European Parliament (News)

The EU-US data protection framework, known as the “Umbrella Agreement” was backed by a large majority in the Civil Liberties Committee on Thursday morning. The deal will ensure high, binding data protection standards for data exchanged by police and law enforcement authorities across the Atlantic.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

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Diplomacy, development and defence should be the pillars of EU foreign policy, say Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs in a resolution voted on Thursday. They call on member states to show more unity and trust, and to speak with one voice, so as to make the EU a global player. MEPs also advocate a more realistic strategy on Russia and a “less for less” policy towards countries that try to throw democracy into reverse.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

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General : Toni Erdmann won this year’s Lux Film Prize for its original way of depicting a father desperately trying to become closer to his daughter while at the same time portraying the cut-throat realities of major international corporations. “Films like Toni Erdmann only exist thanks to national and European subsidies because they give you a certain freedom,” said director Maren Ade after receiving the prize in Parliament today.

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Plenary sessions : Progress in deciding how the Paris climate agreement is to be applied by its 197 signatory countries and the “Marrakesh Action Proclamation”, approved last week at the UN climate change conference (COP22) in Morocco, was debated on Wednesday morning with EU climate action and energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete and with Slovak State Secretary Ivan Korčok, representing the Council Presidency.

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Plenary sessions : Fraud involving VAT on goods exported to other member states costs EU tax payers an estimated €50 billion a year. The European Commission has come up with an action plan to clamp down on VAT fraud and update current VAT rules that have been left unchanged since 1993. MEPs debate the action plan on Wednesday 23 November and vote on it the following day. Read on to find out more about Parliament's position and watch our video for an explanation of how VAT fraud works.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : The German-Austrian-Romanian co-production “Toni Erdmann” has won the 2016 European Parliament LUX Prize, President Martin Schulz announced at a ceremony in the Chamber in Strasbourg on Wednesday. The film explores a complex relationship between a father and daughter in contemporary corporate culture.

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Plenary sessions : The EU authorisation for Bentazone herbicide, which expires on 30 June 2017, should not be renewed as its safety has yet to be confirmed, says a non-binding resolution voted on Wednesday. MEPs point out that Bentazone can easily leak directly into groundwater and is suspected of interfering with human reproduction.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : Propaganda pressure on the EU from Russia and Islamist terrorist groups is growing, MEPs warn in a resolution voted on Wednesday. It seeks to distort the truth, incite fear, provoke doubt and divide the EU. To counteract anti-EU campaigns, MEPs suggest reinforcing the EU’s tiny “strategic communication” task force and investing more in awareness raising, education, online and local media, investigative journalism and information literacy.

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Plenary sessions : Terrorism, hybrid threats and cyber- and energy insecurity leave EU countries no choice but to step up their security and defence cooperation efforts, thus paving the way to a European Defence Union, say MEPs in a resolution passed on Tuesday. They suggest devoting 2% of GDP to defence, establishing multinational forces and EU headquarters to plan and command crisis management operations, and enabling the EU to act where NATO is unwilling to do so.

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Committee on Foreign Affairs - meeting 24/11/2016 (AM)
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : World leaders gathered at the COP22 climate talks in Marrakesh for the last two weeks to negotiate how to implement the priorities of the Paris agreement. Today nearly 200 countries have backed a proclamation declaring implementing them an "urgent duty". The European Parliament was present at the conference with a delegation composed of 12 MEPs. We asked delegation head Giovanni La Via, an Italian member of the EPP group, about the next steps and the Parliament’s role.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : What brings EU citizens together is more important than what separates them, say 71% of Europeans, while 53% believe that being an EU member is good for their country, according to Eurobarometer’s latest “Parlemeter” poll, commissioned by the European Parliament and published on Friday.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

EU member states should “refrain from inciting fear and hatred in their citizens towards migrants and asylum-seekers for political gains”, said Civil Liberties Committee MEPs voting a resolution on fundamental rights in the EU on Thursday. The rights to free movement and life-saving abortion are also stressed in the text, which will now be put to a vote by Parliament as a whole.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

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It's vital Europe takes up the leadership in the fight against tax evasion, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz told Parliament's inquiry committee investigating the Panama papers on 16 November. Stiglitz, who served as an advisor to the Panama government following the revelations, said the US was unlikely to be effective in tackling the issue: "When your [future] president is evader-in-chief, it’s hard to have confidence in where we are going to go."
Committee of Inquiry to investigate alleged contraventions and maladministration in the application of Union law in relation to money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion

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Plenary sessions : Wildlife trafficking is the world's fourth largest criminal activity with rhino horn now being worth more than gold. On Monday 21 November MEPs debate a report calling for common sanction at EU levels to help fight wildlife tracking and vote on it the following day. We talked to report author Catherine Bearder, a UK member of the ALDE group, about wildlife trafficking and what is fuelling demand for it.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

MEPs have fought for and obtained better support for unemployed youngsters and additional funds to boost key initiatives supporting SMEs, transport infrastructure projects, research and Erasmus+ student mobility. The provisional deal on the EU Budget 2017 with the Council was reached in the early hours of Thursday. After Budget MEPs and Council have formally endorsed the agreement, the new EU budget will be voted in plenary in December.
Committee on Budgets

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There needs to be a “comprehensive global approach” against secret tax structures, says the Nobel Prize-winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz, who called for “zero tolerance”. Speaking to Parliament’s Panama Committee on Wednesday, the former advisor to the Panamanian government suggested that secrecy in tax affairs should be treated like a disease which needs to be isolated.
Committee of Inquiry to investigate alleged contraventions and maladministration in the application of Union law in relation to money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion

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An agreement on the EU money market funds regulation has been struck by the European Parliament, Council and Commission, after lengthy negotiations, more than three years after the Commission published the original proposal.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

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The EU needs a European register of beneficial owners of companies, consistent definition - and handling - of suspicious transactions and enforced transnational cooperation like the US Financial Investigation Unit, experts on anti-money laundering enforcement in Belgium and Germany told Parliament’s Panama Papers Inquiry Committee on Monday.
Committee of Inquiry to investigate alleged contraventions and maladministration in the application of Union law in relation to money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

The EU should do more to protect independent journalists and bloggers and human rights defenders, say MEPs in their report on the state of human rights in the world in 2015, approved by the Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday. Members point out that the "universality of human rights is seriously being challenged in many parts of the world" and say the EU "should ensure coherence between its internal and external policies with regard to respect for human rights".
Committee on Foreign Affairs

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