European Parliament

Plenary sessions : The EU Commission should go on negotiating with the USA to remedy “deficiencies” in proposed “Privacy Shield” protection for EU citizens’ data transferred to the US for commercial purposes, Parliament says in a non-legislative resolution passed on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : Parliament approved aid on Thursday worth €6,468,000 for 557 redundant workers from the “Larissa” supermarket in Greece and €5,146,800 for 2,132 former drivers for the road haulage and delivery firm MoryGlobal SAS in France. The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) aid will still need to be approved by the Council of Ministers on 6 June.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : The EU must quickly take further measures to stabilize milk prices and bring relief to struggling dairy farmers, urged MEPs in Thursday's plenary debate with Commissioner Phil Hogan and Dutch deputy farm minister Hans Hoogeveen. These measures should include an EU-wide lid on milk production to boost prices, a more efficient intervention system, to enable the EU to react more swiftly, and balancing the supply chain to enable farmers to earn fair returns, they said.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : As milk prices have collapsed across the EU and show no signs of recovering any time soon, MEPs will quiz Commissioner Phil Hogan on measures to alleviate pressure on dairy farmers and stabilize their incomes in a debate on Thursday, starting at 8.30. Factors blamed for the crisis include the Russian ban on imports from the EU, the end of milk quotas in 2015 and a drop in global demand.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : New initiatives to allow consumers and companies to buy and sell products and services online more easily across the EU were welcomed by most MEPs in a debate with Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, Andrus Ansip, on Wednesday. Parliament will co-decide on equal footing with the EU Council of Ministers on the Digital Single Market legislative proposals.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands addressed Parliament in Brussels in a formal sitting on Wednesday for the first time since his accession to the throne in April 2013. Speaking of identity and solidarity, the King said he belonged to the first generation of Europeans in history to enjoy the good fortune of peace and expressed the hope future generations would have this opportunity too: “It’s all too easy to take peace for granted.“

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : President Schulz paid tribute to Marco Pannella, who died on 19 May. He remembered Mr Pannella, a long-serving Italian MEP with whom he worked for many years, as a passionate defender of human rights, pacifism and pluralism, a staunch opponent of the death penalty, an advocate of prisoners’ rights, LGBT rights, and an early proponent of equality between men and women.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : In recent years currencies such as Bitcoin have emerged that are not issued by banks but exist in the digital world only, relying on public and shared databases to have balances and transactions verified. The EU should set up a task force to monitor developments in this area and prepare to step in with regulations if necessary, according to a report to be debated by MEPs on 25 May and voted on the following day. We spoke to report authorJakob von Weizsäcker, a German member of the S&D group.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought embodies Parliament's support for human rights. Throughout the year the Sakharov Prize network of former laureates meets to highlight issues. On 23 and 24 May nine former Sakharov laureates met in Brussels to discuss, among others, how to adapt to the challenges facing human rights defenders in the digital era.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : Every day 315 million Europeans use the internet, but challenges still remain for consumers and companies alike. The European Commission presented its strategy for a digital single market in 2015. In addition Parliament and the Council agreed to ban roaming fees in 2017 and guarantee equal treatment for all internet traffic. On 25 May MEPs debate new Commission proposals to further boost e-commerce in plenary. Read our digital glossary to get up to date with the terminology ahead of the debate.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

The European Commission's proposal for an EU anti-tax avoidance directive was welcomed by Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in a resolution voted on Tuesday. MEPs nonetheless advocated stricter limits on deductions for interest payments and an effective corporate tax rate of 15%.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

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Plenary sessions : Data on your online activities - from social media to shopping - is regularly sold to American advertisers. Strong data protection standards are in place in the EU to protect your privacy, but this is not the case in the US. The EU is now negotiating a new agreement with the US called Privacy Shield to safeguard your data. MEPs debate whether this deal will offer enough protection in plenary on Wednesday 25 May. Read on for an explanation of the issues involved.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Participants in two adult education groups are showing that every day in life can be a school day if you have the right support to encourage lifelong learning.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

The rise in jihadist attacks, terrorists' profiles and the special role of women in ISIS, recruitment of young people on social media and ISIS communication strategies, terrorist financing, the links between terrorism and crime and striking the right balance between privacy and security on encryption were among the topics debated by Civil Liberties Committee MEPs and Head of the Europol Counter Terrorism Centre Manuel Navarrete Paniagua on Monday afternoon.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

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General : A delegation from the civil liberties committee visited Greece last week to assess refugees' situation at the EU's external borders and the implementation of the EU-Turkey deal to manage the influx of migrants and refugees. The delegation was led by Hungarian S&D member Péter Niedermüller. Members also met with representatives from the Greek authorities, international organisations and non-governmental organisations.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Budgets Committee MEPs approved €5,146,800 in EU aid on Monday to help 2,132 road haulage and delivery workers, made redundant by road transport company MoryGlobal SAS across France, to find new jobs. The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) aid still needs to be approved by Parliament as a whole and by the Council of Ministers.
Committee on Budgets

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Budgets Committee MEPs approved €6,468,000 in EU aid on Monday to help 557 workers made redundant by the “Larissa” supermarket in Greece to find new jobs. A further 543 young unemployed people should also benefit. The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) aid still needs to be approved by Parliament as a whole and by the Council of Ministers.
Committee on Budgets

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP