Key demands of women for MEPs are tackling human trafficking and sexual exploitation, fighting mental and physical violence against women and addressing the gender pay gap. For International Women’s Day on 8 March, the European Parliament commissioned a dedicated survey among European women assessing the impact of the pandemic on various aspects of women’s lives….
The IPCC, the world’s most authoritative climate science body, has released its highly anticipated Working Group II report on climate impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. The report finds that the world is already facing the “unequivocal” consequences of climate change, which is killing people, damaging food production, destroying nature and reducing economic growth. Some of these…
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’…
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%),…
Energy taxation can support efforts to combat climate change, but current tax levels do not reflect the extent to which different energy sources pollute. A review published today by the European Court of Auditors outlines how energy taxes, carbon pricing and energy subsidies contribute to achieving the EU’s climate objectives. Even though renewable-energy subsidies almost…
New data published by the Greens/EFA Group reveals the amount of housing being bought up and controlled as investment assets by large firms across Europe. The study, My home is an asset class: The Financialization of Housing in Europe, shows how investors, facilitated under the capital markets union, are rapidly buying up significant amounts of living…
A report published on Wednesday offers a way out of the crisis between Russia and the West over Ukraine’s future if all sides are willing to settle for less than their maximum demands. In “Murky Waters – the Black Sea and European security”, Paul Taylor, senior fellow at the Brussels think-tank Friends of Europe, outlines a…
MEPs finalised 18 months of inquiry by the INGE committee and adopted its final recommendations. The European public and government officials are “overwhelmingly” unaware of the severity of the threat posed by foreign autocratic regimes, in particular Russia and China, MEPs say in the text. Insufficient defence made it easier for malicious actors to take over…
EU action has had little impact in advancing fundamental rule of law reforms in the Western Balkans, according to a special report published by the European Court of Auditors (ECA). Some technical and operational reforms have taken place in the region. But in a context of insufficient political will and a lack of engagement, EU…
The plenary of the European Parliament will this week debate an S&D report on democracy at work, with a vote tomorrow. The report calls for strengthening workers’ participation at workplaces across the EU and proposes a new framework for information, consultation and board-level representation to replace the existing patchwork of sometimes contradictory rules. With this framework,…
