GUE/NGL has announced its third annual Award for ‘Journalists, Whistleblowers and Defenders of the Right to Information’. First established in 2018 in honour of the assassinated Maltese journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia, the award has become an annual celebration and commemoration of the women and men who risked their lives by disseminating information that are in the…
One of the biggest seizures in the EU involving fake spirits took place just two days before Christmas, it has emerged. A well-coordinated action in the Netherlands between OLAF and the Dutch customs authorities led to the seizure of more than 147,000 bottles of counterfeit rum, an equivalent of 10 containers. The final destination of…
MEPs on Wednesday asked the European Central Bank to step up its green credentials and address growing financial technology challenges. The resolution, setting out Parliament’s priorities on the European Central Bank‘s (ECB) future policies, spearheaded by Kostas Mavrides (S&D, CY), was approved on Wednesday by 452 votes in favour, 142 against and 33 abstentions following…
David McAllister Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Gigi Ugulava, an opposition politician and one of the leaders of the “European Georgia” party, was sentenced to thirty-eight months in prison by the Supreme Court of Georgia on 10 February. In Strasbourg the Chair of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee David McAllister (EPP, DE) issued…
The EPP says the “Polish Government’s repression, penalisation and intimidation of judges, who defend the rule of law in Poland, must stop immediately.” The actions of the current Polish Government have damaged its credibility within the EU, it says. “The signing of the so-called ‘Muzzle law’ by Poland’s President is another step towards further eroding…
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) has launched an audit to examine whether the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) has so far provided effective support to Member States in the implementation of European Integrated Border Management. Today, the auditors have published an audit preview on Frontex. Audit previews provide information on an ongoing…
Concern has been voiced over Spain’s human rights record, in particular “unfair” detention conditions and extensive pre-trial detention of suspects, during the Universal Periodic Review of Spain at the UN in Geneva on 22 January. The EU member state has been accused of “failing to abide” by international standards concerning fair trials. During the plenary…
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…
Parliament has debated the situation in Hungary and Poland as both countries continue to push the boundaries when it comes to undermining the rule of law, democracy, and fundamental rights. In the resolution that will be voted on this week, the S&D Group is sending a reminder that member states must respect the primacy of EU law…
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…
