Since the Law and Justice party (PiS) won both the presidential and parliamentary elections in Poland in autumn 2015, the government has undertaken a series of reforms that critics say restrict democracy.

Under the rule of law, governmental powers are limited by law and may be exercised only on the basis of law. An independent judiciary is indispensable to guaranteeing this state of affairs, and appropriate procedures, including legal remedies, must be in place to guarantee that individuals can protect their rights and trigger judicial review of governmental action.

Should an EU Member State be suspected of breaching the rule of law, a number of procedures are available to verify this and, if needed, remedy the situation.

Rule of law in Poland (2019-2020)

Faced with a growing international terrorist threat, the European Union (EU) is playing an ever more ambitious role in counter-terrorism.

Even though primary responsibility for combating crime and ensuring security lies with the Member States, the EU provides cooperation, coordination and (to some extent) harmonisation tools, as well as financial support, to address this borderless phenomenon. EU spending in the area of counter-terrorism has increased over the years and is set to grow in the future, to allow for better cooperation between national law enforcement authorities and enhanced support by the EU bodies in charge of security, such as Europol and eu-LISA.

See more on this topic by visiting our <a href="https://multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/en/fight-against-terrorism-8th-parliamentary-term_2802_pk">package</a> for the 8th parliamentary term.

Fight against terrorism (2019-2020)

Disinformation campaigns are a threat to the proper functioning of democracies. The Parliament is committed to ensuring people are able to access reliable information.

Elements of disinformation and propaganda are that such information (i) is designed to be wholly or partly false, manipulated or misleading, or uses unethical persuasion techniques; (ii) regards an issue of public interest; (iii) has the intention to generate insecurity, hostility or polarisation, or attempts to disrupt democratic processes; (iv) and is disseminated and/or amplified through automated and aggressive techniques, such as social bots, artificial intelligence (AI), micro-targeting or paid human 'trolls’, often used to boost public visibility.

Fight against disinformation (2019-2020)

On 28 May 2020, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a regulation on the establishment of a programme for the Union's action in the field of health for the 2021-2027 period (EU4Health programme). It was announced as part of the Next Generation EU recovery instrument, aimed at countering the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Parliament is expected to vote on the report during the November I plenary session. This would open the way for trilogue negotiations.

EU4Health (2020)

Every day journalists risk their lives to help keep us informed.

Freedom of Press is considered to be an essential element of democracy by the European Parliament, which strongly supports it within the EU and beyond. Article 11 of the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights clearly states that “freedom and pluralism of the media shall be respected”.

Press freedom in the EU (2019- 2020)

The EU has adopted legislation, issues recommendations, exchanges and good practices and provides funding to support action by Member States. The concepts of EU gender equality policy were shaped by European Court of Justice rulings.

The European Parliament (EP) regularly adopts own initiative reports on gender issues, calling for more efforts to improve gender equality.

The EP has always been very active on achieving equality between men and women and has a standing committee dedicated to women’s rights and gender equality. Every year, Parliament marks International Women’s Day on 8 March and raises awareness by organising events.

Gender balance (2019-2020)

EU leaders meet in Brussels to discuss the epidemiological situation, relations with the United Kingdom, as well as climate change and relations with Africa.

European Council, 15-16 October 2020

European measures for consumer protection are intended to protect the health and safety and economic and legal interests of European consumers, wherever they live, travel or shop in the EU.

EU provisions regulate both physical transactions and e-commerce, and contain rules of general applicability together with provisions targeting specific products, including medicines, genetically modified organisms, tobacco products, cosmetics, toys and explosives.

Consumer protection (2019-2020)

This package contains the events between 1st July 2019 and 31 December 2020. For latest events, see related links.

In line with the EU economic governance framework, Economic dialogues between the President of the Eurogroup and the European Parliament take place twice a year, at the beginning of the year and in the autumn.

Paschal Donohoe has been elected as President of Eurogroup in July 2020, succeeding Mario Centeno. As President of Eurogroup, he is invited to a regular Economic Dialogue, in particular, in accordance with Article 2ab of Regulation 1466/97 as amended. This briefing provides an overview of the ongoing work of the Eurogroup as regards public finances, macro-economic imbalances, financial adjustment programmes and the banking union. He is also chairing the Board of Governors of the European Stability Mechanism.

Economic dialogue (2019-2020)

In May 2021, Parliament and Council negotiators agreed on a revision of the 2009 Blue Card directive to make it easier for employers in EU member states to hire third country nationals. Originally proposed by the Commission in 2016, this will be the only legislative change at EU level in the field of legal labour migration in recent years.

The revised directive on entry and residence conditions foresees more flexible criteria, including a lower threshold for the minimum salary that applicants must earn in order to qualify for a Blue Card. It also expands the rights of beneficiaries with simplified intra-EU mobility and faster family reunification procedures.

EU Blue Card

The European Semester is the EU's annual cycle of economic policy guidance and surveillance.

The European Semester Conference, organised by the European Parliament, provided an opportunity to exchange information on best practices in implementing the Semester cycles, and to strengthen cooperation in order to scrutinise the actions of the executive at national and European levels within the framework of the European Semester cycle.

