Fittex

This briefing was prepared by the Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs upon request of the EP Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware for its mission to Cyprus and Greece, from 1 to 4 November 2022.

As set out in Article 285 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the European Court of Auditors (ECA) shall consist of one national of each Member State. Article 286 (2) TFEU further specifies that each Member State has the right to propose its candidate. The Council then adopts the list of Members as proposed by the Member States. Often, this is a partial renewal of the Court - only one or a few Members are appointed, as the mandates of the Members may expire at different ...

The EU's binding climate and energy legislation for 2030 requires Member States to adopt national energy and climate plans (NECPs) covering the 2021 to 2030 period. In October 2020, the European Commission published an assessment for each NECP. Cyprus submitted its NECP in January 2020. A high proportion of Cypriots (70 %) expect national governments to tackle climate. Cyprus accounts for 0.26 % of total EU greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and has reduced its emissions at a slower pace than the EU ...

Turkey has featured regularly on the agenda of the European Council in recent years, notably in the context of the migration crisis and military operations in Syria, and as a result of an increasingly tense situation in the eastern Mediterranean, which led to a significant military build-up at sea during the summer of 2020. In all these cases, the European Council (re)acted swiftly, ensuring that the views of the Member States were taken into consideration. In the migration crisis, it stepped up ...

This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the AFCO Committee, looks into the main obstacles to unifying and modernising European elections in different Member States. It gives an overview of the implementation of Council Decision 2018/994 and highlights, in particular, the importance of the standardisation and harmonisation of electoral ballots as a means to properly inform voters and strengthen the European ...

This note presents selected information on the current status of the EU economic governance procedures and related relevant information in view of an Economic Dialogue with Constantinos Petrides, Cyprus Finance Minister, in the ECON committee of the European Parliament. The invitation for a dialogue is in accordance with the EU economic governance framework. The last exchange of views with the Cypriot authorities took place on 25 January 2016.

Since the discovery of offshore natural gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean in the early 2000s, Turkey has challenged its neighbours with regard to international law and the delimitation of their exclusive economic zones (EEZs), and destabilised the whole region through its illegal drilling and military interventions. Ankara has used military force and intimidation, including repeated violations of the territorial waters and airspaces of neighbouring countries. Ankara has also used bilateral ...

With the virulence of the coronavirus pandemic gradually diminishing, and in the light of the restrictive measures adopted by Member States, attention remains on the way chosen by the various states to respond to the crisis. With states at various stages of relaxing emergency constraints, the effects of the coronavirus pandemic are likely to last in terms of health, economic, social, psychological and possibly even political impact. Although public attention is now turned towards the widely differing ...

After endorsing the revised UK withdrawal agreement, and approving a revised political declaration, in the European Council (Article 50) format, EU Heads of State or Government had to tackle a range of divisive issues at their 17-18 October meeting, including the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework, enlargement, climate change and Turkey. EU leaders were not able to find common ground on key elements of the MFF, nor to reach consensus on the opening of accession negotiations with Albania and ...

EU-27 Heads of State or Government met on 9 May 2019 in the Romanian city of Sibiu, to discuss the Union’s common future. They adopted the Sibiu Declaration, recalling the achievements and values of the European Union. EU leaders reaffirmed their unity, and recognised the role they have to play to make the EU stronger and the future brighter. They also discussed the forthcoming Strategic Agenda for 2019-2024, which will outline policy priorities for the next five years. The European Council President ...