New GMOs are not progress, but yet another tool of industrial farming

Our food system needs real innovation

Very soon, the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) will publish its ruling concerning the legal statute of a group of biotech. After the ruling, tense negotiations will set the future of the current European GMO regulation. As always, citizens and lawmakers will face the full force of the industry lobbies. Whatever happens these new GMOs will not bring any progress to our food and farming system: innovation is somewhere else.

We need a European solidarity based coalition

Merkel/Macron

Greens/EFA co-presidents Ska Keller and Philippe Lamberts comment on the outcomes of the meeting between President Macron and Chancellor Merkel:  "It is good that President Macron and Chancellor Merkel agree on the need for a European solution to the challenge of migration and asylum. But a European solution is not automatically the right one. We need a solution based on solidarity and human rights.

The battle for a more democratic Europe heats up as we push for meaningful reform of the European Citizen’s Initiative

Despite the concerns raised by more than 60 NGOs as part of the #EPforgetusnot campaign, tomorrow’s vote on the reform of the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) looks like it will fail to address the democratic aspirations of the 9,000,000,000 citizens who already signed an ECI in the hopes of having their voices heard by the European Commission. Read and take action

Greens/EFA Debriefing

Plenary week, 11-14 June 2018

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary week included: Multiannual Financial Framework; Brexit; Iran nuclear deal; Netherlands PM Mark Rutte on the Future of Europe; Poland: independence of the judiciary; Renewable Energy Directive; Circular economy at the heart of cohesion policy; Tax justice: transparency of big companies; FIFA: Play Fair – Fight for the forgotten; Climate change photo exhibition.

What's coming up in Parliament

Strasbourg Flash - Plenary session 11-14 June 2018

A look ahead to next week's session in the European Parliament in Strasbourg and the Greens/EFA priority issues on the agenda

Greens/EFA Debriefing

Plenary week, 28-31 May 2018

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary week included: Commission proposals on plastics, sustainable finance, sustainable fishing, Multiannual Financial Framework and cohesion policy, trade dispute on steel and aluminium tariffs, debate with Luxemburgish Prime Minister, posting of workers, reform of the CAP, objections to the authorisation of two GMOs

GMO imported crops continue to enter the EU while the flawed authorisation process undergoes reform

2 objections to GMOs were voted today

Little by little, the European Parliament is trying to install more democracy and transparency into the EU decision processes. by reforming the way the EU approves GMOs, active substances contained in pesticides or any product or substance susceptible of having an impact on human health or the environment. But while the discussions are under way, GMOs continue to enter the EU market.

What's coming up in Parliament

Strasbourg Flash - Plenary session 28-31 May 2018

A look ahead to next week's session in the European Parliament in Strasbourg and the Greens/EFA priority issues on the agenda

Hey Mark, let's talk!

Mark Zuckerberg is coming to the European Parliament to talk about the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal

Thanks to our initiative, the meeting with Mark Zuckerberg in the European Parliament will be livestreamed. Europeans deserve to have answers about this data scandal! Follow our page for live updates on Tuesday.

A Success for Citizens and Businesses – The New Data Protection Rules

GDPR

It took lawmakers in the European Union more than five years to design a new regulation on data protection, the so-called General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). At last, it becomes active on 25th May 2018. With the GDPR, data protection has been modernised for the ever-changing 21st century. It will give citizens control over their own information, and smaller businesses will have an advantage over big international ones. This is cause for celebration on 25th May, and we look at why this is a win for Greens and the public.

World Bee Day

Some tips to help bees every day

1) Replace pesticides Give up chemicals and insect poisons in your home and garden.  Replace these products with more environmentally and bee-friendly alternatives. Natural repellents (e.g. planting mint aroun...

Democracy is dead if we don’t have a free press

World Press Freedom Day

A gloomy prospect indeed. But it is hard to be optimistic when, in the year that has passed since the last World Press Freedom Day, two journalists have been brutally murdered. In the EU.

The situation of EU sugar beet farmers made worse by a GM sugar beet from Monsanto

EU farmers need a true shift to agroecology

European sugar beet producers have been suffering in recent years from a succession of transformations of the sector and low market prices. Some Member States have been using the farmers’ difficult situation as an excuse to lift the EU ban on tbee-toxic pesticides but are yet willing to let imported GM sugar beet flood the EU market.

