Parliament breaks for Christmas holidays, but EuroparlTV looks ahead to the hottest topics of 2015.

On the Agenda next year

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Hello and welcome to the Agenda.  In the last week before Christmas,

as Parliament winds down,  it’s time to get a little bit festive.

The MEPs have left Brussels, not to visit  Strasbourg's traditional Christmas market

but to attend the last  plenary session of the year.

We took our chances on the ice  in order to bring you next year's agenda

and we'll start off  by going to the other side of the Atlantic.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment  Partnership has created quite a storm.

The Commission has promised  a fresh start in 2015,

but could wrangling  over an arbitration clause

not only slow things down  but be the final nail in the coffin?

Well, yes.  The devil is often in the details,

and here the detail in question is  investor-state dispute settlement.

That's the very good idea of  protecting foreign investors

only some Member States view it  as a threat to their sovereignty.

Right now it's not looking too rosy for TTIP.  But can it dust itself off?

In January the Parliament and  Member States are expected to sit down

to find common ground,  with talks expected in the spring.

Magicians can pull rabbits from hats,  make people appear and disappear,

but can they turn 21 billion euros  into 315 billion euros?

Well, Commission President  Jean-Claude Juncker thinks he can.

No, Jean-Claude Juncker is  neither a magician nor Father Christmas.

He has proposed a 315-billion-euro plan  to boost jobs and growth.

the Commission proposes to use  some 20 billion of public funds

while the rest is supposed to  come from the private sector.

One possible tool would be  the European Investment Bank

which could finance some but not all of it.  We'll just have to wait and see...

Some have called it a tall order,  but can Juncker’s plan prevail?

A new regulation is expected early next year

with the programme  set to be rolled out in June.

If Google was to no longer dominate  European markets,

could that be the catalyst to  spur on a new digital agenda

that helps Europe  compete with Asia and the US?

It's a bit of a cat-and-mouse game  between Google and the EU,

with the EU as the cat  and Google as the mouse.

It's not the first time  the two have problems:

they're still fighting  an anti-trust case before the courts.

At the heart of the digital agenda  there is an idea:

to make the EU  the global leader in the sector.

some specialists are already saying it could  mean an extra 500 billion euros for the EU.

Under plans,  roaming charges would be scrapped

and there would be equal access  for all service providers.

But are EU companies and Member States  onboard for a pan-European strategy?

The draft report goes to plenary in April.

Now a quick round-up of stories expected to  hit the headlines in the new year.

The US, China and EU have all promised  to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

But will the other world powers  follow its lead?

We’ll have to wait for the  climate conference in Paris to find out.

Could the magic formula for  fighting immigration be solidarity?

By the end of 2015 a report  is expected to provide solutions

for helping the worst affected  Member States and saving lives.

The six-pack and the two-pack  will also be amended in 2015.

These tools should ensure that  EU countries meet their fiscal targets.

Am I the biggest fan of heights?  Absolutely not!

But since it’s Christmas, I thought,  why not give it a go!

Well, I'll gain some altitude too  in order to talk about passengers' rights!

They return to the European  Parliament's agenda in 2015.

Better compensation, less delays  and more on-flight luggage -

these are just a few of the items  on the agenda.

A plenary vote is foreseen for February.

Also look out for legislation on the  Passenger Name Record next year.

but as the world faces a new threat  from the so-called Islamic State

who want to carry out attacks on EU soil,  the PNR is back on the table.

We wish all of you  a very merry Christmas

and a happy New Year  from everyone at EuroparlTV.

On the Agenda next year

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