In Strasbourg, prosecutors demand life imprisonment for "Crazy Pierre"
The Associated Press
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
STRASBOURG, France: Prosecutors demanded life imprisonment Wednesday for a man accused of killing two girls and a woman three years ago in a series of macabre murders that shocked France.
Pierre Bodein — nicknamed "Pierrot le fou," or "Crazy Pierre" — is accused of killing and mutilating the bodies of Jeanne-Marie Kegelin, 11, Julie Scharsch, 14, and Edwige Vallee, 38, and of the attempted kidnapping of two more girls in June 2004.
The prosecution said Bodein, who has spent more than 30 years in jail and psychiatric institutions since 1969, savagely murdered and mutilated the three victims in various locations in Alsace, near France's border with Germany. One of the bodies was found floating in a creek, another in a vineyard.
Eighteen other members of the Yenish community — a group of travelers settled in caravans in eastern France — joined Bodein in court as co-defendants accused of various degree of complicity in the crimes. The prosecutors, Manon Brignole and Olivier Bailly, demanded jail terms ranging from 3 to 30 years.
All of the accused have denied any wrongdoing in the closely-watched trial lasting three months.
Judges are not obliged to follow prosecutors' recommendations. The verdict was expected later this week.
Police pointed fingers at Bodein, 59, after finding blood from one of the victims in his car and his blood on her bicycle. They also located Bodein in the area through his mobile phone, and received witness statements linking him to the crimes.
Bodein was conditionally released three months before allegedly committing the murders, after serving more than a decade of a 28-year sentence for various crimes. The sentence was later reduced to 20 years, and Bodein received parole in March 2004, despite warnings from doctors.
Bodein has a history of psychiatric problems, including bouts of schizophrenia in the 1970s, and once escaped from a hospital to set off on a crime spree that included violent attacks against a girl and an elderly woman.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Opinion: Gadhafi's Cynical Game of Blackmail
Opinion: Gadhafi's Cynical Game of Blackmail
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Europeans may breathe a sigh of relief that Libya has commuted the death sentences of Bulgarian nurses. But the entire incident might lead to others blackmailing the West, says DW's Rainer Sollich.
The whole trial was a cynical game of blackmail with foreign hostages -- and a still uncertain outcome. The Gadhafi regime tellingly didn't even consider it necessary to come up with comprehensible charges.
It would have been hard to imagine -- even in many other dictatorships -- that such a bizarre accusation turns into a verdict that's upheld by several courts: The death penalty for foreign medical personnel accused of -- deliberately -- infecting more than 400 Libyan children with the virus that causes AIDS. It doesn't get much more grotesque than this.
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
At least it's clear now that the death penalty will not be executed. One can only hop that that the nurses will soon be transferred to Bulgaria.
But even that's probably also a question of money. It's already clear the families of the HIV-infected children will receive compensation that also partially comes from Europe. It's safe to presume this despite the denials.
One could say that all those involved will benefit in the end. But that's still not certain, and even if that's indeed the case, it still gets more complicated.
The families of the Libyan victims should get any help that's possible, but one shouldn't overlook the fact that the fate of the nurses is still unknown and that they spent eight years -- presumably innocent -- in prison. Reports by international experts documented their innocence in a credible way. According to them, a lack of hygiene in the hospital was responsible for the infections.
It's obvious why these reports were ignored. No Libyan judge could reach a verdict that would blame the state health care system -- and indirectly the ruling class below dictator Moammar Gadhafi -- for the HIV infections of more than 400 children. That's why they searched for a way to save face -- and simply blamed foreign nurses and physicians.
Gadhafi knows exactly who much the Europeans need him and his country. Libya is not only gradually opening up to western markets and possesses large oil reserves, the country is also needed by the Europeans as a bastion against illegal immigration.
The West is also relieved that Libya has renounced terrorism. That's why Gadhafi thinks he can afford to take foreign medical personnel hostage for his interests. Once the foreigners are released, nothing will stand in the way of good relations with the West. Other regimes could learn a lesson from this: how to blackmail western states.
Rainer Sollich heads DW-RADIO's Arabic service (win)
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Europeans may breathe a sigh of relief that Libya has commuted the death sentences of Bulgarian nurses. But the entire incident might lead to others blackmailing the West, says DW's Rainer Sollich.
