European Union

Immigration police in France are monitoring networks of safe houses and believe an estimated 100 sophisticated people-smuggling gangs are targeting the UK, The Times writes. The dismantling of the UK network, thought to have made €1m a month facilitating a "VIP" service, shed light on the inner workings of one of these organisations. There could be about 100 similar gangs offering Channel crossings, the report said.

Several Covid-19 infections have been found in a Chilean military base in Antartica, the only continent that had not been touched by the pandemic so far, the Chilean army announced on Monday, Le Soir reports. "Thirty six men have tested positive, of whom 26 are soldiers and 10 civilians who are working on a maintenance programme on the Antarctic base," a spokesperson of the Chilean army said in a statement.

French, German, and UK foreign ministers have agreed not to set preconditions to a revival of the Iran nuclear deal, amid hopes Tehran and Washington would come back into compliance with the existing accord, instead of trying to amend it, The Guardian reports. The European position emerged amid the first high-level talks by signatories of the non-proliferation deal - France, Germany, the UK, Iran, China, and Russia - since 2018.

The new, more contagious strain of Covid-19 is already in the EU, with Sweden closing its border to Denmark, on top of a UK cordon sanitaire.

Facebook has switched off some of its child-abuse detection tools in Europe in response to new EU rules, the BBC reports. The company said it has had no choice but to do so, since the new privacy directive banned automatic scanning of personal messages. The problem emerged despite warnings from child protection advocates that the new privacy rules effectively stopped automated systems searching for child sexual-abuse images.

Two people smugglers were found guilty on Monday of the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese men, women, and children who suffocated to death in the back of a refrigerated truck in October last year as they tried to make their way to Britain, Reuters reports. The discovery of so many dead people shocked Europe and Vietnam, showing a dark glimpse of how human trafficking to Europe works.

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said on Monday (21 December) he had tricked a Russian secret agent into disclosing details of the botched plot to kill him and had been told that poison had been placed in his underpants.

The Trump administration on Monday (21 December) published a list of Chinese and Russian companies with alleged military ties that restrict them from buying a wide range of US goods and technology.

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Citizens often send messages to the President of the European Parliament (or to the institution’s public portal) expressing their views on current issues and/or requesting action from the Parliament. The Citizens’ Enquiries Unit (AskEP) within the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) looks into these issues and replies to the messages, which may sometimes be identical as part of wider public campaigns.

The President of the European Parliament has recently received a large number of messages urging the Parliament to take a strong stand in favour of the mechanism making the allocation of European Union (EU) funds conditional on the respect of the rule of law. In its conclusions of 11 December 2020, the European Council stated that the Commission should not launch procedures under the rule of law mechanism until the European Court of Justice has made a decision on whether to annul the instrument. Citizens first began to write to the President on this subject in December 2020. They expressed concerns about delays in the implementation of the rule of law mechanism and about the deterioration of human rights and the rule of law in Poland and Hungary. In its resolution on the rule of law, the European Parliament stressed that the European Council conclusions are ‘superfluous’. The agreement between the European Parliament and Council clearly states that it will apply from 1 January 2021.

Please find below the main points of the reply sent to citizens who took the time to write to the President of the European Parliament on this matter.

Main points made in the reply in English

On 16 December 2020, after the European Parliament gave its consent to the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the President of the European Parliament David Maria Sassoli stated: ‘For the first time in the history of our Union we have ensured that the resources of the European budget are conditional on respect for the rule of law and democracy throughout Europe.’

Furthermore, on 17 December 2020, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the MFF, Rule of Law Conditionality and Own Resources. Parliament stresses that the 11 December European Council Conclusions, which state that the Commission should not apply the Rule of Law mechanism until the European Court of Justice has made a decision on whether to annul the instrument, are ‘superfluous’. The agreement between European Parliament and Council clearly states that it will apply from 1 January 2021. More information is available in this press release.

In a speech to the European Parliament plenary on 16 December 2020, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen also underlined that: ‘In essence, as I understand it, there is a fear that the application of the regulation will be delayed and that justice delayed might be justice denied. This will not happen. The regulation will apply from 1 January 2021 onwards. And any breach that occurs from that day onwards will be covered.’

