The award of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought will move one step closer in the European Parliament this week with the presentation on Thursday of the eight nominees.
They will be presented during a joint meeting of the foreign affairs and development committees together with the human rights subcommittee.
The shortlist of three will be announced on October 9. This year’s winner will be selected by Parliament’s political leaders on October 25 and the award ceremony to be held during the December plenary in Strasbourg.
A busy week in the European Parliament will also see the budget committee voting on September 25 and 26 on proposals for the EU’s budget for next year. MEPs want to reverse the cuts proposed by the Council and propose to allocate more funding to research, Erasmus+ and programmes to boost youth employment.
They also back climate-related spending and measures to address security and migration.
The vote in plenary will take place during the second plenary session in October in Strasbourg.
And on September 27 and 28, the 10th Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership meeting will for the first time be hosted by the European Parliament.
MEPs and members from the national parliaments from the EU, 18 Asian countries and Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland will discuss climate change, migration, the economy and security.
Moreover, the first ever meeting of fact checkers from across Europe will take place in the Parliament on September 27-28.
Sixty fact-checkers, experts and MEPs will discuss challenges and opportunities when checking facts at election times.
The conference will be opened by Parliament President Antonio Tajani and Mariya Gabriel, the commissioner responsible for the digital economy and society.
