist plots and the people involved.Source : © European Union, 2013 - EP

Stricter monitoring, stronger certification bodies, better traceability: following several recent scandals like the PIP breast implant and the hip "metal on metal", health MEPs amended draft legislation in order to better protect patients on Wednesday. They also introduced stricter rules on informed consent and ethics in a separate law on in vitro diagnostic medical devices, used for example for HIV and DNA testing.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food SafetySource : © European Union, 2013 - EP

Parliament and Council negotiators reached a deal Tuesday evening on outstanding Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform issues such as co-financing rates for rural development and cuts to payments to big farms, after the Council showed flexibility on issues of crucial importance to Parliament: The deal was based on the new mandate adopted on 23 September by the Agriculture and Fisheries Council.
Committee on Agriculture and Rural DevelopmentSource : © European Union, 2013 - EP

Economic growth is slowly returning to Europe thanks to the EU's response to the crisis, yet countries still have much to do to improve their competitiveness, according to Klaus Regling. As the managing director of the European Stability Mechanism, which is tasked with giving financial aid to troubled countries, Mr Regling is one of the best placed people to comment on how the eurozone is doing at the moment. But although he is cautiously optimistic, he warned that the crisis is not over yet.Source : © European Union, 2013 - EP

The European Stability Mechanism's current legal setup would not allow it to become a "backstop" lender to a newly-created EU bank resolution fund, ESM Managing Director Klaus Regling told Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs on Tuesday. Pressed repeatedly on the matter, Mr Regling did however concede that he was open to considering other possible legal interpretations which could justify this role for the ESM.
Committee on Economic and Monetary AffairsSource : © European Union, 2013 - EP