Report on revolving doors in the fossil fuel industry reveals widespread potential for conflicts of interest to undermine climate policy

Conflicts of interest in climate policy

A report published today by the Greens/EFA Group on revolving doors between the public sector and the fossil fuel industry in Europe concludes that there is a widespread problem when it comes to the potential for conflicts of interest to dominate climate policy-making.

How to deal with fake news

Supporting good journalism is the only solution to fake news that prevents despots from curbing freedom of expression

As the European Commission unveils its plans to tackle the “fake news” phenomenon, the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament has a different perspective on how to deal with “fake news” in a manner that avoids giving questionable powers to governments to regulate what is true and what is false.

Democratic decisions cannot be taken in the dark

Reforming “Comitology”

Last year, the renewal of the license to sell glyphosate, the herbicide, in the EU left the wider public frustrated and angry. The Greens/EFA are pushing for more transparency, more democracy and fewer dangerous products on the EU market - to achieve this we have to change the flawed decision-making process that in the EU jargon is called “comitology”.

Greens/EFA Debriefing

Plenary week, 16-19 April 2018

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary week included: Future of Europe - debate with President Macron; Selmayr: Commission ethics in question – Discharge of Commission 2016 budget; Money Laundering - New legislation will deliver real benefits for citizens; Organics - Parliament seals the deal on new legislation; Greenhouse gas emissions; The Circular Economy; Energy performance of buildings; Facebook & Cambridge Analytica - Parliament response to scandal; Protection of journalists - resolution following recent murders; Dieselgate - new legislation on type-approval and market surveillance.

We need more transparency and accountability for MEP spending

Every year, almost 40 million euros is spent by MEPs without any accountability, oversight or control. This General Expenditure Allowance (GEA) adds up to almost 200 million euros in one Parliamentary term.   Ever...

Towards an ambitious and ecological re-localisation of protein crops in the EU

It is no news that one of the main problem of the EU farming system is the huge insufficiency of locally grown protein crops. Only 3% of arable lands are dedicated to protein crops in the EU and we import 75% of our vegetable protein supply - soya for the most part, mainly from Brazil, Argentina and the United States. The consequences of this situation go far deeper than a simple trade question. Is the report just voted by the European parliament answering these concerns?

Time for the EU to protect whistleblowers

What the EU legislation on whistleblower protection should look like

The need to protect whistleblowers is increasingly recognised at both European and national level. In a recent public consultation done by the European Commission, an overwhelming majority of 96% of respondents agreed that we need legally binding minimum standards on whistleblower protection across the EU.

Meat, animal feed and the EU's unbearable hypocrisy on GMOs

How GMOs enter the EU unnoticed

NGO Mighty Earth just published a powerful report on the dire consequences of the current EU meat, milk and eggs production system on those countries, especially in Latin America, which produce the feed for farm animals. deforestation, pollution, cancers, are the direct cause of EU’s letting genetically modified protein crops in for feeding our farm animals.

Greens/EFA Debriefing

Plenary week, 12-16 March 2018

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary week included: Commission ethics and appointment of the Secretary-General Selmayr, glyphosate saga and first meeting for PEST committee; Brexit and guidelines on the framework of future EU-UK relations, new special committee on taxation, protection of investigative journalists in Europe, EU Multiannual Financial Framework and own resources, Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base

Debating the future of EU-UK relations after Brexit

EFA MEPs Jill Evans & Alyn Smith in key debate

EFA MEPs Alyn Smith (SNP - Scotland) and Jill Evans (Plaid Cymru - Wales), took part in today's European Parliament debate on the future of EU - UK relations after Brexit, with Commission President Jean-Claude Juncke...

What's coming up in Parliament

Strasbourg Flash - Plenary session 12-15 March 2018

A look ahead to next week's session in the European Parliament in Strasbourg and the Greens/EFA priority issues on the agenda

1000 solutions to solve climate change

An inspiring speech by Bertrand Piccard

During the European Ideas Lab organised by the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament and the European Green Party presented '#1000solutions' initiative for clean, efficient and profitable solutions that can be implemented by lawmakers around the world.

