COVID-19 continues to present many challenges to rule of law and fundamental rights. Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) is to be a major focus of the EU’s recovery plan. European Justice Commissioner, Didier Reynders, has promised new legislation in 2021 imposing mandatory due diligence in relation to social and environmental impacts both within companies’ operations [...]
In June, the EC launched a public consultation (until 15th September) on a comprehensive review of EU trade policy. Topics include WTO reform and how to maximise the contribution of trade policy to addressing key global challenges including climate change and sustainable development. Addressing the OECD Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct on 19th [...]
On 7 December, EU justice ministers approved a Regulation that will require EU-based tech companies to hand over electronic evidence of suspected criminals to law enforcement authorities across borders without the need for judicial approval in the host country. Member States opposed to the proposal argued that it could be abused by certain European [...]
In the run up to the European elections during 2019, on 5 December, the Commission launched an action plan to tackle disinformation and fake news in Europe. The overall aim is to protect democracy and public debate in view of the elections. One of the key elements of the plan is a call for [...]
On 12 September, the European Parliament voted to approve controversial amendments to the proposed Copyright Directive. If adopted by EU member states (in Council), the changes would create a so-called “link tax” obliging companies such as Google and Facebook to pay publishers for showing news snippets or linking to news stories on other sites. Another adopted [...]
On 12 September, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of asking EU Member States to determine, in accordance with Treaty Article 7, whether Hungary is at risk of breaching the EU´s founding values. This is the first time that Parliament has used this procedure to call on the EU Council to act to [...]
As part of his SOTEU, President Juncker expressed his concern about current challenges to the rule of law in Europe - among others to freedom of the Press. With the European Parliament elections in May 2019 in mind, he announced that the Commission is proposing new rules to better protect the EU’s democratic processes [...]
In his annual State of the European Union (SOTEU) speech on 12 September Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker outlined the Commission’s priorities for his last year in office. These include a proposal for more qualified majority voting in tax and certain EU foreign policy areas such as economic sanctions and human rights. He also spoke [...]
Upholding the rule of law and democracy are high on the EU agenda. On the occasion of the publications of the EU’s annual report on fundamental rights, 6 June, the European Commission announced that the topic of this year’s annual colloquium on fundamental rights will be ‘Democracy in the EU’. The event, which will [...]
‘Collective Redress for Consumers’ The European Commission has launched a package of measures to strengthen consumer rights under EU law. The package includes a proposed Directive on representative actions that will allow a qualified entity, such as a consumer organisation, to seek redress, such as compensation, replacement or repair, on behalf of a group [...]
