Image source, PA

MEPs are now debating European Commission proposals to soften the existing restrictions on firms that want to hire a vehicle from a company in another EU country.

Currently, national authorities can restrict the use of vehicles hired in other countries - the EU Commission wants to replace these powers with an EU-wide framework.

MEPs backed an amended version of the proposal last June, but it has faced opposition from some states worried about a loss of tax revenue on vehicle registrations.

They have decided to put their position to a ‘first reading’ vote this week, meaning EU governments would have to respond to it within four months.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

German Green MEP Martin Hausling says the use of chemical pesticides should not be "taken for granted", and alternatives should be promoted.

Angelique Delahaye, from the centre-right Republicans party, says there is a need to "reinstate confidence " in EU agencies and institutions.

She says the committee's report is not perfect, but she will be supporting it at the vote on Wednesday.

Image source, EBS

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Image source, EBS

German conservative Arne Gericke says the EU's system should be sure to listen to scientists, and not he "big businesses involved" in the approvals process.

Dutch liberal MEP Jan Huitma says the EU's food safety regime is the most secure anywhere in the world.

He adds that the reliability of scientific studies should not be undermined.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

French MEP Phillipe Loiseau, from the right-wing National Rally, says the EU's pesticide approval system should be more transparent.

France has proposed to phase out the commercial use of glyphosate - although that plan has run into some parliamentary opposition.

He adds that chemicals banned in Europe on safety grounds should also be subject to an import ban.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Image source, EBS

Food Safety Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis says the main thrust of the report is the need to "restore trust" in the EU system for authorisations.

He says he agrees with the committee that the current system can be improved, and tells MEPs a review of pesticide legislation is ongoing.

He says the committee's report will provide valuable information in this area, but a decision on changing the system will be for the next Commission team.

He says proposals from the European Commission made last April aim to do this, and address "many" of the committee's recommendations in their report.

Image source, AFP

MEPs recommend that the public should be granted access to the scientific studies commissioned by pesticide companies to support their licence applications.

It also asks the European Commission to consider whether providing peer-reviewed scientific evidence should be left to the government initially handling the application.

It calls on EU states and the Commission not to authorise pesticides in public areas or areas used by “vulnerable groups”.

In addition, their draft report says the effect of pesticides on human health should be monitored after their sale is authorised, with the information shared in an EU-wide database.

It also calls on governments to properly fund their national authorisation agencies, noting that these are sometimes “understaffed and underfunded”.

With the agenda approved, MEPs begin their debate on the final report from a temporary committee investigating the EU's procedure for authorising pesticides.

The committee was set up last year following the controversy surrounding the licence renewal of glyphosate, a widely used weedkiller.

A new five-year licence was approved in September 2017 despite nine EU countries voting against it and months of procedural deadlock.

The committee’s report – whose recommendations are not binding on EU governments or the European Commission – will be put to a vote on Wednesday.

By a show of hands, MEPs approve a proposal from the centre-left S&D group to cancel tomorrow morning’s debate on last month’s EU leaders’ summit.

Mr Tajani says the proposal was made because European Council President Donald Tusk cannot attend the debate.

It means the sitting will now start at 08.00 GMT, with a debate on EU asylum rules.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Image source, EBS

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani pays tribute to the mayor of the Polish city of Gdansk, who has died in hospital a day after being stabbed at a charity event.

Pawel Adamowicz, 53, was attacked on stage in front of hundreds of people on Sunday.

Mr Tajani praises his "openness of mind and readiness to listen".

He also pays tribute to those killed during the terror attack in Strasbourg last month.

Hello and welcome to coverage of the European Parliament’s first plenary sitting of 2019, which gets underway today in Strasbourg.

The sitting will begin shortly, when MEPs will hear administrative announcements and approve the agenda.

Proposals to add debates have to be made to the 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.