European Institutions

EU Official Seeks Economic Transformation to Achieve Climate Plan

April 22, 2019

At a plenary debate on climate change in the European Parliament, European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Arias Cañete called for a “deep transformation of our model of economic development” to reach “net zero” European greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050.
ECJ: “Extreme Poverty” Is Factor in Intra-EU Refugee Transfers

April 22, 2019

The Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) has ruled that EU member states are not permitted to return asylum seekers to different member states that would normally be responsible for processing their applications if the “expected” living conditions of the latter country could expose the asylum seeker to “extreme material poverty.”
EU, UK Delay Brexit to October

April 15, 2019

EU leaders have agreed to delay the planned date of Brexit to the end of October this year, increasing the likelihood that the UK will participate in European Parliament elections nearly three years after British voters sanctioned the country’s exit from the supranational bloc.
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.