Members of the European Parliament have voted on a report on the Pandora Papers, in the wake of the revelations by the ICIJ and others into global tax avoidance, evasion and money laundering. The report was an initiative of the Greens/EFA Group. For the first time, this report sees the European Parliament condemn the role…
The European Parliament has called for closer relations with Taiwan guided by the EU’s One China Policy, while issuing warnings over the continued tensions across the Formosa Strait. MEPs hail Taiwan as a key EU partner and democratic ally in the Indo-Pacific, one that contributes to maintaining a rules-based order in the midst of an…
Tibetan and Hongkong students protesting in Athens against the handover of the Olympic Torch to the Beijing 2022 Committee have been arrested. They waved the Tibetan flag and Hongkong’s revolution flag at the iconic historical landmark of the Acropolis, chanting “Boycott Beijing 2022” and “Free Tibet” as Greek authorities promptly confiscated their flag. Displaying the…
Ariane 5 is on the cusp of setting 3 new records when it carries the SES-17 and SYRACUSE 4A satellites for its second launch of the year, scheduled for Friday October 22. Arianespace will orbit two geostationary satellites: SES-17, a high throughput satellite operated by SES and SYRACUSE 4A, a satellite developed for the French…
With only just over 6,000 hectares turned into wine across the globe, Chasselas is something of a little known variety of grape. But, if so, that is a shame because any well informed wine lover would be very eager to possess a few bottles of it. For the uninitiated, Chasselas or Chasselas blanc, is a wine grape variety grown mainly in Switzerland, France,…
MEPs have awarded Russian opposition politician and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny the European Parliament’s 2021 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. Parliament Vice-President Heidi Hautala announced the 2021 laureate in the Strasbourg plenary chamber on Wednesday afternoon, following an earlier decision by the Conference of Presidents (President and political group leaders). Parliament President David Sassoli said: “The European Parliament…
The EPP Group says it has “fought tooth and nail” for €20 billion in public-private partnerships to tackle global challenges. “We all know the kind of challenges that planet earth, and indeed humanity, are facing today. Innovation holds the promise to overcome them”, declared Maria da Graça Carvalho MEP, the European Parliament Rapporteur on nine…
The Farm to Fork strategy is possibly the last call we have to make the whole food production system in Europe healthier – with less pesticides, antibiotics, and fertilizers; more sustainable; protecting biodiversity; more just; with decent remuneration for our farmers and decent working conditions in the food chain; and last but not least up…
Romania is suffering a multitude of crises as energy prices soar, Covid-19 infection rates are rising to worrying levels, a potential new prime minister is struggling to form a government and the country’s justice system has faced strong criticism in the UK’s High Court of Justice as the judge refused to allow Gabriel Popoviciu to…
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says more than 75 per cent of Europeans have received vaccinations. On Monday, she said, “We have reached an important milestone in the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to the world. The European Union has exported over 1 billion vaccine doses worldwide, over the past ten months. Vaccines produced in the…
