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Source : © Union européenne, 2026 - PE

Committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

This paper investigates the determinants and dynamics of labour demand and specifically informal labour in Egypt’s manufacturing sector, using nationally representative firm-level data from the 2020/21 Egyptian Industrial Firm Behavior Survey. Applying ordinary least squares and fractional logit models, we analyse total employment, the share of informal labour, and its average annual change over the firm life cycle. Three key findings emerge. First, employment is positively associated with capital, exporting, innovation, industrial zones, worker training, and managerial education, and negatively associated with sole proprietorships, wages, and total factor productivity. Second, informal employment is more common among private sector firms, sole proprietorships, and firms using more part-time workers, and less prevalent among firms adopting technology or led by more educated managers. Third, changes in informality over time are modest: most formal firms exhibit no change in the share of informal workers. Notably, formal firms that did not initially employ informal labour tend to increase their informal share, while firms that formalised continue to rely heavily on informal employment. Together, these findings underscore the persistence of informality and limited transitions toward full formalisation within Egypt’s formal manufacturing sector.

This paper investigates the determinants and dynamics of labour demand and specifically informal labour in Egypt’s manufacturing sector, using nationally representative firm-level data from the 2020/21 Egyptian Industrial Firm Behavior Survey. Applying ordinary least squares and fractional logit models, we analyse total employment, the share of informal labour, and its average annual change over the firm life cycle. Three key findings emerge. First, employment is positively associated with capital, exporting, innovation, industrial zones, worker training, and managerial education, and negatively associated with sole proprietorships, wages, and total factor productivity. Second, informal employment is more common among private sector firms, sole proprietorships, and firms using more part-time workers, and less prevalent among firms adopting technology or led by more educated managers. Third, changes in informality over time are modest: most formal firms exhibit no change in the share of informal workers. Notably, formal firms that did not initially employ informal labour tend to increase their informal share, while firms that formalised continue to rely heavily on informal employment. Together, these findings underscore the persistence of informality and limited transitions toward full formalisation within Egypt’s formal manufacturing sector.

This paper investigates the determinants and dynamics of labour demand and specifically informal labour in Egypt’s manufacturing sector, using nationally representative firm-level data from the 2020/21 Egyptian Industrial Firm Behavior Survey. Applying ordinary least squares and fractional logit models, we analyse total employment, the share of informal labour, and its average annual change over the firm life cycle. Three key findings emerge. First, employment is positively associated with capital, exporting, innovation, industrial zones, worker training, and managerial education, and negatively associated with sole proprietorships, wages, and total factor productivity. Second, informal employment is more common among private sector firms, sole proprietorships, and firms using more part-time workers, and less prevalent among firms adopting technology or led by more educated managers. Third, changes in informality over time are modest: most formal firms exhibit no change in the share of informal workers. Notably, formal firms that did not initially employ informal labour tend to increase their informal share, while firms that formalised continue to rely heavily on informal employment. Together, these findings underscore the persistence of informality and limited transitions toward full formalisation within Egypt’s formal manufacturing sector.

On Tuesday 14 April (9:00-10:30), the Subcommittee on Human Rights will hold a public hearing on 'Caste discrimination in South Asia'. The panel, comprised of representatives of the European External Action Service, the United Nations, as well as civil society actors and individuals with lived experience, will provide a holistic overview of caste discrimination and its implications for human rights in South Asia.
Drawing on recent findings, including those of the UN Special Rapporteur on racism, it aims to explore the role of the caste system as a core driver of oppression, particularly in South Asia.

The hearing will underline the need for an intersectional approach that recognises how caste-based discrimination intersects with gender, poverty and other factors, creating distinct and severe forms of marginalisation. The exchange will also examine existing international and EU-level responses and explore avenues for more effective action to combat caste-based discrimination.
Public hearing page
Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

On 14 April 2026 at 10:30, the Subcommittee on Human Rights will hold an exchange of views on the EU response to human rights violations in the West Bank, with invited speakers from civil society, the European External Action Service, and the United Nations.
Against the backdrop of ongoing developments on the ground, the discussion will provide an opportunity to assess current EU policies and identify possible avenues for a coherent response anchored in Parliament's longstanding positions, such as the fight against death penalty, the need to uphold international law, the obligation of all parties to respect international humanitarian law and support to accountability for international human rights law violations.
Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Next AFET committee meeting will be held on:

• Wednesday 15 2026, room SPAAK 3C50, Brussels

Meetings are webstreamed with the exception of agenda items held "in camera".

AFET - DROI calendar of meetings 2026
Meeting documents
Webstreaming
Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Next AFET committee meeting will be held on:

• Wednesday 15 2026, room SPAAK 3C50, Brussels

Meetings are webstreamed with the exception of agenda items held "in camera".

AFET - DROI calendar of meetings 2026
Meeting documents
Webstreaming
Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Plusieurs des plus grands talents du football africain manqueront la Coupe du monde 2026, conséquence directe des éliminatoires impitoyables dans la zone Afrique.

Plusieurs des plus grands talents du football africain manqueront la Coupe du monde 2026, conséquence directe des éliminatoires impitoyables dans la zone Afrique.

ÄNDERUNGSANTRÄGE 403 - 762 - Entwurf eines Berichts Bericht 2025 der Kommission über die Türkei
Ausschuss für auswärtige Angelegenheiten
Nacho Sánchez Amor

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2026 - EP

A delegation of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) visited Seoul and Tokyo from 31 March to 2 April, led by Committee Chair David McAllister (EPP, Germany).
During the visit, MEPs discussed how to further strengthen the EU's strategic cooperation with South Korea and Japan, two of its key like-minded partners in the Indo-Pacific region. Discussions focused on issues of mutual interest against the backdrop of a rapidly shifting global landscape and challenges to the rules-based international order, shaped by evolving dynamics across the Indo-Pacific region, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, and conflict in the Middle East.
Press release
Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

A delegation of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) visited Seoul and Tokyo from 31 March to 2 April, led by Committee Chair David McAllister (EPP, Germany).
During the visit, MEPs discussed how to further strengthen the EU's strategic cooperation with South Korea and Japan, two of its key like-minded partners in the Indo-Pacific region. Discussions focused on issues of mutual interest against the backdrop of a rapidly shifting global landscape and challenges to the rules-based international order, shaped by evolving dynamics across the Indo-Pacific region, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, and conflict in the Middle East.
Press release
Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

STELLUNGNAHME zu dem Vorschlag für eine Verordnung des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates zur Einrichtung von „Horizont Europa“, dem Rahmenprogramm für Forschung und Innovation, für den Zeitraum 2028-2034 sowie über dessen Regeln für die Beteiligung und die Verbreitung der Ergebnisse und zur Aufhebung der Verordnung (EU) 2021/695
Ausschuss für Sicherheit und Verteidigung
Costas Mavrides

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2026 - EP

Au même titre que Taylor Swift, la série de concerts de Céline Dion cet automne à Paris pourrait rapporter des centaines de millions d'euros pour les acteurs parisiens du secteur touristique. Près de 500 000 spectateurs sont attendus, dont un tiers d'internationaux.

ENTWURF EINES ZWISCHENBERICHTS im Hinblick auf das Verfahren der Zustimmung zu dem Abkommen über eine politische, wirtschaftliche und kooperative strategische Partnerschaft zwischen der EU und Mexiko
Ausschuss für auswärtige Angelegenheiten
Ausschuss für internationalen Handel
Borja Giménez Larraz, Javi López

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2026 - EP

Le Ukrainian Voices Refugee Committee (UV-RC), situé dans le quartier européen de Bruxelles, a fermé son centre le 1er avril

The post Des Ukrainiens expulsés d’un centre communautaire après la suppression du financement par Bruxelles appeared first on Euractiv FR.

As Sierra Leone prepares for its next national election in 2028, political parties across the country have begun setting strategies and preparing to select their candidates. However, persons with disabilities say they remain poorly represented and are calling on political parties to nominate them as candidates ahead of the election. Samuel Alpha Sesay, a person […]

For almost three years, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been fighting each other relentlessly. In the process, both sides have also attacked the civilian population, destroyed infrastructure, and weakened civil society engagement, benefiting from the support of external actors. Against this background, the international Sudan conference in Berlin is of particular importance. 

Managing goals and expectations

On the third anniversary of the conflict’s outbreak on 15 April, the German government will host an international conference on Sudan together with France, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU). Foreign ministers from key countries as well as representatives of the United Nations, humanitarian organisations, and Sudanese civil society are expected in Berlin. 

At the same time, it is important to note that this is not a peace conference. No one should raise their expectations too high. Even a humanitarian truce, which the United States wants to broker with its partners Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, is not currently in sight. It would already constitute some progress if the Sudanese representatives could agree on a declaration to de-escalate the conflict. A joint communiqué of the ministers is unlikely to materialise, given the experience with the lack of consensus at the previous meeting in London.

Placing civilian actors at the centre

Despite its limited scope, the international Sudan conference in Berlin offers the opportunity for a long overdue change in perspective: away from the warring parties and towards those who are already working for societal and political peace.

Of course, the SAF and the RSF themselves must silence the weapons. However, the military actors alone will not even be able to guarantee a permanent end to armed violence. At best, a power-sharing model would produce another fragile civil-military transitional government. Fighting within the armed coalitions would be likely given the divergent interests of their constituents; a renewed flare-up of violence would only be a matter of time. South Sudan has already taken a similar path: There, armed violence has become part of the political system.

Instead, Sudan needs a new, civilian-led political order. It will take time to develop, but creating the necessary framework for discussion is possible even during the ongoing war. This is precisely the goal of the quintet of five international organisations – the African Union, the European Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the United Nations, and the Arab League – which joined forces at the beginning of the year. The quintet is conducting consultations with numerous civil and political groups in Sudan. In contrast to earlier approaches, there is currently greater unity among the participating organisations as well as a coordinated process design. Different political blocs with ties to the conflict parties and independent civil actors are expected to agree on a Sudanese steering committee that sets the agenda and criteria for a political process. 

The conference should support this process. Participants should commit not to organise parallel initiatives and instead align existing projects with civilian actors – especially those from the United Kingdom, Norway, Canada, and Switzerland – in support of this process. 

The civilian components of the conference in Berlin, which is to bring together 40 Sudanese representatives, can be an important step towards a common platform and convey its own messages to the international participants.

Finally, the humanitarian component of the conference should mobilise urgently needed funding. It should also strengthen the ownership, protection, and financing of mutual aid networks such as the Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs). These networks are able to reach Sudanese regions where international aid organisations cannot operate, and their work strengthens social cohesion.

These civilian approaches could help to make the conditions for ending the war more favourable.