European Union

The European Commission Vice president for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová, voiced clear support for the ongoing anti-corruption protests in Bulgaria on Wednesday (30 September), saying that the government of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov should take them “very seriously”.

AMENDMENTS 1 - 65 - Draft opinion General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2021 - all sections
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Nikos Androulakis

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

The European Commission said on Wednesday (30 January) that the Union-wide assessment of the rule of law will complete its toolbox with a "preventive" mechanism to guard against backsliding in countries across the bloc.

Polish MEP Sylwia Spurek announced on Wednesday (30 September) she will transfer from the Socialists to the Greens group in the European Parliament, becoming the first Polish member of the now 69-strong group.

The concept of soil carbon sequestration, a cornerstone of regenerative farming, is regaining strength as a key measure in both climate mitigation and adaptation.

The US administration has welcomed reports that Germany is set to take a tougher stance against the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, also noting that they would welcome the country into the US's so-called 5G 'clean network' program.

Platform giants will be prohibited from using the data they collect online unless they make this data available for use by smaller platforms, according to a draft of blacklisted practices, seen by EURACTIV, as part of the European Commission's forthcoming Digital Services Act.

A year from now we may well have a vaccine for Covid-19, but we certainly won’t have one for inequality or social injustice. In addition to its immediate health impact, the pandemic has shone an ugly light on the levels of inequality in Europe and around the world through a variety of lenses from demographic to financial to digital.

Over the years, the European Union has put in place legislation to tackle discrimination, such as the Racial Equality Directive. While the Directive was adopted two decades ago, various problems still persist in the national implementation of European non-discrimination law....

Football is Germany's national sport and enjoys loyal fans. But some of them see an urgent need for reform. Now, armed with a declaration and many signatures, a supporters group has concrete demands, among them stricter requirements for climate protection. EURACTIV Germany reports.

The EU Single-Use Plastics Directive sets a 90% separate collection target for plastic beverage bottles by 2029. Policymakers are debating whether deposit return schemes (DRS) can be the solution to achieve this target.

Nearly 16 months after its federal elections, Belgian political leaders broke the deadlock on forming a new government on Wednesday (30 September), with the King expected to name caretaker finance minister Alexander De Croo as the new prime minister.

The 2030 Agenda was adopted 5 years ago by national leaders. Discover the progress made by European local and regional governments and their associations in localising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in PLATFORMA & CEMR latest publication https://bit.ly/3k1dj0E

Polish MEP Sylwia Spurek of the Socialists & Democrats group in the European Parliament on Wednesday announced that she will defect to the Green party. Spurek becomes the first Polish member of the Green group. Spurek said she wanted to act in accordance with her values of human rights, animal rights, and combatting climate change.

DRAFT REPORT on the implementation of the EU Association Agreement with Ukraine
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Michael Gahler

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

In the context of the exponential growth of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the President of the European Parliament has announced a number of measures to contain the spread of epidemic and to safeguard Parliament's core activities.

On 2 July 2020, the Conference of Presidents adopted the revised EP Calendar 2020.

The current precautionary measures adopted by the EP to contain the spread of COVID-19 do not affect work on legislative priorities. Core activities are reduced, but maintained to ensure that the institution's legislative, budgetary, scrutiny functions are maintained.

Following these decisions, the next SEDE meeting is scheduled to take place on 15 October 2020 (online).

Recent press releases:

- Security and Defence Subcommittee: MEPs to discuss the Strategic Compass - 28 September 2020
- Report on PESCO: No member state can protect itself alone - 22 September 2020
...

For further press releases please see in the SEDE press room.

New EP calendar 2020
SEDE meetings' calendar 2020
Press release: Security and Defence Subcommittee: MEPs to discuss the Strategic Compass - 28 September 2020
Press release: Report on PESCO: No member state can protect itself alone - 22 September 2020
Press release: Sahel, West Africa and the Horn of Africa: a new EU approach is necessary - 16 September 2020
Press release: MEPs to discuss new defence related priorities - 7 September 2020
Press release: Defence Subcommittee MEPs will meet new head of the European Defence Agency - 16 July 2020
Press release: MEPs debate defence priorities with Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer - 14 July 2020
Press release: MEPs adopt a report on the implementation of EU arms export rules - 13 July 2020
Press release: European defence: Exchange with the French Minister of Armed Forces - 2 July 2020
Press release: The era of naive Europe is over, says Commissioner Breton - 25 June 2020
Press release: Call for a renewed relationship with the African continent based on solidarity and respect - 24 June 2020
Press release: EU must guarantee security to its citizens, warns Defence Subcommittee Chair - 26 May 2020
Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

The local elections in Romania have been marred by accusations of fraud in the capital city Bucharest, while authorities are slowly reacting to the charges. Clotilde Armand (USR-PLUS), an MEP who is running to become mayor of the 1st District...

The so-called “balanced approach” under which Armenia and Azerbaijan take equal blame for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has only perpetuated and protracted the antagonism, writes Farid Shafiyev.

Medical authorities and governments around the world should not only embrace one or more of the approved COVID-19 vaccines but must also be ready for the logistics of delivery, which includes a gigantic cold chain, possibly for temperatures as low...

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about how UK MPs voted in favour of the controversial Internal Market Bill, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš not reacting to Hungarian PM Orban calling for Czech EU Commissioner Vera Jourova to resign, and so much more.