The whole trial was a cynical game of blackmail with foreign hostages -- and a still uncertain outcome. The Gadhafi regime tellingly didn't even consider it necessary to come up with comprehensible charges.
It would have been hard to imagine -- even in many other dictatorships -- that such a bizarre accusation turns into a verdict that's upheld by several courts: The death penalty for foreign medical personnel accused of -- deliberately -- infecting more than 400 Libyan children with the virus that causes AIDS. It doesn't get much more grotesque than this.
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
At least it's clear now that the death penalty will not be executed. One can only hop that that the nurses will soon be transferred to Bulgaria.
But even that's probably also a question of money. It's already clear the families of the HIV-infected children will receive compensation that also partially comes from Europe. It's safe to presume this despite the denials.
One could say that all those involved will benefit in the end. But that's still not certain, and even if that's indeed the case, it still gets more complicated.
The families of the Libyan victims should get any help that's possible, but one shouldn't overlook the fact that the fate of the nurses is still unknown and that they spent eight years -- presumably innocent -- in prison. Reports by international experts documented their innocence in a credible way. According to them, a lack of hygiene in the hospital was responsible for the infections.
It's obvious why these reports were ignored. No Libyan judge could reach a verdict that would blame the state health care system -- and indirectly the ruling class below dictator Moammar Gadhafi -- for the HIV infections of more than 400 children. That's why they searched for a way to save face -- and simply blamed foreign nurses and physicians.
Gadhafi knows exactly who much the Europeans need him and his country. Libya is not only gradually opening up to western markets and possesses large oil reserves, the country is also needed by the Europeans as a bastion against illegal immigration.
The West is also relieved that Libya has renounced terrorism. That's why Gadhafi thinks he can afford to take foreign medical personnel hostage for his interests. Once the foreigners are released, nothing will stand in the way of good relations with the West. Other regimes could learn a lesson from this: how to blackmail western states.
Rainer Sollich heads DW-RADIO's Arabic service (win)
Reports allege European role in CIA prisoner transfers
Reports allege European role in CIA prisoner transfers
Council of Europe rapporteur Dick Marty brushed aside the threat of legal action - and an interruption from MEP Ioan Mircea Pascu – to reassert his report’s conclusion that illegal prisoner transfers took place on European soil.
Speaking to journalists after talks with parliament's justice and home affairs and foreign affairs committees, Marty, together with European parliament rapporteur Claudio Fava, insisted that people had been detained against international laws and conventions.
“It is disturbing the way in which European governments have been keeping silent on the truth,” he said.
“We want to make sure that this matter is properly thrashed out.”
But in unusual scenes, the press conference was interrupted when Romanian MEP Pascu – one of those named in Marty’s report as having knowledge of the secret detentions – walked up and presented Marty with a written complaint.
Pascu later insisted to reporters that he did not know about any alleged detentions, and repeated his assertion made yesterday with parliament vice president Marek Siwiec that they both totally refuted the findings of the Marty and Fava reports.
Polish MEP Siwiec, also named in Marty’s report, has threatened legal action unless his name is removed.
“How could I hide something from the military when I was defence minister?” asked Pascu. “These accusations are unacceptable.”
But Marty insisted that his report was not about nailing individuals.
"These are not accusations," he said. "If you read the two reports, Romania is just one among a host of other countries mentioned."
"What about Italy, Bosnia, Macedonia and Sweden? It is not right to just focus on Romania."
Marty said that people have been kidnapped, and that this was clearly thanks to the cooperation of intelligence agencies.
He said that a few individuals knew what was going on.
Fava, rapporteur on parliament’s report on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transport and illegal detention of prisoners, said that the conclusions reached by both the European parliament and the council of Europe were largely the same.
"We identified 14 governments who assisted in extraordinary extraditions," he said.
"I stand by the conclusions of the report, and we call on the institutions to assume their responsibility."
Marty added that he had "no reason" to withdraw the names of Siwiec and Pascu, and that he was not prepared to make the apology demanded by the two MEPs.
"He (Siwiec) knew exactly what was happening," he said. "To be threatened by prosecution suggests someone kicking out."
Marty added that he was not "shaking in his shoes" at the prospect of legal action.
