Wednesday
21st Oct 2020
On Tuesday, MEPs and diplomats made little progress on legislation linking EU funds to respect for the rule of law, but the German EU presidency insisted that "differences narrowed down".
Saudi dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed two years ago on 2 October. Since then, mainly centre-right, conservative and far-right MEPs have voted down any moves to restrict, limit or ban the sales of weapons to the Saudi regime.
The parliament's majorty dismisses the German EU presidency's proposal on the rule of law conditionality, which has emerged as the main political obstacle to agree on the next long-term EU budget.
MEPs have refused to sign off the accounts of the European Economic and Social Committee, in yet another blow to the reputation of the EU's smallest institution. The massive vote against was linked to ongoing psychological harassment cases.
The inaugural annual rule of law review highlighted shortcomings in member states - but will not lead to concrete action.
The European Commission's first report on the rule of law has raised concerns over the lack of effective anti-corruption efforts in some members sates - while it considers Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands have good governance measures.
A prominent Holocaust-denier has made the cover of an EU-funded newsletter, which was published by an avowed German neo-Nazi with a lengthy criminal record. The lack of clear labelling of the MEP behind it violates European Parliament rules.
Under EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, transparency was supposed to be a "guiding principle". Instead, the European Commission is asking Kafkaesque questions in response to an access to documents request, and failing to meet its legal deadline.
Honduran environmental rights defender Arnold Joaquín Morazan was killed in his home on Tuesday, a few days after his fellow activists were shortlisted for the European Parliament's Sakharov prize for freedom of thought.
It is often said that the British were the first to leave the European Union. This is, strictly speaking, not true: both Algeria and Greenland left the club long before Brexit came along.
European Parliament negotiators are demanding €39bn in new funding for EU programmes such as Horizon research and Erasmus, in talks with the German EU presidency on the budget. Meanwhile, rule-of-law enforcement negotiations have only just begun.
Since the German presidency promised the Conference on the Future of Europe would start under their leadership, the European Commission and MEPs hope the event will be launched soon. But there is one issue: who will chair the conference?
The decrease of revenues in 2020 of subnational authorities in France, Germany and Italy alone is estimated to be €30bn for the three countries, a new report by the European Committee of the Regions says.
MEPs are requesting additional, new funding of €39bn for 15 EU programs. The German presidency argues that budget ceilings, agreed by EU leaders at a marathon summit in July, will be impossible to change without a new leaders' meeting.
A large majority of MEPs back an initiative to streamline the EU's tools on protecting rule of law and democracy and have effective sanctions. They also backed a tough stance on the rule of law conditionality in budget talks.
The European Parliament plenary on Thursday is set to vote on a joint resolution on "the situation of Ethiopian migrants in detention centres in Saudi Arabia." The largest political group, the EPP, is against a common position.
The member states themselves are the weakest link in the defence of democracy in the EU. They have been sitting on the Article 7 procedure against the Polish government for almost three years.
The parliament wants €38.5bn extra for key programmes, which is less than their previous request of around €100bn. Negotiations continue on Thursday, but the budget and recovery could still get stuck on the rule-of-law issue.
The first ever report on the state of the rule of law in the EU due to be published this week by the European Commission marks a significant change in its mindset.
The draft proposal outlines an 'emergency brake' in case the member state under scrutiny thinks the procedure is partisan and not evidence-based.
The loudest applause from MEPs during Ursula von der Leyen's State of the Union speech came for her call to move to Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) in foreign policy - at least on human rights and sanctions implementation.
The EPP, S&D, and Renew Europe have all dropped their support for a Belarus dissident with homophobic views, hours after EUobserver published an expose.
The centre-right EPP, centre-left S&D, and liberal Renew Europe have all nominated a homophobe for the Sakharov prize - the prestigious annual prize handed out by the European Parliament to people who defend human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The 61-year old former German defence minister, who only narrowly won the backing of MEPs last year, outlined not a vision, but an ambitious list of policies to tackle - including more health care competencies to the EU.
A damning report on the deterioration of rule of law and democracy in Poland is to be adopted by MEPs on Thursday, while Warsaw's supporters cry 'double standards'.
Let us be clear: without this new financial windfall, cities, towns and regions will not be able to overcome a crisis of colossal proportions like the current one.
EU regions say the upcoming Conference on the Future of Europe is a "timely opportunity" to debate how to make local and regional authorities full- involved in the EU response to Covid-19 - even including possible EU treaty changes.
Additional 'top-ups' requested by the parliament could amoung to €110bn, an EU source estimated, while member states are giving very limited room for manoeuvre in budget talks with the parliament.
French far-right MEP Thierry Mariani said he is resigning as a board member of the European Endowment for Democracy. His replacement may be Jerome Riviere - another far-right French MEP from the Identity and Democracy group.
Mairead McGuinness's nomination will have to be signed off by the European Parliament, where the Irish MEP is a well-respected first vice-president of the assembly.
Parliament president David Sassoli is to make the final decision on travelling to Strasbourg ahead of the leadership and parliamentary group chairs meeting on Thursday.
It's time for the EU Commission to get its house in order and close the doors to tobacco lobby influence once and for all.
Currently, only 20 percent of MEPs show tendencies to support authoritarian powers - but that could change after the pandemic, a new study warns. It also calls for an improved vetting of MEPs, tougher lobbying rules, and better cybersecurity.
