Parliament on Wednesday gave the green light to new rules that will oblige companies to mitigate their negative impact on human rights and the environment. The European Parliament adopted with 374 votes in favour, 235 against and 19 abstentions the new Due Diligence Directive, agreed with the Council, which requires companies and their […]
European Parliament gives final green light to new EU anti-money laundering legislation
The European Parliament has adopted a package of laws strengthening the EU’s toolkit to fight money-laundering and terrorist financing. The new laws ensure that people with a legitimate interest, including journalists, media professionals, civil society organisations, competent authorities, and supervisory bodies, will have immediate, unfiltered, direct and free access to beneficial ownership information held in […]
Parliament approves a revision of the EU’s common agricultural policy
MEPs gave a green light to the common agriculture policy (CAP) review to ease the administrative burden for EU farmers. On Wednesday, Parliament approved a review of the CAP Strategic Plans Regulation and the CAP Horizontal Regulation with 425 votes in favour, 130 against, and 33 abstentions. MEPs adopted the draft law with technical modifications proposed by the Council and endorsed […]
The European Parliament approves the first European legislation against gender-based violence
The new rules aim to prevent gender-based violence and protect victims, especially women and all those who suffer domestic violence. Parliament on Wednesday adopted Europe’s first-ever legislation to combat violence against women and domestic violence, with 522 votes in favour, 27 against and 72 abstentions. The directive calls for stricter laws against cyber-violence, […]
New EU fiscal rules approved by MEPs
MEPs approved a revamp of EU fiscal rules making them clearer, more investment friendly, better tailored to each country’s situation, and more flexible. The new rules, approved on Tuesday, were provisionally agreed upon between European Parliament and member state negotiators in February. Focus on investments MEPs significantly beefed up the rules to protect a government’s capability to […]
Parliament approves revised rules on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims
The European Parliament on Tuesday adopted revised rules on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims. With 563 votes in favour, 7 against and 17 abstentions, the plenary gave its final approval to the extension of existing measures to combat trafficking in human beings and improve support for victims. The amendment […]
Lobbying lawmakers: EU audit reveals transparency blind spots
Lobbying EU lawmakers can still slip under the radar, according to a report by the European Court of Auditors. The EU transparency register, which provides information on who lobbies the Commission, Parliament, and Council, has positive features and informs citizens about the potential influence of lobbyists. However, it suffers from weaknesses and information gaps that make […]
European Parliament extends exemption to EU privacy rules that makes it easier to detect child sexual abuse content on the internet until 2026
On Wednesday Parliament backed prolonging an exemption to EU privacy rules facilitating the detection of child sexual abuse material online until 3 April 2026. With 469 in favour, 112 against and 37 abstentions, MEPs endorsed a temporary extension of the current e-Privacy derogation that allows the voluntary detection, by internet platforms, of […]
New rules on labelling of honey, juice, jam and marmalade adopted
The revision of the “breakfast directives” aims to help consumers make informed and healthier decisions on products such as honey, fruit juice, jam and marmalades. Parliament on Wednesday approved the provisional political agreement with Council on updated rules on the composition, name, labelling and presentation of certain ‘breakfast’ foodstuffs, the so-called “breakfast directives”, with 603 […]