Brussels Agenda

Weekly preview of the Greens/EFA group - 16 - 21 JuneMay 2013

Greens/EFA priorities for the week include Ship scrappage, worker protection and the environment, EU fisheries reform to be confirmed, Eel stocks under threat, Dalligate, Olafgate and the role of the EU Commission, Financial transaction tax in Europe, Reforming the banking sector in Europe, Modern and sustainable transport technologies, EU budget and the future framework, Hungary and EU defence of rights, Fixing emissions trading or not?, Clamping down on climate-damaging F-Gases, EU rules on posted workers

Reforming the European External Action Service

Ashton needs to tackle shortcomings in the EU's diplomatic service

Today the European Parliament adopted its recommendations for reforming the European External Action Service. When the service was founded in December 2010, EU High Representative and foreign policy chief Catherine Ashto...

EU-Indien

Intransparente Verhandlungsführung von Freihandelsabkommen legitim?

Das Gerichtsurteil des Europäischen Gerichts vom vergangenen Freitag verheißt nichts Gutes. Die NGO Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) reichte 2011 eine Klage gegen die EU ein wegen intransparenter Verhandlung...

Strasbourg Flash

Weekly preview of the Greens/EFA group - 10-14 June 2013

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary include asylum seekers, customs enforcement of IP, EU's housing crisis, rules on infant and baby food, border-free Europe, accounting transparency for extractive industries, illegal fishing, EU budget and the future framework, EU economic governance and the social impact, problematic EU passenger data rules, Turkey's worrying democratic backslide, nuclear safety and EU rules

Think. Eat. Save.

World Environment Day and Beyond against Food Waste

World Environment Day (WED) is an annual event initiated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It aims at being the biggest and most widely celebrated global day to stimulate awareness of the environment ...

GMO (In)Digest

Issue 9 of the GMO Campaign Newsletter

EU Work: New seed regulation: Commission plans would threaten seed diversity The European Commission presented its food safety package on 6th May, with proposals for new EU rules in a number of areas, including se...

Give Bees a Chance!

A battle won, but the bees are not saved from the terrible triple P

This week is the second European Bee Health Week, dubbed BeeODiversity, and it involves a conference Wednesday 5th June in the European Parliament (EP) and a fancy exhibition outside parliament all week long. The Green...

e-fa: News Round-Up

news bulletin from the European Free Alliance Group in the European Parliament

May 2013 Round-Up The European Free Alliance (EFA) draws together political parties fighting for democracy and self-determination for the stateless nations and regions of Europe. European Free Alliance MEPs sit in a Euro...

Brussels Agenda

Weekly preview of the Greens/EFA group - 3-7 June 2013

Priorities for the Greens this week: EU-Russia summit and EU-Russia relations, EU data protection rules Greens/EFA events: EU-US trade: the good, the bad and the ugly; Finding food - Innovative ways to help the most deprived; European arms exports and their implications

GMO authorisations

EU citizens demand transparency and independent science on GMOs

Professor Gilles-Eric Séralini was invited on Monday 27th May to the session of the PETI Committee that discussed 3 petitions related to GMOs, in particular to debate the persisting conflicts of interest and i...

Human Rights in Russia

Europe must be proactive and support civil society

The Human Rights Committee of the European Parliament held a hearing on Russia today with members of the band "Pussy Riot", William Browder and others. Chair of the Committee, Green MEP Barbara Lochbihle...

Brussels Agenda

Weekly preview of the Greens/EFA group - 27-31 May 2013

Priorities for the Greens this week: Right to a lawyer across the EU, Clinical trials of medical products, Infant and baby food. Also on the agenda: Dalligate and the role of OLAF and the Commission.

EU Development Aid

MEPs call for strong and effective development and humanitarian aid funding in the EU budget

In a cross-party declaration, Members of the European Parliament have called on Member States to protect the development and humanitarian aid budgets in the next multi-annual financial framework of the EU (MFF). In com...

