EU prepares new round of Belarus sanctions from June

The European Union is readying a fourth round of sanctions against senior Belarus officials in response to last year’s contested presidential election and could target as many as 50 people from June, four diplomats said.

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Briefing – EU-Belarus relations: State of play – Human rights situation and Ryanair flight diversion – 22-07-2021

The falsified presidential elections of August 2020, and the brutal crackdown against peacefully protesting Belarusians, led to the isolation of the Aliaksandr Lukashenka regime. Despite the possibility of starting dialogue with the democratic opposition and Belarusian society, Aliaksandr Lukashenka chose another path, involving continued brutal repression of the country’s citizens. The worsening human rights situation and hijacking of Ryanair flight FR 4978 provoked a response from the EU, including a ban on Belarusian air carriers landing in or overflying the EU, a major extension of the list of people and entities already subject to sanctions, and the introduction of sanctions on key sectors of the Belarusian economy. The EU policy also demonstrates a readiness to support a future democratic Belarus. In this respect, the European Commission presented the outline of a comprehensive plan of economic support for democratic Belarus, worth up to €3 billion. The European Parliament is playing an active part in shaping the EU’s response. Parliament does not recognise Lukashenka’s presidency and is speaking out on human rights abuses in Belarus. The Belarusian democratic opposition, which was awarded the 2020 Sakharov Prize, is frequently invited to speak for the Belarusian people in the European Parliament.

Source : © European Union, 2021 – EP

Highlights – EU leadership in the fight against famines: committee debate – Committee on Development

The Executive Director of the World Food Programme David Beasley with people in Yemen
The Committee on Development will discuss the global humanitarian and food security situation with UN World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley, on 13 July. According to the latest Global Report on Food Crises, the number of people facing acute food insecurity and needing urgent assistance hit a five-year high in 2020. The debate will feed into the Committee’s work on an upcoming report on food security in developing countries.

Source : © European Union, 2021 – EP

Highlights – A comprehensive and coordinated strategy against cancer: committee debate – Special Committee on Beating Cancer

BECA
The Special Committee on Beating Cancer will look into the draft report on “Strengthening Europe in the fight against cancer – towards a comprehensive and coordinated strategy”, on 15 July. The draft proposes concrete actions and tools in the fields of health and research, including ambitious legislative proposals to reduce tobacco and alcohol consumption, promote healthy eating and regular physical activity, and encourage vaccination against certain cancers.

Source : © European Union, 2021 – EP

Study – The European Commission’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum. Horizontal substitute impact assessment – 12-08-2021

This ‘Horizontal Substitute Impact Assessment of the European Commission’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum’ was requested by the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). The impact assessment focuses on the main proposed changes implied by the European Commission’s New Pact, with a particular focus on the following four proposals: 1) Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (RAMM); 2) Crisis and Force Majeure Regulation; 3) Amended Asylum Procedure Regulation (APR); and 4) Screening Regulation. The horizontal substitute impact assessment critically assesses the ‘system’ and underlying logic of the proposed New Pact with the aim to analyse how the four Commission proposals would work and interact in practice. The impact assessment also assesses whether and to what extent the proposed New Pact addresses the identified shortcomings and implementational problems of the current EU asylum and migration law and policy. Moreover, the impact assessment identifies and assesses the expected impacts on fundamental rights, as well as economic, social and territorial impacts of the proposed New Pact.

Source : © European Union, 2021 – EP

Highlights – Adding gender-based violence as new ‘eurocrime’: committee vote – Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs – Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality

Stop violence against women
The Committees on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, and on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality will vote on the report on identifying gender-based violence as a new area of ‘eurocrime’, on 14 July. This legislative initiative requests the Commission to propose a Council decision to consider gender-based violence as an area of crime that meets the criteria established under Article 83(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

Source : © European Union, 2021 – EP

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