Greens/EFA Debriefing

Plenary week, 15-19 April 2019

Greens/EFA priorities for the plenary week included Climate change and Greta Thunberg, the rule of law, Frontex - European Border and Coast Guard, CO2 emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles, Whistleblower protection, EU-US trade talks, the investigation into conflict of interest surround Czech PM Andrej Babiš, Copyright,...

PM Andrej Babiš could face prosecution for EU subsidies fraud

Czech Republic

Czech police have finalised their investigation and proposed to the state prosecutor to charge six people including Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and his wife for their alleged roles in the Stork's Nest scandal involving the fraud CZK 50 million in EU funds.

European Parliament fails to remove ExxonMobil lobby badges

Quote from Molly Scott Cato MEP

Yesterday, (Tuesday, 16 April) the European Parliament administration denied the Greens/EFA request to remove the Parliamentary access badges of ExxonMobil lobbyists, after they refused to attend a hearing on climate denial.

EU Whistleblower Protection Directive approved

Quote from Benedek Jávor MEP

For the first time across the EU, those who wish to expose corruption, wrong doing and illegality in the workplace will be able to come forward safe in the knowledge that they will have legal guarantees and rights to protection. This Directive has been a long time coming and is a shining example of how the EU can directly improve the lives of citizens.

European Commission failed to complete investigation before end of mandate

Babis case

In the hearing of the Budget Control Committee of the European Parliament with EU Commissioner Günther Oettinger, the case of a possible conflict of interest of the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis was raised again.

What's coming up in Parliament

Greens/EFA priorities - plenary session 15-18 April 2019

A look ahead to the March I plenary session in the European Parliament in Strasbourg and the Greens/EFA priority issues on the agenda

European Parliament negotiators admit failure to improve the EU Lobby Register

The negotiations to improve the EU’s lobby Transparency Register were declared dead by the European Parliament’s negotiators. Clearly ambition to deliver real lobbying transparency for citizens has been lacking from many sides. Therefore, the next Parliamentary term will need to be used to finally deliver the transparency and accountability that citizens deserve.

ExxonMobil’s lobbyists should be removed from European Parliament

Following ExxonMobil’s refusal to give testimony at a hearing of the European Parliament’s Environment and Petitions Committees, the Greens/EFA Group have today called for their lobby badges to be removed until they agree to face MEPs in a public setting. When representatives of Monsanto refused to attend a similar hearing we also got their access badges revoked, so we think the same thing should be done for ExxonMobile.

Ending the secrecy that allowed the car emissions scandal to flourish

Dieselgate

After car manufacturers were caught manipulating the results of emissions tests designed to reduce the amount of pollution emitted by vehicles in Europe, the Greens/EFA Group is still pushing hard to fix the failures in the EU’s regulatory process that allowed for this massive-scale emissions fraud.

Greens/EFA Debriefing

Plenary week, 11-15 March 2019

Greens/EFA priorities for the plenary week included the climate debate, the final trilogue on Whistleblower Protection Directive, the second Brexit vote, the reform of the European citizens’ initiative, the Clean Air for All resolution, the European Anti-Money Laundering Blacklist, the opening of trade negotiations between the EU and the US, gender balance and top EU financial roles,...

Strengthening the European Citizens’ Initiative

Improving Your Power to influence the EU

The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) is the EU’s most important tool for participatory democracy. Historically championed by the Greens/EFA Group, which has pushed to ensure that citizens have stronger powers to influence EU decision-making, the ECI allows citizens from different EU M...

Breakthrough for whistleblowers as EU institutions agree on new law to protect them from retaliation

Thanks to the high profile revelations by whistleblowers in recent years, including the #luxleaks case and #PanamaPapers, and to the campaigning efforts of NGOs, trade unions and journalists, the final result is an ambitious text that will set minimum standards for how whistleblowers should be protected across the European Union.