PolitykaAktualności

People and organisations from across Europe came to Parliament in Brussels on 12 October for the European Citizens’ Prize award ceremony that sought to highlight their contributions to Europe. Parliament Vice-President Sylvie Guillaume, who chairs the jury, said: “Europe is going through particularly hard times and it sometimes seems to be disintegrating before our eyes....

International Trade Committee MEPs, farmers, businesses, public health and trade union representatives debated the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada on Wednesday morning. CETA can only enter into force with the European Parliament’s approval. Agriculture and business representatives were generally supportive of the agreement, underlining that new market access would...

Last May 7,500 young people from across the EU came to the Parliament in Strasbourg for the biennial European Youth Event (EYE). Following two days of discussion on issues ranging from migration to youth unemployment and climate change, 50 of the most interesting ideas from EYE2016 were handed over to MEPs in September. Now EYE...

Young Europeans are on track to receive a free InterRail pass on their 18th birthday in the future. MEPs discussed the proposal and overwhelmingly supported it during a debate in plenary on 4 October. Millions of young European have travelled throughout the continent using Interrail over the last few decades, but the pass itself can...

Attempts to make Poland’s stringent sexual and reproductive health laws still more restrictive sparked a heated debate in the Parliament on Wednesday. MEPs focused on a national bill to ban all abortions, but the European Parliament’s legal right to debate the topic was also hotly contested. The debate began with a statement by Justice Commissioner...

Budget Committee MEPs reversed all the cuts proposed by the Council to the draft 2017 EU budget to meet the needs of the migration crisis and slow economic growth, in a vote on Wednesday. They also boosted funding to fight youth unemployment and increased spending on research and infrastructure projects. The full plenary will vote...

The inquiry committee investigating the Panama papers starts its work this week by holding a hearing with the journalists who unveiled how tax evaders have been hiding their funds in overseas tax havens. The industry committee discusses the European Commission’s new proposal to prevent consumers abusing the abolition of roaming charges in June 2017. On...

Over the course of its existence, the European Parliament has transformed itself from an assembly with limited powers to a decision-making body directly shaping EU policies. It has been a long road, but one of the milestones was 20 September 1976, when ministers signed rules allowing direct European elections. The elections, held about three years...

President Schulz opened the session by calling a minute’s silence for the victims of the severe earthquake in central Italy on 24 August, which killed almost 300 people, left over 3,000 homeless, damaged more than 70 villages, and in some cases destroyed whole communities. Recalling the horrific pictures from Amatrice, Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto,...

The EU’s budget has been criticised for years for relying too much on member states’ contributions and for being too inflexible when unexpected crises occur. MEPs discussed the issue with their national counterparts during a conference on how to finance the EU’s budget on 7-8 September. Most panellists agreed that a reform was necessary to...