"As part of political debate, one is entitled to make political statements," he said.
Meanwhile Marty’s conclusions were welcomed by MEP Sarah Ludford, who was the vice-chair of the European parliament's own temporary committee on the subject.
“He (Marty) has been consistently supported by the ALDE group and the majority of MEPs, who shared the broad conclusions of his enquiry reports," she said.
"That Dick Marty has placed blame on some countries and individuals based on confidential information is due to member states' failure - condemned also by MEPs - to enquire properly into CIA flights and detention on their soil,” she added.
Strasbourg Ruling Backs Trepashkin
Demonstrators holding signs Thursday on Triumfalnaya Ploshchad. One calls Trepashkin the "conscience of the FSB."
Strasbourg Ruling Backs Trepashkin
By Natalya Krainova
Staff Writer
The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday ruled that Russia violated the human rights of former Federal Security Services officer Mikhail Trepashkin during his 2003 detention, saying it "amounted to degrading treatment."
The Strasbourg-based court ordered Russia to pay Trepashkin 3,000 euros ($4,150) in compensation, ruling that he had been abused while being held from October to December 2003 in a dark, 6.6-square-meter cell with no access to physical exercise.
"Moreover, the applicant suffered from bronchial asthma, which would certainly have intensified the negative affects," the seven-judge panel said. "The fact that the applicant's detention was unlawful only exacerbated his mental anguish."
Thursday's ruling was the first in three complaints filed to the court by Trepashkin, who is serving out a four-year sentence in a Sverdlovsk region prison after being convicted in 2004 of divulging state secrets and illegal possession of ammunition.
Trepashkin says the FSB fabricated the charges against him because it was displeased with his critical investigation into the 1999 apartment bombings on Ulitsa Guryanova and Kashirskoye Shosse in Moscow and the 2002 Dubrovka theater hostage-taking.
Trepashkin had a theory that the FSB could have had a hand both in the apartment bombings, which were part of the reason why then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered federal forces back into Chechnya in 1999, a move that sent his popularity ratings sky-high.
Trepashkin's two pending complaints in Strasbourg charge that Russia has violated his right to a fair trial and his right to medical care, his lawyer, Yelena Lipster, said Thursday.
Lipster called Thursday's ruling a "good decision" and said it could give hope to other prisoners for improvement in the conditions of their incarceration. She noted, however, that similar rulings by the court on conditions in Russian prisons had done little so far to improve the situation.
Svetlana Gannushkina, of the human rights watchdog Memorial, called the ruling disappointing.
"The virtual torture of Trepashkin was appraised at just 3,000 euros," Gannushkina said. "This is small money for the state. Russia will pay it easily, but incarceration conditions won't change and tortures will continue."
But Lipster said proving that Trepashkin's rights had been violated was the goal.
Russians file more cases in Strasbourg than people in any other Council of Europe member country, after exhausting their options in Russian courts.
President Vladimir Putin said in February that some of the court's decisions regarding Russia were politically motivated.
Trepashkin said in a letter released in December that authorities had put him in a cell contaminated with poisonous chemicals and threatened to kill him after his arrest.
Judge Seeks to Slow Appeals to Strasbourg
Judge Seeks to Slow Appeals to Strasbourg
The Associated Press
MOSCOW — The Constitutional Court’s chairman is calling for legislation barring Russian citizens from appealing to the European Court of Human Rights before exhausting all domestic legal possibilities.
The comments by Valery Zorkin on Saturday came just days after the European court handed down the latest verdict against Russia stemming from human rights abuses in Chechnya. His call is also the latest criticism of the court to be voiced by senior officials, who are incensed with growing number of appeals by Russians and the growing number of cases that Russia is losing.
Zorkin said the European court was essentially subverting Russia’s judicial system by allowing appeals before Russia’s top courts — the Supreme and Constitutional courts — had heard the cases.
“This also cuts off the summit of the judiciary pyramid in our country,” Zorkin said, Interfax reported.
“By replacing the Supreme and Arbitration courts, and partially the Constitutional Court, the European court, which is a supranational body, plays the role of a national tier of judiciary, which is at odds with its nature and tasks,” he said. He also suggested that procedures at Russia’s top courts be simplified.
