European Union

Acceso al agua como derecho humano: dimensión exterior
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Miguel Urbán Crespo

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Italy has opened a fresh investigation into a Chinese buyout of Italian military drone-maker Alpi Aviation in 2018, Reuters reports. Italian authorities were paying "utmost attention" to the matter, a source noted, with the enquiry potentially leading to a scrapping of the deal. EU foreign ministers also discussed tighter "foreign investor screening" in talks on future EU defence strategy on Monday.

Commodities trading firm Trafigura has warned of potential power outages in Europe this winter. "We haven't got enough gas at the moment quite frankly, we're not storing for the winter period. So hence there's a real concern that there's a potential if we have a cold winter that we could have rolling blackouts in Europe," the company' CEO said Tuesday, Reuters reports.

Above 50 percent more people died in Bulgaria than usual during September, official Eurostat data showed. Bulgaria is the EU's least-vaccinated country, and it is the hardest-hit during the resurgence of coronavirus cases since late summer. In the Eurostat report comparing additional deaths with pre-pandemic levels, Bulgaria had the highest excess-mortality in the EU, followed by Lithuania, Greece and Romania, all at over 30 percent, Reuters said.

German regulator Bundesnetzagentur Tuesday paused certification of Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline until it created a German subsidiary, to be "organised in a legal shape compliant with German law", it said, prompting gas prices to jump 11 percent, Reuters reported. "Any delays in the pipeline certification, all the more so on the eve of winter, is not in the interests of the European Union," Russian MP Konstantin Kosachyov said.

Greece has offered to loan UK museums two classical artefacts, the golden Mask of Agamemnon and the Artemision Bronze statue of Zeus, if Britain permanently returned the Elgin Marbles to Athens, The Times reports. "We are advocating for the reunification of the marbles, I will be making my case to the British prime minister ... [the marbles] were stolen by Lord Elgin," Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in London.

An open letter, signed by 19 organisations representing Syrian refugees, wants Interpol to place safeguards to protect refugees from Red Notice abuse. It follows Interpol's decision to reinstate the Syrian government's access to its information system, allowing Syrian authorities to issue Red Notices. "There is a very real danger that the Syrian authorities will use Red Notices to try to target, arrest and extradite refugees,' said Fair Trials, an NGO.

Khalifa Haftar, a major figure in the Libyan civil war who wields wide sway over the east of the country, announced on Tuesday he will run in a 24 December presidential election that aims to help end a decade of conflict, France24 reports. Earlier this week it was reported that Saif Al Islam, the son of the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi, filed his candidacy for the elections.

Armenia on Tuesday reported an unspecified number of deaths, plus the loss of military positions, in border clashes with Azerbaijani troops - a year after the longtime-foes fought a war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, AFP writes. The six-week conflict, which left more than 6,500 dead, ended last November in a Russian-brokered deal that saw Armenia cede swathes of territory it had controlled for decades.

Dubai, Turkey, and the Western Balkans are hotspots of criminality in the EU neighbourhood, while Afghanistan's methamphetamine output is "expanding rapidly".

North Macedonia's minister of foreign affairs Bujar Osmani says Nato's presence - and regional maturity - means conflict remains unlikely in the event of Bosnia and Herzegovina's possible break-up.

A last-minute attempt by the Dutch government to scrap the country's dividend tax and keep Royal Dutch Shell in the Netherlands failed. The UK is the one of a few countries in Europe that does not levy a dividend tax.

In a joint letter, five European Parliament groups - from centre-right to far-left - called on EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to defend EU law and take all necessary measures.

A group of civil society organisations has urged EU commissioners to withdraw their participation from a top event organised in partnership with one of the world's largest cigarette companies.

People in Bishop Auckland who voted for Brexit are like the French who idolise Éric Zemmour because he blames France's misfortunes on Muslims, or like the Dutch who support Thierry Baudet, whose far-right party organises paramilitary training in plain view.

The death at the age of 56 of the leader of the successor social democratic party in Greece has opened up the possibility of a return to top table politics for George Papandreou

On Wednesday, Parliament’s delegation, joined by idea givers from the European Youth Event, will discuss five topics from the European Citizens’ Panels.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

On Wednesday, Parliament’s delegation, joined by idea givers from the European Youth Event, will discuss five topics from the European Citizens’ Panels.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the President of the European Parliament has established a number of measures to contain the spread of the virus and to safeguard Parliament's core activities. The current precautionary measures do not affect work on legislative priorities.

Core activities are maintained to ensure the smooth running of the institution's legislative, budgetary, and scrutiny functions.

The next meeting of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) will take place on 29 and 30 November 2021.

The meeting agenda and documents will be published here.

SEDE meetings' calendar 2021
EP calendar 2021
Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Parliament want to better protect Europeans and businesses against growing cyber threats. Learn more in our interview with MEP Bart Groothuis.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP