-
EU Tech Tax Faces Broad Opposition
December 14, 2018
Reuters reports on the struggle of EU member states to agree to a deal on the introduction of a new EU tax on digital companies for online activities in the bloc, as countries like Ireland where tech giants base their European headquarters express concern about losing tax revenues under the proposal.
-
EC Unveils Long-Term Climate Action Plan
December 13, 2018
The European Commission (EC) has unveiled its long-term strategy to comply with pledges under the UN’s Paris climate accord, aiming for “net-zero” greenhouse gas emissions throughout the bloc by the year 2050, in a move scientists indicate is not ambitious enough to prevent “catastrophic” global warming impacts.
-
Agency Calls for Policies Countering Racism Across EU
December 13, 2018
The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights recently published a report warning that racism against people of African descent is “pervasive” and “entrenched” throughout the EU, pushing for “effective and targeted” policies in the EU member states to end discrimination, including racial profiling by government authorities.
-
German Official Calls for EU Seat on UN Security Council
December 13, 2018
France 24 reports that German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz recently called on France to relinquish its permanent seat on the UN Security Council in favor of a seat controlled by the EU, eliciting a reply from French Ambassador to the US Gérard Araud that such a deal “would run counter to the Charter of the United Nations.”
-
ECtHR: Russia Engaged in Suppression of LGBT Assembly Rights
December 13, 2018
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) recently issued a decision concluding that the Russian government had engaged in the “systemic” suppression of freedom of assembly rights and anti-discrimination rights by refusing to approve requests of groups seeking to hold LGBT rallies in the country.