Dozens of rights cases are pending before the Strasbourg-based court, and Moscow has been ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of euros to victims of the Chechen conflict. Human rights activists say the fact that Russia accounts for the largest number cases filed to the European court is an indicator of Russians’ frustration with domestic courts.
On Thursday, meanwhile, the court ruled that Russian authorities were responsible for the presumed killing of a former speaker of the Chechen parliament in 2000, and ordered Moscow to pay his mother $54,000 in damages.
The European court’s chairman in May urged Russia to approve reforms of the court that the parliament has blocked. Russia is the only member of the 46-nation Council of Europe, the European rights watchdog that runs the court, that has not yet ratified the reforms so that they can come into force.
The Associated Press
MOSCOW — The Constitutional Court’s chairman is calling for legislation barring Russian citizens from appealing to the European Court of Human Rights before exhausting all domestic legal possibilities.
The comments by Valery Zorkin on Saturday came just days after the European court handed down the latest verdict against Russia stemming from human rights abuses in Chechnya. His call is also the latest criticism of the court to be voiced by senior officials, who are incensed with growing number of appeals by Russians and the growing number of cases that Russia is losing.
Zorkin said the European court was essentially subverting Russia’s judicial system by allowing appeals before Russia’s top courts — the Supreme and Constitutional courts — had heard the cases.
“This also cuts off the summit of the judiciary pyramid in our country,” Zorkin said, Interfax reported.
“By replacing the Supreme and Arbitration courts, and partially the Constitutional Court, the European court, which is a supranational body, plays the role of a national tier of judiciary, which is at odds with its nature and tasks,” he said. He also suggested that procedures at Russia’s top courts be simplified.
Dozens of rights cases are pending before the Strasbourg-based court, and Moscow has been ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of euros to victims of the Chechen conflict. Human rights activists say the fact that Russia accounts for the largest number cases filed to the European court is an indicator of Russians’ frustration with domestic courts.
On Thursday, meanwhile, the court ruled that Russian authorities were responsible for the presumed killing of a former speaker of the Chechen parliament in 2000, and ordered Moscow to pay his mother $54,000 in damages.
The European court’s chairman in May urged Russia to approve reforms of the court that the parliament has blocked. Russia is the only member of the 46-nation Council of Europe, the European rights watchdog that runs the court, that has not yet ratified the reforms so that they can come into force.
A Brain Chemical That Battles Despair
A Brain Chemical That Battles Despair
Science Daily — Researchers have identified a gene-regulating protein in the brains of mice that triggers the animals' ability to cope with the "behavioral despair" caused by inescapable stress. They said their studies have yielded an animal model of resilience that they will use to explore how antidepressants work on the brain circuitry involved in such stress response.
Led by Eric Nestler, the researchers published their findings in the July 19, 2007, issue of the journal Neuron, published by Cell Press.
In earlier studies, Nestler and his colleagues showed that exposure to repeated stress caused an increase in a protein called FosB in the brain. This protein is a "transcription factor," a regulatory protein that controls the activity of multiple target genes.
In the new experiments, they sought to explore the role of FosB in regulating adaptation to stress. Their approach involved first exposing mice to random shocks from which the animals could not escape. Such repeated exposure to inescapable stress tends to increase the lag time for mice to escape subsequent shocks, when they are given the chance to escape. Measuring this lag time, or the complete failure to escape, gave the researchers a measure of "behavioral despair." This experimental approach has long been used as an animal model of human "affective disorders" such as depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and bipolar disorder. As in humans with such disorders, this behavioral despair in mice responds to antidepressants.
Nestler and colleagues discovered that the mice that showed the smallest lag in escape times also had higher levels of FosB in a brain region involved in processing of pain signals and defensive responses. In contrast, animals with either longer escape lag times or failure to escape showed lower FosB levels.
What's more, when the researchers introduced higher levels of the gene for FosB into mice, they found it reduced the level of behavioral despair as reflected in their readiness to escape shocks.
The researchers also established that increased FosB levels in the mice decreased the activity of the gene for a protein called "substance P¡" known to regulate processes such as mood, pain sensitivity, anxiety, and stress
"Our present results provide a fundamentally novel and testable model for the mechanisms of resilience," concluded the researchers. "Our future studies will test the hypothesis that antidepressant treatments may enhance resilience by stimulating these same adaptive processes which occur spontaneously in some, but not all, of the individuals in a population exposed to chronic stress," they wrote.
