The former president regaled a rally crowd with a fictional version of his impeachment over a phone call with the Ukrainian president.
The complaint filed Monday accuses Eric Adams of sexually assaulting a woman, who also worked for the city in 1993, after she asked him for help getting a promotion.
The former president revisited his previous assertions that Jewish Americans were being disloyal.
Stefanie Lambert was facing a bench warrant from a state court in Michigan, where she is accused of taking part in a conspiracy to tamper with voting machines.
The former president revisited his previous assertions that Jewish Americans were being disloyal.
Navarro, a 74-year-old economist, is scheduled to report to federal prison in Miami before 2 p.m. Tuesday.
A new book by retired Supreme Court justice Stephen G. Breyer, “Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism,” will be released March 26.
With President Biden and former president Donald Trump assured of their parties’ nominations, Tuesday’s primaries in Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio will feature key down-ballot races.
A majority of justices from across the ideological spectrum expressed concern about hamstringing White House officials and other federal employees.
The former president’s lawyers said in a court filing that Trump and the Trump Organization have been unable to get a surety company to accept property as collateral.
In the framework of the 'farm to fork' strategy, the Commission committed to a complete overhaul of the animal welfare rules. Accordingly, on 7 December 2023 it published a proposal on the welfare and traceability of dogs and cats, together with a proposal for a new regulation on animal welfare in transport. At present, the rules on the protection of dog and cat welfare across the EU are not harmonised. The proposal therefore aims to establish EU standards for the breeding, housing and handling of pets in breeding establishments, pet shops and shelters. To combat the illegal trade in dogs and cats – a ruthless practice that is flourishing through online sales – the Commission seeks to reinforce the traceability of dogs and cats by introducing mandatory identification and registration in national databases. In the European Parliament, the file has been assigned to the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI), with Veronika Vrecionová (ECR, Czechia) as rapporteur. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
This briefing has been prepared for the public hearing with the Chair of the Single Resolution Board (SRB), Dominique Laboureix, scheduled for 21 March 2024. This briefing addresses: • New SRM strategy: Vision 2028 • Single Resolution Fund at target level • Liquidity and liquidity in resolution • MREL dashboard Q3/2023 • List of consultations and requests to the industry. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
This EPRS publication, 'Key issues in the European Council', which is updated every quarter to coincide with European Council meetings, seeks to provide an overview of the institution's activities on major EU issues. It analyses 12 broad policy areas, explaining the legal and political background, the main priorities and orientations defined by the European Council and the results of its involvement to date, as well as some of the future challenges in each policy field. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
France's National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) is a subpart of 'France Relance', a larger recovery strategy France adopted in 2020 at national level, worth €100 billion in total (4.1 % of France's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019). The NRRP had an initial value of €40.9 billion (total costs), while the plan as amended in 2023 is worth €41.9 billion. Under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), at the core of the Next Generation EU (NGEU) instrument, France's RRF grant allocation decreased from €39.4 billion to €37.4 billion, following the June 2022 update. In April 2023, France submitted a request to amend its NRRP – partly in order to take into account the decrease in the EU's financial contribution, but also to add a new REPowerEU chapter, which comes with an additional grant allocation of €2.3 billion. France also requested to transfer a portion of its share of the Brexit Adjustment Reserve to its plan (€504 million). With these funds, the overall EU financial contribution to the French amended plan amounts to €40.2 billion in grants, with the rest to be covered by national means. France has not requested loans. The RRF resources allocated to France represent 5.3 % of the entire RRF resources for the EU, and 1.6 % of the country's GDP in 2019 (the RRF representing 5.2 % of EU-27 GDP in 2019). Measures under the plan are to be completed by 2026. So far, France has received €23.4 billion. The next payments will depend on progress in implementing the plan. The European Parliament, which was a major advocate of the creation of a common EU recovery instrument, participates in interinstitutional forums for cooperation and discussion on its implementation and scrutinises the European Commission's work. This briefing is one in a series covering all EU Member States. Fourth edition. The 'NGEU delivery' briefings are updated at key stages throughout the lifecycle of the plans. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
The EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) is the core component of Next Generation EU, a temporary recovery instrument that allows the European Commission to raise funds to help the economic and social recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. By promoting the sustainable and inclusive recovery that ensures the green and digital transitions make progress, the RRF is consistent with the Commission's priorities. Belgium's initial maximum contribution to finance its national recovery and resilience plan (NRRP) was set to €5 924 million in grants. However, the maximum financial contribution was updated in June 2022 and reduced to €4 523 million. In addition, the non-repayable allocation for the REPowerEU chapter to reinforce the NRRP's energy dimension is set at €281 million. Belgium also submitted a reasoned request to transfer part of its provisional allocation from the resources of the Brexit Adjustment Reserve to the RRF (€228 million). Finally, Belgium requested a loan support of €264 million. The overall EU financial contribution to the amended Belgian NRRP stands thus at €5 298 million; it represents 0.7 % of the entire RRF, and 1.1 % of Belgium's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019. The Council approved Belgium's amended NRRP on 8 December 2023. In total, Belgium received €915.1 million in pre-financing: 13 % of the initial NRRP (€770 million, all grants) in 2021, and 20 % of the REPowerEU chapter (€102.1 million in grants, €43 million in loans) in January 2024. The European Parliament, which was a major advocate of creating a common EU recovery instrument, participates in interinstitutional forums for cooperation and discussion on RRF implementation and scrutinises the European Commission's work. This briefing is one in a series covering all EU Member States. Second edition. The 'NGEU delivery' briefings are updated at key stages throughout the lifecycle of the plans. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
This briefing has been prepared for the public hearing with the Chair of the Single Resolution Board (SRB), Dominique Laboureix, scheduled for 21 March 2024. This briefing addresses: • New SRM strategy: Vision 2028 • Single Resolution Fund at target level • Liquidity and liquidity in resolution • MREL dashboard Q3/2023 • List of consultations and requests to the industry. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
Under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), Lithuania's national recovery and resilience plan (NRRP) had an initial value of €2 224 million. In June 2022, Lithuania's grant allocation was revised downwards to €2 100 million (- 5.6 %). In October 2023, however, Lithuania submitted a request to amend its NRRP, which includes an additional grant allocation of €193.7 million for a new REPowerEU chapter and a loan request worth €1 551.7 million. Lithuania also requested to transfer a portion of its share of the Brexit Adjustment Reserve to its plan (€4.7 million). Together, these additional resources have brought the overall EU contribution to Lithuania's amended NRRP to €3 849 million. These resources represent 0.5 % of the entire RRF, equal to 7.9 % of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019. In November 2023, the Council adopted an amending implementing decision by which it gave the green light to Lithuania's modified plan. The new plan contains 31 reforms and 10 investments including the REPowerEU chapter with one reform and three investments. Apart from the added chapter, the other modifications submitted by Lithuania affect 46 measures of the initial plan. Moreover, Lithuania proposed to add six new measures (three investments and three reforms), to be funded by additional loan support. Measures under the current NRRP are to be completed by 2026. Lithuania has so far received 25.5 % of the resources (in the form of pre-financing and one grant payment). Further payments will depend on progress made in implementing the plan. Lithuania's NRRP is consistent with the challenges and priorities identified in the European Semester, the annual cycle for coordinating and monitoring each EU country's economic policies. The European Parliament participates in interinstitutional forums for cooperation and discussion on the implementation of the RRF and continues to scrutinise the European Commission's work. This briefing is one in a series covering all EU Member States. Third edition. The 'National Recovery and Resilience Plans in the EU' briefings are updated at key stages throughout the lifecycle of the plans. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
The European Union’s project of capital markets union (CMU) has disappointed in its first decade. The best way to revitalise it is to focus on supervisory integration through in-depth reform and further empowerment of the European Securities and Markets Authority. If, conversely, more integrated supervision cannot be achieved, then it may be time to discard the CMU slogan altogether. This document was provided by the Economic Governance and EMU Scrutiny Unit at the request of the ECON Committee. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
The European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission proclaimed the European Pillar of Social Rights in 2017. Spelled out in 20 principles, the social pillar has since served as a compass towards building a stronger social Europe. In the related action plan, the Commission set out concrete initiatives and, after the Porto Social Summit of May 2021, EU lawmakers committed to headline targets for 2030 regarding employment, training, and poverty. Consequently, this legislative term has seen concrete steps towards implementing the pillar, with the Commission tabling a number of proposals for recommendations and several directives that were subsequently negotiated by EU lawmakers and where Parliament sought to assert its positions. The preparatory work for these negotiations was done by Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Rights (EMPL), alone or together with other parliamentary committees. Without attempting a thorough end-of-term overview or an in-depth analysis of achievements, this briefing sketches out Parliament's main activities in this legislative term that bear the signature of the EMPL committee. After a glimpse at successfully concluded legislative files relating to the world of work, equality between men and women, health and safety at work, skills and EU funding, it looks at legislative own-initiative resolutions and demands put forward by the EMPL committee. With the European elections approaching and several files still ongoing, the time has also come to look forward to some EMPL-related issues that are likely to fill the agenda of the next legislative term. Owing to space constraints, this text cannot do justice to the broad variety of challenges to which the EMPL committee has devoted its energy and expertise, leaving aside, for instance, the work done in relation to the integration of third-country nationals into the labour market and the equal treatment of persons with disabilities. Nor does it examine in detail the dynamics of Parliament's resolutions that help to push social issues into the EU political spotlight. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
