European Parliamentary Research Service Blog
area of freedom security and justice
Search and rescue in the Mediterranean [Policy Podcast]
International law imposes an obligation to render assistance to persons and ships in distress at sea, which must be provided regardless of the persons’ nationality or status or the circumstances in which they are found. Continue reading
Holocaust education: ‘Never, never be a bystander
This year, 27 January, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marks the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp. Continue reading
Understanding EU action against migrant smuggling
Around 90 % of those who cross the external European Union (EU) borders illegally do so with the assistance of migrant smugglers. Continue reading
Crisis and force majeure regulation [EU Legislation in Progress]
In September 2020, the European Commission proposed a new pact on asylum and migration. Continue reading
Understanding EU counter-terrorism policy
Faced with a persistent international terrorist threat, the European Union (EU) is playing an ever more ambitious role in counter-terrorism. Continue reading
Outlook for the meetings of EU leaders on 10-11 December 2020
On 10 and 11 December, EU leaders will meet for their 13th meeting of 2020, bringing to a close a year of exceptionally intensive activity for the European Council. Continue reading
Plenary round-up – November II 2020
During the second November 2020 plenary session, Parliament held a number of debates with Council and the European Commission. Discussions concerned fundamental rights issues such as abortion rights in Poland, the new LGBTIQ equality strategy, and Hungarian interference in the media in Slovenia and North Macedonia. Continue reading
Towards a common EU approach to lifting coronavirus-related restrictions on freedom of movement
In an effort to tackle the second wave of the coronavirus outbreak, EU Member States started reinstating restrictions on the freedom of movement in October 2020. Continue reading
Screening of third-country nationals at the EU external borders [EU Legislation in Progress]
In September 2020, the Commission put forward a new pact on migration and asylum, setting out a comprehensive approach to European Union (EU) migration policies that links external borders, asylum, return systems, the Schengen area of free movement and the external dimension of migration. Continue reading
Uniform and fair asylum procedures at the EU borders have not been achieved
Fast-tracking procedures at European Union external borders for determining whether individuals are entitled to international protection is a priority in the proposed Pact on Migration and Asylum Continue reading
Reforming asylum and migration management: A shift towards greater solidarity? [EU Legislation in Progress]
In September 2020, the European Commission submitted a proposal on asylum and migration management, to replace the 2013 Dublin Regulation that determines the EU Member State responsible for examining asylum applications. Continue reading
Key issues in the European Council: State of play in October 2020
The role of the European Council is to ‘provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development’ and to define its ‘general political directions and priorities’. Continue reading
Hotspots at EU external borders: State of play
The ‘hotspot approach’ was presented by the European Commission as part of the European Agenda on Migration in April 2015, when record numbers of refugees, asylum-seekers and other migrants flocked to the EU. Continue reading
Understanding the EU response to organised crime [Policy Podcast]
The EU has made substantial progress in terms of protecting its citizens since the early 1990s, often in response to dramatic incidents, such as mafia or other organised crime group murders, big money-laundering scandals, a steep increase in migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings following the 2015 migration crisis, or – more recently – a sharp rise in cybercrime, fraud and counterfeiting during the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading
Coronavirus and prisons in the EU: Member-State measures to reduce spread of the virus
The coronavirus crisis has put huge pressure on European prisons, already often affected by chronic overcrowding and poor healthcare services. Continue reading
Key issues in the European Council: State of play in June 2020
Established as an informal summit meeting in 1975, the European Council became a formal European Union institution, with a full-time President, in 2009, on the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. Continue reading
Understanding EU data protection policy [Policy Podcast]
The near-ubiquity of data in the lives of ordinary people, along with its exponential growth in generation rate and potential misuse, has made the protection of personal information an increasingly important social, legal and political matter for the EU. Continue reading
Recent migration flows to the EU
This infographic aims to present the latest available data on migrant flows to the EU in the year 2019. It covers the detection of illegal crossings on the EU’s external borders, numbers of deaths of migrants on those crossings, the number of asylum applications in EU Member States and their decisions on those applications. Continue reading
Tackling the coronavirus outbreak: Impact on asylum-seekers in the EU
To curb the spread of coronavirus and to protect their populations, the EU and its Member States have restricted crossings of their external borders, and many internal EU borders, as well as restricted freedom of movement within their territory. Continue reading
Tracking mobile devices to fight coronavirus
Governments around the world have turned to digital technologies to tackle the coronavirus crisis. One of the key measures has been to use mobile devices to monitor populations and track individuals who are infected or at risk. Continue reading
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