The Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament are pushing for the fair taxation of digital giants and an ambitious minimum effective tax rate ahead of a crucial G20 meeting in June this year. For many years, the S&D Group has led the drive in the European Parliament for an effective minimum tax rate and […]
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 […]
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 […]
€325bn Boost For Europe’s Regions
Key rules and regulations for implementing EU cohesion policy in 2014-2020 were endorsed by Parliament on Wednesday. In a compromise deal struck with the Council after more than a year of tough negotiations, MEPs secured substantial funding for EU regions to invest in their development projects, on terms fairer to them. They also pruned back […]
Parliament Approves €840K For Unemployed Valencia Construction Workers
Parliament approved €840,000 in European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGAF) aid on Tuesday to help 300 redundant building workers in Valencia (Spain) to back into the labour market. The aid was approved by 603 votes, with 71 against and 17 abstentions. Some 630 workers were made redundant by Valencian manufacturers of non-metallic mineral products (such as […]
Suspend EU-US Bank Data Transfer Say MEPs, Response To NSA Snooping
The EU should suspend its Terrorist Finance Tracking Program (TFTP) agreement with the US in response to the US National Security Agency’s alleged tapping of EU citizens’ bank data held by the Belgian company SWIFT, says a non-binding resolution voted by Parliament on Wednesday. The resolution, tabled by the S&D, ALDE and Greens/EFA groups, was […]
Civil Liberties MEPs Prepare Stronger Data Protection For EU
A major overhaul of current EU data protection rules, to put people in control of their personal data while at the same time making it easier for companies to move across Europe, was voted by the Civil Liberties Committee on Monday. Responding to mass surveillance cases, MEPs inserted stronger safeguards for data transfers to non-EU […]