The European Parliament’s first plenary session in February starting this afternoon (3 February) will see controversial votes on copyright issues, seasonal workers and gay rights.  

On Tuesday morning, the plenary will debate, and vote on, a reform that is supposed to make collecting societies more transparent and to make it easier to license music for online distribution. It will also hold a debate and vote on criminal sanctions for insider dealing and market manipulation.  

The votes on Tuesday also include the appointment of Klaus-Heiner Lehne the centre-right German who chairs the legal affairs committee, to the European Court of Auditors. A report by Lehne on insolvency is also scheduled for a vote.  

MEPs will vote on Tuesday on a controversial report by Ulrike Lunacek, an Austrian green, calling for an ‘EU Roadmap against homophobia and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity’. Conservative Catholic MEPs have been lobbying against adoption of the report, which they say violates the principle of subsidiary and would force member states to accept homosexuality. A petition against the report has gathered 184,000 signatures. The report asks the European Commission to extend the same protection against discrimination to sexual orientation as currently exists for race or gender. 

Giorgio Napolitano, the president of Italy, is scheduled to address the plenary tomorrow at midday – another national leader making what are now routine appearances at the Parliament.  

On Tuesday afternoon, MEPs will discuss ways to protect the EU against the dumping of imports. They will hear statements from the Council of Ministers and the European Commission on a tax on financial transactions and discuss a report on targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, recommending that the Commission set three binding targets. A vote is expected on Wednesday.  

Also on Wednesday morning, the plenary will debate and vote on rules for seasonal workers and on air passengers’ rights. A vote on a report by Carlo Casini, a centre-right Italian, on voting in committees has been postponed. 

The afternoon session on Wednesday will consider foreign affairs, including developments in the Central African Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Ukraine, with Štefan Füle, the European commissioner for enlargement and neighbourhood policy. Thursday is, as is the custom, reserved for a debate on human rights and democracy.

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