Kaisa Soro-Pesonen has been appointed Head of the Brussels Office of the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) as of 11 January 2021. Kaisa Soro-Pesonen has been in Brussels for 16 years. She is joining the Confederation of Finnish Industries from the Cabinet of Jutta Urpilainen, Commissioner for International Partnerships at the European Commission Prior to this, she served…
After their Christmas recess, the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament is now due to comment on the trade agreement between the EU and the UK, in preparation for the Parliament’s vote in March on granting consent to the agreement. In the meanwhile less than two weeks into implementation of the agreement, EU-UK trade…
The European Commission on Friday proposed to the EU Member States to purchase an additional 200 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by BioNTech and Pfizer, with the option to acquire another 100 million doses. This would enable the EU to purchase up to 600 million doses of this vaccine, which is already…
The Commission and International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance have published a handbook for the practical use of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism This document was commissioned by the European Commission and published jointly with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, with support from the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The IHRA working…
We publish here in full the text of a declaration issued by the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Policy. The authorities in Hong Kong arrested over 50 people on 6 January 2021 on charges pursuant to the National Security Law (NSL). The charges in question relate to the holding in July 2020 of pro-democracy primary…
Three women journalists were detained and another was beaten by police on 5 January during a protest in the Turkish capital Ankara against the disappearance of a Kurdish student a year ago. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and their affiliate, the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) condemned the violence and demanded the…
Three-quarters (75%) of UK office workers said that they would accept – or have accepted – a pay cut in return for a fully remote role that allows them to work from anywhere, according to new research from Citrix. The new data, based on a survey of 1,000 UK office workers and conducted by OnePoll,…
The Socialists and Democrats salute the US Congress’ confirmation of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s victory in the November presidential election. Yesterday’s assault on the Capitol by a violent mob of Trump’s supporters shows how important democracy and civility are. We look forward to rebuilding and strengthening our transatlantic relations. S&D leader Iratxe García Pérez MEP said: “I am still shocked by the images…
In finalising its treaty with the EU, to the dismay of many, the British PM Johnson has confirmed his last minute negative decision to no longer participate in the EU`s Erasmus programme. This comes as a severe blow to young people and to present and future students and teaching staff throughout our education and training…
As from 31 December, the Belgian authorities now require a PCR test for Belgian residents returning from a red zone, and the test capacity at the airport is being increased to meet the anticipated surge in demand for tests. As of today (1 January) it has been possible to take 300 tests per hour by…
