The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has highlighted what it says is the need for a common European framework for migration management that is effective, focusses on both external borders and legal migration pathways and is in line with EU’s values. The EESC welcomes the existing monitoring done by the Commission as this provides the…
European nations may well be on the threshold of a new migrant crisis that will dwarf even that of 2015–16. That’s one of several stark messages to emerge from an exhaustive new book on migration – “People Power – why we need more migrants” – by the highly respected commentator on EU affairs, Giles Merritt. The…
The re-emergence of the Taliban threatens the peace and security of the “whole world”, an event in Brussels was told. The stark warning came at a conference which discussed the rise of extremism in South Asia, particularly in the context of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. Junaid Qureshi, the Executive Director of European Foundation for South Asian…
African nations’ capacity to significantly improve weather and climate forecasting through access to data from Europe’s next-generation meteorological satellites will be the key focus of a two-week online forum this week. Covid travel restrictions have forced Europe’s meteorological satellite agency, EUMETSAT, to move its two-yearly Africa User Forum online, but also have made it possible…
In two reports on draft EU legislation on artificial intelligence, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) calls for an all-out ban on social scoring in the EU and for a complaint and redress mechanism for people who have suffered harm from an AI system. At its September plenary, the EESC welcomed the proposed Artificial…
In June 2020, members of the European Parliament endorsed, by a vote of 378-255, a report on women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights prepared by Croatian MEP Predrag Fred Matić. The “Matić Report” called for the universal access to safe and legal abortion throughout the European Union. The Forum for Religious Freedom Europe (FOREF) takes no position regarding…
Exactly one year has passed since the beginning of the second Nagorno-Karabakh war. The frozen conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan lasted almost 30 years, writes Nargiz Gambarova. The Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding regions are internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan. As a result of two flare-ups in April 2016 and July 2020, the tensions broke…
After 18 months of closure, the Mirano, led by a new team which is determined to mark the occasion, is ready for the long awaited reopening of clubs on October 1st. After 18 months of closure, the Mirano announces its grand reopening with a brand new team and a brand new, more varied and diversified programming for Friday nights, curated by the founders of Hangar. The team made the most of their long months of absence and took the opportunity to put in place a new high‐quality sound system and acoustic treatment, as well as a new opening hours. This ‘Mirano 2.0’ promises to be superior in every way and its Friday programming plans to meet all electronic music tastes by introducing the Reflect (techno), Soulcity (disco/house), MIND (downtempo founded by Hangar) as well as programming their most legendary urban concepts for Saturday nights. Cameron Heal, co‐artistic director of the Mirano and co-founder of Hangar explains: “Marvin Weymeersch and I were hired as co‐artistic directors just…
EU policies are unable to ensure farmers use water sustainably, according to a special report published today by the European Court of Auditors (ECA). The impact of agriculture on water resources is major and undeniable. But farmers benefit from too many exemptions from EU water policy that hinder efforts to ensure sound water use. In…
Imagine a gambler who knows for fact that he is losing. He keeps on pulling out his unlucky cards, hoping to get lucky. The players around him know the kind of cards he is thinking of beforehand, writes Abdelkader Filali . This metaphor brings to mind how some so called “Democratic Countries” after realising the emergence…
