Parliament calls for improved citizen participation and transparency in report on e-democracy

From the Greens/EFA Transparency and Democracy Campaign

The European Parliament recently adopted a report on e-democracy which makes a series of recommendations on digital tools, citizen participation, and internal party democracy. Since transparency and democracy is one of our key priorities, we tabled a number of amendments to give the report some teeth.

Greens/EFA Round up

Debriefing of the Strasbourg plenary week 13-16 March 2017

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary included: Mercury rules; Gender equality: still a long way to go on equality; Arctic policy; Animal welfare; Firearms control; LuxLeaks appeal verdict; Official controls in the food chain; Shareholders' rights; Conclusions of the European Council/Rome Declaration; Conflict minerals; Fishing sector data collection.

Still a long way to go until we reach gender equality in the EU

Report by Green MEP Ernest Urtasun

We continue to have many reasons to keep on fighting for equality. In the current political atmosphere in Europe, we need the EU’s leaders to take a firm stance on gender equality and make it a priority

European political parties should respect European values

Plenary debate with Josep-Maria Terricabras

MEPs have been discussing a request to review how the European parliament funds European political parties. The main concern is to avoid a misuse of public money and to ensure that European political parties respect European values.

Scotland's place in Europe's family of nations

Plenary intervention by Alyn Smith

Scotland faces the prospect of being removed from our family of nations against our clearly expressed democratic will. It's not fair, and if the EU is not a community of justice and law and democracy then what are we for?

Europe must ban drilling in the Arctic!

A blog from our climate campaign

The European Parliament is going to adopt its position on an ‘integrated EU Policy for the Arctic’. The Greens call on the EP to prevent dirty lobby from putting the Arctic even more at risk than it already is, and to strongly oppose any offshore hydrocarbon or mineral exploration and extraction in this very vulnerable corner of our planet

Will the European Commission give the Parliament more powers to deliver tax justice?

A look at the LuxLeaks tax debate

The European Parliament held a debate to look at the work that’s been done so far in response to the LuxLeaks scandal. The debate, which came on the back of a request from the Greens/EFA group, was quite revealing about where Europe stands in its fight for tax justice.

Rabbits and animal welfare

No to factory farming!

The European Parliament adopted Tuesday 14 March a report on minimum standards for the Protection of Farm Rabbits 2016/2077(INI) calling for specific legislation on minimum standards. Animal welfare is of a very high priority for the Greens/EFA group.

What's coming up next week in Parliament

Strasbourg Flash 13-16 March 2017

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary include notably gender equality, EU Arctic policy, circular economy, LuxLeaks appeal verdict, animal welfare and rabbit farming, firearms, official controls in the food chain, shareholders' rights, conflict minerals, ...

Remember Fukushima, 6 years ago

Anniversary of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi I Nuclear Plant

The Fukushima nuclear disaster showed us once again that nuclear reactors will always remain extremely dangerous. Nuclear disasters damage the health of the local population but also create a huge financial burden for society.

Radioactive contamination of water and food

EU protection rules still decided behind closed doors

Many of the current nuclear reactors in the world are the result of technological choices of people who are not necessarily alive anymore. Yet the consequences of those choices affect people today all around the world, as well as generations to come, far beyond political borders and timeframes.

Palm oil

Time to stop fuelling deforestation and land-grabbing, to help victims of corporate abuses and to apply agroforestry

The environment and food safety committee of the European Parliament adopted on 8 March 2017 a strong report tackling the issue of palm-oil related deforestation and its human and environmental consequences. The Greens/EFA group is an active change driver in the EU and had taken the responsibility of drafting the opinions from the development and agricultural committees.

Panama Papers investigation

Has Société Générale told us the truth?

Almost one year after the Panama Papers scandal, the European Parliament committee (PANA committee) set up to investigate this matter is still looking into the issue and one of the key focuses of our work within the committee is the role of middlemen.

Principles for European whistleblower legislation

From the Greens/EFA Transparency and Democracy Team

The need to protect whistleblowers is increasingly recognised at international, national and local level, and in many different sectors, ranging from health care, to public spending, to banking or the environment.

Europe must embrace strongly pro-European historic nations like Scotland and Catalonia

Terricabras on the future of Europe

Terricabras was speaking in a debate in the European Parliament with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on his much awaited 'White paper on the future of Europe', which sets out five scenarios for the future course of the EU post-Brexit.

Anti-Corruption

Greens/EFA members call on Council of Europe to monitor Romanian government

Concerned about the recent attempts of the Romanian government to decriminalise corruption and weaken the country’s conflicts of interest rules, a group of Greens/EFA Members of the European Parliament have written on 27 February 2017 to Secretary General of the Council of Europe Mr. Thorbjørn Jagland, and to the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) led by Mr. Gianluca Esposito.

