European Institutions

EU Chief Rejects Talk of Reducing Funding to Poland

January 10, 2018

Politico reports that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has rejected growing calls from officials in Western European countries to withhold development funding from Poland for alleged violations of rule-of-law norms in the country's judicial system, dismissing such proposals as "wild threats."
Commentator: EU Response to Spain Shows "Double Standard"

January 10, 2018

Economist Andrea Hossó writes that the EU's criticism of threats to democratic values in Poland and Hungary "has acquired a tinge of Alice in Wonderland" when the supranational organization fails to call out Spain for its police violence against Catalonian citizens attempting to vote for independence.
Despite Brexit, Juncker Seeks Larger EU Budget

January 10, 2018

Reuters reports that, despite the impending exit of the UK from the bloc, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has called for the EU budget to grow to deal with issues in which the supranational organization is expanding its influence, including security, migration, and defense.
ECtHR: Surveillance Violated Supermarket Employees' Rights

January 10, 2018

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that the secret filming of supermarket employees after the store manager had noticed differences between stock levels and the amount sold was a violation of the employees' right to privacy, disagreeing with the decision of Spanish courts on the proportionality of the move to implement private surveillance.
ECtHR Sides with NGO on Basis of "Racism" Accusation

January 10, 2018

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that the Swiss government violated the right to free expression by penalizing a nongovernmental organization for classifying as "verbal racism" a politician's support of a Swiss minaret ban after reviewing statements from various international bodies classifying the minaret ban as "discriminatory, xenophobic or racist."