On 1 January 2024, BRICS – the intergovernmental organisation comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – admitted four new members: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The group's decision to open the door to new members was taken at its Johannesburg summit in August 2023, sparking a debate about its growing international influence. According to estimates, BRICS+, as the organisation has been informally called since its expansion, now accounts for 37.3 % of world GDP, or more than half as much as the EU (14.5 %). However, besides an increase in economic power the new members could bring potential conflicts (Saudi Arabia/Iran or Egypt/Ethiopia) into the group, making the reaching of consensus on common political positions more difficult. Since the new members would only contribute roughly 4 % to the group's cumulative GDP, the significance of the expansion should be seen beyond the purely economic effect, in the form of greater influence for the group and for developing countries as a whole within international organisations such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and the Bretton Woods institutions. The EU engages with BRICS+ countries individually. For instance, it has strategic partnerships with Brazil, India and South Africa, and is negotiating a free trade agreement with India. On the other hand, current conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza show the divergent approaches to security taken by the EU and BRICS+. The European Parliament has stressed that further political dialogue with the BRICS countries is needed, including on an individual basis. In an exchange of views with European Commission representatives in October 2023, Members of the Parliament's Committee on International Trade (INTA) underlined the need to keep an eye on the group's expansion, especially considering the effect of a potential BRICS+ currency and the consequences for EU trade policy. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
In July 2023, the European Commission tabled a package of three proposals for the greening of freight transport. Among them is a proposal for a single methodology for calculating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transport services, referred to as CountEmissionsEU. The initiative covers both freight and passenger transport. It aims to ensure that the GHG emissions data provided regarding transport services are reliable and accurate, to allow fair comparison between transport services. It establishes a methodological framework but does not govern where it has to be used. Nonetheless, if an organisation decides to calculate and disclose information on GHG emissions from transport services it needs to use the methodology provided. To avoid extra red tape for small and medium-sized enterprises, the proposal exempts these companies from mandatory verification of adherence to the rules. In the European Parliament, the file is being dealt with through the joint committee procedure, involving the Committees on Transport and Tourism and on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. The committees adopted their joint report on 4 March 2024. Parliament is expected to vote on its first-reading position during a forthcoming plenary session. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
In order to promote its overall harmonious development, the European Union is strengthening its economic, social and territorial cohesion. In particular, the EU aims to reduce disparities between the levels of development of its various regions. Special attention is paid to rural areas, areas affected by industrial transition and regions that suffer from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps, such as the northernmost regions with very low population density, as well as island, cross-border and mountainous regions. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
'This is Europe' – an initiative proposed by the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola – consists of a series of debates with EU leaders to discuss their visions for the future of the European Union. The trilogy of resilience, competitiveness and security was at the centre of the vision of Europe that the Prime Minister of Finland, Petteri Orpo, shared with the European Parliament on 13 March 2024. Regarding competitiveness, he mentioned the single market, State aid, trade and economic governance. On security, he argued that the concept not only included security and defence, but also border protection and preparedness to make the EU more resilient. Orpo also emphasised that, for Finland, 'the EU is the most important political and economic frame of reference and community of values', and stressed that EU leaders had to 'fight against any pessimism and show an example and leadership'. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
The Iran-backed Houthi militia, which controls large parts of Yemen, has attacked numerous commercial ships in the Red Sea since mid-November 2023 'in solidarity with the Palestinians'. This poses a significant threat to the global economy, and has led to an escalation of tensions in the Middle East. The United States has launched an international operation in the Red Sea to protect commercial vessels and keep this vital shipping route open. The EU launched its own 'purely defensive' mission, EUNAVFOR Operation ASPIDES, on 19 February 2024. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
