Image source, AFP

MEPs are now debating a report from the women’s rights committee with recommendations for improving the representation of women in the media.

The report condemns attacks against female journalists and calls on media companies to establish practices allowing men and women to “benefit equally from parental leave”.

It also suggests that media companies create databases of female experts in various areas in a bid to try and improve their representation on-air.

The wide-ranging – but purely advisory – report also repeats a longstanding demand that blocking states drop their resistance to mandatory EU quotas for women on large company boards.

The committee has also tabled an oral question asking the EU Commission to outline what it is doing to promote “digital literacy” among girls.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

MEPs are now debating a report from the environment committee about EU environmental targets.

The report says there is “considerable uncertainty” about whether 2020 targets included in the EU’s current Environment Action Programme, external will be met.

The programme aims to shape EU laws on air and water quality, as well as soil pollution, and the use of toxic chemicals.

In some areas there has been a failure to implement relevant EU legislation, the report notes – and calls for current rules to be better enforced rather than new targets acquired.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Katerina Konecna, from the Czech communist party, says the targets in the new legislation should have been higher.

However, she says there is "not much to be gained" by putting the legislation off longer.

Italian social democrat Massimo Paolucci gives his support for the EU's new strategy for reducing plastic waste.

The main ambition of the plan is to make all plastic packaging on the EU market recyclable by 2030.

Image source, EBS

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Image source, EBS

European Commission deputy chief Frans Timmermans says he hopes MEPs "vote clearly" for the new laws on Wednesday.

New recycling targets will reduce the EU's dependence on imports of raw materials, help the environment and create jobs, he says.

He says the "ambitious" targets included in the European Commission's original proposals have been "generally kept" in the negotiated deal.

He calls the final text a "very good result", which will make the EU "a world leader" in waste management.

The original proposals from the European Commission would have required EU states to prepare at least 65% of municipal waste for reuse and recycling by 2030.

In the final deal, this target has been reduced to 60% over the same time period.

This is also the same for the target to recycle packaging waste, which has gone down from 75% to 70% by the same year.

The target to landfill no more than 10% of municipal waste remains, but the deadline has been pushed back by five years from 2030 to 2035.

Image source, PA

MEPs are now debating four pieces of legislation designed to boost recycling within the EU.

The new laws will introduce a new set of recycling targets for municipal waste, the packaging sector, aging cars and batteries, among others.

The legislation aims to narrow the gap between recycling levels among the different EU states and help the bloc as a whole meet environmental targets.

The European Parliament has reached agreements on the new laws with national governments, which will be put to final votes tomorrow.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Image source, EBS

British Conservative MEP Julie Girling criticises the process by which legislation bringing in new climate targets is brought into force.

The process takes "far too long", she says, with negotiators "far too involved in small details", meaning they "lose sight" of the overall aim.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Miriam Dalli, from the Maltese Labour party, says the social democrat group will be abstaining on the negotiated texts for the new laws at the vote tomorrow.

The final deal is "far less than what is needed", she tells MEPs.

She accuses both the national governments and the European Commission of showing an "evident lack of ambition" during talks on the new laws.

Dutch Green MEP Bas Eickhout his his group will support the proposed revision on land use, but will vote against the new targets for sectors outside the carbon trading scheme.

The final version of this law contains "too many loopholes", he adds.

Image source, EBS

Initial drafts of the two new laws were originally presented in July 2016 and have since been subject to negotiations between MEPs and national ministers.

The European Parliament took initial positions on both laws last year, calling for the start date from which emissions targets will be calculated to be pushed forward.

This demand was partially reflected in the final deal. MEPs also successfully pushed for managed wetlands to be included in the new land use rules.

The final proposal will also keep the flexibility exemptions included in the current rules, including allowing states to borrow and transfer annual allocations between countries.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Image source, EBS

Dutch Liberal Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, who was the Parliament's lead negotiator on one of the laws, says he is not completely satisfied with the final deal.

However he calls the compromise the "maximum that we could get" out of the national governments.

Image source, PA

With the agenda approved, MEPs move to their first debate today – on two new laws designed to help the EU meet its targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The first law will set new binding emission targets for member states for sectors that aren’t included in the EU’s recently revised carbon trading scheme, which applies to power stations.

These include areas such as transport, construction and farming, which are supposed to reduce emissions by a third before 2030, compared to levels in 2005.

The second law will require EU countries to balance emissions and removals from land use over two five-year periods between 2021 and 2030.

Both laws are meant to be in place to apply from after 2020.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

UKIP's Margot Parker says that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "would have nothing to gain" from using chemical weapons.

She criticises the "hellish stupidity" of the UK, France and the United States in carrying out the attacks, which she calls "virtue bombing".

French Front National MEP Nicolas Bay, who co-leads the anti-EU ENF group, says the action lacked a sense of strategy and was "an hour's worth of fireworks".

Image source, EBS

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Image source, EBS

Guy Verhofstadt, who leads the Liberal ALDE group, says he supports the strikes "without any reservation".

Mr Verhofstadt, who is also the Parliament's chief Brexit spokesman, says the joint strikes from the US, UK and France were "fully justified".

However, he adds that strikes are "not a strategy for peace", and calls for a long-term plan.

Left-wing GUE group leader Gabriele Zimmer, from the German Die Linke, says the use of chemical weapons is unacceptable but her group does not agree with the strikes.

She calls for greater use of diplomacy to "de-escalate the situation", telling MEPs: "we're playing with fire here".

European Parliament
Strasbourg

There isn't a debate scheduled on Syria until tomorrow, but Antonio Tajani calls each of the leaders from the political groups to make statements.

German Christian democrat MEP Manfred Weber, who leads the centre-right EPP group, says the assembly "should not look away" when chemical weapons are used.

He adds that the strikes carried out over the weekend were "proportionate".

German MEP Udo Bullman, the leader of the Socialist and Democrat group, calls for Iran to "consider its role" in the region.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Image source, EBS

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani opens the sitting with a statement on the Syria airstrikes that took place over the weekend.

He tells MEPs that he spoke to Theresa May over the weekend, and that she told him the UK intends to continue to work together with EU countries over Syria.

He says the European Parliament should "reiterate clearly" that the use of chemical weapons is unacceptable.

He calls for unity from EU members in dealing with the issue of chemical weapons.

Hello and welcome to coverage of today’s plenary sitting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

The sitting will be getting underway shortly, when MEPs will hear administrative announcements and approve the agenda.

Proposals to add debates have to be made to the Parliament president at least one hour before the sitting opens.

They can be tabled by one of the Parliament’s committees, one of its political groups, or a group of 40 MEPs – it must then be approved by a simple majority.