Dear Minister, support She Decides!

Global gag rule

EU governments must join forces to protect women's rights. Tell your government to support the #SheDecides initiative against the 'global gag rule'.

Join the Food Revolution Newsletter

Issue n°25 - February 2017

In this issue : new rules will help prevent overfishing / take action and tell your Ministries to block 3 genetically modified maize from entering EU fields / a European citizens' initiative to stop glyphosate / European Commission comitology reform / access to land for farmers in the EU

Greens/EFA Round up

Debriefing of the Strasbourg plenary week 13-16 February 2017

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary included: Emissions Trading System revision; Whistleblowers: Greens keep up pressure on Commission to act; Austrian President Van der Bellen addresses plenary; Future of the EU: joint debate; Statement by the President of the Eurogroup; Parliamentary vote on CETA; Terrorism directive; Robotics: legislative recommendations; Aviation strategy.

EFA MEPs join CETA protest

EFA MEPs Josep-Maria Terricabras and Jill Evans joined protestors outside the European Parliament in Strasbourg to show their opposition to the controversial CETA trade agreement between the EU and Canada.

Time for the European Commission to facilitate the transition to a sustainable EU farming model

Stop glyphosate and make low risk pesticides available to EU farmers!

One week after the launch of a European citizens’ initiative aiming at banning glyphosate-based herbicides in the EU and setting EU-wide mandatory reduction targets for pesticide use, the European Parliament adopted today with a broad majority a non-binding resolution calling for increased EU availability of low-risk pesticides, focussing on those of biological origin.

European Parliament demands protection for whistleblowers uncovering fraud in the EU budget

A strong signal to the European Commission

The report focusses on the crucial role played by whistleblowers in preventing and uncovering fraud and mismanagement of the EU budget.

How to get your product on the market, whatever the human or environmental cost, in 4 easy steps

Imagine you want to make money. A lot of money. Imagine one way of making a lot of money is to place your industrial product on one of the biggest markets in the world, for as long as possible, and in as many areas of the market as possible.

President Juncker, be our valentine, give EU democracy back!

The Greens/EFA group is calling for reforms of the comitology system that lead to a truly transparent and democratic process, that takes decisions based peer-reviewed science. This is a great opportunity to put back decisions with potential impacts on health, human rights and/or the environment at the political level where they belong.

What's coming up next week in Parliament

Strasbourg Flash week commencing 13th February

The European Parliament is in session in Strasbourg from Monday 13th to Thursday 16th February. We take a look at the main issues coming up, including the vote on CETA and the revision of the Emission Trading System.

TAAKS AVOID: A PRODUCT NO LONGER AVAILABLE?

How to hide tax money if you know the right tricks

A year ago, the Greens presented the latest IKEA product: Taaks Avoid, an easy-to-assemble item of furniture providing the opportunity to hide tax money if you know the right tricks.

Keep the spirit of the Paris agreement alive!

MEPs must bring emissions trading scheme up to scratch

On 15th February, the European Parliament will vote on an extremely important piece of legislation: the European Emission Trading Scheme!

New Swedish climate law

Interview with Jakop Dalunde MEP

On 2nd February, the Swedish government unveiled a very ambitious new climate law. We are interviewing Jakop Dalunde, Green Swedish Member of the European Parliament, to find more about this.   1.  We hea...

Stop glyphosate

A European Citizens Initiative

Take action and sign the petition launched by a coalition of NGOs and environmental associations.

EU/Azerbaijan partnership

Human Rights under the red carpet?

In recent years, the Azerbaijan government has made concerted efforts to restrict independent activism, critical journalism, and political opposition by imprisoning and harassing many activists, prominent human rights defenders, and journalists. Ulrike Lunacek (EP-Vice President and Green Member of the EP) together with Kati Piri, (S&D Member of the EP) hosted a panel discussion “: Human Rights under the red carpet?” during Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev visit in Brussels on February 6, 2017.

World Cancer day

Glyphosate resistant GMOs enter the EU without member states’ validation

In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer published its conclusions on glyphosate, classifying it as “probably carcinogenic for humans”.

Parliamentarians from all over Europe unite against tax dodging

When the Panama Papers committee met their national counterparts

Every year, national Parliamentarians from all European countries meet with their peers in the European Parliament in Brussels to discuss hot topics and foster greater cooperation. This year, the fallout from the Panama Papers was one of the key issues...

