Article – How to protect human rights while countering terrorism
Friday, April 13th, 2012
There is evidence that the CIA set up secret detention sites for terrorism suspects in some of the EU member states. The European Parliament believes that the countries involved should be held accountable but its efforts to investigate the allegations are said to be hindered by US and EU governments. The EP's human rights subcommittee held a public hearing on secret rendition and detention practices on 12 April 2012 focussing on how to protect human rights while countering terrorism.
Source : © European Union, 2012 – EP
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MEPs made progress on energy security, economic reform and human rights when they met their counterparts from the EU's Eastern Partners in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 2-4 April. This was the second ordinary plenary session of Euronest, a forum to promote political and economic integration between the EU and Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Bulgarian Social-Democrat MEP Kristian Vigenin, co-president of the assembly, told us about the results achieved.
MEPs will meet in political groups to prepare for next week's plenary session in Strasbourg. In addition several EP committees will convene to discuss alleged CIA prisons in Europe, new capital rules for banks and how to make cars less noisy.
The European Citizen’s initiative, in force since last Sunday, is an unprecedented opportunity for European people to unite in order to influence the flow of European politics. EP Vice President Georgios Papastamkos, who agreed to answer questions on the Initiative submitted by followers of the Parliament's Facebook page, believes it could be the beginning of something bigger, a true "Citizens' Europe".
MEPs regularly travel in delegations to other countries as part of the EP's contribution to the EU's foreign policy. This week, for example, there are delegations in Montenegro and Iceland to discuss the two countries' prospects of joining the EU with parliamentarians there. Another delegation is in Baku, Azerbaijan, at the Euronest assembly to discuss further integration between the EU and its Eastern European Partners. Find out more about what delegations are and how they work in our article.
EU policies have taken on a distinct green hue of late as reducing our impact on the environment becomes more and more important. In recent months the European Parliament has discussed making anything from Common Agricultural Policy to aviation emissions greener. But what do politicians mean by green and what is Parliament's green agenda? We put the question to a number of parliamentary committee chairs.
The European Citizens' Initiative is set to become a reality from 1 April 2012, enabling citizens for the first time to ask for EU legislation on specific issues provided they gather one million signatures in support. In the words of Parliament president Martin Schulz, it is "a wonderful thing", but also a very serious act of direct participatory democracy that comes after a decade-long gestation.
Making the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) more sustainable will be vital for environmental as well as economic reasons, professor Alan Matthews told the EP's agricultural committee. The Commission proposes to reform the CAP in order to introduce more sustainable practices by giving farmers financial incentives to change the way they operate. Professor Matthews, of Trinity College in Dublin, said in a report he presented to the committee on 19 March that doing so was urgently needed.
MEPs will debate and vote on various issues during the plenary session in Brussels on 28-29 March. These include the derivatives trade; progress reports on Turkey, Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro; air passenger rights; EU resettlement programme for refugees, the EP budget 2013; the situation in Belarus.
The EU takes in only 4,500 out of the 200,000 refugees that need resettling in the world each year, but aims to do more by setting up a joint resettlement programme under the European Refugee Fund. The new 2013 programme will encourage member states to get involved by providing them with a fixed amount of money for each person resettled. MEPs will debate the initiative in plenary on Wednesday and vote on it on Thursday. The civil liberties committee recommends approving it.
Greece, the impact of austerity measures and how to revive its economy will be discussed at a meeting of the EP's employment and economic affairs committee. MEPs will question members of the Troika – consisting of the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund – about their recent mission to Greece and the rationale behind the austerity efforts demanded of Athens. Watch the meeting live on our website on Tuesday 27 March from 1700 CET.
Strengthening the democratic parliaments created in the wake of the Arab Spring should be a priority for the parliamentary assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), said EP President Martin Schulz . He made the statement in Rabat, Morocco, on Sunday, during a UfM meeting bringing together for the first time MEPs and the newly elected parliamentarians from countries that underwent major political change as a result of the Arab Spring.
