The Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament has voted for the Parliament to take the European Commission to court for inaction on the Rule of Law Conditionality Mechanism. Despite numerous breaches of the rule of law endangering the proper use of EU funds, the Commission has failed to activate the mechanism. MEPs, led by…
Arianespace has successfully performed Soyuz Flight ST36. This latest launch for OneWeb placed 36 more satellites into orbit. ST36 represents an important step in OneWeb and Arianespace’s partnership: the operator now has more than half, 358 satellites, of its constellation in orbit. ST36 is the 10th launch of Arianespace in 2021. Performed on Thursday, October…
S&D members in the legal affairs committee in the European parliament voted in favour of legal action against the Commission for its failure to trigger the EU’s rule of law conditionality mechanism. In force since 1 January 2021, the mechanism makes access to EU funds conditional on respecting the rule of law and EU fundamental…
The EU needs rules against SLAPPs (vexatious legal actions) intended to silence critical voices, according to the Parliament’s Civil Liberties and Legal Affairs committees. In a draft report endorsed on Thursday with 63 votes for, 9 against, and 10 abstentions, MEPs propose measures to counteract the threat that Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) pose…
In 2020 the Prime Minister of Sudan, Abdullah Hamdok, survived an assassination attempt that had targeted his convoy as he headed to work in Khartoum. Film footage posted online showed two damaged white vehicles used by Sudan’s top officials parked on a street. Another vehicle was badly damaged in the blast of the explosion, but…
The European Commission has unveiled its “toolbox” for EU governments to tackle the current energy price hike. The proposed toolbox will be discussed by heads of state and governments at the European Council summit on 21-22 October. The toolbox mainly includes short-term measures for member states by setting out options to target vulnerable households. The Greens/EFA…
Manfred Weber MEP was re-elected on Wednesday with an overwhelming majority as Chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament. The German member presides the biggest group in Parliament since 2014 and was today re-elected for the 3rd time. After the announcement of the election result, Weber thanked his fellow MEPs for the trust…
Life for Chinese citizens is hard. Not because they face a lack of resources or opportunities but because of the micro invasions of every aspect of their life by the paramount leader President XI Jinping, writes Jianli Yang. As per the recent news affairs, the Chinese president seems to be on a spree to control…
David Frost (Lord Frost), UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Minister for Brexit, delivered a speech in Portugal today outlining his proposals for Northern Ireland. We publish here without comment the text of his speech in full. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen A year and a half ago, in the days immediately after the UK finally left…
Iratxe García Pérez, the leader of the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, met with judges in Warsaw on Saturday who are fighting to save the rule of law in Poland, and with attorney Michal Wawrykiewicz, co-founder of the Free Courts Civic Initiative. After the meeting, García Pérez said,”What I heard today is extremely…