Europe needs to reaffirm its commitment to solidarity in response to Trump's travel ban

The decision by President Donald Trump to suspend the US refugee programme will cause tremendous harm to refugees and do nothing to address national security issues. In response, “we need to make our European Union stronger,” says Greens/EFA co-president, Ska Keller.

Energy Union

The EU should put its citizens at the core of the energy transition

A few weeks ago, the EU Commission presented the ‘winter package’, a series of eight legislative proposals which will enable the Energy Union project to be put in place. For the Greens, renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, and the citizens of the EU are the three key elements that should be at the heart of this project.

Electricity price scandal in the Spanish state

Scandalously high electricity prices in the Spanish state have been highlighted by Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya MEPs Josep-Maria Terricabras and Jordi Solé in a written question to the European Commission. ...

The revolving door phenomenon is a systemic issue that must be urgently addressed

Conflict of interests

Whilst the revolving door phenomenon is neither new nor unique to Brussels, the latest research by Transparency International Europe has highlighted a dramatic lack of regulation in the European Parliament and serious under-regulation in the European Commission when it comes to revolving doors.

GMO cultivation

Lack of support from Member States means Commission must withdraw its proposals

Today, the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed, voted on draft regulations for the cultivation in the EU of two GM maize varieties (Bt11 and 1507) and the renewal of one further variety (Mon 810).

30 Years Erasmus

A European Success Story

The European student exchange programme, Erasmus, turns 30 this year! Since 1987, almost 10 million people gained experiences in another European country.

Huge interest in Catalan independence process at European Parliament

EFA event

Several hundred people attended an event at the European Parliament in Brussels to hear more about Catalonia's forthcoming independence referendum.

Who are the middlemen helping to dodge tax or launder dirty money?

New report from the Tax Justice Campaign

Nine months ago, the biggest leak and international tax dodging scandal to date was revealed to the public by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Greens have used the public data from the ICIJ to find out more about the intermediaries between wealthy clients and corporate service providers like Mossack Fonseca,

Greens/EFA Round up

Debriefing of the Strasbourg plenary week 16-19 January 2017

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary included: EP Presidency; Greens/EFA candidate for EP Presidency; EP Vice-Presidency; New MEPs joins Greens/EFA Group; Brexit; European Pillar of Social Rights; International Science and Technology Centre; Union Customs Code implementation; Money-laundering blacklist.

No new GM plants!

Tell your Ministries to block 3 genetically modified maize from entering EU fields!

No new GM plants have been authorised for cultivation in the EU in almost 20 years.

Glyphosate

Green MEPs demand access to full studies

Four Green MEPs have submitted an appeal to the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), calling for access to the full studies used to determine the safety of controversial herbicide, glyphosate.

Jean Lambert for President of the European Parliament

Statement from Jean Lambert on her candidacy

The European Parliament will elect its new President for the second half of this Parliamentary term. Jean Lambert, MEP for London, is the Greens/EFA candidate.

Implications of Maltese presidency for EU tax reforms

Is Malta a Tax Haven?

The Greens publish a new report on Malta’s tax system, which offers a number of advantages for foreign multinationals and wealthy individuals.

Welcome to “Weirdland”

The trial of a “Faucheur de Chaise”

Do you know the difference between Antoine Deltour, whistleblower in the Luxleaks scandal, and Jon Palais, French citizen seizing chairs? When it comes to justice: none. They are both prosecuted for denouncing something morally wrong and costly to our societies, while the real culprits walk free.

Presentation

The European Free Alliance (EFA) Group in the European Parliament currently includes representatives from Scotland, Catalonia, Galicia, Wales and Latvia.

Greens/EFA Round up

Debriefing of the Strasbourg plenary week 12-15 December 2016

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary included: LuxLeaks appeal trial; 4th Railway Package: missed opportunity for progress; New Greens/EFA co-presidents and bureau announced; Commission Statement: rule of law in Poland; Sakharov Prize presentation; Commission Statement: Energy Union Package; Parliament’s rules of Procedure; Commission: Labour mobility package - coordination of social security systems; Revision of the Research fund for Coal and Steel; Council and Commission statements ahead of European Council; European Parliament presidency: Greens/EFA candidate; ETS vote in ENVI.

European Parliament timidly improves transparency, integrity and ethics

Good news from the European Parliament, kind of! The tireless efforts of the Greens/EFA transparency team somewhat paid off this month as the European Parliament voted on a number of proposals to increase transparency an...

Support for Thalidomide Victims

Plaid Cymru and EFA MEP Jill Evans has spoken up in support of thalidomide victims at a key debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. More than fifty years has passed since thalidomide was given to pregnant wom...