European Parliament (News)

Migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos warned MEPs the refugee crisis was "getting worse" during a meeting organised by the civil liberties committee on 14 January. He said the EU's unity was at stake amid an increase of "populism and nationalism". The commissioner also called on member states to deliver on their own promises and show solidarity to each other: "If Schengen collapses, it will be the beginning of the end of the European project".
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

The priorities of the incoming Dutch presidency of the EU Council are being outlined to parliamentary committees by Dutch ministers at a series of meetings this week.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Committee on Constitutional Affairs
Committee on Legal Affairs
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
Committee on Regional Development
Committee on Fisheries
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos joined the Civil Liberties Committee on Thursday to debate the implementation of measures to tackle the migration and refugee crisis, including relocation and work in the reception “hotspots”. MEPs also raised the issue of the future of Schengen as well as the need for a review of the Dublin system.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Are treaty changes needed to meet UK demands, will the four freedoms be safeguarded and could current talks release an avalanche of reform requests from other countries? These questions were put by members of Parliament's constitutional affairs committee to Jonathan Faull, head of the Commission's task force for strategic issues related to the UK referendum, in a debate on Thursday morning.
Committee on Constitutional Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Firms supplying essential services, e.g. for energy, transport, banking and health, or digital ones, such as search engines and cloud computing, will have to take action to improve their ability to withstand cyber-attacks under new rules approved by Internal Market MEPs on Thursday. These rules, informally agreed by MEPs and Council negotiators on 7 December, were approved by 34 votes to 2. They now need to be endorsed by the Council and the full Parliament.
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : Data breaches can cause substantial damage to consumers, businesses and even governments, as the cyber attacks against Sony in 2014 and against Estonia in 2007 showed. To boost defences against such attacks against its essential services, such as electricity supply and air traffic control, the EU has agreed on a common set of basic cyber security rules. We talked to Andreas Schwab, a German member of the EPP group, who is responsible for steering them through Parliament.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

The priorities of the incoming Dutch presidency of the EU Council are being outlined to parliamentary committees by Dutch ministers at a series of meetings this week.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Committee on Legal Affairs
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
Committee on Constitutional Affairs
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
Committee on Regional Development
Committee on Fisheries
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : Although 2016 has barely started, it is already proving to be a busy year for the European Parliament. MEPs are resuming work on a broad range of issues, from climate action to the refugee crisis. Also high on the agenda are giving law enforcement agencies more tools to counter the terrorist threat, making corporate taxation more fair and improving data protection rules. Read on for an overview of the main issues in 2016.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

2016 should be the year of corporate tax reform and fiscal transparency, tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici told MEPs from the Special Committee on Tax Rulings and the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee at a hearing on Monday evening. “We have a serious problem with tax avoidance and lack of transparency. Too many people have looked the other way”, Mr Moscovici said.
Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect (TAXE 2)
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

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New measures to strengthen and boost funding for an EU scheme to provide fruit, vegetables and milk products in schools were backed by the agriculture committee on Monday. They put more emphasis on educating children in healthy eating, increase the budget and merge into one the current separate schemes for milk and fruit in schools.
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : European Parliament President Martin Schulz was in Portugal on Friday 8 January, where he joined the event marking the 30th anniversary of the country's 1986 accession to the EU, then called the European Economic Community. “Thirty years later, we can honestly say that Portugal's EU membership has been an enormous success,” he said at the ceremony in Lisbon.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : Measures to tackle the migration and refugee crisis are to be discussed by the civil liberties committee on Thursday. MEPs also vote on the first EU-wide cybersecurity rules and on the protection of undisclosed business information against unlawful acquisition and use. MEPs are to discuss the programme of the new Council presidency with the relevant Dutch ministers while political groups prepare for next week's plenary session in Strasbourg.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : This month it has been 30 years since Spain and Portugal joined the EU. At the time the EU was still known as the European Economic Community and after the accession of Portugal and Spain consisted of 12 member states.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : The Netherlands will be at the helm of the Council of the EU for the first six months of this year. The country will focus on promoting economic growth and connecting with civil society. The priorities will be migration and international security; innovation and job creation; sound finances and a robust euro zone; a forward-looking climate and energy policy. We asked Dutch MEPs across the political spectrum about their expectations.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : Every year comes with new hopes and dreams and with renewed determination to pursue them. At the very end of 2015, we asked leading MEPs about their wishes for 2016. All of us at the European Parliament would like to join them in wishing you a happy and prosperous new year!

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : As 2016 is rapidly approaching, it is a good occasion to look back at this year's most memorable moments, from the refugees crisis to the terrorist attacks. The European Parliament also dealt with issues such as tax rulings, Greece and debated the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US. Watch our video to relive those moments.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : Launched in 2011, Snapchat is today the world's fastest growing social media network. It boasts more than 200 million user sending 8,796 photos every second. As one third of Snapchat users live in Europe, the European Parliament opened an account in May to give them the chance to find out more about European politics. Already more than 6,000 people follow the Parliament on Snapchat. Read on to find out more details.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : From all of us at the European Parliament, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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General : It’s time to put your knowledge of European languages to the test. Do you know how to say chocolate or reindeer in Finnish? Or gift in Portuguese? Test, learn and play.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

The social, economic and legal aspects of transport networking companies like Uber were at the centre of a debate in the Transport and Tourism Committee on Monday. MEPs heard the views of Uber head of policy for Europe, Middle East and Africa, representatives of the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) and International Road Union (IRU) and European Commission.
Committee on Transport and Tourism

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP