MEPs

JOHN KAMPFNER on Charles Michel, a man whose recent travails reveal much about the shortcomings of the EU’s institutions How many presidents does it take to run a union? The answer, when it comes to Europe, is three. Plus, a high representative. The problem of duplication is compounded by the fact that each of them […]

Lawyers are challenging the European parliament’s decision to remove immunity from prosecution for an MEP who could face extradition to Spain. Clara Ponsati faces a charge of sedition over her role in Catalonia’s unsanctioned independence referendum in 2017. Ponsati, a University of St Andrews academic, became an MEP after five seats in the European parliament […]

The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to approve the UK and European Union’s post-Brexit trade deal. Before voting on the Trade and Co-operation Agreement reached with the prime minister on Christmas Eve, Brussels politicians were told by the European Commission president that the deal has “real teeth”. Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc would […]

European Commission female president Ursula von der Leyen has blamed sexism for the “sofagate” debacle in Turkey earlier this month. Von der Leyen was left without a chair during a meeting in Ankara with Turkey’s president Tayyip Erdogan on April 6. She said that the incident only happened because she is a woman. “I cannot find […]

Brussels is on the verge of suspending Turkey’s membership negotiations to join the EU over human rights violations. MEPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee voted overwhelmingly in favour of allowing the European parliament to vote on a formal suspension next month. If passed, this would be the first major shift in EU-Turkish relations since negotiations […]

MEPs are set to finally approve the Brexit trade agreement between the UK and EU next week – whilst also warning that it could be cancelled if Number 10 continues to ignore its terms. German socialist MEP Bernd Lange said negotiations over Northern Ireland are “on track” and a solution is “in sight”.  “Ratification makes […]

The European parliament has refused to set a date to ratify the Brexit deal for a second time, amid concerns the UK is not implementing it properly. Party group leaders had been expected to announce the deal would be ratified at a sitting in late April, but following a meeting said they would wait for […]

Officials in Brussels are planning to launch a communication campaign aimed at teaching young Britons about the EU, a leaked internal document obtained by the Express has shown. According to the news platform, the document shows plans to target the “younger generation” in the UK because of a perceived level of support for the EU. Brussels […]

MEPs have voted to add British overseas territories such as the British Virgin Islands, Guernsey, and Jersey to its post-Brexit tax havens blacklist. The resolution passed through the European parliament with a majority of 537 and saw territories with 0% tax regimes automatically added to the list. Britain’s membership of the European Union had afforded […]

Scottish students could continue participating in the Erasmus exchange programme in spite of Brexit, The Times has revealed. Officials in Holyrood and Brussels have entered into talks over extending the Erasmus scheme to Scottish students, the paper reports, after almost 150 MEPs wrote EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen asking whether Scotland and Wales could rejoin the […]

Six Eurosceptic and Conservative MEPs have failed to vote in support of an appeal to raise funds for Croatia after an earthquake hit the country. The European Parliament proposed a resolution to help the country after the shattering earthquake in Sisak Moslavina on December 29. The 6.4-magnitude earthquake killed several thousand people and caused extensive damage […]

Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly has called upon Ireland to fill the void left by the UK’s departure from the Erasmus programme.  With the UK’s withdrawal confirmed following Brexit, Kelly – a long-time advocate of the initiative – urged Irish colleges to take advantage of the country’s new-found status: “16,000 EU students participate in an Erasmus in the […]

MEPs in the European Parliament are set to vote on a policy that will allow workers to switch off digital devices without facing consequences. If agreed, a directive will say that EU countries must ensure that workers are able to exercise the right to disconnect effectively, including by means of collective agreements in a bid to […]

Britain will never get a better trade deal with the EU than the one it has as a member state, a German MEP has declared. Theresa Reintke said Britain’s trading relationship with Europe would never be the same once it left “the table in Brussels”. Reintke, an MEP for the Greens–European Free Alliance, told the EU parliament: “No […]

European Parliament group leaders have adopted a declaration setting a Brexit deadline date of Sunday to ensure a deal is achieved. The declaration from the Conference of Presidents, initiated by Spanish member Iratxe Garcia Perez, states they are ready to hold an extraordinary session at the end of December if an agreement is reached by […]

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said there is now a “path” to a deal in the post-Brexit trade talks with the UK. She told MEPs that “as things stand I cannot tell you whether there will be a deal or not”, but acknowledged a path way that was “very narrow”. “It is therefore our […]

Michel Barnier has said “very serious divergences” remain between the European Union and UK as efforts continue to strike a post-Brexit trade deal. The EU’s chief negotiator said the main stumbling blocks remained the “level playing field” aimed at preventing unfair competition on areas including state subsidies, fisheries policy and the governance of any deal. […]

A German MEP has told Boris Johnson to “stop blaming others for your own actions” as she blasted the prime minister’s handling of the Brexit process. Theresa Reintke, an MEP for the Greens–European Free Alliance in the European parliament, accused Johnson of lying to the British public during a stinging assessment of his management of Brexit trade […]