European Union

China has blacklisted five MEPs, three European national MPs, two European scholars, and four entities, including the "Political and Security Committee of the Council of the European Union". The individuals, plus their families, were put under an asset-freeze and visa-ban the same day the EU imposed measures on Chinese officials over Uighur-abuses. China's targets were said to "severely harm China's sovereignty and interests and maliciously spread lies and disinformation".

China on Monday (22 March) announced sanctions on 10 Europeans including politicians and scholars, as well as four entities, in retaliation against the EU's approval of measures over Beijing's crackdown on the Uighur minority.

With their draft election programme, Germany's Green party want to finally say goodbye to their image as an opposition party. Climate protection and expensive investments are central, but their ideas for tax and financial policy could become contentious.

MEPs will evaluate the funding COVID-19 vaccines purchased in advance with Sandra Gallina, Commission Director-General for Health.
Committee on Budgetary Control
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

MEPs will evaluate the funding COVID-19 vaccines purchased in advance with Sandra Gallina, Commission Director-General for Health.
Committee on Budgetary Control
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

EU foreign ministers blacklisted four Chinese officials over "serious human rights violations" against the Uighur minority Monday, in their first sanctions on Beijing since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. They also listed two Russians for crimes, including "torture", against LGBTI people, two Libyan militia chiefs wanted for massacres, two North Korean officials, and one from South Sudan, as well as four entities, including one from Eritrea, over "extra-judicial killings".

Turkey will be invited to follow a path of dialogue and reap some economic benefits, or move further away from Europe and face consequences, the EU's chief diplomat wrote in his Turkey report, set to be discussed by EU leaders later this week, according to a draft report seen by EURACTIV.

Written by Sofija Voronova and Piotr Bąkowski,

© sveta / Adobe Stock

In December 2020, the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee adopted its reports on a pair of 2018 legislative proposals on electronic evidence in criminal matters, and mandates to start trilogue negotiations on the two proposals. The proposed new rules would allow law enforcement and judicial authorities to directly request (or temporarily secure) electronic data needed for investigating and prosecuting crime from electronic service providers operating in the EU (wherever the data is stored), and would impose an obligation on these service providers to appoint a legal representative for the purpose of gathering evidence and answering competent authorities’ requests. This two-part legislative initiative is the result of an almost two-year process of reflection on how to better adapt criminal justice to the challenges of the digital age, with a specific focus on jurisdiction in cyberspace and access to electronic evidence. The initiative is part of a broader array of international efforts to improve the legal framework and address persistent legal uncertainty that affects law enforcement and private parties alike.

Complete version

• Electronic evidence in criminal matters (1st edition)

A: Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European Production and Preservation Orders for electronic evidence in criminal matters

B: Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down harmonised rules on the appointment of legal representatives for the purpose of gathering evidence in criminal proceedings Committee responsible: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) A: COM(2018) 225
17.04.2018
2018/0108(COD Rapporteur: Birgit Sippel (S&D, Germany) B: COM(2018) 226
17.04.2018
2018/0107(COD) Shadow rapporteurs: Nuno Melo (EPP, Portugal)
Moritz Körner (Renew Europe, Germany)
Annalisa Tardino (ID, Italy)
Sergey Lagodinsky (Greens/EFA, Germany)
Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová (ECR, Slovakia)
Cornelia Ernst (The Left, Germany) Ordinary legislative procedure (COD) (Parliament and Council on equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’) Next steps expected: Trilogue negotiations

The UK government’s flagship home insulation scheme, intended to kickstart a green recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, has been botched, disastrous in administration, devastating in some of its impacts, and stands in urgent need of rescue, an influential committee of MPs has said. EURACTIV's media partner, The Guardian, reports.

Today, fiber packaging is one of the most innovative ecosystems and has a huge role to play in delivering the EU’s Green deal whilst helping drive hygiene and safety for consumers globally.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China's leading diplomat Yang Jiechi exchanged blows before rolling cameras at their first meeting last Thursday. Blinken accused Beijing of endangering global stability, while Yang blamed Washington for interfering in China's internal affairs. Europe's press says the new US administration has made its future course clear. Commentators speculate on how Europe will respond.

Politicians and human rights organisations inside and outside Turkey are voicing fierce criticism after Turkey pulled out of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against Women at the weekend. The EU's foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell has called on Ankara to reverse the decision. Withdrawing from the 2011 convention sends a dangerous message to the world, he warned. Europe's press is also up in arms.