India-EU Relations.

EU Parliament chief questions European way of life job title

EU Parliament chief questions 'European Way of Life' title


SAMUEL PETREQUIN

,
Associated PressSeptember 12, 2019

  • e12e4f8185abdd0b837f578c272c1d13

1 / 5

Belgium EU Brexit
European Parliament President David Sassoli talks to journalists during a news conference at the European Parliament in Brussels, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019. Sassoli says Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government has made no new proposals that would unblock Brexit talks and that talking about removing the so-called backstop from the divorce agreement is a waste of time. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

More
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Parliament's president said Thursday that he will meet with incoming European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen to discuss her contentious decision to nominate a commissioner responsible for "protecting our European Way of Life."

The name for the proposed commission portfolio, which includes migration, has caused an outcry, with critics considering it a concession to far-right, anti-migrant ideas.

European Parliament President David Sassoli told reporters he decided to seek a meeting with von der Leyen, who will succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as commission president on Nov. 1, after several political groups commented on the "bizarre" titles of some portfolios.

"I assume that probably in the rush to give names to these portfolios there was a slightly casual approach and we ended up with these rather bizarre names," he said.

In addition to the "Protecting Our European Way of Life" portfolio, von der Leyen's proposed commission also includes job titles such as "Europe fit for the digital age" or "An Economy That Works for People."

Sassoli invited von der Leyen to attend a Sept. 19 meeting of political group chiefs at the European Parliament to discuss the issue.

Von der Leyen unveiled the team of commissioners she wants to work with over the next five years earlier this week. The names she has put forward should get approval from the European Parliament.

Some critics said the name of the portfolio to be held by Greek nominee Margaritis Schinas is an insult to European values and has been chosen to please the far-right at a time when populist and xenophobic ideas are on the rise across the continent.

"An all-white European Commission claiming to protect 'our European way of life' is a far cry from the idea of unity in diversity on which this union is built," said Philippe Lamberts, the president of the Greens group at the European Parliament. "Von der Leyen must present a better proposal" next week.

Asked whether the European Commission was considering a name change for the highly political portfolio, spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said no quick decision would be made but the commission was listening to the different points of view.
 
Protecting the European way of life is now considered an outrage. I wonder what exactly the EU Army is going to be doing then, given that they won't be allowed to protect the European way of life.
 
Germany wants to cap next EU budget at 1% of GDP - sources

Germany wants to cap next EU budget at 1% of GDP - sources


BRUSSELS, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Germany, the European Union's largest economy, wants to limit the bloc's next budget for 2021-27 at 1% of the bloc's economic output, sources told Reuters, below the 1.11% proposed by the executive European Commission.
 
Germany wants to cap next EU budget at 1% of GDP - sources

Germany wants to cap next EU budget at 1% of GDP - sources


BRUSSELS, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Germany, the European Union's largest economy, wants to limit the bloc's next budget for 2021-27 at 1% of the bloc's economic output, sources told Reuters, below the 1.11% proposed by the executive European Commission.
The lol EU is nothing but Germany completing its incomplete mission of ruling over Europe during WW2 without a drop of blood. Bravo
 
The lol EU is nothing but Germany completing its incomplete mission of ruling over Europe during WW2 without a drop of blood. Bravo
Pretty much, but as usual the French are collaborating. Having said that, the EU will be a Caliphate before long at the present rate, with NGO ships rescuing/trafficking migrants into it. Maybe someone should start seizing NGO ships.

They're trying to maintain their socialisation budget without UK funds, and they can't, that's the other part of the story.
 
with NGO ships rescuing/trafficking migrants into it. Maybe someone should start seizing NGO ships.
This is one area where the Indian govt. would out do the entire west with ease. They would refuse registration for NGO boats or outright seize them. They wouldn't give a damn about "liberal" criticisms from both inside and outside the country.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BMD
EU questions Hungary over rule of law concerns

EU questions Hungary over rule of law concerns


By Jorrit Donner-Wittkopf

,
ReutersSeptember 16, 2019

By Jorrit Donner-Wittkopf

BRUSSELS, Sept 16 (Reuters) - European Union ministers grilled Hungary on Monday over Prime Minister Viktor Orban's tightening of restrictions around free media, judges, academics, minorities and rights groups, which the bloc worries weakens democracy in the ex-communist country.

A year after the European Parliament said Orban's actions carried "a clear risk of a serious breach" of core EU values, ministers met in Brussels for a first formal hearing on Hungary.

"The EU is like a family in many regards. And in a family there has to be a common set of rules... otherwise it cannot work. And rule of law is a foundation of that," said Austria's EU affairs minister Alexander Schallenberg.

