Statement by Luca Jahier, President of the European Economic and Social Committee: For weeks, I have been seriously concerned about the news filtering on the preparation of the Extraordinary European Council, which is expected to discuss the Multi-Annual Financial Framework on 20 February. Today EP plenary debate in Strasbourg has fully confirmed my long-standing concerns….
Our oceans have been put under severe pressure. They have been relentlessly over-exploited and over-fished. This harms the ability of the seas to sequester carbon emissions, and support life on the planet by regulating climate. It is disrupting the physics, chemistry and and ecology of the ocean with significant consequences for marine life. Presenting the…
So it was today when the EU approved the withdrawal of Britain from the EU. The Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council – Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel – have signed the Withdrawal Agreement, paving the way for its ratification by the European Parliament. The Parliament will meet on 29…
Interview with Dr Vladimir Krulj, Economic Fellow of the Institute of Economic Affairs, London. The next six months will be essential for both the European Union and the countries of the Western Balkans aspiring to join the EU, according to European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen. She was speaking in Zagreb at the start…
Romania’s prison conditions are of great concern to the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), as detailed by their report. The conditions discovered by the CPT team fall far below expected European standards for the treatment of prisoners and include attacks by masked intervention…
A ‘phone call between the president of the European Council Charles Michel and president Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation took place yesterday on Thursday January 16, 2020. This was the first contact between Charles Michel, in his capacity as President of the European Council, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The timing was planned so…
The Council yesterday renewed the so-called EU terrorist list, which sets out persons, groups and entities subject to restrictive measures with a view to combating terrorism. Persons, groups and entities on the list are subject to the freezing of their funds and other financial assets in the EU. It is also prohibited for EU operators to make funds and economic resources available to them. The Council is…
In a new report Greco, the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body, calls on France to improve the effectiveness and practical application of the framework in place to prevent corruption within the executive (President of the Republic, ministers, private office members and senior civil servants) as well as in the National Police and the National Gendarmerie. While…
The European Commission has welcomed the endorsement by the Council of the agreement reached with the European Parliament to provide up to €500 million in Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) to Jordan. This new financial assistance programme is designed to support the country’s ambitious reform agenda, promoting jobs, growth and investment for the benefit of the people of Jordan….
The leaders of the political groups in European Parliament have agreed to freeze large parts of the negotiations with the Council on the new long-term EU budget. Following the failure of the Council to make progress on its proposal for the multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2021-2027, leaders of political groups in the European Parliament agreed…