Parlamentarium, the EP's new visitors centre, confirmed its position as a popular attraction when it welcomed its 100,000th visitor on 21 March 2012. Rated one of the top things to do in Brussels by travel website Tripadvisor, the centre has proved a big hit with visitors ever since it first opened its doors five months ago. The free centre, which is open seven days a week, offers a chance to learn in an interactive way about the EP in 23 languages.
Are European Union countries, still facing economic crises, ready to support the ambitious EU 2020 growth strategy, or will it get tangled up in the claims of member states preoccupied by what they contribute to the budget and what they get back? And, if they do come up with a budget to support the 2020 targets, what will happen to traditional policy areas? These issues will be tackled when the EU negotiates its long-term budget, the so-called multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2014-2020.
"The European Parliament will not accept less money for the European budget." These were the words with which the Parliament's president Martin Schulz opened the conference on the EU's long-term budget framework for 2014-2020 on 22 March. Only with a reasonable budget can Europe invest to boost growth at a time of austerity, Schulz said. He added that the EU budget should be fully funded by own resources, thus avoiding arduous negotiations with member states over national contributions.
Two-thirds of Europeans might support the idea, but that does not mean it is not controversial. Taxation commissioner Algirdas Šemeta defended the Commission's proposal for an EU-wide tax on financial transaction in front of the EP's economic committee on 20 March 2012. The Commission claims the tax will deter risky trading and ensure the financial sector pays it fair share to get the EU out of the crisis. However, critics fear it could lead to firms taking their trade elsewhere.
Europe lags behind when it comes to translating breakthrough technologies into business opportunities but the EU aims to overcome this with Horizon 2020, a €80 billion plan to boost research and innovation for 2014-2020. On 20 March the Parliament's industry committee questioned scientists and business leaders about whether they thought these ambitious plans would be enough. The committee will produce a recommendation to the EP this autumn after which negotiations can start with the Council.
The EU should avoid double standards, learn from past mistakes and set clear and objective conditions on human rights before entering into agreements with countries, says British Labour MEP Richard Howitt, whose recommendation on the EU's annual human rights report was discussed in committee this week. He says the EU and its member states have at times been guilty of sidelining human rights and calls for a systematic approach using indices and benchmarks. We interviewed him ahead of the debate.
The Rio+20 summit on 20-22 June faces the challenge of how to push sustainable development at a time when the economic crisis causes many governments to water down ambitious policy proposals to protect the environment. To ensure the United Nations summit will have a genuine impact, MEPs will discuss preparations for it with their counterparts from national parliaments during a meeting of the environment committee on Wednesday 21 March, which will be streamed live on the EP website.
How to get out of the economic slump? This was the question MEPs tried to answer in their plenary debate on the recent European Council that formalised the deal on the EU fiscal pact. They also approved the creation of a special committee on organised crime and gave a green light to the agreement between the EU and US ending the so-called beef war.
Member states such as Poland have become concerned that if the Commission's roadmap for moving to a low carbon economy becomes official policy, it will lead to factories relocating outside the EU. The EP's environment committee has already approved the document and on 15 March it will be voted on in Plenary. We spoke to British Liberal Democrat Chris Davies who is guiding the plan through Parliament. He understands why some might be uneasy but points out that "setting targets drives change".
Last night 28 people, including 22 children, died in a tragic road accident in Switzerland. The European Parliament observed a minute's silence for the victims on Wednesday afternoon. "I extend our deepest sympathy to the families of the victims and to all those affected by this disaster," said EP President Martin Schulz.
The need to tackle tax evasion at a time when the EU shows signs of turning the corner on the debt crisis was highlighted during Tuesday's Plenary debate on the EU summit of 1-2 March. The debate, in the presence of European Council and Commission presidents Herman Van Rompuy and José Manuel Barroso, also focussed on the situation in Greece and recent French comments on a possible renegotiation of the Schengen agreement on passport free travel.
Only 60% of the world population has access to clean drinking water and access to water also remains a problem in parts of Europe. On 12 March the 6th World Water Forum, the largest international event dedicated to water issues, starts in Marseille to discuss how to achieve water security. On Thursday MEPs will debate how the EU can use water management to fight poverty and mitigate the effects of climate change. This will be followed by a parliamentary resolution.
