MEPs have given the green light to a €1.2 billion macro-financial loan to help Ukraine cover its external financing needs in 2022. Parliament agreed to an EC proposal to provide Kyiv with an emergency resource for EU neighbourhood countries struggling to pay their bills. It will be paid out in two instalments. Half of the…
Early this year, the Commission announced it will buy 1.8 billion additional Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine doses. This made Pfizer the EU’s most important vendor. The deal was clinched via calls and text messages between the company’s CEO and the president of the European Commission. Left group Co-President Manon Aubry is seeking to put on the agenda of…
The EPP group has called for more to be done to harness the potential of space for the internet. Massimo Salini MEP, the European Parliament Chief Negotiator on the EU’s Space Programme said the COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of secure internet connections. “We all know how much broadband connections are important for our lives….
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 EPP group has called on the EU to forge a new partnership with Africa. “We need to build a win-win partnership that strengthens trade and economic links between Africa and Europe to create jobs for Africa’s rapidly growing population and provide European businesses with access to new investment opportunities on the African continent”, said…
Citizens’ support for democracy in the EU has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, says a new Eurobarometer survey published on Tuesday. A near third of respondents (32%) chose democracy as top European value to defend, followed by freedom of speech and thought (27%) and the protection of human rights in the EU and worldwide (25%),…
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…
This week, the LIBE Committee on Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs in the European Parliament held a first hearing and exchange of views on the spy scandal in Poland. Shortly before Christmas it became known that mobile phones of prominent Polish figures had been hacked by the internationally known spyware Pegasus. Polish…
Almost 300 Airbus employees in France who lost their jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic should receive €3.7 million in EU aid. On Tuesday, the Committee on Budgets approved France’s request for support from the EGF. MEPs acknowledge that “in the framework of the COVID-19 pandemic, the general travel restrictions led to a general collapse…
A high-level delegation of the European Parliament, which travelled to Ukraine amid the current security crisis, concluded its visit on Tuesday. Nine members from the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and Security and Defence Subcommittee, led by Chairs David McAllister (EPP, DE) and Nathalie Loiseau (Renew, FR) met with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, the Speaker…