Protection of fundamental rights in the EU

European Parliament calls for more ambition

The Greens/EFA group have fought hard to improve the report’s sections on asylum, migration, economic and social rights, non-discrimination, the fight against terrorism, hate speech, gender-based violence, minority and linguistic rights, and Roma and LGBTI rights. These were either largely ignored or absent from the original text and several amendments on these issues were tabled by our group.

Save the bees

Have your say by answering the consultation

The European Commission is collecting ideas and views on the decline of bees in order to develop an EU initiative on pollinators. This is the chance to play your part! Answer the consultation to save the bees!

Coal Regions in Transition

Speech by Florent Marcellesi at the high-level conference "Coal Regions in Transition Platform: High-Level Dialogue on financing and investments" - Brussels, 27 February 2018.

"In order to talk about financing in the coal transition, I’d like to remind that to achieve a real, just and efficient phase out of coal, we need much more ingredients than money"

Five reasons not to allow the Bayer - Monsanto merger

Why the Commission should stop this "merger from hell"

In September 2016 Bayer and Monsanto announced their intention to merge. If authorised by the European Commission, this would create, in the Commission’s own words, “the world's largest integrated pesticides and seeds company”, and have devastating consequences. Join us in calling on Margrete Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, to stop this “merger from hell”!

Greens/EFA Debriefing

Plenary week, 5-8 February 2018

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary week included: Emissions Trading System; Glyphosate: authorisation process for pesticides; Geoblocking; Visit of Croatian Prime Minister; Zero tolerance for female genital mutilation; Transnational lists for European elections; International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) address to Parliament; Rule of law in Romania; Special committee on tax.

Transnational lists for the European elections

Questions & answers

Although the EU Treaties stipulate that "the Parliament is composed of representatives of the citizens of the Union" (i.e. that MEPs represent all EU citizens, not just those of their Member State), European elections are held at national level. Transnational lists would create a common constituency, made up of the entire European Union. This would sit alongside the existing constituencies of Member States.

What's coming up in Parliament

Strasbourg Flash - Plenary session 5-8 February 2018

A look ahead to next week's session in the European Parliament in Strasbourg and the Greens/EFA priority issues on the agenda

The messy fight against corruption in Bulgaria and the need for ambition in the EU institutions

A new report commissioned by the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament has found that much more ambition is required in the fight against corruption both within Bulgaria but also at EU level.

Bisphenol A, an old artificial oestrogen, still allowed in out dated and industrial food packaging

Have you ever heard about endocrine disrupters (EDCs)? If so, then you’ve probably also heard of BPA, aka « bisphenol A », one of the world’s most famous EDCs. But if you never heard about those chemicals that irreversibly affect the hormonal system, there’s no way you’ve escaped « BPA- free » labels on food containers for our little ones.

Greens/EFA Round up

Debriefing of the Strasbourg plenary week 15-18 January 2018

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary week included: Conservation of fishery resources and protection of marine ecosystems; Women, gender equality and climate justice; EU plastic strategy; No spyware for dictators: stricter rules for dual-use exports; Clean energy package: put Paris into practice; Priorities for the new Bulgarian presidency; Future of Europe with Irish PM: hard border must be avoided; Marrakesh Treaty: facilitating the access to published works; Glyphosate: presidents to decide on special committee; EU tax haven blacklist.

Modern mutagenesis techniques are GMOs according to the European Court of Justice Advocate General

On Thursday 18 January, the European Court of Justice published the opinion of its Advocate General on the legal statute of modern mutagenesis. This opinion confirms what civil society and the Greens/EFA have been claiming from the beginning: these are not “breeding techniques” but GMOs. At the same time, the Advocate General opens the door for some of these techniques to be exempt from risk assessment, traceability and labelling - an unacceptable conclusion.

Irish PM calls for dialogue in Catalonia

EFA MEP Jordi Solé asks Ireland's PM about the situation in Catalonia

Ireland's Prime Minister has called for dialogue between the Spanish government and Catalonia following recent elections which saw a pro-independence majority elected. The Taoiseach was in Strasbourg to deliver a ...

