EP to Scrutinise EU-UK deal

On Monday 28 December, the leaders of the political groups in the European Parliament and President David Sassoli exchanged views with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier on the deal reached on 24 December on the future relationship between the EU and the UK. The Conference of Presidents reiterated…

CAP Reform

In a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, leading EPP Group Members of the European Parliament’s Agricultural Committee have requested that she lets the negotiations on the Common Agricultural Policy go on and that Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans respects the co-legislators and the democratic process. “We note with great concern that contradictory…

Defending our Values and our Freedom

Yesterday (Tuesday 10th November) Chancellors Merkel and Kurz and President Macron held an online summit on the implications of the latest Islamist terrorist attacks in France and Austria. They agreed that they wanted to work on reforms for the Schengen area, which consists of Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,…

Gender Pay Gap Too Great

Women in the European Union still earn less than men.  The gender pay gap in the EU-27 has slightly improved since last year: from 14.5% to 14.1% according to the latest Eurostat findings. The European Equal Pay Day marks the day when women symbolically stop getting paid compared to their male colleagues for the same…

Commission Work Programme 2021

The Commission on Monday adopted its 2021 work programme, designed to make Europe healthier, fairer and more prosperous, while accelerating its long-term transformation into a greener economy, fit for the digital age. It contains new legislative initiatives across all six headline ambitions of President von der Leyen’s political guidelines and follows her first state of the union…

EP Weakens Gender Equality Proposals

During a vote in the European Parliament in Brussels, liberals and conservatives voted to water down an amendment introduced jointly by the Socialists, Democrats (S&D) and the Greens calling to introduce concrete and binding measures to close the gender pay gap.  The measures include clear criteria for assessing the value of work, gender-neutral job evaluation…

Inauguration of the New Commission

The EU needs to “turn the promises of the past few months into results that improve people’s lives” That was the message on Sunday from parliament’s president David Sassoli who was speaking in Brussels. He joined the Presidents of the three EU institutions and the European Central Bank to mark the inauguration of the new Commission and…

EP Completes Hearings for New Commission Nominees

The Conference of Presidents (President Sassoli and political groups’ leaders) closed the hearings process today. Parliament will vote on the new Commission on 27 November. After the meeting, European Parliament President David Sassoli said: “During the last two months, the European Parliament has played its democratic role, scrutinising the performances of the proposed Commissioners closely….