Rights and freedoms

Affordable Housing

18.11.2020

AirBnB and the Digital Services Act - Possibilities for regulating online short-term rental to ensure affordable housing

We want to have a conversation about ‘the AirBnB-effect.’ The expansive growth of short-term holiday rental is extracting housing from the market and driving up prices, and has a negative impact on liveability in large cities and popular tourist destinations in Europe. This phen...

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Lady Justice Statue - iStock.com/MarkusBeck

Impact of Covid-19 measures on democracy, fundamental rights & rule of law

Quote from Sergey Lagodinsky

The Covid crisis must not be used as an excuse by governments to encroach on peoples' rights and the rule of law. The true test of a democracy is how well it fares in a crisis and this year has shown that some EU governments are all too quick to undermine the rule of law and European values.

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Rule of law mechanism deal reached

Quotes from Terry Reintke MEP & Daniel Freund MEP

Negotiators from the European Parliament, Commission and Council have just agreed on a deal on an EU rule of law mechanism. "This mechanism is not as strong as the European Parliament wanted and it will be a challenge, but we can make it work. The Parliament will keep the pressure up to defend the rule of law. " said Greens/EFA opinion rapporteur Terry Reintke

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European Parliament Building Strasbourg © European Union 2017 - Source : EP

A Greens/EFA take on the plenary session

19-23 October

Greens/EFA priorities for the plenary week included the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), Digital Services Act, Artificial Intelligence, deforestation, gender equality in EU’s foreign and security policy, the state of the Energy Union, the Energy Charter Treaty, serious security threats through the sale of EU passports and visas and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

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Handmaid’s Tale Protest in solidarity with Polish women

Poland - Constitutional Tribunal ruling on abortion

Quote from Dr Sylwia Spurek MEP

Today, the Polish Constitutional Tribunal has just announced a ruling that will see cracking down on abortion rights in Poland, effectively banning abortion in this country. Poland has one of the strictest abortion laws in Europe and the worst access to contraceptives on the continent. Polish legisl...

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People sitting at a table with laptops/ CC0 Headway

Put rights and freedoms at the centre of the upcoming Digital Services Act

A blog by MEPs Alexandra Geese, Patrick Breyer and Marcel Kolaja.

The farming population is in freefall, with Europe having lost 50% of its farmers in 20 years. Consumers are demanding healthier food produced as close to home as possible.

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European flag with women symbol — Promoting women's rights

Gender equality in EU's foreign and security policy

Info mail on the report by Greens/EFA MEP Urtasun

"The European Parliament will adopt the first-ever report calling on gender equality in EU’s foreign and security policy. While several countries around the world have already adopted a foreign policy with a strong focus on gender equality, the EU continues to lack one. This is why we call on the EU and its leaders to promote a gender transformative vision of foreign policy that protects and promotes women’s human rights" said the rapporteur

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European Parliament votes to overhaul business model of internet platforms

Digital Services Act

The reports on the EU Digital Services Act have been adopted by a large majority. MEPs voted for the European Commission to provide a clear legal framework for online platforms, to set out guidelines for dealing with indications of illegal content and to end the arbitrary blocking and deletion of content by online platforms.

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Commission launches proceedings against Malta & Cyprus

Golden passports: quote from Sven Giegold MEP

Today, the European Commission announced that it is launching infringement proceedings against Malta and Cyprus over their programmes that sell citizenship through investment or real estate purchases. This follows on from revelations by Al Jazeera that showed links between...

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(CC BY-ND 2.0) United Nations Human Rights Council

UN Human Rights Council vote

Quotes from Reinhard Bütikofer MEP & Hannah Neumann MEP

Today, the United Nations Human Rights Council will elect 15 new members in a secret ballot. The 15 countries will be chosen later today by the UN General Assembly to sit on the 47 nation council. The new members will serve for three years from January. China, Saudi Arabia and Russia are vying for p...

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Bulgaria: Rule of law report

Quotes from Ska Keller MEP and Daniel Freund MEP

Members of the European Parliament have just voted (Thurs. 8 Oct.) on a report on the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights in Bulgaria, following widespread protests over a series of corruption scandals tied to the country's political elite.

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poland supreme court (CC BY 2.0) David Berkowitz

Parliament votes for serious action on rule of law

Rule of law

Today, the European Parliament overwhelmingly voted in favour of the Establishment of an EU Mechanism on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights (DRF). The Parliament vote reaffirms the commitment of MEPs to establish a comprehensive approach to the rule of law instead of ...

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