Saturday
21st Apr 2018
By EUOBSERVER
German MEP Udo Bullmann was on Tuesday evening elected the new president of the S&D group in the European Parliament, following Gianni Pittella, who gave up his seat in the parliament when elected a member of the Italian senate in March. The 61-year old university lecturer has been a member of the European Parliament since 1999 and will be heading the assembly's second largest political group, with 188 members.
Years of heavy-duty and expensive lobbying, including of a European commissioner for health, has not opened the way for mouth tobacco sales in the EU. The EU court in Luxembourg last week refused to lift the ban.
The European Commission will present proposals to protect whistleblowers, combat fake news and organise the digital single market. The international community will gather in Brussels to discuss how to help Syrians in the current war and after.
MEPs are using so-called 'friendship groups' to cater to foreign governments without oversight and little public scrutiny. Initially set up to promote cultural exchanges, some have become lobbying platforms to push state views from governments with poor human rights records.
France and Germany have pledged to forge a joint position on euro reform by June, despite German reluctance on deeper monetary union.
Two groups are meant to provide expert advice on how to spend EU money on a new military research programme - but much is unclear about how and even if they operate.
The EU's latest funding rules for European political parties and their think tanks fails to address the underlying problems of abuse. Instead of tackling the loans and donations culture, it has simply made access to EU funds a lot easier.
