Seed market regulation

New study highlights concentration in seed market and implications for draft EU rules

The Greens/EFA group today presented a new study highlighting the concentration of the European seed market (1). In contrast with claims by the European Commission that market concentration is not a problem, the study revealed five companies (also producing agrochemical products) control more than 5...

NSA Scandal

European Parliament’s Centre-right and Social Democrats delay possible questioning of Edward Snowden

  Following on from the creation in September of a European Parliament Inquiry into the electronic mass surveillance of European citizens, the European Parliament’s Justice and Home Affairs committee has again decided to postpone any discussion on a possible invitation to Edward Snowde...

Victory in EP on the reform of collective rights management organisations

On 26 November, the Gallo report on Collective Rights Management was unanimously adopted by the Legal Affairs committee. This new directive is an important victory in the EU Parliament. It is a key step to increase the transparency of collective rights organisations in Europe, to improve the management of the money they collect and its proper distribution in the interest of the artists and the authors.

EU-US data protection agreement

Common approach instead of national solo efforts

Ministers of justice from the European Union and the United States met yesterday in Washington to discuss data protection and mass surveillance. Jan Philipp Albrecht, Greens/EFA spokesperson on justice and home affairs, comments:  "EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding has achieved impor...

EU summit

European values ignored

At today's EU summit in Brussels, the leaders have not made any clear policy decisions on data protection or refugee issues. Rebecca Harms, Co-President of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament, said: "The heads of state and government apparently do not want to be on an equal footi...

EU-Thailand Free-Trade Agreement

Thousands protest on the streets of Thailand

  The 2nd round of the Thailand - EU Free-Trade Agreement (FTA) talks took place last week in the city of Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. Since the start of the negotiations, civil society has expressed its fear that the EU, as it did in the recent past with India, is pushing levels of &quo...

Music copyright

EP tightens up accountability and transparency within collecting societies

The European Parliament's legal affairs committee today unanimously adopted a report on collective management of copyright. This draft legislation, part of the Digital Agenda for Europe and the Europe 2020 Strategy, aims to tighten up transparency and accountability within collecting societies and f...

NSA surveillance

European Parliament votes to investigate the NSA spying scandal

The European Parliament today voted by a large majority to adopt a resolution on the USA's NSA and other EU Member States' surveillance programs. This resolution calls for an inquiry by the European Parliament's civil liberties committee. The Greens/EFA group regrets however that there was no majori...

Surveillance and espionage

The EP must stand up for strong data protection

Commenting on the Prism and Tempora surveillance programs and the spying attacks by the US National Security Agency (NSA), Jan Philipp Albrecht, European Parliament rapporteur/draftsperson for the new EU data protection regulation and the EU-US Framework Agreement on data protection, stated: &quo...

Treaty for the blind and visually impaired

Big success in Marrakesh

Over the last two weeks, World Intellectual Property Organization delegates have been meeting at a diplomatic conference to conclude a treaty to facilitate access to published works by visually impaired people. After years of discussion, an agreement has finally been reached. Commenting on the ag...

US 'PRISM' surveillance scandal

Third countries and IT/social media companies must comply with European data protection laws

Commenting on the exchange of views today in the European Parliament's civil liberties committee with Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding, Jan Philipp Albrecht, European Parliament rapporteur/draftsperson for the new EU data protection regulation, stated:"People don't want the police and secret...

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