Several Taiwan representative offices in Europe have held “Walk With Taiwan” events, short walks to show solidarity with Taiwan. The Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium led the charge on Thursday, gathering a group of Belgium and Luxembourg-based compatriots, foreign exchange students and locals, to take to the streets. They also invited international…
Pharmaceutical industry lobbying in Brussels is blocking any solution to the growing problem of extremely high medicine prices in Europe, a new report by Corporate Europe Observatory claims. It says the crisis of affordability that has “long plagued” health care systems in the Global South has reached the European Union, as the “industry’s profit maximisation logic…
An international group of chemical and health NGOs have come together to publicly express deep regret and disapproval of the EU delegation’s behaviour and actions at the COP9 of the Stockholm convention. Whilst governments agreed to a global ban on Perfluoro-octanoic acid (PFOA) – an extremely persistent, bio-accumulative, and toxic chemical – a large number of unjustified 5 years exemptions were included….
If you doubted the physical benefits of jumping up and down consider a study by NASA, the space agency, which concluded that just one hours’ trampolining can outweigh the benefits of other types of exercise such a jogging. Fans of trampolining in Brussels have been rather deprived of suitable facilities to indulge their passion but,…
Concerns have been growing about the health risks of mineral wool (also known as Man-made Vitreous Fibres (MMVF), or by the brand name Rockwool). A report was published last year that summarised these concerns in terms of health risks to homeowners and those working to install, remove or dispose of mineral wool as an insulation…
In the final plenary session of this legislature, Members of the European Parliament passed the EU’s General Food Law reform Making the publication of toxicity data mandatory, the approved reform is a massive transparency win that will enable much greater scrutiny of the European Union’s food safety decisions. Reaction to the move was swift and came from Martin Pigeon,…
A Commission Expert Group, including representatives of the executive’s health directorate and member states, will meet on Friday to discuss the EU’s tobacco traceability system. A European Union directive requires member states to gradually introduce systems providing for tobacco traceability and security from May 20. With concern mounting about the likelihood of member states meeting the…
Taiwan should be allowed to participation in global bodies such as the World Health Assembly (WHA), according to the country’s representative to the EU and Belgium. Speaking exclusively to this website, Harry Tseng appealed to countries to voice support for Taiwan’s involvement in such organisations, despite the ongoing opposition from China. He admitted that while Taiwan’s participation at…
Key products and services, such as smartphones, ATMs, ticketing machines and banking services, will be made more accessible to people with disabilities. The European Accessibility Act (EAA), approved by Parliament with 613 votes to 23, with 36 abstentions on Wednesday, aims to improve the daily lives of disabled and elderly people, also opening the door…
Fire Safe Europe, accompanied by Smurfs characters, were inside the European Parliament this week to launch a campaign with Vladimir Manka MEP (ASD from Slovakia), writes James Wilson. The Campaign organisation, which has Rockwool and Knauf among its founders, called for EU election candidates to sign a pledge to work to improve fire safety during the…
