What do you and the person in this picture have in common? You're both just a mouse-click away from following the plenary live! Click here:...(read more) Facebook
Your data online reveals more about you than you're willing to share. New EU rules aim to put you back in control. Find out more about it in a chat this...(read more) Facebook
Do you know what happens today at 17.00 CET? The plenary starts in Strasbourg! It will be a busy week with banking supervision, discussion on tax fraud and...(read more) Facebook
#EUopendoors through our and your eyes! Facebook A few clicks suffice to find out everything about you online: where you live, where you work, even what you like to do on a night out. You might be surprised to learn what your online information is used for and by whom. New EU rules aim to protect your personal data better. This Wednesday you have the chance to discuss it directly with Jan Philipp Albrecht from 10.30 CET. The German Green MEP is in charge of steering the proposal through Parliament. Find out what it is all about.
Nearly 25,000 people from France, Germany and other countries flocked to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Sunday when it opened its doors to the public in honour of Europe Day earlier this month. Visitors were treated to exhibitions, music performances, information stands and debates with MEPs. These were organised by the political groups and the Parliament, as well as the European Central Bank, the European Ombudsman, the Court of Auditors and local associations.
Strengthening air passenger rights, increasing the capacity of Europe's airports and the quality of their services, introducing more competition to EU's rail sector, as well as new rules for pilots' flying hours will keep MEPs busy for the rest of their term or even longer. Find out more about Parliament's work concerning travel–related issues in this feature.
The EU agreed in the autumn of 2010 to tighten financial supervision in the private sector in an effort to head off any future financial crisis. On 28 September 2011 MEPs approved the so-called economic governance "six-pack" of new rules. This was followed by the "two-pack" initiative aimed at stepping up financial discipline within the eurozone, which MEPs approved on 12 March 2013. Read on to find out more about how the Parliament has been working to strengthen economic governance in Europe.
EU countries ignored Parliament's call for a growth-boosting long-term budget for 2014-2020 when they agreed on 8 February 2013 to cut the budget from its previous level for the first time in the EU's history. MEPs rejected that agreement in its current form on 13 March and called for the so-called multiannual financial framework (MFF) to be more flexible and open to revision. They also insisted on a real system of own resources for the EU.
Agricultural spending accounts for about 40% of the European Union's annual budget and has been at the heart of EU policy since the very start of the European project. As the last revision of the agricultural policy dates from 2003 and 12 countries have joined the EU since then, it is clear that it must be updated in order to face new challenges. EP has now agreed what line to take and negotiations will start in earnest. Read on to find out more.
The crisis has hit women harder than men and this comes on top of the numerous obstacles they already face on their road to success. Women are more likely to be in part-time jobs and badly paid jobs, are paid less than men and are held back by a lack of childcare facilities. For this year's International Women's Day on 8 March, Parliament decided to focus on women's response to the crisis. Find out more in our feature.
We should do much more to help the refugees within and outside Syria for humanitarian reasons, also for stabilising the regionElmar Brok, a German member of the EPP group who is chair of the foreign affairs committee on the situation in Syria Article