“This is how businesses become innovative and provide a more useful service to us, the citizens”, said Pilar del Castillo MEP, EPP Group Spokeswoman on the Digital Europe Programme. The European Parliament will approve the first funding programme for Digital Europe, which is a novelty. It is intended to make digital technology much more accessible […]
“Russia must immediately stop intimidating Lithuanian judges”, insisted EPP MEPs
End Russian intimidation of Lithuanian judges. “Russia must immediately stop intimidating Lithuanian judges and the EU should establish a mechanism to protect its citizens from being transferred to third countries on the basis of illegal or politically-motivated extradition requests”, insisted MEPs Jeroen Lenaers and Rasa Juknevičienė. Their comments come as MEPs debate the situation of […]
MEP Birgit Sippel, S&D negotiator, calls for immediate negotiations on e-Privacy
The European Parliament’s negotiator on the e-Privacy regulation, Birgit Sippel MEP, has called for trilogue talks between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission to start as soon as possible, after years of member states blocking progress. E-Privacy rules will give citizens control over how their confidential information can be used or shared online. […]
Debate with Secretary of State for European Affairs Ana Paula Zacarias: MEPs called for democratic oversight of tech giants to safeguard freedom of expression
Regulate social media platforms to defend democracy, MEPs say. In a debate with Secretary of State for European Affairs Ana Paula Zacarias from the Portuguese Presidency of the Council, and Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová, almost all speakers criticised the vast power of social media platforms and their worrying impact on politics and freedom of speech. […]
Q&A With Anna Fotyga: “…an asymmetric war against western society…”
As countries all over the world discuss how they can work together to tackle the threat posed by ISIS, MEPs will debate on 17 September what the EU can do to improve the situation in the Middle East. Anna Fotyga, a Polish member of the ECR group and chair of the security and defence subcommittee, […]
Nine Million European Women Suffer Violence in Silence
Nine million European women, equivalent to the whole Austrian population, have suffered some form of sexual violence; and one in five (22%) acknowledged that their partner, or previous partner, perpetrated violence against them. These findings were published this week by the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency and the European Council, to highlight International Women’s Day. The […]
MEPs May Withhold TTIP Consent If NSA Snooping Continues
The European Parliament should withhold its consent to an EU-US trade deal unless it fully respects EU citizens’ data privacy, says an inquiry report on US National Security Agency (NSA) and EU member states surveillance of EU citizens, approved by the Civil Liberties Committee on Wednesday. It adds that data protection rules should be excluded […]
Stronger, Clearer Environmental Impact Assessments Required
A proposed update of EU law to make environmental impact assessments clearer, build in biodiversity and climate change, and involve the public, was backed by the Environment Committee on Wednesday. This update, already informally agreed with the Council of Ministers, includes beefed up rules to ensure that decisions to authorize development projects are not influenced […]
MEPs Insist On Troika Jobs And Recovery Plan
Growing unemployment – especially among the young, leading to their emigration – the loss of small firms and rising poverty rates, even among the middle class, are the key impacts of the economic crisis and adjustment measures designed by the ECB/EU Commission/IMF “Troika” for Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Ireland, say Employment Committee MEPs in a resolution voted […]
MEPs To Ban Non-EU Firms From EU Public Procurement, Unless There’s Reciprocation
A draft law that could bar non-EU firms from bidding for public procurement contracts in the EU unless their home countries allow EU firms reciprocal access to their public procurement markets was endorsed by the International Trade Committee on Thursday. The proposed “international public procurement instrument” should strengthen the EU’s hand in trade talks and […]