European Parliament

The Foreign Affairs committee called on the Council on Thursday to appoint a high-level envoy with an international reputation, tasked with raising the EU's human rights profile worldwide, to the new post of EU Special Representative for Human Rights created in line with the EP's repeated demands.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

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Plenary sessions : All actions aimed at suppressing the freedom of expression and assembly in Azerbaijan should stop immediately, says a resolution adopted by the European Parliament on Thursday. Azerbaijan's hosting of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in its capital Baku on 26 May should be an opportunity for it to show its commitment to democracy and human rights, it adds. In a separate resolution, also passed on Thursday, Parliament calls on China to stop deporting North Korean refugees back to North Korea.

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Plenary sessions : MEPs criticize the recent decision of the High Court of Ukraine to postpone its ruling on the appeal by former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko against her seven-year prison sentence, in a resolution adopted on Thursday. They warn against delaying the legal proceedings, condemn the use of force against her by prison guards and remind Ukraine of its obligation to examine any complaints of cruel treatment.

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Plenary sessions : Emergency financial assistance from the EU for cash-strapped neighbours must depend on respect for human rights and democracy, said Parliament on Thursday. MEPs also oppose plans to cut Parliament out of future decisions on granting this aid.

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Plenary sessions : The EU must make better use of resources for the sake of its future economic growth and the environment, according to a resolution adopted by Parliament on Thursday. Valuable materials should be recovered instead of landfilled or incinerated and taxation should penalise resource waste to help boost the EU's competitiveness, say MEPs.

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Plenary sessions : Parliament urged the European Commission to improve existing EU legislation to close the gender pay gap, including stricter sanctions on employers, in a vote on Thursday. The request for a legislative proposal points out that the gender pay gap still averages 16.4% in the EU, and in some member states has even widened.

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Plenary sessions : Parliament has called on the Swiss government to revoke a "discriminatory and unlawful" decision to reimpose quotas on long-term residence permits for Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian, Slovene, Slovak, Czech and Hungarian citizens, in a resolution adopted by MEPs on Thursday.

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Plenary sessions : Devising a "European Investment Plan" to create new jobs, reallocating EU structural funds to projects to create them for young people, and introducing a "European Youth Guarantee" to ensure that they are not without jobs for more than four months, are among the proposals set out by MEPs in a resolution, adopted Thursday, on measures to tackle youth unemployment.

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Plenary sessions : EU Member states should set an example in fighting homophobia, says Parliament in a resolution adopted by a clear majority on Thursday. MEPs condemn homophobic laws and violence in European countries, and call on EU member states to consider giving access to cohabitation, registered partnerships or marriage to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

Source : © European Union, 2012 - EP

This press kit is a compilation of recent press releases, prepared for the informal European Council on 23 May, setting out the European Parliament's work and positions regarding growth and jobs .

Source : © European Union, 2012 - EP

Plenary sessions : MEPs backed new international measures to further reduce illegal catches of bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, in a vote on Wednesday aimed at ensuring more sustainable development of stocks. They also called for more advice on the identification of spawning grounds and the creation of sanctuaries.

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Plenary sessions : Parliament says the EU must act together to tackle unfair competition from China and restore balanced trade, in a resolution adopted on Wednesday. The first step, it believes, is to get a clear picture of China's penetration of EU economies and for this we need a body to monitor China's investment in EU firms and purchases of European sovereign debt.

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Plenary sessions : The proposed financial transaction tax should be better designed to capture more traders and make evasion unprofitable, said the European Parliament in its opinion adopted on Wednesday. The opinion also says the tax should go ahead even if only some Member States opt for it.

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Plenary sessions : A new deal with Mozambique, which licenses fishing opportunities to 75 EU vessels from Spain, France, Portugal, Italy and the UK, puts more emphasis on sustainable fishing and controls and obliges EU vessel owners to employ local seamen, was backed by Parliament in a vote on Wednesday.

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The EU will set aside €230 million in guarantees to support the issuance of "project bonds" for EU infrastructure projects under a deal concluded by MEPs and EU governments in Strasbourg on Tuesday. The deal will pilot test this innovative plan to attract private investment in transport, energy and information technology network projects.
Committee on Budgets

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Plenary sessions : Despite the pressing need for renewed growth in Europe, the latest Commission figures show that Member States are increasingly failing to deliver on pledges to turn EU laws into national ones and enforce them. MEPs worry that this hinders economic recovery and call, in a resolution adopted on Tuesday, for fast-track infringement procedures and an independent internal market prosecutor with the power to institute infringement proceedings.

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General : Almost half of the Europeans surveyed think that combining public spending cuts with measures to boost economic growth is the best way to end the current economic crisis, says the latest European Parliament Eurobarometer poll. Over half (55%), say these measures should be coordinated among Member States. Most Europeans also say that financial help for Member States in difficulty must be conditional on compliance with common rules (80%).

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Plenary sessions : Fundamental rights should be respected in all instances when applying the EU's Internal Security Strategy, says a resolution adopted by Parliament on Tuesday. MEPs also want proper funding for this strategy in the 2014-2020 financial framework.

