The Council today gave its green light for stronger and wider road charging rules (Eurovignette directive) to incentivise cleaner and more efficient transport operations. The revised law includes a new scheme to address CO2 emissions to reduce transport’s carbon footprint in line with the European Green Deal and the Paris Agreement. “These new road pricing rules and a […]
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State of the Energy Union 2021
Renewables overtake fossil fuels as the EU’s main power source Last Tuesday, October 26, the European Commission adopted the State of the Energy Union 2021 report in which, almost two years after the launch of the European Green Pact, it takes stock of the EU’s progress in the clean energy transition. While some trends are […]
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Independence of Polish judges
Commission asks European Court of Justice for financial penalties against Poland on the activity of the Disciplinary Chamber Yesterday, the European Commission took two separate decisions, both related to decisions of the Court of Justice and where the actions of the Polish authorities continue to undermine the functioning of the Polish justice system. First, the […]
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New measures against money laundering and financing of terrorism
The European Commission has presented an ambitious package of legislative proposals to strengthen the EU’s anti-money laundering and countering terrorism financing (AML/CFT) rules. The package also includes the proposal for the creation of a new EU authority to fight money laundering. This package is part of the Commission’s commitment to protect EU citizens and the […]
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2021 Rule of Law Report
The European Commission has published the second EU-wide Report on the Rule of Law with a Communication looking at the situation in the EU as a whole and dedicated country chapters on each Member State. The 2021 report looks at the new developments since last September, deepening the assessment of issues identified in the previous report and taking […]
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Immigration law enforcement in the EU – figures for 2020
In 2020, 137 800 non-EU citizens were refused entry into the EU territory while 557 500 were found to be illegally present in one of the EU Member States. The number of non-EU citizens issued with an order to leave an EU Member State was 396 400 people. Following an order to leave, 99 300 […]
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Human rights breaches in Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and Iran
On Thursday, the European Parliament adopted three resolutions on the human rights situation in Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Hong Kong, notably the case of Apple Daily Parliament condemns in the strongest terms the recent forced closure of the Apple Daily newspaper in Hong Kong, the continued freezing of its assets and the arrests […]
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European Parliament vehemently opposed to Hungarian anti-LGBTIQ law
New rules in Hungary in “clear breach of EU values, principles and law” Political censorship and gradual dismantling of fundamental rights in Hungary Commission and member states should take urgent legal action Cut funding where European budget is affected by national legislation that clashes with EU values Parliament “condemns in the strongest possible terms” the […]
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EU Justice Scoreboard 2021: how digital tools help courts
Today, 8th July, the European Commission has published the 2021 EU Justice Scoreboard, an annual overview providing comparative data on the efficiency, quality and independence of justice systems in all EU Member States. This year’s Scoreboard focused on the digitalisation of justice, which kept courts functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic and more generally made justice […]
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