The researchers include Olivier Berton, Herbert E. Covington 3rd, Nadia M. Tsankova, Tiffany L. Carle, Paula Ulery, Akshay Bhonsle, Vaishnav Krishnan, Shari Birnbaum, and Eric J. Nestler of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas; Michel Barrot of European Neuroscience Institute of Strasbourg and Unit Mixte de Recherche 7519, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/Universit Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg; Karl Ebner, Georg M. Singewald, and Nicolas Singewald of University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck; Rachael L. Neve of Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, Belmont.
This work was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, and la Fondation pour la Recherche Medicale.
Berton et al.: "Induction of ¦ÄFosB in the Periaqueductal Gray by Stress Promotes Active Coping Responses." Publishing in Neuron 55, 289¨C300, July 19, 2007. DOI 10.1016/j.neuron.2007.06.033. http://www.neuron.org.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Cell Press.
Science Daily — Researchers have identified a gene-regulating protein in the brains of mice that triggers the animals' ability to cope with the "behavioral despair" caused by inescapable stress. They said their studies have yielded an animal model of resilience that they will use to explore how antidepressants work on the brain circuitry involved in such stress response.
Led by Eric Nestler, the researchers published their findings in the July 19, 2007, issue of the journal Neuron, published by Cell Press.
In earlier studies, Nestler and his colleagues showed that exposure to repeated stress caused an increase in a protein called FosB in the brain. This protein is a "transcription factor," a regulatory protein that controls the activity of multiple target genes.
In the new experiments, they sought to explore the role of FosB in regulating adaptation to stress. Their approach involved first exposing mice to random shocks from which the animals could not escape. Such repeated exposure to inescapable stress tends to increase the lag time for mice to escape subsequent shocks, when they are given the chance to escape. Measuring this lag time, or the complete failure to escape, gave the researchers a measure of "behavioral despair." This experimental approach has long been used as an animal model of human "affective disorders" such as depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and bipolar disorder. As in humans with such disorders, this behavioral despair in mice responds to antidepressants.
Nestler and colleagues discovered that the mice that showed the smallest lag in escape times also had higher levels of FosB in a brain region involved in processing of pain signals and defensive responses. In contrast, animals with either longer escape lag times or failure to escape showed lower FosB levels.
What's more, when the researchers introduced higher levels of the gene for FosB into mice, they found it reduced the level of behavioral despair as reflected in their readiness to escape shocks.
The researchers also established that increased FosB levels in the mice decreased the activity of the gene for a protein called "substance P¡" known to regulate processes such as mood, pain sensitivity, anxiety, and stress
"Our present results provide a fundamentally novel and testable model for the mechanisms of resilience," concluded the researchers. "Our future studies will test the hypothesis that antidepressant treatments may enhance resilience by stimulating these same adaptive processes which occur spontaneously in some, but not all, of the individuals in a population exposed to chronic stress," they wrote.
The researchers include Olivier Berton, Herbert E. Covington 3rd, Nadia M. Tsankova, Tiffany L. Carle, Paula Ulery, Akshay Bhonsle, Vaishnav Krishnan, Shari Birnbaum, and Eric J. Nestler of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas; Michel Barrot of European Neuroscience Institute of Strasbourg and Unit Mixte de Recherche 7519, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/Universit Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg; Karl Ebner, Georg M. Singewald, and Nicolas Singewald of University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck; Rachael L. Neve of Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, Belmont.
This work was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, and la Fondation pour la Recherche Medicale.
Berton et al.: "Induction of ¦ÄFosB in the Periaqueductal Gray by Stress Promotes Active Coping Responses." Publishing in Neuron 55, 289¨C300, July 19, 2007. DOI 10.1016/j.neuron.2007.06.033. http://www.neuron.org.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Cell Press.
Strasbourg Plenary session: 9-12 July - what's on?
Strasbourg Plenary session: 9-12 July - what's on?
