Trilogue negotiations have now concluded, pending the final approval of the legal texts by the European Parliament and the Council. The Commission has welcomed the political agreement reached last week between the European Parliament and EU Member States on an update of the legal basis of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) as […]
MEPs consider the ‘Right to disconnect’ a fundamental right for those who work digitally
Parliament calls for an EU law that grants workers the right to digitally disconnect from work without facing negative repercussions. In their legislative initiative that passed with 472 votes in favour, 126 against and 83 abstentions, MEPs call on the Commission to propose a law that enables those who work digitally to disconnect outside their […]
Eminent jurists launch ‘Call to Action’ for the next European legislature
‘Europe Day’ was created 34 years ago following the call by a number of European governments to strengthen a sense of European values and collective identity based on the notion of a ‘People’s Europe’. Yet more than a decade on from the economic crisis and the roll out of harsh austerity policies throughout the continent, […]
“Peace at risk in Colombia”, say human rights organisations in Brussels
Brussels – More than 75 representatives from Colombian, European and international civil society met in Brussels last week to assess the serious human rights situation in Colombia and to alert the EU and European States about the lack of implementation of the Peace Agreement between the FARC-EP and the Colombian Government. The international meeting, representing […]
Wall to Wall – Europe’s 1000 km Migrant Barriers
Member States of the EU and Schengen Area have built around 1000 kilometres of walls since the 1990s to stop migration flows On the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, a new report reveals that the EU and Schengen Area states have built around 1000 kilometres of walls, the equivalent of six Berlin […]
Health Intelligence, Europe’s Superbug Fight
The European Commission has launched its new anti-microbial resistance Action Plan. Anti-microbial resistance is responsible for an estimated 25,000 deaths per year in the European Union and a financial loss of around 1.5 billion euros, relating to healthcare costs and productivity losses. Launching the new Action Plan, Vytenis Andriukaitis, the Commissioner for Health and Food […]
“Maternal health for refugee women needed” says Malta’s President
Parliamentarians from across Europe and other relevant stakeholders gathered in Malta in a high-level meeting on maternal health and refugee women organised by the Women Political Leaders Global Forum (WPL) and the President of Malta, H.E. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca. One in 10 women in the EU have no access to maternal health services in the […]
Protecting Latin America’s Human Rights Defenders on International Women’s Day
On International Women’s Day and one year after the murder – still unpunished – of the Honduran defender Berta Cáceres, the European network of NGOs ‘Grupo Sur’, based in Brussels, called on the #EU to consider as a priority, a guarantee for the safety, life and work of Latin American human rights defenders within the framework […]
Parliament Mobilises for Guatemala Human Rights Defenders
The European Parliament in Strasbourg has approved an urgent resolution on the situation of human rights defenders in Guatemala. Deputies expressed their concerns and acknowledged the work carried out by human rights defenders, urging the Guatemalan government to adopt measures aimed at protecting HRDs from assaults and dangers they are confronting regularly. The figures are […]
Big Green Light for Paris Climate Agreement
The UNFCCC Paris Agreement on fighting climate change, the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal, will come into force next month, having met the necessary conditions much earlier than predicted, as the European Parliament agreed to its ratification by the European Union in a historic vote on Tuesday. The EU will join the US, […]