GMOs to be debated in the European Parliament

Prof. Séralini invited by the Petitions Committee

On Monday, 27th May 2013, three petitions relating to GMOs are going to be discussed in the Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament. For this important session, the Committee has invited Prof. Séralini, who...

Greens/EFA Round-up

Debriefing of the plenary week Strasbourg 20-23 May 2013

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg plenary week included bank resolution and economic stability, renewable energy policy in Europe, a missed chance for offshore drilling rules, tax avoidance and EU action, supervising European banks, the EU Commission and Dalligate, concerns with EU-US trade deal, defending EU standards in trade agreements, EU rules on ports, the cultural sector and the EU-US trade deal

Die Grundrechte gelten für alle EU-Bürger, auch in Tschechien

Parlament erteilt Possenspiel der Regierungen auf dem Rücken der Bürger eine Absage

Die Grundrechte der Europäischen Union sollen für alle Bürger in gleicher Weise gelten. Diesen Standpunkt hat das Europäische Parlament heute nahezu einstimmig bekräftigt. Es hat damit dem Rat widersprochen, der im ...

LGBT Discrimination

EU Survey reveals fear, isolation and discrimination common in Europe’s LGBT community

Today the EU Fundamental Rights Agency published the first-ever comparative study on the experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the 27 EU Member States and Croatia. Drawing on over 93,000 respon...

Strasbourg Flash

Weekly preview of the Greens/EFA group - 20 - 24 May 2013

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary include bank resolution and economic stability, renewable energy policy in Europe, a missed chance for offshore drilling rules, tax avoidance and EU action, supervising European banks, the EU Commission and Dalligate, concerns with EU-US trade deal, defending EU standards in trade agreements, EU rules on ports, the cultural sector and the EU-US trade deal

Climate campaign newsletter

Issue 64 - May 2013

In this issue : EP gets a second chance to save Europe’s flagship climate policy; Cars/CO2: new targets short on ambition; Environment committee backs speed limit for new vans; Bonn: various possibilities, no concrete steps; Carbon dioxide levels reach symbolic threshold never seen in human history; Arctic Ocean 'acidifying rapidly' according to new study; Markets are overlooking the risk of 'unburnable carbon'

Brussels Agenda

Weekly preview of the Greens/EFA group - 13 - 17 May 2013

Greens/EFA priorities for the week include Tax evasion and banking transparency, EU-Ukraine agreement and ongoing concerns, Reindustrialising Europe the right way, Collective rights management: how to make it work, & Biodiversity: a European instrument for access and benefit sharing

There is no homeland where there are no rights

Rui Tavares explains the purpose of his report on Hungarian Constitutional reforms & core EU values

Article 2Treaty on European Union -  2009 "The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of ...

Plant it and make it grow

Seed diversity is crucial for our food

Most of the food we eat comes from seeds. Seed diversity is the basis of our food chain and our food security depends on it. Decreasing it impacts on the choice of the food we eat, and local fruits, vegetables and cere...

Brussels Agenda

Weekly preview of the Greens/EFA group - 6 - 12 May 2013

Greens/EFA priorities for the week include Hungary and democratic freedoms, EU funding for the most deprived, Weak targets for van emissions, New seeds regulation endangers genetic diversity, More transparent bank charging, Alternative responses to the ecological, economic and social crises, Energising Europe and Spain sustainably

e-fa: News Round-Up

news bulletin from the European Free Alliance Group in the European Parliament

April 2013 Round-Up The European Free Alliance (EFA) draws together political parties fighting for democracy and self-determination for the stateless nations and regions of Europe. European Free Alliance MEPs sit in a Eu...

The Belo Monte Dam Project

Press Breakfast Brussels, 23rd of April

Social Housing in the EU

A lever to help the EU out of the economic, social and environmental crisis

La Commission de l'emploi et des affaires sociales du Parlement européen s'est prononcée mardi 23 avril en faveur du rapport de l'eurodéputée verte Karima Delli sur le logement social dans l'Union européenne. Ce rapport cherche à montrer à quel point le secteur du logement social est un levier pour aider l'Union européenne à sortir de la crise économique, sociale et environnementale.

