Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash Prejudice against mental health is stopping sufferers getting vital treatment they need, a conference in the European Parliament was told. Depression and anxiety rose by 25% in the first year of the pandemic, bringing the number of people living with a mental disorder to nearly one billion people, says the WHO….
Photo by Viktoria Evseenkova on Unsplash Ukraine remains firmly on the EU agenda, both with EU leaders and for MEPs. The ongoing war in the country will be the subject of a week of special events in the European Parliament next week, back after its recess. Before that, though, at their meeting in Hiroshima, we, the leaders of…
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash MEPs are in the United States this week for meetings with their U.S. counterparts working on EU-US cooperation on justice and home affairs. The delegation in Washington D.C. includes LIBE chair Juan Fernando López Aguilar and S&D spokesperson for justice and home affairs Birgit Sippel. They will speak to counterparts about the…
Photo by Timon Gschwind on Unsplash MEPs have underlined the need for a coordinated humanitarian response to help those already in need in Sudan. They say this is also needed to prevent the conflict from spreading over into neighbouring countries. Members have now called on European authorities and leaders to do their utmost to push both parties in…
Photo by George Pagan III on Unsplash MEPs have backed three resolutions on the respect for human rights in Algeria, Belarus and Myanmar. Deputies, at their session in Strasbourg, urged the Algerian authorities to “immediately release all those arbitrarily detained and charged for exercising their right to freedom of expression.” They say these include the prominent journalist Ihsane…
Photo by Abdulaziz Mohammed on Unsplash Debate about the humanitarian and security situation in Sudan was held in the European Parliament in Brussels on 5th May. Anna van Densky, MEP Márton Gyöngyösia and James Wilson were interviewed by Bjorn Hultin. Photo by Radouan Bachiri This interview was first published in EUBriefs, and is reprinted here with the permission…
Photo by Gemma Chua-Tran on Unsplash Members of the European Parliament have voted to give consent for the EU accession to the Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (IC). All EU Member States have previously signed up to the convention but six countries have yet to ratify the accord. Following today’s…
Photo by Jorgen Hendriksen on Unsplash German Chancellor Olaf Scholz discussed with MEPs his views on Europe’s challenges and the bloc’s future. The debate took place today on 9th May, which is Europe Day. Before the start of the debate in Strasbourg, parliament’s President Roberta Metsola made a statement to mark Europe Day. Later President Metsola and Chancellor…
Photo by Brenda Godinez on Unsplash The European Parliament has been accused of “missing an opportunity” to acknowledge the need to include plant-based milks in the EU scheme subsidising school meals. In their vote ahead of the expected EU proposal, awaited for the end of the year, deputies were accused of “showing once again very low ambition to allow…
Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash MEPs are due to vote in favour of the final report of an inquiry committee on Pegasus and similar spyware (PEGA), calling for the EU regulation that stops the abuse of spyware by member states. They say that spying on political opponents, journalists or lawyers is illegal and against fundamental EU values. When…