On 7 March 2024, the President of the United States (US), Joe Biden, used his State of the Union (SOTU) address to a joint session of the 118th US Congress (2023 2024) to start his re election campaign in earnest. Biden has been trailing Donald Trump, his only remaining Republican challenger in the presidential race, in polls in six swing states that Biden won in 2020 and where several thousand voters are expected to decide the outcome of the US elections on 5 November 2024. The SOTU was an opportunity for the President to tout his achievements and set out his vision for a second term in stark contrast to that of Trump, whom he referred to as his 'predecessor' rather than by name. With his age seen by many as a liability, Biden's performance seemed more relevant than the substance of his speech, and was widely perceived as a forceful demonstration of his readiness to fight. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
It is widely held that geopolitical tensions in the world are on the rise. One of the clear indicators of this phenomenon is the increasing use of economic tools for the pursuit of strategic and geopolitical goals. This can take the form of coercion used by one country against another through restrictions on trade or investment in order to interfere with their sovereign choices. In response to the EU and its Member States becoming the target of deliberate economic coercion in recent years, on 8 December 2021 the Commission published a proposal for the adoption of an anti-coercion instrument that would allow the EU to respond more effectively to such challenges on a global scale. While the new framework is primarily designed to deter economic coercive action through dialogue and engagement, it also allows – as a last resort –retaliation, with countermeasures comprising a wide range of restrictions relating to trade, investment and funding. While there is broad support for creating a legislative tool to address the growing problem of economic coercion, expert opinions were divided as regards the severity of countermeasures and the manner of establishing when they should be imposed. The Parliament adopted its position in plenary in October 2022, and trilogue negotiations concluded successfully in June 2023. Parliament approved the agreement in plenary by a large majority on 3 October 2023 and the final act was signed on 22 November 2023. The regulation entered into force on 27 December 2023. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
In November 2023, the European Commission presented a proposal to reinforce the role of Europol, the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, in the fight against migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings. With detections of irregular border crossings at the EU's external borders at their highest levels since 2016 and demand for migration facilitation services following suit, the Commission sees an urgent need to step up the prevention, detection and investigation of these crimes. Europol's mandate was already reinforced in 2022, allowing the agency to step up its expertise and operational capabilities. The new proposal seeks to improve inter-agency cooperation on migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings, strengthen coordination at EU level by setting out specific strategic tasks for Europol's European Centre Against Migrant Smuggling, improve information sharing with the agency, reinforce Member States' resources to prevent and combat these crimes, and reinforce Europol's support through operational task forces and deployments for operational support. In the European Parliament, the proposal was assigned to the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) and Jeroen Lenaers (EPP, Netherlands) was appointed as rapporteur. His report, once adopted, will form the basis for negotiations with the Council. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
This paper reviews the state of EU competitiveness and introduces a strategy to improve it, based on medium-term, sector-level coordination of Member State reform policies and/or investments. The idea is illustrated with two examples: an investment and reform programme to create a single EU electricity market and an Advanced Research Projects Agency (EU-ARPA). This document was provided/prepared by the Economic Governance and EMU Scrutiny Unit at the request of the ECON Committee.. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
In December 2023, the Commission presented a proposal on the protection of animals during transport, with a view to replacing and updating Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005. This proposal, along with another on welfare and traceability of dogs and cats, is part of a legislative package to reform the current EU rules on animal welfare. The reform was announced in 2020 with the launch of the 'farm to fork' strategy, which aims to create a fairer, healthier and more environmentally friendly food system. The proposed text introduces stricter rules regarding travel times, the minimum space between animals, transport conditions for vulnerable animals, transportation in extreme temperatures, safeguarding of animals transported to third countries, the utilisation of technological systems and the protection of cats and dogs in commercial transport. In the European Parliament, the file has been assigned to the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) and to the Committee of Transport and Tourism (TRAN), with Daniel Buda (EPP, Romania) and Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg (Greens/EFA, Germany) as co-rapporteurs. First edition. The 'EU Legislation in Progress' briefings are updated at key stages throughout the legislative procedure. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
Is the EU facing a migration crisis? Are the EU's borders on the brink of collapse because of increased irregular migration? Would border fences help to stop or reduce irregular migration? How many of the world's refugees and asylum seekers are headed towards the EU? Are the protection claims of asylum seekers genuine, or is subterfuge used to gain access to the EU? And what happened with the Ukrainian citizens fleeing the war into the EU? These are among the most common and important questions shaping the current discussion around migration and borders in the EU. This briefing provides an overview of key trends and figures on migration, borders and asylum in the EU. The analysis critically situates these topics in the broader global and historical context, providing a synthetic, data rich and accessible presentation of major issues. The analysis leads to several interesting findings that may challenge common perceptions about migration and borders in the EU, including the following. The majority of migrants enter the EU through legitimate legal channels. Most irregular migrants do not cross the EU's external borders irregularly. There are significantly more legal migrants than irregular migrants in the EU. Building fences at the EU's external borders does not seem to reduce irregular entries. The view of a dramatic increase in the number of migrants and refugees is contested. The EU's share of the world's refugees and asylum seekers remains limited. Reducing or stopping immigration would worsen the EU's demographic challenges. The EU's temporary protection scheme showed the Union's capacity to provide protection swiftly to a significant number of people in need. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
On 15-17 March 2024, more than two years into the unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression on Ukraine, and one month after the sudden death in custody of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Russia will hold its presidential election. Over 110 million Russian citizens, including more than 6 million living in Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied by Russia, are invited to take part in what is largely seen as a carefully staged legitimisation ritual for Vladimir Putin's reappointment to a fifth term in office, until 2030. Putin has been in power, as either president or prime minister, since the last day of 1999; and Russia has been at war for 19 of his 24 years at the helm. The constitutional changes of 2020 allowed Putin to stand for a fifth term, and possibly for a sixth term in 2030. He is running for re election without any meaningful opposition, after barring the two anti-war candidates who stood for election despite the restrictions, and against a backdrop of a virtually total closure of the civic space, draconian repression of public dissent and suppressed freedom of expression. The reappointment of Vladimir Putin seems inexorable. The objective of the Kremlin, however, is not just victory, but a landslide result, both in turnout and percentage of votes. This would legitimise Putin's legacy and his war of aggression, relegating the remaining opposition to an even more marginalised role, and allowing Putin to implement, unchecked, his vision for the next six years. Recent changes to Russia's electoral laws make it virtually impossible to conduct any meaningful monitoring, and have significantly restricted the role of the media. Observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe will not be present, as was previously the case with the September 2021 parliamentary elections. A number of civil society organisations and personalities have called on the international community not to recognise the results as legitimate; this demand was also made by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in October 2023. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
In July 2023, the European Commission tabled a package of proposals for the greening of freight transport. Among the three proposals is one on improving the use of rail infrastructure capacity. The proposed text includes changes to the rules on the planning and allocation of railway infrastructure capacity, currently covered by Directive 2012/34/EU and Regulation (EU) No 913/2010. The aim of the changes is to allow rail infrastructure capacity and traffic to be managed more efficiently, thereby improving the quality of services and optimising the use of the railway network, accommodating larger volumes of traffic and ensuring that the transport sector contributes to decarbonisation. In the European Parliament, the file was referred to the Committee on Transport and Tourism, which appointed Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA, Luxembourg) as rapporteur. The TRAN committee adopted its report on 4 March 2024. Parliament is expected to vote on its first-reading position during its March plenary session. Second edition. The 'EU Legislation in Progress' briefings are updated at key stages throughout the legislative procedure. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP
The EU adheres to a one-China policy that recognises the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the sole legitimate government of China. It does not therefore maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan. The EU nonetheless shares with Taiwan common interests and values, including democracy, the rule of law and human rights. The general elections held in Taiwan in January 2024 once again testified to the maturity of the island's democracy. The EU engages Taiwan in a number of policy areas, notably on trade and investment. In its resolutions, the European Parliament has, among other things, called repeatedly for closer cooperation with Taiwan, notably for the negotiation of agreements on supply chain resilience and bilateral investment relations. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP