European Union

The US announced on Tuesday (13 April) it will ramp up its forces by 500  additional troops in Germany amid the latest tensions with Russia over Ukraine, in a reversal of former President Donald Trump’s plans to cut troops in...

Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides on Tuesday (13 April) acknowledged the need to accelerate production of COVID-19 vaccines but stressed that lifting patents is not a way forward and that other options are under consideration.

The European Commission will seek to outlaw Artificial Intelligence systems used for "indiscriminate surveillance" operations as part of new prohibitions to be put forward next week.

Polish PKN Orlen chief executive said a court decision to suspend the competition watchdog UOKiK’ approval of the state-backed refiner’s takeover of newspaper publisher Polska Press would have no impact because the deal has been completed. Opposition political parties have...

The digital platform to be launched on 19 April for EU citizens to participate in the Conference on the Future of Europe has been developed with the threat of disinformation in mind, the European Commission said on Tuesday (13 April). 

Iran on Tuesday (13 April) summoned the envoy of Portugal, current holder of the EU’s rotating presidency, to protest against the bloc’s sanctions on eight Iranian military and police chiefs over a deadly crackdown in 2019, state media reported. The...

The Foreign Affairs and International Trade Committees will vote on whether to give their consent to the trade and cooperation agreement between the EU and the UK on Thursday.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Committee on International Trade

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

The Foreign Affairs and International Trade Committees will vote on whether to give their consent to the trade and cooperation agreement between the EU and the UK on Thursday.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Committee on International Trade

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

The Foreign Affairs and International Trade Committees will vote on whether to give their consent to the trade and cooperation agreement between the EU and the UK on Thursday.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Committee on International Trade

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

French MPs have voted to suspend domestic airline flights on routes that can be travelled by direct train in less than two and a half hours, as part of a series of climate and environmental measures.

As a survey conducted by the L214 association published this week points to the suffering of animals in intensive farming, the 'End the Cage Age' initiative put forward by EU citizens is demanding to end the practice of caging animals. EURACTIV France reports.

On Tuesday, MEPs quizzed Commissioner Reynders on the recently proposed Digital Green Certificate and discussed data protection aspects with the EDPS.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

On Tuesday, MEPs quizzed Commissioner Reynders on the recently proposed Digital Green Certificate and discussed data protection aspects with the EDPS.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Russian strongman Vladimir Putin is taking a dangerous gamble, internally and externally. On the one hand, he is slowly killing his political opponent Alexei Navalny in a Gulag-type establishment. On the other, he is creating conditions for a spark to ignite a military conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Development aid from the EU increased by more than 25% last year as funding for programmes to combat COVID-19 and support poorer countries surged, according to data published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development on Tuesday (13 April).

Iran and Russia united against the United States and Europe Tuesday (13 April) warning on the eve of new nuclear talks that an attack on the Natanz atomic site and new EU sanctions could harm ongoing negotiations.

"In the context of the exponential growth of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the President of the European Parliament has announced a number of measures to contain the spread of epidemic and to safeguard Parliament's core activities.

The current precautionary measures adopted by the European Parliament to contain the spread of COVID-19 do not affect work on legislative priorities. Core activities are reduced, but maintained to ensure that the institution's legislative, budgetary, scrutiny functions are maintained.

The meetings will be with remote participation for Members (being able to view and listen to proceedings, ask for the floor and intervene in the meeting). Other participants are invited to follow the meeting through webstreaming.

Following these decisions, the next ordinary AFET Committee meetings will take place on 12-13 April (via videoconference).

EP Calendar 2021
AFET-SEDE-DROI meetings
Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

US health regulators on Tuesday recommended pausing the use of the Johnson & Johnson's single-dose Covid-19 vaccine, after six people developed blood clots, Reuters reported. Health authorities will hold a meeting on Wednesday to review the cases. As of Tuesday, some 6.8 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccines have been administered in the US. This week, the company has started delivering doses to EU member states.

European politicians, companies and trade unions on Tuesday (13 April) called on the United States to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% this decade, adding to mounting pressure on the Biden administration ahead of a climate summit next week.