European Parliament (News)

Plenary sessions : Children are at risk of coming across videos containing violence or hate speech when online. The culture committee proposed several measures to better protect them when it adopted its position on a proposed update of the audiovisual media services directives on 25 April. But do you know how much time children spend online or the best way to protect them from harmful content? Watch our video to find out.

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MEPs beefed up rules to ensure that buyers of goods or services from another EU country are treated like local customers in a committee vote on Tuesday.
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

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Key products and services, like phones, e-book readers, operating systems and payment terminals, will have to be made more accessible to people with disabilities, under draft EU rules amended in committee on Tuesday.
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

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Children should have the same protection whether they are watching TV, a web-shared video or a web-streamed film, said committee MEPs on Tuesday.
Committee on Culture and Education

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Asylum seekers should be able to work in the EU no later than two months after applying for asylum, instead of the current nine months, said Civil Liberties Committee MEPs on Tuesday.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

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General : One in every three girls in developing countries is married before turning 18, and one in nine before 15. Child marriages limit future prospects as children are usually forced to drop out of school. Girls also face dangerous complications from pregnancy and childbirth, the leading causes of death among adolescent girls in developing countries. They are also at great risk from suffering abuse. On 11 April Parliament's women's rights and human rights subcommittee discussed the issue with experts.

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Environment MEPs put forward a number of possible measures to cut the EU 88 million tonnes per year food waste by half by 2030 on Tuesday. MEPs called on the European Commission to lift existing restrictions on food donations and stressed a solution is needed for the confusion created for many consumers by the “best before” and “use by” labelling.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

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Plenary sessions : Social media not only serves as a source of news for nearly half of Europeans, but it also has made spreading fake news easier and faster. Six out of ten news items are shared without actually being read. MEPS raised concerns about the spread of disinformation, political propaganda and hate speech in plenary on 5 April. However, they disagreed on the best way to respond to the problem. Watch our video above for an overview of the debate.

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Recent proposals to expedite the return of migrants who are not entitled to refugee status will be debated in the Civil Liberties Committee on Tuesday morning.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

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General : Following last week’s plenary session in Strasbourg, members are back in Brussels where committees are meeting before Parliament goes on a short recess for Easter. Among the issues on this week’s agenda are the latest developments in Syria and how to combat food waste. Members of the civil liberties committee discuss new proposals for the EU’s migrant return policy, while the human rights and women’s rights committees hold a joint hearing on child marriages.

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Plenary sessions : MEPs overwhelmingly approved a resolution setting out Parliament's priorities for the negotiations concerning the UK's withdrawal from the EU during this week's plenary session in Strasbourg. In addition MEPs urged European authorities to establish new checks to prevent car emissions fraud and also approved stricter rules to ensure the safety of medical devices as well as plans to enable more flexibility regarding the EU's long-term budget.

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Plenary sessions : The European Commission and most EU countries failed to prevent car manufacturers from cheating emissions test, according to the final report by Parliament's inquiry committee investigating the car emissions scandal. It was set up in December 2015, a few months after Volkswagen admitted to falsifying test results in their diesel cars. In the report adopted on 4 April, MEPs propose a set of measures to prevent dishonest practices by car manufacturers in the future.

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Plenary sessions : New rules allowing the US National Security Agency (NSA) to share private data with other US agencies without court oversight, recent revelations about surveillance activities by a US electronic communications service provider and vacancies on US oversight bodies are among the concerns raised by MEPs in a resolution passed on Thursday.

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Plenary sessions : Ukrainian citizens will be exempted from EU short-stay visa requirements, after Parliament endorsed an informal deal with the Council on Thursday.

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Plenary sessions : The new EU Solidarity Corps (ECS) initiative, which aims to create 100,000 volunteering and job placement opportunities for young people, needs proper legislation and funding, say MEPS in a resolution passed on Thursday. Its funding should under no circumstances be at the expense of the Erasmus+ or other EU programmes, they add.

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Plenary sessions : MEPs removed the last hurdle on the way to full abolition of retail “roaming” surcharges in a vote on Thursday.

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Plenary sessions : The European Parliament urges the Russian authorities to release opposition politician Alexei Navalny and other detained demonstrators, condemns the crackdown on peaceful protestors and arrests of human rights defenders and journalists in Belarus, and calls on the government of Bangladesh to close loopholes in new legislation that provide legal authorisation for child marriage, in three resolutions voted on Thursday.

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Plenary sessions : An overwhelming majority of the house (516 votes in favour, 133 against, with 50 abstentions) adopted a resolution officially laying down the European Parliament’s key principles and conditions for its approval of the UK's withdrawal agreement. Any such agreement at the end of UK-EU negotiations will need to win the approval of the European Parliament.

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Plenary sessions : MEPs worry about the proliferation of hate speech and fake news, particularly in social media, they said in a debate on Wednesday. But they disagreed on how best to respond. Ideas aired included removing false and defamatory content, imposing fines to non-cooperative companies and fostering media literacy.

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Plenary sessions : A visa-free regime for Ukrainians travelling to the EU is just the latest step in the European Parliament’s continued support of Ukraine. The Parliament has consistently shown solidarity by condemning Russia’s military involvement and illegal annexation of Crimea and promoting political and economic reforms.

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