Orban, in power since 2010, has also angered the EU with his harsh anti-immigration stance and crude campaigns against the bloc with anti-Semitic undertones.

But, widely seen as a Machiavellian and shrewd operator, he has mostly escaped punishment beyond being suspended from the bloc's biggest centre-right parliamentary group.

The bloc is, however, seeking to make its generous assistance to poorer members like Hungary and Poland - where Orban's fellow nationalists have also put media and judges under more direct state control - conditional on upholding the rule of law.

"When we speak of the independence of judges, the freedom of the media, when we speak of the protection of minorities, academic freedom... it reminds us of our identity, of our values," French minister Amelie de Montchalin said.

With eurosceptic and nationalist politicians in several EU countries riding a wave of public discontent perpetuated by sluggish economies, anxiety over globalisation and immigration to Europe, the bloc is seeking to step up democratic defences.

Hungary, however, rejects the bloc's criticism.

"I expect them to prove that this procedure is not politically charged," Hungary's Justice Minister Judit Varga said on arriving to the hearing with her fellow EU ministers.

"We expect them to have a fair and evidence-based trial." (Writing by Gabriela Baczynska, editing by Ed Osmond)
 
PM Narendra Modi meeting with President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Anastasiades in New York City.
Now all we gotta do is find the Armenian leader and we are set !

1569592706196.png
 
German Chancellor’s visit

While the dates have not been announced officially, the visit is expected in the first week of November for the biennial summit-level meeting. Accompanied by a high-level official delegation, the focus during her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on the fight against terrorism, climate change and defence cooperation. And will also cooperation in sectors including artificial intelligence, global warming, development and economic relations.

India gets Germany’s support on Article 370, German envoy says it is internal matter; Merkel to visit soon
 
Facebook Can Be Forced to Delete Content Worldwide, E.U.’s Top Court Rules

Facebook Can Be Forced to Delete Content Worldwide, E.U.’s Top Court Rules
The decision that individual countries can order Facebook to take down posts globally sets a benchmark for the reach of European laws governing the internet.

3eufacebook-articleLarge.jpg




The European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday after a former leader of Austria’s Green Party sought to have Facebook remove disparaging remarks about her.CreditCreditArne Immanuel B’nsch/picture-alliance/dpa, via Associated Press
By Adam Satariano

  • Oct. 3, 2019
    • 48
LONDON — Europe’s top court said on Thursday that individual countries can order Facebook to take down posts, photographs and videos not only in their own countries but elsewhere, in a ruling that extends the reach of the region’s internet-related laws beyond its own borders.

The European Court of Justice said Facebook could be forced to remove a post globally by a national court in the European Union’s 28-member bloc if the content was determined to be defamatory or otherwise illegal. Its decision cannot be appealed.

The ruling stemmed from a case involving an Austrian politician, Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek, who sued the social network to expunge online comments that called her a “lousy traitor,” “corrupt oaf” and member of a “fascist party.” After an Austrian court found the comments violated defamation laws, she demanded Facebook erase the original comments worldwide, not just within the country, as well as posts with “equivalent” remarks.

The decision sets a new benchmark for the purview of European laws that govern the internet, giving European countries the power to apply takedown requests internationally. That foreshadows future disputes over Europe’s role in setting rules on the internet, especially as other nations increasingly pass their own laws to deal with privacy, hate speech and disinformation.

The judgment deals a blow to big internet platforms like Facebook, placing more responsibility on them to patrol their sites for wrongdoing as they contend with the swell of often-competing laws and regulations.

“There is this impulse in Europe that is trying to set global regulatory standards,” said Ben Wagner, director of the Privacy and Sustainable Computing Lab at Vienna University. The effort, he said, is a “pushback against the self-regulatory impulses of these platforms.”

Facebook said in a statement that the European court’s decision “undermines the longstanding principle that one country does not have the right to impose its laws on speech on another country.” It added that the judgment raised questions about freedom of expression and “the role that internet companies should play in monitoring, interpreting and removing speech that might be illegal in any particular country.”

Later on Thursday during an all-hands meeting with employees, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, predicted challenges for his company and for the industry, as well as lengthy litigation. “I think it’s a very troubling precedent to set,” he said.

Ms. Glawischnig-Piesczek, the former leader of the Austrian Green Party, who brought the original lawsuit, did not respond to requests for comment.

Europe has long been more proactive than other regions — including the United States — in passing laws that regulate the internet. As Europe has enacted tougher policies, its courts are being asked to clarify their scope, including whether Facebook, Google and others must apply the rules beyond the European Union’s borders.

