Biodiversity | SURE | Eastern Partnership

This week, the European Commission will launch the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030. The strategy is regularly renewed and aims to halt and restore nature loss. This time, it will also be part of the European Green Deal and will support the EU’s post-pandemic economic recovery plan.

Economics and finance ministers of the EU will meet on Tuesday to discuss the EU's response to the pandemic. Ministers are expected to formally adopt the SURE scheme which presents a temporary support system of loans to help Member States protect jobs and workers. Meanwhile, the European Parliament is holding several committee meetings this week. The Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) will vote on a recommendation on the Eastern Partnership, in the run-up to the June 2020 Summit.

European Parliament

MEPs of the LIBE committee will meet on Monday to discuss Schengen in times of COVID-19 before they will hear from representatives of EASO and Europol. In the afternoon, the committee will hold debates on several EP reports, including the Digital Services Act and the EU Strategy for Gender Equality. On Tuesday, the AFET committee will discuss the future of the Eastern Partnership. MEPs will also exchange views with Olivér Várhelyi, EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, on the EU’s Eastern Partnership policy, on COVID-19-related EU support in the neighbourhood and on the future external financing instruments.

European Commission

This week, Vice-President Timmermans is expected to present the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030. The EU Green Week 2020, which was initially supposed to take place this month to support the launch of the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy, has now been moved to the autumn. Other topics on the Commission’s agenda this week include the European Semester Spring Package with country-specific recommendations, the so-called ‘Farm to Fork’ Strategy and the Just Transition Mechanism ‘Establishing the public sector loan blending facility’, which all aim to support the goals of the European Green Deal.

Council of the EU

This week, ministers of education, youth and culture will meet in separate Council configurations to discuss the challenges that COVID-19 poses in the various sectors. Education ministers will assess the impact of the pandemic on cross-border learning mobility including the Erasmus+ programme. On Tuesday, the ECOFIN Council will convene. In light of increased unemployment under COVID-19, the Croatian presidency will inform ministers of the state of advancement of the regulation for temporary support to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency (SURE). The Council will then formally adopt the proposal that ambassadors finalised last week. SURE is one of the three safety nets for jobs and workers, businesses and member states, agreed by the Eurogroup in April.