Institutions - 06-07-2007 - 17:12
Some post bags ©BELGA/BELPRESS/Dupont Christian
Sackfuls of controversy likely as postal services are debated on Tuesday
The July Plenary sees Portugal's PM José Sócrates set out his goals for his country's Presidency of the EU on Wednesday. EC President José Manuel Barroso will also attend. The week also sees MEPs vote on the last stage of liberalisation of postal services. Jean-Claude Trichet will brief Parliament on the activities of the Europe's Central Bank. MEPs will also call for airline tickets to have clearer information on taxes and charges. Members also consider measuring devices containing mercury.
Monday 9 July
Food additives: The session opens with a joint debate on food additives. Parliament will be asked to approve a set of four regulations aimed at updating procedures for authorising food additives, flavourings and enzymes.
Gas and electricity market: The House will debate an own-initiative report in the internal gas and electricity market. The internal energy market should allow "consumer choice of supplier in an open competitive environment".
Measuring devices containing mercury: Later on Monday evening the House will debate the issue of measuring devices containing mercury. Parliament will be asked to approve a ban on non-electrical mercury thermometers and other mercury instruments for general sale to the public (second reading stage).
Passenger name records (PNR): On Monday evening the House will debate the latest developments on passenger name records (PNR) and the EU-US agreement. MEPs will vote on a resolution on Tuesday.
Rome II: The House will be asked to approve a conciliation agreement on the regulation on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations, known as Rome II.
Tuesday 10 July
Postal services MEPs will debate and vote on a first reading report on postal services. Remaining postal service monopolies in the EU should expire by 31 December 2010, two years later than the deadline proposed by the Commission - according to a report being put forward by the Transport Committee. Full market opening should mean that national operators will no longer have a monopoly on mail below the maximum weight of 50 grams. The vote will take place on Wednesday.
Airfares: In order to avoid the current practice of some air carriers, i.e. publishing air fares without any taxes and charges, the Transport Committee says that passengers should be provided with a full breakdown of any taxes, fees and charges added to the ticket price.
Posting of workers: MEPs will also debate the posting of workers on Tuesday.
Wednesday 11 July
Portuguese Presidency: The centre-piece of the July Strasbourg plenary is the presentation of the Portuguese EU Presidency programme. At 9am on Wednesday the Portuguese Prime Minister, José Sócrates, will discuss with MEPs his country's priorities for the next six months. These will include finalising the reform treaty, relaunching the Lisbon economic agenda and a fresh focus on Africa, the Mediterranean and Brazil. Mr Sócrates' compatriot, Commission President José Manuel Barroso, will take part in the debate.
IGC: Before formally launching an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), the European Parliament must be consulted. The European Parliament will give its opinion through a vote on a report on the issue.
EP Calendar: The House will also vote on the European Parliament's calendar for 2008. The dates for Brussels and Strasbourg plenary sessions will be decided.
Darfur: MEPs will also vote on Wednesday on a resolution on the situation in Darfur. A delegation of five MEPs from the EP Development Committee were in Darfur from 30 June to 6 July, where they visited camps of displaced people in Darfur as well as camps of Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad.
European Central Bank / Eurogroup: MEPs will debate the policies of the European Central Bank and the Eurogroup. They will be joined by Chair of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet and Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia
Foreign affairs: Wednesday afternoon sees debates on Palestine, Pakistan, Kosovo and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. They will vote on a resolution on Palestine and Pakistan.
Kosovo: On 29 March Parliament gave its full support to the Ahtisaari proposal for a status settlement, stating that "sovereignty supervised by the international community is the best option" for securing the objectives of a peaceful, self-sustaining Kosovo.
On the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's progress towards EU membership; a Foreign Affairs Committee report welcomes reforms and recent agreements between the government and opposition on the use of Albanian in public institutions and the protection of ethnic minorities in decision-making.
Thursday 12 July
Ukraine: In an own-initiative report the Foreign Affairs Committee calls on Ukraine's politicians to resolve the current crisis peacefully, unravel political from economic powers, weed out corruption and ensure an independent judiciary, as well as further integrating Ukraine's energy markets with those of the European Union.
Human rights: The session ends with three debates and votes on human rights around the world. On this occasion, the topics are: the humanitarian situation of Iraqi refugees, human rights violations in Transnistria (Moldova) and human rights in Vietnam.
