From the "gravy train" getting stuck on its way to Strasbourg to ‘Penka the Cow‘ and disgruntled interpreters pleading for better working conditions, Conor McMorrow of our political staff tells us five things we learned from this week at the European Parliament.
The Aquarius shows migrant crisis hasn’t gone away
Leaders of all EU member states will meet at the next European Council meeting on 28 and 29 June. They were given a stark message on Tuesday morning.
They were told that they can "talk and talk and talk" when they meet in two weeks’ time. But Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the liberal ALDE group, said: "Brexit, the reform of the Eurozone, the defence union, the Trump-Kim Jong Un summit ... you name it. But there is one item, one crisis on which I urge you not to talk, but to act now."
That is the migrant crisis. The former Belgian Prime Minister labelled it a disgrace and a scandal. He was particularly animated on Tuesday. The day after Spain announced it would allow a ship carrying hundreds of migrants to dock in Valencia after Italy and Malta refused to allow the boat to dock.
More than 600 hundred refugees, including seven pregnant women and 123 unaccompanied minors, were stranded in the Mediterranean Sea on the Aquarius boat. Mr Verhofstadt pointed out that since the last European elections more than 10,000 migrants have drowned in the Mediterranean.
He said it was wrong for northern European countries to point the finger of blame for the crisis at countries such as Italy and Malta. Instead, he laid the blame at the door of all member states at the European Council.
His calls for the council meeting to show real political will and draw up genuine solutions to finally end the migrant crisis were echoed by MEPs from other political groupings.
Penka the Cow
On Tuesday, UK Conservative MEP John Flack called a point of order in the middle of proceedings in the European Parliament.
What was the reason for this? In his own words: "To congratulate the Bulgarian authorities for saving Penka the cow, showing common sense and compassion can trump EU rules!"
He was talking about the Bulgarian in-calf cow who found herself at the centre of an international outcry. From the Bulgarian village of Mazarachevo, Penka wandered away from her herd and across the border into Serbia.
She had left the EU without the necessary documentation. Under EU rules, animals must have documents certifying that they are in good health before crossing a border. When she was returned two weeks later, the Bulgarian authorities said that she would have to be put down.
The plight of Penka the cow sparked an international outcry with thousands of people signing online petitions to save her. Eurosceptics cited it as an example of Brussels bureaucracy gone mad. Former Beatle Paul McCartney was among those to sign petitions to save her. Eventually the Bulgarian authorities agreed to spare the life of the cow last Monday.
In one of the tweets of the week, James Crisp, a journalist with The Daily Telegraph, tweeted: "I read the moos today oh boy! Huge huge huge Penka news. She will live!"
Penka, the EU’s sacred cow, proved to be one of the week’s more "mooving" stories.
Gravy train delays
Once a month, the entire European Parliament is legally bound to move from the Belgian capital Brussels to Strasbourg in France. All 751 MEPS along with all the staff decamp from one city to the other for four days. The city is the official seat of the parliament. Strasbourg is also historically seen as a symbol of post-World War II reconciliation between France and Germany.
Dubbed a "travelling circus" by critics, the monthly move to Strasbourg was estimated in 2014 to cost €109m annually. Last May, MEPs debated scrapping the Strasbourg seat. Not surprisingly this has been opposed by key French figures including President Emmanuel Macron.
The debate was reheated this week, after severe delays to trains into to Strasbourg. UK liberal ALDE MEP Catherine Bearder described the "most appalling circumstances" where the "special train" for MEPs was delayed coming from Brussels.
She said: "It highlights the absurdity of dragging us 500 kilometres to Strasbourg every month. It wastes our time and it wastes money and it brings this institution into disrepute."
Her comments drew huge applause from fellow MEPs. And UKIP MEP Patrick Coburn could not resist describing what happened "delays to the EU gravy train".
Lost without translation
Since 2002, the number of official languages in the EU has more than doubled from 11 to 24. Under EU legislation, proceedings in the European Parliament are translated live by a team of interpreters.
This week, the interpreters threatened to disrupt proceedings as they are at the centre of an industrial dispute. They are angry over changes to their working hours.
Highlighting their concerns, Portuguese MEP Marisa Matias said: "It is shameful in this house of democracy we have interpreters who have had draconian work conditions imposed on them, not respecting their rights."
Among the interpreters’ concerns is a claim that on some days they have work assignments spanning 12 hours or more with meetings scattered through the day and "inadequate breaks for a proper rest".
To end the dispute, the interpreters want a maximum daily work span of 11 hours between their first and last assignment "to leave room for some kind of private life".
They say their role comes with very "specific strains". Without a better work-life balance, they could intensify their dispute, causing some EU debates to get lost without translation.
Two post-Brexit seats for Northern Ireland?
After Brexit, the European parliament is shrinking from 751 to 705 MEPs. 46 of the 73 UK seats will be put in reserve, with the other 27 distributed among the 14 EU countries that are currently slightly under-represented in the parliament.
This new distribution will provide two additional seats for Ireland. Sinn Féin MEPs, such as Liadh NíRiada and Lynn Boylan, have been calling for the two extra seats to go to Northern Ireland as it will be bereft of EU representation after Brexit.
This week, Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly said the idea was "worth exploring" and something he had no difficulty with given that the majority of people in Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU in the referendum two years ago.
The former GAA President said: "Personally I wouldn’t have any difficulty with it once it is worked out. But obviously you would have to get agreement from Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom and the European Union.
"Definitely the majority of people in Northern Ireland voted to remain in the European Union. The citizens of Northern Ireland are all entitled to become citizens of Ireland if they so wish. That would mean they would automatically become citizens of the European Union as a result.
"So it is worth exploring. But whether there would be agreement on it and if it would work in practice is a different matter. In principle, I don’t see anything wrong with it."
Sinn Féin MEPs have backed the idea, but DUP MEP Diane Dodds rubbished it.
She said the people of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland have voted to leave the EU and that vote must be respected. She questioned the feasibility and practicalities of having MEPs represent a jurisdiction that is no longer in the EU.