As to the legislation on the rule of law mechanism specifically, on 16 December 2020 also, the European Parliament approved the regulation on the protection of the Union’s budget in case of generalised deficiencies as regards the rule of law in Member States.

The European Parliament tightened the regulation in the negotiations held with EU countries. For instance, the new law does not only apply when EU funds are misused directly, such as cases of corruption or fraud. It will also apply to systemic breaches of fundamental values that all EU countries must respect, such as democracy or the independence of the judiciary, when those breaches affect – or risk affecting – the management of EU funds. The European Parliament also succeeded in securing a specific provision that clarifies the possible scope of the breaches by listing examples of cases, such as threats to the independence of the judiciary, failure to correct arbitrary/unlawful decisions, and limiting legal remedies.

The European Parliament debate of 16 December 2020 on the Conclusions of the European Council, MFF, Rule of Law Conditionality and Own Resources is publicly available. More information on the rule of law mechanism is available in the EP press release, and in the Legislative Observatory and the Legislative Train databases. Moreover, the full text of the Council’s common position as negotiated and agreed by the European Parliament is available online

Specifically on Poland, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on 17 September 2020, on determination of a clear risk of a serious breach by Poland of the rule of law. Parliament expressed concerns regarding the legislative and electoral system, the independence of the judiciary, and fundamental rights in Poland. It strongly deplored both the ‘Polish Stonewall’ mass arrest and subsequent treatment of 48 LGBTI activists on 7 August 2020, and the Polish Episcopate’s official position in favour of ‘conversion therapy’. More information is available in this press release.

On Hungary, on 16 January 2020, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on ongoing hearings under Article 7(1) of the Treaty on European Union regarding Poland and Hungary. Parliament stated that there is a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded. Parliament is concerned about breaches of the independence of the judiciary, freedom of expression, including media freedom, freedom of the arts and sciences, freedom of association and the right to equal treatment. Further information is available in this press release.

Finally, the rule of law is one of the fundamental values of the Union, enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union. In this light, the European Commission published the 2020 Rule of Law Report on 30 September 2020. The report includes chapters on all EU countries including Poland and Hungary.

Ten years ago, anti-government protests began in Tunisia, leading up to the toppling of the Zine El Abidine Ben Ali regime in January 2011, the country's transition to democracy, and the start of the Arab Spring that saw the ousting of autocratic rulers across the Maghreb.

Three Romanian centre-right parties signed a coalition agreement for a future government led by ex-banker Florin Cîțu, following the results of parliamentary elections held 6 December, party representatives announced Monday (21 December).

EU member states will need to step up their efforts on renewables and energy efficiency in order to meet the bloc's updated climate and energy targets for 2030.

The remaining parties to the ailing 2015 Iran nuclear deal said on Monday (21 December) they were preparing for the possible return of the US to the pact as President-elect Joe Biden readies to take office next month.

While all eyes have been fixed on the EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy’s climate change mitigation threshold, the parallel process for climate adaptation has received less attention – to potential detrimental effects, writes Jonas Helseth.

Fishing boats in the north of England were forced to remain in port on Monday (21 December) because of the disruption to supply chains caused by French border closures following the discovery of a new coronavirus variant in the UK.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was working "as fast as possible" to unblock trade across the Channel after France shut its borders to UK hauliers in a bid to contain a new variant of the coronavirus.

Together with the Schengen agreement of 1995 which abolished most border controls, the euro is the most important symbol of European unification.

The invasion of Iraq in 2003 split Western allies, cost millions of lives, destabilised and radicalised the Middle East - but there is still "no sense of failure" in America.

As enthusiasm for further enlargement withers, Donald Tusk said it's in the EU's interests not to let China or Turkey replace Europe as the "attractive role model" for millions whose dreams of freedom are similar to his from decades ago.

The West's fake moral high ground on climate change is devastating Africa - Europe must stop gaslighting the poor and create an inclusive Green New Deal.