What's coming up in Parliament

Strasbourg Flash - Plenary session 15-18 January 2018

A look ahead to next week's session in the European Parliament in Strasbourg and the Greens/EFA priority issues on the agenda

Best Green wishes for 2018

The Greens/EFA Group wish you all the best for 2018. As far as we are concerned, we will continue pushing for progressive, fair and sustainable solutions to the issues facing the European Union.

Greens/EFA Round up

Debriefing of the Strasbourg plenary week 11-14 December 2017

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary week included the adoption of the recommendations after the tax scandal of the Panama Papers; the Green report on European Strategy for low emission transport; Poland and the Bialowieza forest; another Green report on new legislation to regulate EU vessels outside EU waters; the EU summit and Brexit and migration; the Green objection to phosphate additives in kebabs

One Planet Summit

Money should only be used to support renewable energy sources

Following the COP23 and its new alliance, Powering Past Coal, signed by 25 entities to ensure the phasing out of coal from power generation by 2030, the goal of concrete, imminent action against global warming is being pursued in Paris at the One Planet Summit, on 12 December. The Greens urge leaders to turn away from all fossil fuels and support green energy sources

Q&A on phosphate additives in kebab meat

Why the Greens/EFA group is objecting to the Commission's proposals

On Wednesday 13 December, the European Parliament will vote on an objection to Commission proposals that would allow phosphates to be used as additives in products such as donor kebabs. The objection, from Greens/EFA MEP Bart Staes and the S&D’s Christel Schaldemose, is designed to protect public health. The following Q&A should help clarify some of the misconceptions regarding the Commission’s proposals.

What's coming up in Parliament

Strasbourg Flash - Plenary session 11-14 December 2017

A look ahead to next week's session in the European Parliament in Strasbourg and the Greens/EFA priority issues on the agenda

Cross-border broadcasting and Europe's linguistic heritage

EFA perspective on EU rules for cross-border online TV

There are an estimated 40 to 50 million speakers of regional and minority languages in the European Union. Each and every one is a vital part of the diverse tapestry that makes Europe what it is today. Yet, despite...

EU Member States agree that Council should join the EU Transparency Register

Lobbying Transparency

We have to give credit to the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union for their success in reaching an agreement between all 28 EU Member States that would shed a slither of light into the lobbying that surrounds the Council of the European Union. This was by no means an easy task. The Council’s decision-making process is arguably the least transparent when compared to the Commission and the Parliament, and some Member States appear keen to keep it that way.

The fight against corruption and how to win it

Defeating the disease

New estimates released this year have shown the staggering amount of money that is lost due to corruption in the EU: between 179 and 990 billion euros, every single year. To play with a metaphor, corruption is like a contagious disease, a virus that spreads quickly, infecting people in ways that are not always visible, and ravishing our public services in its wake. The virus was created by humans, but we don’t need doctors to eradicate it, just a lot of hard work - or better said, a lot of teamwork! We need your support for these campaigns and we are happy to lend you ours as well – just get in touch, and let’s get to work.

Transparency of legislative work within Council preparatory bodies

European Ombudsman - Public consultation and invitation to submit comments

As a first step in the inquiry, the Ombudsman asked the Council 14 questions, to which the Council replied on 26 July 2017 [2]. The Council listed various improvements that will enhance the public’s ability to...

Save Bialowieza!

The last remaining primeval forest in Europe is under threat

Show your support! The Białowieża forest is all that remains of an ancient forest that once stretched across lowland Europe. Illegal logging by the Polish government has led to 180,000 trees being felled this year. The European Court of Justice has ruled that Poland must stop the logging immediately.

Make the Panama Papers report a victory for tax justice!

During the last plenary session of 2017, the European Parliament will vote on the final Panama Papers report and its recommendations. Thanks to the Greens/EFA group, the report contains many important findings and tools to tackle money laundering and tax dodging. Read more to find out the seven key recommendations that are in danger and that we need to protect.

Greens/EFA highlights

Week commencing 27 November

A look ahead to what's coming up next week, including news on glyphosate, the Panama Papers and energy.