European Parliament

Plenary sessions : MEPs backed a textiles trade deal with Uzbekistan on Wednesday, acknowledging its efforts to eradicate child labour. But they also urged it to take further steps to end all other forms of forced labour, e.g. by students and civil servants, in its cotton harvest.

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Plenary sessions : The European Parliament gave its consent for Ecuador to join the EU trade agreement with Colombia and Peru in a vote on Wednesday. The deal retains Ecuador’s preferential access to the EU market.

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Plenary sessions : Political group leaders discussed how to relieve the humanitarian tragedy in Aleppo, sanctions against Russia and ways to boost European defence capacities ahead of the European Summit.

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Plenary sessions : The outgoing Slovak Council Presidency was praised by many political group speakers on Tuesday for delivering tangible results in very difficult times. Launching the European Border and Coast Guard, adopting a jobs-and-growth focused EU budget for 2017, signing the EU-Canada trade deal and taking a step forward in modernising trade defence instruments were among those highlighted in the debate with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

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Georgian citizens will have the right to travel to the Schengen area without a visa under an informal deal struck by Parliament and Council negotiators on Tuesday.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

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Plenary sessions : The first-ever joint declaration to fast-track a set of EU priority proposals was signed by the presidents of the EU Parliament, Council and Commission on Tuesday. They pledge, on behalf of their institutions, to make “substantial progress” in key policy areas next year.

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Plenary sessions : A wide-ranging overhaul of the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure was approved by 548 votes to 145, with 13 abstentions on Tuesday. Prepared by Richard Corbett (S&D, UK), the changes clarify today’s rules to improve transparency and efficiency. Racist and defamatory language and behaviour will not be tolerated.

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A wide-ranging overhaul of Parliament’s rule of procedure, prepared by Richard Corbett (S&D, UK), was approved by the plenary on Tuesday 13 December. The key features of the reform are enhanced transparency within Parliament and changes in the organisation of plenary sessions.

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Plenary sessions : EU member states should “refrain from inciting fear and hatred among their citizens towards migrants and asylum-seekers for political gain”, MEPs say in a resolution on the situation of fundamental rights in the EU, passed on Tuesday.

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Plenary sessions : Islamic State survivors and Iraqi Yazidi activists Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar received today Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The two women were honoured by Parliament for standing up for the persecuted Yazidi minority and the victims of sexual violence by Islamic State. “More than 3,500 children and women are still held hostage as slaves under Daesh. Every day they die a thousand times,” Aji Bashar said in her acceptance speech.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : A ban on fishing below a depth of 800 meters in the North-East Atlantic was backed by Parliament on Tuesday. This ban will apply to bottom trawling, which often wrecks sea bed habitats, and also restrict deep-sea fishing to the area where it took place between 2009 and 2011. Tougher checks at sea and transparent data collection rules will also apply.

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Plenary sessions : Iraqi Yazidi Islamic State survivors and activists Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar receive Parliament’s 2016 Sakharov Prize during a ceremony in Strasbourg on Tuesday 13 December. After escaping sexual enslavement by Islamic State they both became spokespeople for women affected by the terrorist group's campaign of sexual violence and for the persecuted Yazidi minority. Find out more about their fight by watching our video and follow the ceremony live online.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : Iraqi Yazidi Islamic State survivors and activists Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar receive Parliament’s 2016 Sakharov Prize during a ceremony in Strasbourg on Tuesday 13 December. After escaping sexual enslavement by Islamic State they both became spokespeople for women affected by the terrorist group's campaign of sexual violence and for the persecuted Yazidi minority. Find out more about their fight by watching our video and follow the ceremony live online.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

New rules empowering shareholders to vote on directors’ pay, so as to tie it more closely to their performance, were informally agreed on Thursday. These rules also aim to foster shareholder commitment to companies’ long-run success.
Committee on Legal Affairs

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Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary session in Strasbourg

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The EU Agency for Asylum must coordinate information exchange among member states and ensure they protect fundamental rights, said Civil Liberties Committee MEPs on Thursday.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

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General : Malta is set to take over the Presidency of the European Council in January for the first time since joining the EU in 2004. Parliament's Conference of Presidents, which is composed of Parliament President Martin Schulz and the political group leaders, visited the island on Thursday 8 December to find out how the country was preparing for it.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP