Key legislation

MEPs worked hard in the first few months of the year to approve new laws on a raft of issues including plastics, road safety and copyright before the European elections in May.

Parliament approved requirements for further reductions of greenhouse-gas emissions from new cars and vans as well as from trucks.

MEPs also endorsed a ban on the sale of single-use plastics such as forks, plates and straws as of 2021 in an effort to reduce the piles of plastic waste on beaches and in seas.

Safety features such as intelligent speed assistance that prevent road fatalities will have to be installed in all new vehicles from 2022 after MEPs voted in favour in April.

Parliament followed developments surrounding Brexit closely all year and approved a number of measures to mitigate the risk of the UK withdrawing from the EU without a deal.

MEPs also voted in favour of reinforcing the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and give it a standing corps of 10,000 by 2027.