European Union

"We don't accept Russian behaviour and we are certainly not intimidated by Russia. We want to coordinate closely with the US," EU Council president Charles Michel told a videoconference held by US think-tank the Atlantic Council on Wednesday, in damage-control to transatlantic relations. He spoke after EU top diplomat Josep Borrell criticised US policy on Cuba while visiting Russia last week, while Moscow expelled three European diplomats.

The EU Commission expressed concern on Wednesday over media freedom in Hungary, after one of the last independent radio broadcasters, the government-critical Klubradio station, lost its licence, forcing it off the air. The move "increases concerns" about "media freedom and pluralism" in Hungary, a commission spokesman said. Klubradio will go off the airwaves on Sunday after a court upheld a decision by media authorities not to extend its broadcasting licence.

Europeans are preparing to stay in their home countries for summer 2021 vacations due to the pandemic, with bookings and real-estate prices soaring for cottages in Ireland and Sweden, for instance, Reuters reports. Houseboat bookings in Germany also shot up, amid fears Greek and Spanish beach resorts may be closed. "People shouldn't be booking holidays right now - not domestically or internationally", British transport minister Grant Schapps also said Wednesday.

The trial of French far-right leader Marine Le Pen started in Paris on Wednesday, AFP reported. She is charged with breaching hate speech laws by tweeting pictures of atrocities committed by the Islamic State. Le Pen argues the charges challenge her right to free speech. The National Rally party leader in 2015 tweeted the images, in response to a journalist, shortly after the Paris terrorist attacks that killed 130 people.

Eurozone countries must keep fiscal spending up this year and into 2022 to protect the bloc from permanent damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday. Lagarde also urged the EU to kick start the bloc's €750bn recovery spending package, as some economic restrictions could remain in place until the second half of the year, she told the Economist magazine.

The EU Commission adopted a proposal on Wednesday to ask the UK if it can take an extra two months to ratify the post-Brexit trade agreement, by extending the provisional application of the deal until April 30, Reuters reported. The commission said it needed more time to translate the deal into all 24 languages, and for the European Parliament to vote on the deal.

The International Organization for Migration, an inter-governmental body related to the UN, is demanding the EU and member states put an end to illegal expulsions of people seeking asylum.

The European Commission admitted mistakes were made during the bloc's approval and rollout of vaccines - triggering criticism from MEPs who demanded more transparency and accountability, plus solidarity with low and medium-income countries.

It's more than geography. Ukraine and the European Union are "stitched" together with a common worldview and goals, with common values and future. And the best thing we can do – is to make these threads stronger.

Portugal’s secretary of state for internationalisation, Eurico Brilhante Dias, defended the importance of the EU-Mercosur agreement, not only in the field of trade, but also at "geopolitical and geostrategic" level.

The development of the Chinese economy over the past 40 years has also been a process of greater alignment, connection, and integration with the world economy.

The world’s poorest oil-dependent countries are set to take the biggest hit in the transition away from fossil fuels, according to a new report published on Thursday (11 February).

While Western vaccine nationalism condemns the world to a lose-lose situation, India, the pharmacy of the developing world, has clearly the potential to come to the rescue, writes Gauri Khandekar.

Geert Maesmans, President of the European Specialty Food Ingredients association, explains how specialty food ingredients contribute to reaching the ambitious goals set by EU policy makers in the framework of the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork strategy. 2.12.0.0

Germany is earning better marks than France, though not as high as the U.K.  The United States is average, landing squarely in the middle of the pack.  And Spain and Italy, well, they have quite a ways to go.

Russia has admonished the EU and Poland for organising a meeting with EU and foreign diplomats to discuss potential sanctions against Moscow with jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s close associates. Moscow would consider it morally and ethically “treasonous” that Navalny’s associates...

The German government wants to create a culture of open data sharing - and is setting a good example. The second Open Data Act, which the cabinet passed on Wednesday (10 February), expands the obligations of public authorities to make their data available to the general public. EURACTIV Germany reports.

On Wednesday, MEPs called for democratic oversight of tech giants to safeguard freedom of expression.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

MEPs called on the EU to step up its efforts to regulate social media while safeguarding freedom of speech and avoiding censorship.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

"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 22-23 February (via videoconference).

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