EU solidarity should not replace decisions that must be taken in countries suffering economic difficulties, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble told Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs in Tuesday’s special debate on the review of the economic governance framework. His Italian colleague Pier Carlo Paduan, vehemently rejected criticism of measures to bring down Italy’s deficit […]
Buttarelli Says: “Make data protection rights more effective”
Speaking in a Q&A session, Giovanni Buttarelli, the new European Data Protection Supervisor said: “The EU has to make existing data protection rights more effective in practice, and to allow citizens to more easily exercise their rights at a time when we all run our entire lives with our smartphones” Over the coming five years […]
TTIP’s Cross-Atlantic Endeavour Facing High Seas
EU-US negotiations on the TTIP free trade agreement are continuing. The deal which is expected to create new jobs and boost economies on both sides of the Atlantic touches upon sensitive issues, not least rules for the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). On 27 January the international trade and legal affairs committees held a joint public […]
Europe Complicit With CIA ‘War On Terror’ Says Amnesty International
European governments that cooperated with the CIA’s secret detention, interrogation, and torture operations as part of the USA’s global “war on terror” must act urgently to bring those responsible to justice following a US Senate report containing new details said Amnesty International in a new briefing paper. Breaking the conspiracy of silence: USA’s European ‘partners […]
Colombia’s Indigenous Women Talk Peace in Brussels
Colombia’s indigenous women talked peace in Brussels last week at a European Parliament event designed to ensure the voices of women are heard in Colombia’s torturous path to peace. The conference was held with the aim of the discussing Colombia’s current peace talks and their impact on indigenous peoples, particularly indigenous women. Organised by the […]
Mogherini Urged to ‘Show Leadership on Human Rights in Latin America’
European civil society networks have called on the European Union’s new foreign affairs chief to show leadership on human rights in Latin America. APRODEV, CIDSE, CIFCA, GRUPO SUR and OIDHACO sent a letter congratulating Federica Mogherini on her recent appointment as EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, they emphasised the importance of […]
Digital Gold. “Turn Data Into Knowledge,” says Rufus Pollock
Every day we face challenges – from the personal, such as the quickest way to get to work, or what we should eat, to global ones like climate change and how to sustainably feed and educate seven billion people on this planet, writes Rufus Pollock, Founder, Open Knowledge At Open Knowledge we believe that opening up […]
Rising Tide Of Death, As Europe Looks Inland
A year on from the Lampedusa shipwrecks, which claimed more than 500 lives, a new report by Amnesty International highlights how, what Amnesty called the “shameful inaction of European Union (EU) countries” has contributed to a spiralling death toll with thousands of refugees and migrants losing their lives in a desperate bid to reach European […]
The Vision Thing. Europe Needs A Real Coalition For Digital Jobs.
What is at stake today is the safeguarding of our European social model through innovation, writes by Herman Van Rompuy, Presisdent of the European Council. Innovation, that is more than just R&D; innovation consisting of the ability of a system not only to produce new ideas but also to bring them to the market and translate […]
Schaake Gets Malmström Commitment On Trade Transparency
Dutch Member of the European Parliament, Marietje Schaake, (ALDE/D66) received commitments today from trade commissioner designate, Cecilia Malmström that she would focus on maximum transparency and increasing accessibility of trade negotiations. Schaake: “I am happy that Malmström shares my concerns. Too much takes place behind closed doors. Because of this, people’s justified concerns cannot be addressed […]