Archive for the ‘European Union’ Category

European Commission looks to criminalize hate speech and violence | TheHill – The Hill

The European Commission is trying to amend one of the EU's founding texts to better combat violence against women, the LGBTQ+ community and other minorities.

The Commission seeks to expand upon the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, according toPolitico.

The group intends to signa plan, which would criminalize misogynistic and homophobic hate speech and violence via policies for all of the EU, on Wednesday. The policies would allow the Commission to punish online and offline abuses, Politico reported.

In the last decades, there has been a sharp rise in hate speech and hate crime in Europe, the draft seen by Politico said, noting an uptick in hate speech since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Hate is moving into the mainstream, targeting individuals and groups of people sharing or perceived as sharing a common characteristic, such as race, ethnicity, language, religion, nationality, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, sex characteristics or any other fundamental characteristic, or a combination of such characteristics, it added.

The drafted plan is expected to be presented later this week as the first step in a larger plan to improve the EU's rules to better fight hate, according to Politico.

The text said that it may send mixed messages to the public that such acts are not being taken seriously and can be perpetrated with impunity," but added that a few EU countries that did not criminalize such speech caused gaps and an uneven protection of the victims of such acts across the EU.

A later proposal that is meant to fight violence against women both online and offline is also expected to happen in March. Additionally, the bloc is working on a Digital Services Act that would require online organizations to more forcefully prohibit illegal content, Politico added.

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European Commission looks to criminalize hate speech and violence | TheHill - The Hill

Myanmar/Burma: Declaration by the High Representative Josep Borrell on behalf of the European Union on the situation – EU News

Today, President Win Myint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and Mayor Myo Aung were sentenced to jail terms in Myanmar. Their trial was politically motivated. It represents another step towards the dismantling of the rule of law and a further blatant violation of human rights in Myanmar.

The European Union strongly condemns this politically motivated verdict, which constitutes another major setback for democracy in Myanmar since the military coup on 1 February 2021.

These proceedings are a clear attempt to exclude democratically elected leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy, from the inclusive dialogue process called for by ASEANs Five Point Consensus. The European Union reiterates its full support to the ongoing efforts by ASEAN and the ASEAN Chairs Special Envoy, in close cooperation with the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General.

The militarys actions show complete contempt for the will of the people, expressed clearly in the November 2020 elections. Since 1 February, the people of Myanmar have overwhelmingly rejected the military coup and demonstrated their unwavering desire for a nation in which the rule of law, human rights and democratic processes are respected, protected, and upheld. The failure so far to restore democracy, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread violence and conflict, is driving the country towards a large-scale humanitarian crisis. It is imperative that the Myanmar military authorities allow a swift return of Myanmar to the path of democracy.

The European Union reiterates its urgent calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners as well as all those arbitrarily detained since the coup.

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Myanmar/Burma: Declaration by the High Representative Josep Borrell on behalf of the European Union on the situation - EU News

Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain countries concerning restrictive measures against…

On 22 October 2021, the Council adopted Decision 2021/18671.

The Council Decision extends the existing restrictive measures for a further twelve months, until 27 October 2022.

The Candidate Countries The Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania2, the country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and The Republic of Moldova align themselves with this Council Decision.

They will ensure that their national policies conform to this Council Decision.

The European Union takes note of this commitment and welcomes it.

1Published on 25.10.2021 in the Official Journal of the European Union no. L 377, p. 34.2The Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

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Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain countries concerning restrictive measures against...

Europe is fighting over roaming again – POLITICO.eu

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If you thought cheap mobile roaming was a fait accompli in Europe, think again.

European Union lawmakers are butting heads once again over what the EU considers one of its biggest consumer rights victories in history: the right for consumers to call, text and stream without paying extra costs when traveling within the EU.

A 2017 deal on data roaming was hailed as "one of the greatest and most tangible successes of the EU" that demonstrated to everyday Europeans that the European Union worked in their favor amid fears about populism, Brexit and hostility toward the bloc's leadership. It followed 13 years of political haggling that pitted EU officials against national capitals pressured by mighty telecoms giants.

But lawmakers left the work unfinished, sort of.

The 2017 regulation was designed to let roaming rights expire by June 30, 2022, requiring the Commission to propose an extension of the rules for another 10 years, earlier this year in February. Negotiators of the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament on Wednesday meet for a crunchtime meeting to work out the final details to extend the rules, as the clock ticks to make the deadline.

"Time is slowly running out as the newly revised regulation should enter into force before summer," said Robert Hajel, a Slovak Social Democrat member of Parliament who was closely involved in negotiating Parliament's position on the law.

A document obtained by POLITICO showed officials have to overcome "four major outstanding political questions," including the maximum price telecoms providers can charge each other for using each others' networks abroad ("wholesale price caps") and the price of calls EU citizens make to telephone numbers from other EU countries ("intra-EU calls").

If negotiations fail, EU citizens could face dreaded "mega-bills" for using their mobile phones abroad yet again next summer season.

Most contentious in the list of obstacles is an attempt by the European Parliament to scrap high charges on calls made to a different European country, known as intra-EU calls. While calls from abroad to home plummeted in price due to the EU's roaming rules, these intra-EU calls can still cause confusion and phone bill scares among Europeans.

The issue is a key element to Parliament members and consumer groups alike not least because it's the part that voters and citizens.

The right to free movement across the bloc should enable free international calls, said Cludio Teixeira, legal officer at consumer group BEUC. He pointed out that resorting to internet platforms for calls assumes that everyone has access to a smartphone, which in turn penalizes poorer or remote consumers.

"There is no justification why consumers should be treated differently inside the European Union, from calling across borders, simply because that call starts in one member state and ends in another," said Teixeira.

But telecoms operators have lamented Parliament's attempt to cut the costs. Thirteen telecoms CEOs said in a joint statement last week that scrapping intra-EU calls billing would cost the sector 2 billion in the coming four years, a time when the sector is strapped for cash as it invests in rolling out 5G networks.

The historic mission of our sector, today, is to give 5G and fibre to all Europeans. Imposing yet more price cuts on an already hyperregulated sector would openly contradict the EU Digital Decade Targets," said Lise Fuhr, director general of ETNO, the European Telecommunications Network.

This week's negotiating document suggested Parliament could settle for soft language that nudges operators to lower the costs of intra-EU calls, rather than a hard law that abolishes these charges.

A second issue that's holding back a deal on the extension is an agreement on how much telecoms providers in Europe charge each other for using networks when their customers roam.

The Commission proposed to cap those costs at 2 per gigabyte that operators owe each other for the use of each other's networks.

But members of Parliament pushed to lower the prices for wholesale costs. "The Commission is not ambitious enough in our opinion," said Austrian MEP Angelika Winzig of the center-right European People's Party, who's leading negotiations on behalf of Parliament.

The Commission said that it wanted to be "an honest broker" during negotiations, aiming to get the Council and Parliament to agree on a price cap with additional requirements that guarantee a certain quality of service.

"Whether we conclude before Christmas or not is not clear yet," said Hajel, the lead Social Democrat MEP on the file. "If a better agreement needs more time, we will not be those pushing to conclude before the end of the year."

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Europe is fighting over roaming again - POLITICO.eu

European Union mulling mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations – Fox News

After two dozen countries have reported cases of the omicron variant, the European Union (EU) countries might be headed towards mandatory vaccination to fight the spread of COVID-19, according to head of EU commission.

Given only a third of the EU population is still unvaccinated, the head of EU commission Ursula von der Leyen said, "My personal position is I think it is understandable and appropriate to lead this discussion now."

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen makes a statement on camera regarding Brexit negotiations, after a phone call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, at EU headquarters in Brussels in 2020. (AP/Julien Warnand, File)

The EU has increased travel restrictions since the variant was first reported and as cases continue to spike across Europe, according to a recent report.

COVID-19 OMICRON VARIANT WON'T STOP NEW ZEALAND'S REOPENING PLANS, PRIME MINISTER SAYS

On November 26, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the variant B.1.1.529 as a variant of concern, also called omicron, based on the evidence that omicron has several mutations that may increase its chance of transmissibility.

Closeup of Ruffled European Union Flag, European Union Flag Blowing in Wind. The EU is considering prohibiting Americans from traveling to its member countries as it begins to reopen its borders over coronavirus conditions in the United States.

But the WHO reiterated, its unclear if the omicron variant is indeed more transmissible or weather it causes more severe disease compared to other variants, including delta.

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD ON OMICRON: NO PROOF OF COVID-19 VACCINES WON'T PREVENT AGAINST SEVERE DISEASE

"Preliminary data suggests that there are increasing rates of hospitalization in South Africa, but this may be due to increasing overall numbers of people becoming infected, rather than a result of specific infection with omicron. There is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with omicron are different from those from other variants," according the Sunday press release.

"Initial reported infections were among university studentsyounger individuals who tend to have more mild diseasebut understanding the level of severity of the omicron variant will take days to several weeks."

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a press statement at EU headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020. The European Union's executive commission has proposed European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis to take over the post of EU trade commissioner following the resignation of Ireland's Phil Hogan. (Aris Oikonomou, Pool Photo via AP)

Some EU states are proactively taking steps towards mandatory vaccination, including Austria, which announced mandatory vaccinations from February next year, while Greece is levying fines against those who are unvaccinated over the age of 60 years old. France announced COVID-19 passes will be deactivated for those adults who have not received boosters, starting in mid January, according to the BBC report.

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"The most effective steps individuals can take to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus is to keep a physical distance of at least 1 meter from others; wear a well-fitting mask; open windows to improve ventilation; avoid poorly ventilated or crowded spaces; keep hands clean; cough or sneeze into a bent elbow or tissue; and get vaccinated when its their turn," according to the WHO press release.

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European Union mulling mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations - Fox News