Photo by Max Kukurudziak on Unsplash MEPs have condemned Georgia’s foreign influence law and have called for its parliament to halt the draft law. This came when the EU Parliament adopted a resolution on the issue.It says the law breaches EU “values and principles.” The Parliament strongly condemned the re-introduction of the controversial draft law on the transparency…
Photo by Hamza Bouchikhi on Unsplash On 16 May 2003 the deadliest terrorist attacks in Morocco’s history took place in Casablanca, claiming the lives of 33 people and injuring at least a 100 more. One of the terrorists convicted of involvement with the attacks was Ali Aarrass, a Belgian citizen, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison after…
Photo by Daiga Ellaby on Unsplash Socialist MEPs have voiced “regret” over the failure to classify non-consensual sex as rape under planned new EU laws. After a decade of calls and insistent pressure and campaigning, the EU will finally have the first-ever law to combat violence against women – a solid first step to eradicate the pandemic of…
Photo by Devin Kaselnak on Unsplash The European Greens are insisting that the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, “speeds up” the Parliament’s investigation into possible links between MEPs and foreign powers. This comes, it says, in response to reports that German police have arrested a parliamentary assistant on suspicion of being an agent of the Chinese…
Photo by Saif71.com on Unsplash All MEPs will in future have to follow mandatory training sessions within the first six months in office focusing on the prevention of conflict and harassment in the workplace. They will also be taught “effective office management.” Parliament’s new anti-harassment rule, which has just been agreed, will be among the final votes during…
Photo by Headway on Unsplash The European Commission has opened non-compliance investigations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) against several “Big Tech” companies. It will investigate Alphabet’s rules on steering in Google Play and self-preferencing on Google Search, Apple’s rules on steering in the App Store and the choice screen for Safari and Meta’s “pay or consent model”. The…
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash The EU and its member states have reached a deal which aims to strengthen EU member state cooperation in the cross-border investigation of traffic offences. To prevent reckless driving while abroad, the updated rules will expand the list of traffic offences committed by non-resident drivers that trigger cross-border assistance possibly resulting in…
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash New rules are set to be introduced which would protect journalists and activists from abusive lawsuits against public participation. The long-awaited anti-SLAPP directive protects journalists and human rights defenders from strategic lawsuits against public participation that aim to silence them. The new rules contain a set of safeguards to protect victims, such…
Photo by Guillaume Périgois on Unsplash EU auditors say that rule-of-law breaches can now be addressed more effectively since the EU’s legal framework was bolstered in January 2021 by the Conditionality Regulation. In a new report they say that together with other protective mechanisms under the Recovery and Resilience Facility and cohesion policy, the framework provides for the…
Photo by Jeffrey Riley on Unsplash New rules are set to be introduced with the aim of combating the scourge of child abuse. This comes after the European Parliament and the Belgian Presidency reached an agreement that extends a temporary derogation to EU ePrivacy rules by 20 months to allow the detection of Child Sexual Abuse Material online. The…
