Agenda
New Covid-19 variant fears shake EU This WEEK
-
Third booster shots are being rolled out in Europe to help immunisation before the Christmas season (Photo: The Focal Project)
By Eszter Zalan
As the fourth Covid-19 wave hits the EU, an increasing number of member states are taking measures to curb the number of infections, and hospitalisations.
A new variant, which emerged in South Africa but has already made its way to Belgium, caused worry across the bloc, with several EU countries blocking flights from the southern part of Africa.
Join EUobserver today
Become an expert on Europe
Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.
Choose your plan
... or subscribe as a group
Don't miss out on
Our exclusive news stories and investigations. Influential. Investigative. Independent.
Why join?
Watch our founder Lisbeth Kirk explain the reasons in this 30-second video.
Already a member?
The new variant is three times as contagious as the original Covid-19 virus.
EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen spent the weekend in Latvia and Lithuania with Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg to discuss the hybrid attack from Belarus, which is pushing asylum-seekers onto the two Baltic countries.
On Monday (29 November), MEPs in the civil liberties committee will discuss the impact on fundamental rights of the Pegasus spyware which has been used across the world to spy on journalists and human-rights defenders.
Lawmakers will hear from Laurent Richard, founder and executive director of Forbidden Stories, a consortium of investigative journalists which has revealed the Pegasus scandal.
MEPs will also discuss the issue with Etienne Maynier from Amnesty International, and Wojciech Wiewiorowski, the European data protection supervisor.
On Tuesday (30 November), the European Parliament's subcommittee on tax matters will discuss with economy commissioner Paolo Gentiloni tax avoidance and other tax issues.
On Thursday (2 December), senior EU officials will pay tribute to former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing in Strasbourg.
Von der Leyen, and EU parliament president David Sassoli will meet with French president Emmanuel Macron on the occasion.
The EU foreign ministers' meeting on Monday in Geneva - originally aimed to discuss trade issues in the margins of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) 12th ministerial conference - was postponed due to fears around the new Covid-19 variant.
