Germany's decision to close down its nuclear plants stirs debate in the EP, we take a look at the week ahead in Strasbourg, and a UK entry wins the Charlemagne Youth Prize 2011.

The News: Back to fossil fuels? - The week ahead

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after Berlin announces it will close  its reactors before 2022.

A tax for lorries producing  too much pollution creates divisions.

This will be one of the big issues  debated in Strasbourg.

And, we discover who won  this year's Charlemagne Youth Prize.

The Fukushima disaster's consequences  are on the Strasbourg agenda again.

The stress tests starting 1st June  will be at the heart of the debate.

Germany's decision to close its nuclear  plants before 2022 will be a talking point.

It’s possible and feasible to exist  without nuclear power,

but then we definitely need  more coal or gas.

Many experts say it'd be illogical  to close the German plants so quickly

If they were unsafe they should be shut,  but they know they’re safe.

They’re just pandering to political  correctness and emotional panic

caused a stir by announcing  the end of nuclear power.

Eleven years later, the project  is back on the agenda.

We saw a real success story  with renewable energy in Germany,

It's a wonderful story with thousands  and thousands of new jobs

and very good benefits  for companies that followed this.

Ending nuclear power  is reopening a debate in Europe

concerning the energy mix needed  to combat CO2 emissions.

It was a mix in which nuclear power,  until now, had played a significant role.

Polluting lorries will be  on Tuesday's agenda.

The question is whether to allow States  to tax lorries taking main roads.

Owners of lorries over 12 tonnes  are directly affected.

What is new is that in future,  Member States, if they wish to do so,

can also charge for external costs,  such as noise and air pollution.

So 'Let the polluter pay' is the idea  which we are going to vote on.

Tuesday will focus  on the future of Europe.

MEPs will debate  the political challenges facing the EU

and the means allocated to them  after 2013.

In these hard times,  heated debates are likely.

The most important sectors  needing an increase,

will be research and development,  innovation, transport,

trans-European networks  and energy efficiency.

So I need to pass a demand for  a 5% budget increase through the house.

For 2011 alone, the EU budget  came to €126.5 billion.

After German Chancellor Angela Merkel  announced the phasing out

of her country's nuclear plants  before 2022,

the future of nuclear energy will be again  at the centre of discussions on Thursday.

The fourth edition of the Charlemagne  Youth Prize was held in Aachen.

EP President Jerzy Buzek  and Martin Schulz,

head of the Socialists and Democrats,  rewarded the best projects.

245 projects in this competition:  It's great news for us.

All of these projects show that there is  still so much we can do in Europe,

The first prize along with €5000  was awarded to 'Europe & Me',

The jury said it was  a good example of a project

aiming to foster  European consciousness.

We've really tried to carry on  and develop in new ways,

for example, with our new blog so that  people can read about Europe more often

and also with events that we've  organised, including a workshop,

to meet people in real life  and not just in cyberspace.

The second and third prizes went to  a Greek project and a Spanish project

which won €3000  and €2000 respectively.