European Parliament (News)

An informal deal on the wording of draft EU law on transmissible animal diseases, negotiated by MEPs, the Latvian Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the European Commission, was backed by the Agriculture Committee on Wednesday. The law will merge and update many scattered items of old legislation, so as to help prevent and halt new outbreaks of animal diseases such as avian flu or African swine fever and keep pace with scientific progress.
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

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Human Rights subcommittee MEPs debated today the human rights situation in Venezuela with representatives of the political opposition, human rights activists and spokespersons of victims groups.
Subcommittee on Human Rights

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Today’s economic governance rules for the euro area are not working as well as they should. This is because they are too complex, lack ownership and are not consistently enforced, say Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs in a resolution voted on Tuesday. This draft text, which assesses the record of the economic governance architecture so far and recommends improvements, will become Parliament’s input to the 25 June European Council.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

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Forthcoming proposals to reform EU copyright law for the digital era and EU digital single market must protect Europe’s cultural diversity and citizens’ access to it, whilst striking a fair balance between the rights and interests of rightholders and users, say Legal Affairs Committee MEPs in a non-legislative resolution voted on Tuesday.
Committee on Legal Affairs

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Europe is an important market for drugs, supported by both domestic production and drugs trafficked from elsewhere, according to the 2015 report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). The report will be discussed by the civil liberties and justice committee and EMCDDA Director Wolfgang Götz on Wednesday 17 June from 9.00 CET. Watch it live online and check out our infographic and article for the report's main findings on drug use in Europe.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

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The Capital Markets Union (CMU) should boost the efficient allocation of savings to fund businesses, protect cross-border investors and create a new channel to finance the real economy, said economic and monetary MEPs in a resolution on Tuesday. They want CMU building blocks such as diverse investment choices, risk mitigation and clear investment information across the EU to be in place by 2018 to complement bank financing
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

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Plans to help businesses obtain legal redress against the theft or misuse of their trade secrets were backed by the legal affairs committee on Tuesday. The committee clarified the draft rules to ensure respect for freedom of expression and information, including media freedom, and provide adequate protection for whistle-blowers.
Committee on Legal Affairs

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Parliament's International Trade Committee will hold an extraordinary meeting on 29 June in Brussels to decide whether the 116 amendments tabled to Parliament's draft recommendations to Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiators should be put to a vote by Parliament as a whole, the political groups represented in the committee decided on Monday.
Committee on International Trade

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The European Central Bank is doing all it can to facilitate a successful outcome of the ongoing talks with Greece, ECB President Mario Draghi assured Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs on Monday. But he also made it crystal clear that ultimately, disbursing any further financial assistance to Greece is "a political decision that will have to be taken by elected policymakers, not by central bankers".
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

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General : "There can be no cultural relativism where human rights are concerned," said Louis Michel (ALDE, BE) on Monday, at the start of the 29th meeting of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, in Suva, Fiji. He said human rights could not be breached in the name of cultural diversity, adding that this issue was at the heart of discussions in Europe, as well as in the ACP states.

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Nearly half of all people have failed to use streaming services from their own country while on holiday abroad. This practice known as geo-blocking is because of copyright protection. Current copyright rules date from 2001, but the European Commission will propose an update by the end of the year. German Greens/EFA member Julia Reda has drafted a report to serve as Parliament's input to the new legislation. The legal affairs committee votes on it on Tuesday 16 June. Watch it live on our website.
Committee on Legal Affairs

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Parliament looks forward to starting talks with ministers soon on reform to give the EU high common standards of data protection fit for the digital era, said its key negotiators on Monday, welcoming the Council's announcement that it had approved its negotiating mandate. The first meeting between the institutions is scheduled for 24 June and will be followed by a joint press conference.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

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General : A possible ban on cloning farm animals, copyright protection and capital markets are only some of the topics being dealt with by Parliament this week. An EP delegation is also participating in the ACP-EU Joint Assembly in Suva, while EP President Martin Schulz is visiting London to meet UK Prime Minister David Cameron. In addition the international trade committee is meeting on Monday evening to decide what should happen regarding Parliament's recommendations on EU-US trade deal TTIP.

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General : European Parliament negotiations with the Council and Commission on an Inter-institutional Agreement on Better Regulation should open officially soon. ALDE group leader Guy Verhofstadt will conduct the talks on Parliament’s behalf.

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Plenary sessions : EU-Russia relations were high on Parliament's agenda this plenary week in Strasbourg. In two separate resolutions, MEPs called on EU member states to maintain their unity following Russia´s illegal annexation of Crimea and drew attention to the militarisation of the Black Sea basin. Meanwhile the debate and vote on Parliament´s recommendations for the ongoing Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations were postponed due to the high number of amendments.

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Plenary sessions : The European Parliament regrets that recent corruption allegations against the international football federation FIFA have seriously damaged the credibility and the integrity of global football. In a resolution voted on Thursday, MEPs call for a zero-tolerance policy on corruption in football, underlining that in-depth structural reforms within the organisation are now urgently needed.

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Plenary sessions : The EU must critically re-assess its relations with Russia, which are profoundly damaged by Russia's deliberate violation of democratic principles, fundamental values and international law with its violent action and destabilisation of its neighbours , MEPs said on Wednesday. The EU must now devise a soft-power contingency plan to counter Russia’s aggressive and divisive policies, they said.

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Plenary sessions : MEPs state their concern at the high number of child pregnancies in Paraguay, calling for "access to safe and legal abortion" when the health and life of women or girls are in danger, "where there is severe foetal impairment and in cases of rape and incest". In separate resolutions they also call for the protection of the Palmyra site and draw attention to the situation of children in Nepal.

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Plenary sessions : The debate and vote on Parliament's recommendations on the ongoing Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations were postponed because of the high number of amendments tabled. What does this mean and what happens next?

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Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea has also raised questions about the strategic military situation in the Black Sea Basin. As MEPs prepare to vote on a resolution on this on Thursday 11 June, we spoke to report author and EP Vice-President Ioan Mircea Paşcu about the situation. The Romanian S&D member told us: "The deployment and the aggressive modernisation of the fleet put forward by Russia is a security challenge, which cannot be ignored or left entirely to Nato."
Committee on Foreign Affairs

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