GMO (In)Digest

Issue 8 of the GMO Campaign Newsletter

EU Work: The Greens/EFA GMO campaign is now on twitter. Follow it @GMOFreeEU And of course you should also be following our other campaigns on twitter at: @greens_climate (climate campaign) @FoodRevEU (food campaign) Con...

Brussels Agenda

Weekly preview of the Greens/EFA group - 22 - 26 April 2013

Greens/EFA priorities for the week include EU rules on mortgages, tackling illegal fisheries, threatened cod stocks and EU quotas, Dalligate, tobacco lobbying and OLAF, tackling rising youth unemployment, EU fingerprint database and civil liberties,...

Greens/EFA Round-up

Debriefing of the plenary week Strasbourg 15-18 April 2013

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg plenary week included emissions trading scheme, emissions from flights, airport ground handling, capping bank bonuses and increasing banking transparency, preventing dolphin by-catch, Hungary and democratic freedoms, the fall out from the Cyprus bail-out debacle, EU enlargement progress assessed, EU Arctic policy, ship scrappage and worker protection ...

Give Bees a Chance

Keeping bee's knees campaigning up for a better future without harmful pesticides

On 16th January 2013, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published three reports on the toxicity risk to bees of 3 neonicotinoid pesticides: imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and clothianidin. EFSA's conclusions are cl...

Strasbourg Flash

Weekly preview of the Greens/EFA group - 15 - 18 April 2013

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary include emissions trading scheme, emissions from flights, airport ground handling, capping bank bonuses and increasing banking transparency, rreventing dolphin by-catch, Hungary and democratic freedoms, the fall out from the Cyprus bail-out debacle, EU enlargement progress assessed, EU Arctic policy, ship scrappage and worker protection ...

Youth in crisis

Youth activists from across Europe act against austerity

Youth activists from across Europe act against austerity and build a different agenda with the Greens to reclaim their future in the European Parliament.

ACTA Zombie bites back

EU-India free trade deal puts millions of lives at risk

As European Commission (EC) pressure mounts on India to rush into signing a free trade agreement (FTA), activists from across Europe mobilised in Brussels today to demand that the EC withdraw provisions that will harm ...

Brussels Agenda

Weekly preview of the Greens/EFA group - 8 - 12 April 2013

Greens/EFA priorities for the week include Transparency for the extractive industry, Youth in crisis, Arctic melt: a wake-up call, not a business opportunity, Common Fisheries Policy - where should all the money go

e-fa: News Round-Up

news bulletin from the European Free Alliance Group in the European Parliament

March 2013 Round-Up The European Free Alliance (EFA) draws together political parties fighting for democracy and self-determination for the stateless nations and regions of Europe. European Free Alliance MEPs sit in a Eu...

World Social Forum 2013 Blog

Another world is possible

Another world is possible - Malika Benarab-Attou "Thousands of people of all nationalities, are gathering in Tunis at the World Social Forum, sharing the same aspirations, the same common desire - that another wo...

Green paper on 2030 targets

The Greens call for three ambitious binding targets

Tomorrow, the Commission will publish its new Green Paper on the 2030 climate and energy policy framework. The Greens/EFA group is pushing for three different climate and energy targets: a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target (also known as 'Climate target'), an EU-wide renewables target and an EU-wide energy efficiency target.

Going Tunis

Greens participate in the the World Social Forum in Tunisia

From 26th to 30th of March 2013, the World Social Forum will take place for the first time in the Arab world. Twelve years ago, the Southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre hosted this completely unprecedented event wit...

