European Union

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has criticised Italy for the growing number of attacks on migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and Italian citizens of foreign origin. In the most recent case, discus thrower Daisy Osakue was hit by an egg hurled at her from a passing car. Italy's press believes Interior Minister Matteo Salvini is mainly to blame for the recent spate of attacks.

More refugees are now arriving in Spain than in the past twelve years, and the number has for the first time exceeded those arriving in Italy. Commentators discuss what is behind the increase in refugee flows between Morocco and Spain.

The UK's Supreme Court has ruled that in future doctors will be able to remove life-support for patients in a permanent vegetative state with the consent of their relatives. Up to now this had only been possible if the relatives took the case to court. Some journalists praise the decision while others see it as transgressing a moral boundary.

Steve Bannon, former aide and political guru to US President Donald Trump, has a new mission: he wants to unite right-wing and populist parties in the European Union.

At a meeting with Italian PM Giuseppe Conte, the US president said that other EU countries should adopt the same tough line on migration.

EU states have spoken out in strident terms against the Israeli demolition of another Palestinian community - but what are they prepared to do to stop the war crime?

Elmar Brok, a senior MEP with the centre-right German CDU party, said it was a "mistake" for pro-EU politicians not to have been involved in the campaign before the Brexit referendum. "We should have faced the lies of the Brexit advocates much more aggressively," Brok said in a FAZ newspaper interview published Tuesday. He also expressed support for a second referendum on the UK's future.

European commissioner Vera Jourova, responsible for data protection, has told US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross America needs to finally appoint a permanent ombudsman, to deal with complaints from Europeans whose data is processed by American firms. The ombudsman is a requirement of the EU-US Privacy Shield agreement. Jourova said in a letter, seen by the FT, that there is "little reason for the delay" and set an October deadline.

A Downing Street spokesman has denied press reports that the British army would need to be deployed on the day the UK leaves the EU in a 'no-deal' scenario, to distribute fuel, food, and medicines. "There are no plans to involve the army in this," the prime minister's office said on Monday, adding that it is in both the UK's and the EU's interest to secure a deal.

With European elections coming up in May 2019, you probably want to know how the European Union impacts your daily life, before you think about voting. In the latest in a series of posts on what Europe does for you, your family, your business and your wellbeing, we look at what Europe does for people who exercise outdoors.

You do not need to be a member of a gym to exercise. City streets, parks and green belt areas offer plenty of space to walk, run, practise yoga or do other bodyweight exercises. We cannot influence the weather, but there are other ways in which the public space can be made more inviting for people who want to exercise outdoors. One is by offering more and better purpose-built facilities, such as protected cycle paths, athletics tracks, pull-up bars and outdoor ice skating rinks. The other is by improving air quality, which can be a significant disincentive to exercising outdoors in urban centres.

Twitter Hashtag #EUandME

© baranq / Fotolia

Local and national authorities take the urban planning decisions that shape facilities in public parks and the space given to walkers and cyclists, but the EU does influence those decisions by promoting greener urban planning through sustainable urban transport plans, including by handing out annual prizes and offering detailed guidance on how to improve city transport networks, step by step. The EU’s urban air quality standards are among the strictest in the world, allowing less than half as much nitrogen dioxide as the US or Canada. By encouraging people to switch to exercise-intensive transportation like cycling, and by attracting people outside with cleaner air, the EU is helping people who want to exercise outdoors.

Further information

• EPRS publication on cleaner air for Europe, 2017, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2017/603237/EPRS_BRI(2017)603237_EN.pdf
• EPRS publication on moving cycling forward, 2016 http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2016/582033/EPRS_IDA(2016)582033_EN.pdf
• EPRS publication on EU sport policy, 2015 http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2015/565908/EPRS_IDA(2015)565908_EN.pdf
• EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service: www.epthinktank.eu