European Parliamentary Research Service Blog
fundamental rights
European Parliament Plenary Session, January II 2019
The first item on the agenda for this week’s part-session is a formal sitting on Wednesday to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In remembering the fate of the millions of Europeans who suffered between 1933 and 1945, Parliament has made its position clear that racism and xenophobia are not opinions but crimes. Continue reading
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
Written by Rosamund Shreeves, This year’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November marks the start of a new campaign to end gender-based violence across Europe. The European Commission has chosen the international day to launch a year of focused action to combat violence against women in 2017. The package of … Continue reading
EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights [Plenary Podcast]
Written by Anja Radjenovic, The European Union is founded on values, including democracy, the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights, laid down in Article 2 TEU. Those values are common to all Member States and a precondition for a well-functioning Union based on mutual trust. In recent years, events in some Member States … Continue reading
Climate change, Cotonou, Colombia and more – October I Plenary Session
Written by Clare Ferguson There is a distinctly global feel to the agenda for the first European Parliament plenary session of October. In preparation for the 22nd Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC in Marrakesh, Members return to the subject of climate change on Tuesday, with the ambition of the EU’s current pledges to cut … Continue reading
An EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights: European Added Value Assessment
Updated on 27 October 2016 Written by Wouter van Ballegooij and Tatjana Evas, This European Added Value Assessment (EAVA) accompanies a resolution based on the legislative initiative report prepared by Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) (rapporteur: Sophie in’t Veld (ALDE, Netherlands) presenting recommendations to the Commission on an EU mechanism … Continue reading
45 years of International Roma Day (8 April)
Written by Sofia López Piqueres, Recent anti-gypsy* incidents remind us that discrimination against Roma people, although it does not always reach the media, is widespread. An example of this discrimination is the recent incident involving football fans in Madrid, recorded humiliating six Roma women who were begging in the city centre. The video footage of … Continue reading
The Employment Equality Directive – European Implementation Assessment
Written by Jan Tymowski, Equality is one of the fundamental values that the European Union is founded upon, and it is duly reflected in the Treaties, as well as in national laws of the Member States. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU states explicitly that any discrimination based on – among other grounds … Continue reading
Understanding the EU Rule of Law mechanisms
Written by Eva-Maria Poptcheva, The European Union is founded on values common to all Member States. These are supposed to ensure a level of homogeneity among Member States, while respecting their national identities, and so facilitate the development of a European identity and their integration based on mutual trust. Article 7 of the Treaty on … Continue reading
How the EU budget is spent: Rights, Equality and Citizenship
Written by Gianluca Sgueo, With a financial envelope of nearly €440 million for the period 2014-2020, four main financing actions and nine specific objectives, the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (RECP) is a European Union (EU) funding programme aiming to protect equality and the rights of persons, as enshrined in the Treaty on the Functioning of … Continue reading
Work and social welfare for asylum-seekers and refugees: selected EU Member States
Written by Eva-Maria Poptcheva and Andrej Stuchlik (with contributions from Piotr Bakowski, Alexandra Gatto, Detelin Ivanov, Ingeborg Odink, and Irene Peñas Dendariena) The surge of asylum-seekers to the EU has increased steadily, and reached record highs in recent years and months. Asylum-seekers risk their lives on dangerous journeys to Europe, which often do not stop at … Continue reading
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
Written by Rosamund Shreeves On this year’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, this 25 November, crisis and conflict are more than ever on our minds – and on the political agenda. As recent research from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) highlights, conflict and displacement exacerbate violence against vulnerable groups, including women. … Continue reading
Trafficking in Women
Written by Anja Radjenovic Trafficking in persons for the purpose of any form of exploitation is a serious crime and a violation of human rights. According to the UNOCD Report on Trafficking in Persons women and girls account for 70 per cent of detected trafficking victims worldwide. This is due to the fact that the … Continue reading
Promoting children’s health and safety [May II plenary session]
Written by Tessa Tumbrägel On Wednesday 27 May MEPs will meet for a mini-plenary session in Brussels. They will have a brief, but full agenda, beginning with a formal address by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon early in the afternoon. Parliament will then debate preparations for the 7-8 June G7 summit in Germany, which will again take … Continue reading
The rights of LGBTI people in the European Union
Sexual orientation is now recognised in EU law as a ground of discrimination. However, the scope of these provisions is limited and does not cover social protection, healthcare, education and access to goods and services, leaving LGBTI people particularly vulnerable in these areas. Continue reading
The proposed EU passenger name records (PNR) directive: Revived in the new security context
Written by Piotr Bąkowski and Sofija Voronova After the Paris attacks of January 2015, the fight against terrorism and the phenomenon of foreign fighters is now higher than ever on the EU agenda, with a series of new measures being discussed, and existing ones refocused. In this context, the EU Passenger Name Record (PNR) proposal … Continue reading
Press freedom in the EU: Legal framework and challenges
Written by Eva-Maria Poptcheva Freedom of expression and information, as well as the freedom of the press, which provides the most powerful platform for the first two, contribute significantly to the formation of public opinion, thus allowing people to make informed choices in their political decisions. These freedoms are therefore essential for democracy, which is … Continue reading
EU PNR
Written by Sofija Voronova Since the Paris attacks of January 2015, the issue of the EU PNR data collection system has been high on the political agenda as one of the measures to prevent and combat terrorism. The European Commission presented its proposal for a Directive on the use of Passenger Name Record data on … Continue reading
Fundamental Rights in the European Union : The role of the Charter after the Lisbon Treaty
Written by Francesca Ferraro The European Union, like its Member States, has to comply with the principle of the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights when fulfilling the tasks set out in the Treaties. These legal obligations have been framed progressively by the case law of the European Court of Justice. The Court … Continue reading
Member States and the rule of law Dealing with a breach of EU values
Written by Eva-Maria Poptcheva The European Union is founded on values common to all Member States. These are supposed to ensure a level of homogeneity among Member States, while respecting their national identities, so facilitating the development of a European identity and their integration. Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union provides mechanisms to enforce EU values, based … Continue reading
EU’s opposition to the death penalty
Citizens write to the European Parliament to express their concerns about the death penalty still being applied in countries around the world. Some enquire about the position of the Parliament on the death penalty; others call on the EU to intervene in individual cases. 4 language versions available in PDF format EN: EU’s opposition to … Continue reading
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