Large companies will soon need to publicly disclose detailed information on the way they operate and manage social and environmental risks. On Tuesday, the Legal Affairs Committee adopted its position on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) with 22 votes in favour and one against. If agreed with EU governments, the bill will make businesses…
The European Parliament has voted to set up an inquiry committee to investigate the use of surveillance spyware against citizens, activists and journalists. This follows revelations from a group of journalists that many governments, including from EU Member States, have been using the NSO group’s Pegasus spyware against citizens. The Greens/EFA Group strongly condemns the…
The last time Europe witnessed atrocities on this scale was under the Nazi Wehrmacht blitz led by Adolf Hitler 80 years ago. The Nazi crimes against humanity are being emulated today by the Russian butchers of Putin’s invading forces in his unprovoked war against Ukraine. The barbaric treachery of Russia’s troops will remain as a…
Access Now, together with Digital Security Lab Ukraine, has called on the international community to take swift action in support of civil society in Ukraine, as well as the broader public whose human rights are being undermined by cyberattacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. Following the most recent cyberattacks targeting Ukraine’s essential public service infrastructure, and the ongoing…
The European Union-African Union Summit opens on Thursday 17th February, and a thorny question is whether or not an invitation will be extended to the Western Sahara to attend. After today’s Foreign Affairs Committee, the European Union stressed in the clearest way, that its position has not changed regarding the Western Sahara saying that none…
A new draft legislative initiative report sets out an array of measures to address problems linked to ‘citizenship and residence by investment schemes’. The EU parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs approved the draft text on Tuesday with 61 votes for, 3 against, and 5 abstentions. MEPs stress that ‘citizenship by investment’…
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has recommended to send an election observation mission to Hungary for the 3 April parliamentary elections. In its assessment, the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said it plans to send a core team of analysts as well as “18 long-term observers to…
The EU Parliament’s LIBE Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs has presented for the first time its comprehensive assessment of the EU Commission’s Rule of Law Report 2021. In the report, released in July, the authority had examined the respect for and adherence to rule of law principles in all member states. It…
The call comes after one of that country’s most prestigious and expensive private schools, the Pechersk International School, was accused of being involved in “tax optimization.” It is claimed that the school requires children’s parents to pay for education in the form of “charitable contributions” which are then transferred to a specially created public organization,…
Campaigners have stepped up their efforts to allow Khaleda Zia, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, to go abroad for urgent treatment. Zia, the 76-year-old leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the main rival of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has been serving a 10-year jail term for corruption. Zia is currently under house…
