Search

This substitute impact assessment of the European Commission's proposal for a regulation addressing situations of instrumentalisation in the field of migration and asylum was requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) in the absence of a European Commission impact assessment accompanying the proposal. This substitute IA reviews the problem identified by the Commission and the objectives of the instrumentalisation proposal. It studies the proposal's ...

Detention is the confinement of a migrant, asylum seeker or refugee by a Member State, where the applicant is deprived of his or her freedom of movement. However, detention should only be a measure of last resort, applied after a careful and individual examination of each case. This stems not only from the EU Member States' obligations under international human rights law regarding the right to liberty and health, but also from relevant EU law provisions governing asylum and return procedures and ...

An independent media is a pillar of democracy and an important part of the economy, helping to shape public opinion and hold those in power to account. In recent years, however, there have been increasingly worrying trends across the European Union (EU), as documented in the annual rule of law reports by the European Commission and other tools such as the Media Pluralism Monitor. Tabled on 16 September 2022, the proposed European media freedom act (EMFA) would introduce a new set of rules to promote ...

Year after year, tens of thousands of people try to reach the EU from the coasts of Turkey and Africa, risking their lives at sea. Irregular migration to Europe is predominantly concentrated in the Mediterranean, where there are frequent reports of people being rescued at sea and of shipwreck incidents. Between January and June 2022, on average five people died per day during their attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea, according to the EU's Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), and 28 021 persons have ...

End-to-end encryption (E2EE) systems bring enhanced security advantages to private communications. Yet they also pose increased difficulties to law enforcement investigations. In the case of child sexual abuse (CSA) online, these systems hide data from children who are being abused or coerced into sexual abuse, leading to a failure to pursue these crimes. Reports of online grooming increased by 82 % in 2022. While E2EE might prevail for all its advantages, it is also necessary to protect young children ...

This study, commissioned by the Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the AFCO Committee, looks into the peculiar nature of Article 122 TFEU as a non-legislative legal basis pursuant to which the European Parliament is not involved in the decision-making. It concludes that the recent recourse to Article 122 TFEU was legally defensible but that the Council does not sufficiently take into account the ‘without prejudice to’ clause in Article 122(1) TFEU. ...

The Monthly highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, on the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

In the European Union, provisions concerning prisoners' right to vote vary from one Member State to another. While a significant number of EU Member States place no restrictions at all on prisoners voting, many Member States deprive inmates of the right to vote, depending on the type of offence committed and/or the length of their sentence. A small number of Member States deprive inmates of the right to vote permanently, even after they have served their sentences. In those cases where inmates do ...

The EU is an important market for illicit drugs (hereinafter referred to as drugs), both in terms of consumption and production. An estimated 29 % of European adults aged 15-65 have used drugs at least once in their lifetime, the majority of them being men. Cannabis remains by far the most used drug, followed by cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy or molly) and amphetamines. Drugs have been claiming an increasing number of lives in the EU since 2012, but their impact goes far beyond the harm caused by their use ...

This study analyses the European Media Freedom Act proposal. It provides a political and historical overview of EU policies in the field of media and on information society at large, also taking into account the debate regarding EU competences on media pluralism and media freedom. The study reasons on the legal basis of the proposed Act, and then analyses the provisions of it under each of the Chapters of the Act, basing on relevant academic literature, policy documents, and empirical data. It concludes ...