Press room 

MEPs want to step up protection for citizens using tools such as Messenger, WhatsApp or Skype, and other electronic communication services.

Foreign fighters as well as “lone wolves” training and preparing terrorist attacks on European soil will be criminalised under new EU-rules to fight terrorism backed on Monday.

Europol should have access to fingerprints and names of asylum seekers; refugee children should be fingerprinted to keep them safe from traffickers, MEPs say.

LIBE MEPs backed the informal agreement between Parliament and Council negotiators on new measures to step up the EU fight against terrorism, cross-border crime and irregular migration.

It will be easier for migration and asylum authorities to identify persons entering or staying irregularly in the EU, under new rules informally agreed with EU Council.

The impact of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal on personal data protection will be assessed by MEPs and experts on Monday 4 June.

Internal border checks within the Schengen area would be limited to a maximum of one year, instead of the current two-year period, the Civil Liberties Committee agreed.

After the hearing on Monday evening, the Civil Liberties Committee recommends that Sir Julian King should be appointed as Commissioner for Security Union. On Tuesday morning, Civil Liberties coordinators met to evaluate the candidate’s performance. Their assessment will now be passed on the Conference of Presidents (President Schulz and leaders of the political groups).

MEPs will hear details from the EU Commission of their new procedure for identifying non-EU countries thought to be deficient in areas related to money transfers.

All EU citizens and third country nationals entering or leaving the EU will be checked against databases, e.g. of lost and stolen documents, under a draft law informally agreed by MEPs and EU ministers on Monday.

MEPs of the Civil Liberties Committee will monitor and report in the coming months on the situation of rule of law in the EU, with a specific focus on corruption and freedom of the press.

All of the EP’s 20 standing committees and two subcommittees held their constitutive meetings on Wednesday to elect their chair and vice-chairs.

New measures strengthening the European Border and Coast Guard to secure the EU’s borders were agreed by Parliament and Council negotiators, on Thursday.

Civil Liberties Committee MEPs condemned the Council’s inaction relating to EU values in Hungary, following last September’s Article 7 request by Parliament.

The Parliament reaffirmed that Laura Codruţa Kövesi remains its top candidate to become the first head of the new EU Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The use of Artificial Intelligence by the police and judicial authorities, including facial recognition, will be discussed by the Civil Liberties Committee on Thursday.

Civil Liberties MEPs agreed to start negotiations with EU ministers to revise time limits and conditions for passport controls within the Schengen area.

EU countries refusing to relocate asylum seekers should have reduced access to EU funds, say MEPs in Parliament’s draft negotiating mandate on new Dublin rules.

The Civil Liberties Committee highlights that any extraordinary measure adopted by the Hungarian government in response to the pandemic must respect the EU’s founding values.

An EU Commission plan to systematically check all EU citizens entering or leaving the EU was endorsed by Civil Liberties Committee MEPs on Tuesday. Members amended the proposal to enable member states to run targeted checks, as an exception, in the event of lengthy delays and provided that security is not at risk.