European Union

Pope Francis has abolished the "pontifical secret" rule in cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. The rule of secrecy applied equally to perpetrators and victims. Statements given in church trials can now be passed on to civil authorities. Europe's press praises the measure as an important step and discusses the far-reaching consequences.

The mayors of Budapest, Warsaw, Prague and Bratislava signed a joint declaration on Monday that founds a "Pact of Free Cities". The signatories wrote in a joint letter published before the meeting in Budapest that the initiative is aimed at establishing bottom-up democracy instead of populist solutions. A clever move? The Czech press is at odds.

Unprecedented in Spanish football: on Sunday the referees decided to suspend a second-league match between Rayo Vallecano and Albacete at half-time. Rayo fans had repeatedly aimed chants at an Albacete player whom they accused of being a neo-Nazi. Are double standards being applied with football fans in Spain?

The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå) is facing serious accusations. According to a report put out by Linköping University, the Council, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Justice and carries out research and gathers statistics on crime, has been doctoring its findings in line with political guidelines for years. Sweden's press is outraged.

Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems’ seven-year battle against Facebook reaches a crucial point tomorrow (19 December) when an adviser to Europe’s top court will issue his view on whether tools used by companies to transfer data abroad are legal or not.

Parliament will debate the compatibility of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement with the new European Green Deal, on Wednesday from 15.00.
Committee on International Trade

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP