The European Commission has called upon the European Council to take the necessary decisions without any further delay to allow Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia to fully participate in the Schengen area. In a Communication adopted on November 16th, the Commission took stock of the three Member States’ strong record of achievements in the application of the Schengen rules. The Commission said that “for years, these Member States have significantly contributed to the well-functioning of the Schengen area, including during the time of the pandemic and more recently when faced with the unprecedented ..read more

The EU’s High Representative, Josep Borrell is set to finalize the appointment of a Special Representative to the Gulf region in the coming days. The role of the EU Special Representatives is to promote the EU’s policies and interests in their designated regions. They are key to European efforts to consolidate peace, stability and the rule of law. The four candidates being considered at the EEAS Are Luigi Di Maio, Dimitris Avramopoulos, Markos Kyprianou, and Jan Kubis – with Di Maio being the frontrunner after intense pressure by specific quarters led to him landing on Borrell’s desk as the pr ..read more

Ahead of the G20 Summit in Bali, the Commission is stepping up support to help those most affected by the devastating effects of rising food insecurity globally. A new humanitarian aid package of €210 million will be provided in 15 countries to meet their growing needs. This brings the EU’s overall support for global food security to up to €8 billion between 2020-2024. In 2022, food insecurity reached unprecedented levels, both in scale and severity with at least 205 million people currently acutely food insecure and requiring urgent assistance. This is the highest level on record. Afghanistan ..read more

On Monday, 14 November in the afternoon, the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights will assess conditions for foreign workers in Qatar ahead of the FIFA World Cup. The world football body FIFA’s decision to grant Qatar the right to host the 2022 World Cup in men’s football has sparked controversy among human rights organisations and football fans alike. Data cross-checked by several human rights organisations with diplomatic missions in Doha indicate that thousands of foreign workers have died on construction sites or as a result of construction-related activities in the cou ..read more

On Thursday, 10 November, the Commission presented a proposal to reduce air pollution from new motor vehicles sold in the EU to meet the European Green Deal’s zero-pollution ambition, while keeping vehicles affordable for consumers and promoting Europe’s competitiveness. Road transport is the largest source of air pollution in cities. The new Euro 7 standards will ensure cleaner vehicles on our roads and improved air quality, protecting the health of our citizens and the environment. Euro 7 standards and CO2 emission standards for vehicles work hand-in-hand to deliver air quality for ..read more

In the same week that European leaders began discussions for a “Marshall Plan” for Ukraine, former Minister Brooks Newmark spoke in favour of a Multilateral Action Model on reparations which could secure over £500bn in compensation to help rebuild the nation of Ukraine. Newmark was one of the numerous experts consulted by the New Lines Institute to develop the legal framework by which Russian assets can be seized, oil revenues charged and dirty money confiscated to build a Ukraine Compensation Fund, following the precedent of the UN Compensation Commission after the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwa ..read more

On Thursday, November 10, the Commission and the High Representative put forward a Joint Communication on an EU Cyber Defence policy and an Action Plan on Military Mobility 2.0 to address the deteriorating security environment following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and to boost the EU’s capacity to protect its citizens and infrastructure. With its new cyber defence policy, the EU will enhance cooperation and investments in cyber defence to better protect, detect, deter, and defend against a growing number of cyber-attacks. Cyberspace has no borders. Recent cyber-attacks on energy networ ..read more

Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson visited Ukraine on 1 November to discuss with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Minister of Energy German Galushchenko and international partners the immediate concrete support for its battered energy sector. Russia’s persistent and deliberate targeting of Ukrainian energy infrastructure over the past weeks and months has affected more than 30% of the country’s energy system. The EU has, together with the Member States and private companies, delivered millions of euros worth of emergency energy equipment to Ukraine, but the level of support needs to ..read more

On Tuesday, October 25th a group of international legal experts, economists, and scholars presented for the first time a model through which reparations could be legally demanded from Russia to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine and the mental rehabilitation of its people. The Multilateral Action Model, presented by experts from the New Lines Institute to the European Parliament, is ground-breaking in the way that it would make use of the seized and frozen Russian assets while keeping in line with international legal doctrine and practice. The discussion attracted interventions from a numbe ..read more

This week alone, Russia’s war against Ukraine has come to new and horrific depths. Russia has launched missile attacks on civilian and commercial buildings in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and Dnipro, and across the country. It seems that Russia appears to be shifting from a conflict largely fought on the battlefield to a new war, one of the tactics of ‘terror bombing’. If Russian military analysts can be believed, this will lead to a new style of fighting, one characterised by ‘total war’ with an economic dimension. Punishment, in other words, for Ukrainian successes. The questions this new spat ..read more