European Institutions

EU Report Seeks Expanded Remedies for Corporate Action Abroad

April 10, 2019

A group of academics has produced a report for the European Parliament’s Sub-Committee on Human Rights seeking to identify barriers to access to European courts by alleged victims of human rights abuses by EU-based companies and proposing, in response, significantly expanded due diligence requirements and judicial remedies for extraterritorial conduct.
UK Official Opposes Post-Brexit EU Customs Deal

April 10, 2019

The Independent reports that, according to a letter from UK Secretary of International Trade Liam Fox, agreeing to remain in a customs union with the EU would leave Britain “stuck in the worst of both worlds,” with drastically reduced influence in Brussels and no say over its own trade policy.
ECtHR Issues Advisory Opinion on Surrogacy Arrangements

April 10, 2019

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has issued its first-ever advisory opinion under a mechanism recently extending the ECtHR’s jurisdiction, finding European human rights law requires governments to create a path for recognition of a parent-child relationship between the intended mother of the child in a surrogacy arrangement carried out abroad.
EC Proposes Bloc-wide Strategy on 5G Security

April 10, 2019

The European Commission (EC) has adopted a set of recommendations proposing a coordinated EU approach on the security of 5G networks, including a call for EU members to complete 5G “risk assessments,” the establishment of a Cooperation Group advising the EU on security measures, and participation in an EU-wide 5G certification scheme.
CoE Body Issues Standards on Foreign Funding of NGOs

April 04, 2019

The Council of Europe’s (CoE) body of constitutional experts, called the Venice Commission, has adopted a report containing international standards on the right of nongovernmental organizations to receive foreign funding, in light of restrictions on such funding in countries including Ukraine, Hungary, and Russia.