Last week, the European Court of Justice limited the reach of the privacy law known as the “right to be forgotten,” which lets European citizens demand that Google remove links to sensitive personal data from search results. The court said Google could not be ordered to remove links to websites globally, except in certain circumstances when weighed against the rights to free expression and the public’s right to information.

On Thursday, the Luxembourg-based court turned its attention to the reach of European defamation laws through Ms. Glawischnig-Piesczek’s case, which she filed in 2016. Facebook initially refused to take down the post that criticized her. In many countries the comments about her would have been considered acceptable, if vulgar, political speech.

Ms. Glawischnig-Piesczek then sued Facebook in Austrian courts, which concluded the comments were defamatory and intended to damage her reputation. She also demanded that Facebook remove posts that were similar in tone to the original insults, taking the case all the way to the European Court of Justice.

merlin_157052235_4efd8465-225a-4c64-947c-3cc72314df18-articleLarge.jpg




Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek, a former leader of Austria’s Green Party, had argued that Facebook needed to delete comments posted online about her and limit worldwide access.CreditMichael Debets/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
The court said on Thursday that while Facebook wasn’t liable for the disparaging comments posted about Ms. Glawischnig-Piesczek, the company had an obligation to take them down after an Austrian court found them defamatory. Facebook, the court said, “did not act expeditiously to remove or to disable access to that information.”

The court left to national court systems in each European Union country to decide what cases merit forcing an internet company to take down content in foreign countries. That raised questions about what other laws Facebook and other internet platforms can be forced to comply with by governments in Europe.

French regulators have tested the expansion of privacy laws beyond the European Union. Germany has adopted strict laws to remove hate speech from social media platforms. Britain is considering new restrictions against “harmful” internet content.

“The key thing about this case is what preventive measures can be imposed on Facebook,” said Martin Husovec, an assistant law professor at Tilburg University’s Institute for Law, Technology and Society in the Netherlands.

But the decision is not likely to not lead to a flood of orders against Facebook to take down content globally, said David Erdos, deputy director of the Center for Intellectual Property and Information Law at Cambridge University. The opinion was narrowly crafted, he said, and urged national courts to weigh any bans carefully against international laws.

“Courts will be feeling their way for years to come,” he said.

Critics of the ruling said a global ban would require the use of automated content filters. Civil society groups and others have cautioned that such filters are ineffective and could lead to the takedown of legitimate material because filters cannot detect nuances in satire and some political commentary. They also argued that calling for the removal of posts considered “equivalent” added further confusion.

Supporters countered that defamation laws hadn’t been enforced appropriately in the internet age and were needed to force companies like Facebook to do more to combat internet trolls, hate speech and other personal attacks that spread on the web.

Facebook has long argued that it should not be held legally responsible for material posted by its more than two billion users. Yet with increased scrutiny from policymakers around the world, the social network has taken steps to limit hate speech and extremism on its site. Last month, it outlined its plans for an oversight board to review content decisions.

Dr. Wagner at Vienna University said Thursday’s ruling raised broad concerns about restricting political speech, especially because Ms. Glawischnig-Piesczek is a public figure.

“We’re talking about a politician who is being insulted in a political context. That’s very different than a normal citizen,” he said. “There needs to be a greater scope for freedom of opinion and expression.”
 
This just in. Islamists are working for Hydra. This explains so much.

France needs 'society of vigilance' against Islamist 'Hydra': Macron

France needs 'society of vigilance' against Islamist 'Hydra': Macron


ReutersOctober 8, 2019

3ece4143e38433d563af8a5dff14b7e9

French President Macron attends ceremony for four victims of Paris police attack, in Paris

PARIS (Reuters) - France must develop a "society of vigilance" in its fight against the "Hydra" of Islamist militancy, President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday, as he paid homage to the victims of a deadly knife attack at the headquarters of the Paris police.
 
The hydra is a mythical creature of ancient Greek legends, a many-headed monster who was immortal because each time you cut off one of its head, new heads grew out of the stump. It's a very apt metaphor for Islamic terrorism, each time you kill the leader of a terrorist group, another leader takes its place, and terrorist organizations just keep on proliferating everywhere.

But it still has nothing to do about India-EU relations.
 
The hydra is a mythical creature of ancient Greek legends, a many-headed monster who was immortal because each time you cut off one of its head, new heads grew out of the stump. It's a very apt metaphor for Islamic terrorism, each time you kill the leader of a terrorist group, another leader takes its place, and terrorist organizations just keep on proliferating everywhere.

But it still has nothing to do about India-EU relations.
Not the ex-Nazi organisation from Marvel's Agents of Shield? Oh hang on, it was them that formed the EU.