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Schengen Countries Consider Two-Year Border Controls
February 23, 2016
The Associated Press reports that, citing the failure of Greece to secure its borders against migration, European countries in the Schengen Area, which ordinarily permits passport-free travel across borders, are seeking to use an emergency provision in the Schengen Treaty to extend controls on their borders for two years.
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EU Adopts Rules on "Presumption of Innocence"
February 23, 2016
The Council of the EU has adopted a directive, which will enter into force in two years, setting out requirements for the recognition of the right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence to be implemented by EU member states with oversight by the European Commission.
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EU Deal Seeks to Head off "Brexit"
February 22, 2016
Describing a deal among the EU and its member states that provides assurances to the UK of new mechanisms it can use in part to slow EU migration and protect its sovereignty, an article in The Economist acknowledges that the deal does not involve the "fundamental change" for which many politicians and others have called to prevent Britain's exit from the bloc.
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CoR Officials Push for Social Indicators in EU Spending
February 22, 2016
Officials from the EU Committee of the Regions ("CoR") have called on the EU to expand the development indicators it uses to decide where certain funds are spent to go beyond the economic performance of the member states and regions by including "environmental quality" and "social inclusion."
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CoE Calls for Delay, Consultation on Laws in Poland
February 22, 2016
Following his recent visit to Poland, the Council of Europe ("CoE") Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, called on Polish authorities to delay the passage and implementation of laws affecting the country's Constitutional Court and public media management in order to allow consultation, both by the public and international institutions, on proposed reforms.