European Union

EU leaders have urged other nations to stop inciting hatred after a Tunisian migrant murdered three people in France on Thursday.

European Union leaders demanded that Turkey show them some respect on Thursday (29 October) and warned its encroachment into Greek waters is "completely unacceptable".

Negotiators failed on Thursday to clinch a deal on linking EU funds to the respect of rule of law, although a compromise haD been close. The main obstacle had been a time-limit on a decision to suspends funds in case of wrongdoing. Talks between MEPS and diplomats of the German EU presidency on the long-term EU budget and coronavirus recovery package did also not yield breakthrough on Wednesday.

The leader of the UK's main opposition party Labour, Sir Keir Starmer has suspended Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader, from the party over his reaction to a highly-critical report on anti-Semitism. The human rights watchdog found Labour responsible for "unlawful" harassment and discrimination during Corbyn's years in charge. Corbyn said the scale of anti-Semitism within Labour had been "dramatically overstated" by opponents, BBC reported.

The burden on healthcare systems all across the bloc, as a result of the autumn surge in coronavirus infections, is triggering new nationwide lockdowns and restrictive measures in nearly every EU member state.

A new report on gender equality in the EU makes it clear: improved gender equality in decision-making is the main driver of progress in the EU. And most progress so far is due to outliers Sweden, Denmark and France.

There is a persistent problem of 'fake observers.' Often the government of the country they are observing, or even the election management body itself, pays for these observers, holds fancy dinners, and puts them in five-star hotels.

Think tanks play an important role in our democracies, in policy-making and in public opinion, but black sheep tarnish the reputation of the whole sector. Developing and adhering to ethical principles could be a step forward but this needs to be incentivised, through funding and capacity building, writes Fabian Zuleeg.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that data and climate insights can create an important shift towards a more resilient, climate-neutral and sustainable society. Environmental and Earth observation data from the European Union's Copernicus programme and its services have not only helped monitor related aspects of the global COVID-19 pandemic, enabling policymakers and businesses to make decisions, but are also supporting the process of building a stronger, greener economy for Europe and beyond.

The European Union will finance the transfer of patients across borders within the bloc to prevent hospitals from getting overwhelmed as COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations spike in the continent.

Joint statement by the Members of European Council on the terrorist attacks in France

President Charles Michel presented the topics discussed during the EU-Canada Leaders' meeting via videoconference.

President of the European Council Charles Michel, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, held a Leaders' Virtual Meeting on 29 October 2020 and issued a joint press release.

The EU and its member states continued to scale up their climate finance contribution in 2019, providing €23.2 billion of support for mitigation and adaptation in developing countries.

Media advisory - Video conference of health ministers, 30 October

President Charles Michel called an informal leaders' video conference on 29 October 2020 to focus on COVID-19. EU heads of state or government will discuss the need to strengthen the collective effort to fight the pandemic.

The EU will need to significantly improve its offer to the African continent if it is succeed in maintaining its position as its “first partner”, the EU’s chief diplomat said on Thursday (29 October).

Written by Nicole Scholz (1st edition),

© Idea.s / Adobe Stock

The European Commission has proposed to amend Directive 2004/37/EC, by expanding its scope and by including and/or revising occupational exposure limit values for a number of cancer- or mutation-causing chemical agents. The initiative is proceeding in steps and has now become a continuous process. Following on from three previous legislative amendments, which covered a total of 26 priority chemical agents, the present (fourth) proposal addresses an additional three.

The proposal was announced as one of the first measures of the Commission’s commitment to fight cancer under the forthcoming Europe’s Beating Cancer plan.

Broad discussions with scientists and social partners fed into all four proposals. The Commission’s feedback period on the proposal will run until 20 November 2020. While broadly welcoming the proposal, professional organisations, trade unions and patient groups would like carcinogenic and mutagenic hazardous medicines as well as substances toxic for reproduction to be brought within the scope of the current proposal.

The legislative process is in its early stages. In Parliament, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs is in charge of the file. The working party on social questions is dealing with it in the Council.

Versions

• Fourth revision of the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive (CMD) (1st edition)

Proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2004/37/EC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work Committee responsible: Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) COM(2020) 571
22.9.2020 Rapporteur: To be appointed 2020/0262 (COD) Shadow rapporteurs: Ordinary legislative procedure (COD) (Parliament and Council on equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’) Next steps expected: Initial discussions in committee

The European Parliament and the Council were close to reaching an agreement on Thursday (29 October) on the Rule of Law conditionality attached to EU funds, but they continued to disagree on how to trigger the mechanism.

It looks increasingly like Europe is heading for lockdown 2.0 as coronavirus numbers climb and leaders scramble to react rather than act. By failing to think bigger and more creatively, we are setting ourselves up for a fall again.