WEEK IN STRASBOURG:THE HIGHLIGHT of the week in Strasbourg was Tuesday's visit of the French president and European Council president-in-office Nicolas Sarkozy who reported on the recent EU summit in Brussels. Discussions covered the world's financial situation, climate change, immigration and asylum as well as food and petrol prices.
Mr Sarkozy was critical of Ireland's guarantee to the country's main banks, saying it had caused a flight of money from British to Irish banks, leaving "no liquidity in London". He called for more concerted action leading towards new financial governance for the euro zone. He also called for a "roadmap" to a solution to the problem of Irish ratification of the Lisbon Treaty by December.
On Monday MEPs debated measures to clarify the status and rights of temporary workers in the EU. They later approved a new directive that includes guarantees from "day one" for temporary workers, covering areas like resting times, paid leave and no discrimination towards pregnant women. In the UK temporary workers will have to wait 12 weeks for parity with permanent staff - respecting an agreement between the British social partners made last May.
On Wednesday MEPs approved the nomination of Baroness Catherine Ashton, who takes over from Peter Mandelson as EU trade commissioner.
In an earlier question-and-answer session to test her suitability for the job, Baroness Ashton stressed the importance of "free and just" trade.
Asked by British Conservative MEP Robert Sturdy how she would have acted differently given her predecessor's "failure" over the Doha Round of world trade talks, Baroness Ashton said the Doha Round was "not over yet" after seven years of discussions.
She reminded MEPs that the Uruguay Round of world trade talks had lasted eight years.
In a response to Mr Sarkozy's visit, MEPs passed a resolution stressing the importance of "a co-ordinated macroeconomic response" to resuscitate global growth. MEPs also called for co-ordinated action to restore confidence in the financial markets
The resolution also reiterated the parliament's "respect" for the result of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, "and for the results of other countries' ratification procedures, and hopes a solution can be found which is acceptable to all before the European elections in June 2009".
On Thursday MEPs had a first reading of the EU budget for 2009 and increased most of the figures proposed by the European Commission, believing cuts made by the Council of Ministers had made it impossible to meet the EU's commitments on climate change, social policy and security issues.
Thursday also saw the adoption of measures that would create common airport charges at airports where passenger throughput was more than five million people per year.
The aim of the scheme is to prevent major airports from charging excessive fees to airlines - charges that are ultimately paid by passengers.