REF.: 20070705STO08853
Institutions - 06-07-2007 - 17:12
Some post bags ©BELGA/BELPRESS/Dupont Christian
Sackfuls of controversy likely as postal services are debated on Tuesday
The July Plenary sees Portugal's PM José Sócrates set out his goals for his country's Presidency of the EU on Wednesday. EC President José Manuel Barroso will also attend. The week also sees MEPs vote on the last stage of liberalisation of postal services. Jean-Claude Trichet will brief Parliament on the activities of the Europe's Central Bank. MEPs will also call for airline tickets to have clearer information on taxes and charges. Members also consider measuring devices containing mercury.
Monday 9 July
Food additives: The session opens with a joint debate on food additives. Parliament will be asked to approve a set of four regulations aimed at updating procedures for authorising food additives, flavourings and enzymes.
Gas and electricity market: The House will debate an own-initiative report in the internal gas and electricity market. The internal energy market should allow "consumer choice of supplier in an open competitive environment".
Measuring devices containing mercury: Later on Monday evening the House will debate the issue of measuring devices containing mercury. Parliament will be asked to approve a ban on non-electrical mercury thermometers and other mercury instruments for general sale to the public (second reading stage).
Passenger name records (PNR): On Monday evening the House will debate the latest developments on passenger name records (PNR) and the EU-US agreement. MEPs will vote on a resolution on Tuesday.
Rome II: The House will be asked to approve a conciliation agreement on the regulation on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations, known as Rome II.
Tuesday 10 July
Postal services MEPs will debate and vote on a first reading report on postal services. Remaining postal service monopolies in the EU should expire by 31 December 2010, two years later than the deadline proposed by the Commission - according to a report being put forward by the Transport Committee. Full market opening should mean that national operators will no longer have a monopoly on mail below the maximum weight of 50 grams. The vote will take place on Wednesday.
Airfares: In order to avoid the current practice of some air carriers, i.e. publishing air fares without any taxes and charges, the Transport Committee says that passengers should be provided with a full breakdown of any taxes, fees and charges added to the ticket price.
Posting of workers: MEPs will also debate the posting of workers on Tuesday.
Wednesday 11 July
Portuguese Presidency: The centre-piece of the July Strasbourg plenary is the presentation of the Portuguese EU Presidency programme. At 9am on Wednesday the Portuguese Prime Minister, José Sócrates, will discuss with MEPs his country's priorities for the next six months. These will include finalising the reform treaty, relaunching the Lisbon economic agenda and a fresh focus on Africa, the Mediterranean and Brazil. Mr Sócrates' compatriot, Commission President José Manuel Barroso, will take part in the debate.
IGC: Before formally launching an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), the European Parliament must be consulted. The European Parliament will give its opinion through a vote on a report on the issue.
EP Calendar: The House will also vote on the European Parliament's calendar for 2008. The dates for Brussels and Strasbourg plenary sessions will be decided.
Darfur: MEPs will also vote on Wednesday on a resolution on the situation in Darfur. A delegation of five MEPs from the EP Development Committee were in Darfur from 30 June to 6 July, where they visited camps of displaced people in Darfur as well as camps of Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad.
European Central Bank / Eurogroup: MEPs will debate the policies of the European Central Bank and the Eurogroup. They will be joined by Chair of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet and Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia
Foreign affairs: Wednesday afternoon sees debates on Palestine, Pakistan, Kosovo and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. They will vote on a resolution on Palestine and Pakistan.
Kosovo: On 29 March Parliament gave its full support to the Ahtisaari proposal for a status settlement, stating that "sovereignty supervised by the international community is the best option" for securing the objectives of a peaceful, self-sustaining Kosovo.
On the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's progress towards EU membership; a Foreign Affairs Committee report welcomes reforms and recent agreements between the government and opposition on the use of Albanian in public institutions and the protection of ethnic minorities in decision-making.
Thursday 12 July
Ukraine: In an own-initiative report the Foreign Affairs Committee calls on Ukraine's politicians to resolve the current crisis peacefully, unravel political from economic powers, weed out corruption and ensure an independent judiciary, as well as further integrating Ukraine's energy markets with those of the European Union.
Human rights: The session ends with three debates and votes on human rights around the world. On this occasion, the topics are: the humanitarian situation of Iraqi refugees, human rights violations in Transnistria (Moldova) and human rights in Vietnam.
REF.: 20070705STO08853
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