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On 14 September 2022, the Commission proposed a regulation to ban products made using forced labour, including child labour, on the European Union (EU) internal market. The proposal covers all products made available on the EU market, whether made in the EU for domestic consumption and for export, or imported. It covers products of any type, including their components, from all sectors and industries. EU Member States would be in charge of enforcing its provisions, and their national authorities ...

Companies can play a key role in building a sustainable economy and society. At the same time, their global value chains can pose risks to human rights and the environment. A growing number of EU companies have taken initiatives to deploy due diligence processes, often using existing voluntary international standards on responsible business conduct. Some Member States have meanwhile started developing their own legal frameworks on corporate due diligence. In a legislative-initiative resolution adopted ...

The purpose of World Mental Health Day is to improve knowledge, raise awareness and mobilise efforts in support of mental health around the world. This year's theme, 'Mental health is a universal human right', underlines that a mental health condition should never be a reason to deprive a person of their human rights.

Several EU directives dealing with equality require EU Member States to establish equality bodies with a focus on assisting victims of discrimination and preventing and fighting discrimination on the grounds listed under the directives. However, their rules are general and have no precise definition of these bodies' duties and manner of operation, thus leading to disparities among the Member States' bodies. Additionally, the work of some Member States' bodies has been hampered by lack of resources ...

Violence directed against a woman because she is a woman, or that affects women disproportionately ('gender-based violence against women') is a violation of fundamental rights, and a major obstacle to gender equality in all EU Member States. Despite increased attention, national legislation does not offer equal protection for women against all forms of gender-based violence across the EU, and there are significant gaps in the measures adopted at EU level. On 8 March 2022, the European Commission ...

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 ...

This study, commissioned by the European Parliament's Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the Committee on Petitions (PETI), provides an overview of the right to petition and the rules, procedures and practices used by parliaments for handling petitions, notably in terms of the submission of petitions, admissibility criteria, powers of consideration and criteria for closing petitions. The study also discusses publicity and feedback provided by petitions ...

On 26 July 2023, a coup by his military entourage overthrew President Bazoum in Niger. On 30 August, just after President Ali Bongo had been officially declared elected for a third term in Gabon, a group of military officers announced his removal from office and arrest, and suspended the constitution. These latest coups add to the growing list of unconstitutional changes of government in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years. During the September plenary, Question Time with the High Representative/Vice-President ...

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 ...

Common foreign and security policy (CFSP) has a particular status in the EU legal framework, part of which is the unanimity rule within the Council. This report analyses decision-making rules in CFSP from a 'cost of non-Europe' perspective. It identifies CFSP challenges and the extent to which they could be attributed to unanimity. This allows us to identify the current 'cost of unanimity'. The report also analyses possible alternatives to unanimity decision-making in CFSP, such as a switch to qualified ...