Its plenary week in the EP and members are in Strasbourg where they will debate and vote on issues ranging from the new and not so new EU candidate countries, to equality between men and women, and the results of the 1-2 March European summit. Here are some of this week's highlights, while the detailed schedule is available via the links on the right.
11 March is a memorial day in EU dedicated to those who lost their lives in terrorist attacks as well as their families and friends. The date was chosen as it is the anniversary of the terrorist bomb attack in Madrid in 2004 that killed 191 people and left 1,800 wounded. This together with last year's tragedy in Norway and the bombings in London on 7 July 2005 which killed more than 50, are among the worst acts of terrorism committed in Europe.
MEPs will during the March plenary session vote on a proposal to make cross-border inheritances easier as well as budget guidelines and proposals to reduce the gender pay gap and use quotas to boost the numbers of women on company boards and in political bodies. Other topics include conclusions of the 1-2 March European Council; progress of Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; and a new International Cocoa Agreement.
As love knows no boundaries, the number of relationships involving people from different countries continues to rise. However, this can create confusion when it comes to property and succession as it is not always clear which country's legislation applies. On Monday 12 March MEPs will discuss legislation that will make it easier to settle inheritances and avoid disputes by clarifying which court is competent and what law applies in these cases. They will vote on it the following day.
When banks do not lend and governments do not spend, an alternative could be issuing bonds. Companies involved with long–term European infrastructure projects can struggle to find the necessary funds. To help them, the EU plans to back up bonds issued by them with guarantees and loans to make them more attractive to investors such as pension funds. MEPs are discussing a launch of first project bonds to see how they work and how the market reacts.
Don't miss your chance to quiz the first-ever man to chair the Parliament's women's rights committee. As tomorrow is International Women's Day, we asked "full-blooded feminist" Mikael Gustafsson to answer questions from EP fans on our Facebook page .
The EP has produced an easy-to-follow infograph on the legislative procedure for ACTA to help people who are confused about how a decision will be made on this controversial anti-counterfeiting agreement. It also includes a handy timeline with important dates. The agreement has proved controversial because people are concerned about how it will affect civil rights. However, it will not be able to enter into force in the EU without the EP's approval.
In the search for alternative sources of energy, extracting shale gas is becoming more popular but do the benefits outweigh the risks? It involves injecting large quantities of water into rock formations to recover gas trapped one or two kilometres beneath the surface. Supporters say the gas offers a clean and low-carbon fuel that could help reduce the EU's dependence on Russian energy supplies. However, critics say it puts the environment at risk, for example by contaminating groundwater.
After more than 50 years of equal pay legislation in the EU, women still have to work 70 minutes in order to earn the same as men do in an hour. On International Women's Day this Thursday you will be able to follow a debate between MEPs and their national counterparts about how to change this live on our website. You will also have the chance to ask Edit Bauer, author of a report on equal pay, about what she thinks should be done during a Facebook chat that same day.
Vladimir Putin might have won Sunday's presidential elections in Russia amidst suspicions of fraud, but the continuing protests could lead to the country slowly changing. We talked to German Social-Democrat Knut Fleckenstein, chair of the European Parliament's delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, about the changes he has been observing and what he expects for the EU's relations with Russia.
The EP is currently considering the so-called two-pack, which are two proposals for stepping up financial discipline within the Eurozone. Draft reports by two MEPs propose amending them so that Commission's surveillance powers are more closely controlled and eurozone members in financial difficulties could be placed under bankruptcy style legal protection.
In autumn 2010 the EU agreed to tighten financial supervision in the private sector in an effort to head off any future financial crisis. A year later the public sector was under the spotlight as the EP tackled dangerous imbalances in EU economies and considered new rules meant to limit the growth of debt and deficits in the member states. On 28 September 2011 MEPs finally approved the so-called "six- pack" of new rules. Read on to find out more about its passage through Parliament.
The EP has dedicated this year's International Women's Day to the theme "equal pay for equal work" as women in the EU are still on average paid 17% less then men. Slovakian Christian-Democrat MEP Edit Bauer, author of a report on how to close the gender pay gap, said more needed to be done about this: "Progress is extremely slow".