Thursday
2nd Feb 2023
MEPs' assistants, EU Commission officials, and industry insiders should help drain the lobbyist swamp in Brussels by tipping off a new "early-alert" system, Dutch socialist MEP Paul Tang has said.
European Works Councils can play a key role for workers and their unions to bargain effectively — but what are they, why have they been neutered, and why is big business objecting to greater powers?
When his campaign began two years ago, his rallies in Czech towns could attract as little as ten to 15 people. While a decorated general and military diplomat, he was a fairly obscure figure.
The European Central Bank raised interest rates by another 0.5 percent to a 14-year high, and expects to hike rates by another half percent in March. But what does that mean for the green transition?
The European Commission wants to shore up the land border between Bulgaria and Turkey with drones. "We can strengthen the border with management capabilities," European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told MEPs.
The EU has appointed a new anti-Islamophobia coordinator after an 18-month long gap which attracted criticism by Muslim rights groups.
The European Union has proposed a plan to counteract the US green subsidy bonanza — but experts warn that without EU debt wealthy Germany and France will out-subsidise the rest.
The ministers worry that a resolution adopted by the European Parliament could give political momentum to demands to revise the protected status of wolves.
"We have to make the voice of workers heard and if there is a directive on their working conditions, it has to be in favour of the workers, not the platforms," said one of the leading MEPs of the report.
'Europeans need to pull their weight in Ukraine. They should pony up more funds.' Such has been the chorus since the start of the war. The problem is the argument isn't borne out by the facts, at least not anymore.
Hungary has blamed a conspiracy for coming bottom in an EU corruption rating as it seeks to unfreeze European funding.
Countries that were once democratising are now moving in the other direction — think of Turkey, Myanmar, Hungary or Tunisia. On the other hand, in autocracies mass mobilisation rarely succeeds in changing political institutions. Think of Belarus, Iran or Algeria.
The EU's lobby register remains riddled with errors, with pro-transparency campaigners demanding better data and mandatory rules. The latest findings come amid a raft of proposals by the European Parliament president to weed out corruption in the wake of Qatargate.
Draft legislation in Poland aimed at relaxing some of Europe's strictest laws surrounding onshore wind-turbines has been derailed by a surprise last minute amendment, which could put Poland back on a collision course with the EU.
Industrial energy-intense sectors, outside Germany and France, will not move to the US. They will go bust, as they cannot compete in a fragmented single market. So to save industry in two member states, we will kill the rest?
Europe accelerated its electricity transition in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with solar energy developers leading the charge.
The European Parliament special committee still wants to hear from EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, whose undisclosed text messages with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during the crisis have raised transparency concerns.
The EU's border agency Frontex will spend around €100m this year to return unwanted and rejected asylum seekers.
The EU is set to propose a plan to simplify tax credits in an effort to counteract the US $369bn [€339bn] Inflation Reduction Act #IRA ahead of next week's summit of EU leaders.
From February to November 2022, there were 213 military attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. 40 percent of them are still destroyed.
Political scientist David Rowe has been looking into why so much of Europe wasn't ready for Putin — and the consequences for the Western allies of not spilling their own blood in Ukraine.
MEPs are expected to present their migration and asylum priorities on Wednesday (1 February), before EU leaders will focus on the issue at the 9-10 February special European Council.
Pressure is mounting for EU states to ease multiple-entry visas for human rights defenders from Belarus and Russia. But with EU states in charge of issuing visas, the possibilities for a coordinated EU approach appears limited.
Japan and the Netherlands are set to agree to join the United States in restricting exports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China.
Last June, a Latvian socialist MEP went to Azerbaijan and sang its praises — but the EU Parliament committee he claimed to represent had no idea he was there.
The ECHR ruled that Russia was in "effective control" of separatist regions of Eastern Ukraine from 11 May 2014. In doing so, the court has formally acknowledged the inter-state character of the conflict and Russia's culpability for human rights abuses.
Sanctions targeting Russia's fossil fuel earnings are now in place but as exports by European-controlled tankers persist, revenues still flow into the Kremlin purse.
Nick Aiossa, deputy director of Transparency International EU said there is a "culture of impunity" in the parliament among MEPs, which contributed to the Qatargate scandal that has rocked the insitution at the end of last year.
The director of Amnesty International Greece on the political spying scandal that now threatens to bring down prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Activists and NGO staff work with the constant fear that they are being spied on.
A no-confidence vote on the Greek government is set for Friday, following revelations of state-led surveillance on senior military officials and a minister.
Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavsky writes that it is self-evident that Vladimir Putin and his cronies must be held accountable for planning and ordering a war of aggression — whatever the legal hurdles.
The United Arab Emirates presented a high-tech vision to lead the world into a green future at this year's climate summit, COP28. But it wants to do so while massively expanding oil production.
The European Parliament does not rule out mandatory anti-harassment training for MEPs — but has left questions of greater support for victims of bullying and abuse open-ended.