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Plenary sessions : Parliament's contempt for the perpetrators of the brutal bombing of a school in Brindisi, and its sympathy for the victims and their families, was voiced by President Martin Schulz in his opening of the May session on Monday. Mr Schulz also conveyed Parliament's sympathy to victims of the Emilia-Romagna earthquake.

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Plenary Session - Strasbourg

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Hopes for Libya's June elections, the first in almost 50 years, tempered by worries that arms may be smuggled through its porous borders to restless neighbouring countries, were voiced by Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs at a meeting with Libya's Deputy Prime Minister, Mustafa Abushagur, on Tuesday evening.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

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Europe on the Ground, a Greek youth media project, was awarded first prize at the 2012 Charlemagne Youth Prize ceremony on 15 May in Aachen. Second prize went to Europe Meets School, an exchange programme for Erasmus students (Czech Republic) and the winner of the third prize was the Cycle Me Home project, a documentary road-movie (Hungary). The Charlemagne Youth Prize is awarded annually to projects that foster a shared sense of European identity and integration among young people.

Source : © European Union, 2012 - EP

"Europe on the Ground", a Greek youth media project, was awarded first prize at the 2012 Charlemagne Youth Prize ceremony on 15 May in Aachen. Second prize went to "Europe Meets School", an exchange programme for Erasmus students (Czech Republic) and the winner of the third prize was the "Cycle Me Home" project, a documentary road-movie (Hungary). The Charlemagne Youth Prize is awarded annually to projects that foster a shared sense of European identity and integration among young people.

Source : © European Union, 2012 - EP

The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee took a unanimous stand on the latest bank capital requirements legislation on Monday 14 May. The vote gives Parliament's negotiators, led by rapporteur Othmar Karas (EPP, AT), a strong hand in pushing its reform agenda with Member States.

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The Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday urged the EU to take action on the crises in West, Central and East Africa, particularly the tensions between Sudan and South Sudan. MEPs raised questions about China's role in Sudan – South Sudan relations and said China had been more proactive than the EU and could only gain from the EU's hesitation.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

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The welfare of animals in transport must be improved, but cutting transport time to eight hours must be supplemented by other measures, such as support for local slaughterhouses and meat processing plants, upgrading transport vehicles and full and uniform control of compliance with existing rules throughout the EU, said many Agriculture Committee MEPs in a debate on Monday.
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

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MEPs welcomed Albania's progress towards EU candidate status in a Foreign Affairs Committee exchange of views with Albanian government and opposition representatives on Monday. The electoral and legal systems should take priority in reform efforts, said MEPs, with a view to the presidential election to be held in July.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

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The European Commission should have more control over fiscal policy in EU Member States, but not the free rein it asked for, says the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in texts, voted on Monday, stating a position on the economic governance "two pack". This increased power must be democratically controlled and serve to spur economic growth, MEPs say.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

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Bank capital requirements must be strengthened to make banks more risk-resilient and the risk weighting of loans to small firms must be reduced to facilitate lending to the real economy, said Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs in a vote on Monday. Bankers' bonuses must not exceed their fixed pay, they added.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

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Committee and political group meetings - Brussels

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Plenary sessions : MEPs say the fight against piracy off the east-African coast cannot be won by military means alone. In a resolution adopted on Thursday, by 434 votes to 100, with five abstentions, they urge member states to strengthen the EU naval protection force and finance efforts to tackle the causes of piracy. They also call for special courts for pirates.

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Plenary sessions : Parliament wants to protect European breeders from excessive patent protection, which it believes could stifle innovation and progress. In a non-binding resolution adopted on Thursday, it says products such as anti-carcinogenic broccoli or high-yield dairy cows, produced by conventional breeding techniques, should not be patented.

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Plenary sessions : The EU must do more to promote democracy and stability in its southern Mediterranean neighbourhood by boosting mutually-beneficial trade relations in the wake of the Arab Spring, says Parliament. Efforts should be focused on small businesses as the main drivers of job creation and wealth.

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Plenary sessions : Parliament approved the European Commission's 2010 budget spending on Thursday, under the EU's annual budget discharge procedure. It also endorsed the financial management of almost all the other institutions and agencies and the European Development Fund. However, it postponed the discharges for the Council and the Agencies for Food Safety, Medicines and the Environment.

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Plenary sessions : Parliament decided on Thursday not to defend the immunity of Corneliu Vadim Tudor (NA, RO), who had asked that it be upheld in connection with proceedings before Romania's High Court of Cassation.

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Plenary sessions : The reporting of fraud and corruption in Member States' spending of EU funds and collection of customs duties and VAT - the traditional sources of the EU budget - must be improved, so as to protect the EU's financial interests and prevent misuse of its funds, says Parliament in a resolution voted on Thursday.

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Plenary sessions : MEPs safeguarded strict conditions for the EU's toxic chemical exports in legislation amended on Thursday. The chemicals are those listed in the UN's Rotterdam Convention, which aims to protect the environment and public health in the importing countries.

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Plenary sessions : Clearer rules are needed to protect not only the victims of cross-border defamation, but also journalists accused of it, says a resolution approved on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2012 - EP

We talked to Martin Schulz, the favourite to win the European Parliament's presidential elections. But, as he says, it's not yet set in stone.

We talked to Diana Wallis, one of the three candidates in the European Parliament's presidential elections.