European Semester (2019-2020)

The EU first unified the summer-time arrangements in 1980, in order to ensure a harmonised approach to time switching within the single market, as until then, national summer-time practices and schedules were diverging. The current summer-time arrangements directive requires Member States to switch to summer-time on the last Sunday of March and back to standard time (informally known as winter-time) on the last Sunday of October. MEPs voted to end the practice of adjusting clocks by an hour in spring and autumn from 2021 on 26/03/2019

The system of bi-annual clock changes has been increasingly questioned, by citizens, by the European Parliament, and by a growing number of Member States. The Commission has, therefore, analysed available evidence, which points to the importance of having harmonised rules in this area to ensure a proper functioning of the internal market. This is also supported by the European Parliament as well as other actors. In February 2020, the TRAN Committee designated Johan Danielsson (S&D, Sweden) as rapporteur.

Seasonal time change

With the LUX Audience Award, a unique pan-European audience prize, Parliament teams up with the European Film Academy to reach a wider audience and to continue to strengthen the links between people and politics. Through its film prize, Parliament has been supporting the distribution of European films since 2007, by providing subtitles in 24 EU languages for the films in final contention. The LUX prize has garnered a reputation by selecting European co-productions that engage with topical political and social issues and encourage debate about values.

This year President of the EP David Sassoli awarded the 2021 LUX Audience Award to the film Collective during a ceremony in Strasbourg on 9 of June. This stirring documentary is titled after a nightclub in Bucharest where a fire killed 27 young people in 2015 and left 180 wounded. The documentary follows a team of journalists who investigate why 37 of the burn victims died in hospitals, although their wounds were not life threatening. They uncover terrifying nepotism and corruption that cost lives, but also show that brave and determined people can reverse corrupt systems. Collective was nominated for an Oscar in the best international feature and best documentary categories this year.

The other two films shortlisted for the award were: Another Round by Danish director Thomas Vinterberg and Corpus Christi by Polish director Jan Komasa.

The final ranking was determined by combining the average rating from the public vote and the vote by MEPs, with each group weighing 50%.

Lux Award 2021

The EU Digital COVID Certificate aims to facilitate safe free movement inside the EU during the COVID-19 pandemic.The certificate should&nbsp;be available in either digital or paper format. It attests that a person has been vaccinated against coronavirus or has a recent negative test result or has recovered from the infection.

&nbsp;A common EU framework is&nbsp;allowing member states to issue certificates that will then be accepted in other EU countries. The EU Digital Covid Certificate regulation should be&nbsp;in place for 12 months. The certificate should&nbsp;not be a precondition to exercise the right to free movement and is&nbsp;not&nbsp;considered a travel document.

Member states should not impose additional travel restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as quarantine, self-isolation or testing, “unless they are necessary and proportionate to safeguard public health”. Member states must accept vaccination certificates issued in other member states for persons inoculated with a vaccine authorised for use in the EU by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

It is&nbsp;up to the member states to decide whether they also accept vaccination certificates that have been authorised by other Member States following national authorisation procedures or for vaccines listed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for emergency use. The Regulation entered&nbsp;into force on&nbsp;1 July 2021.
 Parliament and EU member states’ negotiators have agreed to keep the EU Digital COVID Certificate framework in place for another year, until June 2023

EU Digital COVID certificate

Erasmus+ is the EU's programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. It has an estimated budget of €26.2 billion. This is nearly double the funding compared to its predecessor programme (2014-2020).

The 2021-2027 programme places a strong focus on social inclusion, the green and digital transitions, and promoting young people’s participation in democratic life. It supports priorities and activities set out in the European Education Area, Digital Education Action Plan and the European Skills Agenda. The programme also supports the European Pillar of Social Rights implements the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 develops the European dimension in sport. It will improve access to learning and mobility for people who historically have had fewer opportunities to participate – people living with a disability, people living in poverty, in a remote location, people with a migration background, and more. Compared to the previous Erasmus+, the new programme will expand to support mobility for students in adult education.

Erasmus +

The European Solidarity Corps is the European Union programme which creates opportunities for young people to volunteer or work in projects in their own country or abroad that benefit communities and people around Europe. It brings together young people to build a more inclusive society, supporting vulnerable people and responding to societal challenges. It offers an inspiring and empowering experience for young people who want to help, learn and develop.

The 2021-2027 European Solidarity Corps (worth more than 1billion Euros) will be a significant upgrade in the value it provides for volunteers compared to previous iterations. The new programme features improvements to the insurance policy and health and safety guarantees covered by the programme, as well as increased requirements for hosts to ensure a meaningful learning experience for participants.The European Solidarity Corps for 2021-2027 will for the first time be a stand-alone volunteering programme with its own budget (activities covered by the programme were previously covered by the 'Youth' section of Erasmus+).

European Solidarity Corps

Euroscola

EP Plenary session - Establishing the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans

EP Plenary session - Joint debate - Plant and forest reproductive material

EP Plenary session - Commission statement - Situation in Haiti

EP Plenary session - Council and Commission statements - EU-Egypt strategic and comprehensive partnership and agreements with key third countries

EP Plenary session - Commission Statement - Attempts to reintroduce a foreign agent law in Georgia and its restrictions on civil society

EP Plenary session - Withdrawal of the Union from the Energy Charter Treaty

Press conference on the Gigabit Infrastructure Act and the abolition of intra-EU calls surcharge

EP Plenary session - Commission statement - The use of Russian frozen assets to support Ukraine’s victory and reconstruction

CCC meeting

Press conference on Parliament's vote on the Late Payments regulation

Press conference on the Final vote on the right to repair

EP Plenary session - Joint Debate - Disability cards

EP Plenary session - Commission Statement - EU’s response to the repeated killing of humanitarian aid workers, journalists and civilians by the Israel Defence Forces in the Gaza Strip

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