Brussels Agenda

Weekly preview of the Greens/EFA group - 25 - 28 March 2013

Greens/EFA priorities for the week include aviation and the emissions trading scheme, ship recycling and EU rules, EU climate and energy policy to 2030, the World Social Forum, Document freedom day, prisoners as the key to the Basque peace process

10 days for a pesticide-free spring!

Pesticide Action Week kicks off

The Pesticide Action Week is an annual international event open to all and aiming to promote alternatives to pesticides. It takes place from 20th to 30th March, the 10 first days of spring during which the spreading of...

Smash Smart Borders!

Grüner Protest gegen die Aufrüstung Europas zur elektronischen Festung

Die Grünen Europaabgeordneten Ska Keller und Jan Philipp Albrecht haben heute die Protestfotos der Aktion "Smash Smart Borders" an die EU-Innenkommissarin Cecilia Malmström übergeben. Grüne und AktivistInnen aus Deutschland und ganz Europa haben sich mit einem Smash-Foto an der Aktion beteiligt, um gegen die Aufrüstung Europas zur elektronischen Festung zu protestieren. Die Aktion richtet sich vor allem gegen den jüngsten Vorstoß der Europäischen Kommission zur Grenzüberwachung, "Smart Borders".

GMO-free labelling

Conference shows real demand from consumers and practical solutions

The conference has shown that the issue of GMO-free labelling has gained a lot of importance and momentum. There is a wide diversity of initiatives, actors, practices and rules that are being taken and need now to be p...

The EU and the global arms trade

Looking beyond the 2013 ATT conference

Despite the initial disappointment when UN members were unable to agree on an international Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in July 2012, hopes are high for the new rounds of talks in New York starting on 18th March. Arms t...

Greens/EFA Round-up

Debriefing of the plenary week Strasbourg 11-14 March 2013

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg plenary week included the votes on the CAP reform, greenhouse gas emissions, European venture capital funds, economic governance, radioactive contamination of drinking water, the debate on the future EU budget,...

Brussels Agenda

Weekly preview of the Greens/EFA group - 18 - 22 March 2013

Greens/EFA priorities for the week include EU budget 2011 discharge, European Parliament seat arrangement under scrutiny, EU banking supervision rules to be finalised, renewable energy policy in the EU, airport ground handling - controversial EU rules, tougher EU rules on investment funds (UCITS), less harmful and environmentally-damaging batteries, EU economic governance: the next steps, Belgian nuclear reactor problems, bee population decline - More than honey, tobacco lobbying, good governance and Dalligate - proposed EP special committee, EU data protection rules under reform, Earth Hour Action, pollinator-friendly farming is possible

CAP Reform

1 crucial vote to beat the vicious circle of our food production system

This month's plenary session has two food-related issues on the agenda: the European Commissoin statement on the horsemeat scandal and the vote on the CAP reform. These issues once again raise serious questions about t...

Suspension of the use of three neonicotinoid pesticides

Send a letter to your Minister

....... March 2013 Dear Minister,  I am writing to urgently request that the state of (xxx) at the very least supports the European Commission (EC) proposal for a two year suspension of the use of three neonicotino...

Syngenta, Lies & Pesticides

The 10 Syngenta Lies on bees and neonicotinoids

There is more than enough scientific evidence that neonicotinoids are indeed one of the factors in the decline of bee colonies and biodiversity in general. Syngenta is simply denying this.

Fukushima, 2 years after

Stop climate change blog

Two years have gone since the nuclear accident took place in Fukushima. Since the 11th March 2011, the Greens/EFA group has had numerous exchanges of views with Japanese citizens to learn from their experience and to make sure that the right decisions are made at EU level to ensure the safety of European citizens.

Strasbourg Flash

Weekly preview of the Greens/EFA group - 11 - 15 March 2013

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary include greenhouse gas emissions and EU rules, nuclear stress tests, venture capital, common agricultural policy reform, food scandals and security, EU economic governance, radioactive contamination of drinking water, future EU budget, EP elections and the EU Commission, bee population decline and insecticide ban