The news that matter in Europe
The news that matter in Europe
La Defensora del Pueblo ha publicado su informe anual para 2022 con los temas de transparencia y rendición de cuentas representando el mayor porcentaje de denuncias (32%). El informe proporciona una descripción general de las áreas clave del trabajo del Defensor del Pueblo, como sus sugerencias a la Comisión Europea,…
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El Acuerdo de Schengen conocido hoy se firmó en un pequeño pueblo en la parte sureste de Luxemburgo, un lugar lleno de simbolismo. Se puede cruzar Luxemburgo en automóvil en poco más de una hora. Antes de que te des cuenta, estarás en las cercanías de Francia, Alemania o Bélgica, solo los más observadores…
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This is the question some activists are asking themselves in Spain The presidency of the Council of the European Union (Consillium) is rotating and changes every six months, with Spain scheduled to take over on 1 July, but there are doubts about this.
A Spanish alliance is calling for Spain…
La decisión de la Mesa sobre los antiguos diputados revisa las normas existentes, que datan de 1999, sobre los derechos de acceso Tras la aprobación por parte de los líderes del Grupo del Parlamento del plan de reforma propuesto por el presidente Metsola, la Mesa adoptó la primera decisión de ejecución que revisa las normas para…
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Le Premier ministre luxembourgeois, Xavier Bettel, a prononcé un discours passionné, exhortant les députés européens à défendre les fondamentaux de liberté et de respect sur lesquels repose l’UE face au populisme et aux défis mondiaux et internes. Il a souligné qu’il est vital pour l’UE de rester ouverte, à la fois…
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Francia ha llevado a juicio a 11 presuntos miembros de alto rango del Partido de los Trabajadores del Kurdistán (PKK), acusados de extorsión, financiación del terrorismo y propaganda para la organización, informó AFP. Declarada organización terrorista por Estados Unidos, la Unión Europea y Turquía, el PKK ha…
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Azerbaiyán suministrará gas natural a Hungría, a través de Bulgaria El presidente ruso, Vladimir Putin, puede visitar Turquía para la ceremonia de inauguración de la planta de energía nuclear de Akkuyu el 27 de abril, anunció el presidente turco, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “Actualmente estamos continuando con éxito el…
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Une enquête internationale a révélé que les services russes espionnaient avec plusieurs antennes leurs ambassades en Europe. Le bâtiment de Sofia ne fait pas exception, rapporte NOVA. L’enquête a été menée dans des dizaines de pays. Selon lui, il y a 189 antennes sur 30 bâtiments…
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A partir de este fin de semana, ya no es posible pedir allí una copa de vodka Absolut, whisky Jameson o ron Malibu. El grupo Svenska Brassierer, propietario de estos establecimientos, ha decidido dejar de comercializar todos los licores pertenecientes al grupo francés Pernod Ricard, según informa Le Monde. El…
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The French president makes European partners uncomfortable with his statements on the need to distance himself from the US on foreign policy, with reference to Taiwan. Poland revolts as Germany says the EU cannot be “indifferent”.
Article by Irene Castro – Correspondent in Brussels for ELDIARIO.ES – Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Translated by The European Times.
A cooperative partner, a difficult competitor and a systemic rival. Three definitions that may even seem contradictory to define the EU’s relationship with China. These are the rules of the game that the leaders of the EU-27 established last October in the run-up to the preparations for the search for a rapprochement with the Asian giant, which is revealing the differences in the European club and even bringing tensions to the surface.
The EU has long been searching for its place in a polarised world. While Brussels has been engaged in preparing for the US-China trade war and much of its policies in recent months have been aimed at minimising dependence on Xi Jinping’s regime in the face of mistrust, the EU has been reviving diplomatic relations at various levels without losing sight of the strategic relationship with the United States.
“Efforts are moving in the same direction. Nobody in Europe, whatever you call the government or the member of the Commission, wants to disengage from China and go to two blocs in this world. Everyone says we need to engage…
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European Commission Statement Brussels, 29 Sep 2021 Section 1. Pittsburgh Statement
The EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) met for the first time in Pittsburgh on 29 September 2021. It was co-…
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Urgent action is needed to address child labour in Africa’s agriculture sector, participants heard at a regional conference hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) held today.
Latest estimates show there are more children in child labour in Sub-Saharan Africa (86.6 million) than in the rest of the world combined, and the vast majority, four out of every five children, are engaged in child labour within the agriculture sector. Root causes include household poverty, limited access to quality education, inadequate labour-saving technologies, and traditional attitudes towards children’s participation in agriculture.
“We need zero child labour in agriculture to achieve zero hunger, and we need to act now,” said FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa Abebe Haile-Gabriel in his opening remarks at today’s event. He noted that “climate change, inequality and poverty continue to pose challenges to rural livelihoods where child labour is often used as a negative coping mechanism,” and urged greater leadership from agricultural stakeholders across Africa to accelerate action.
“There is no justification whatsoever for having millions of African children in child labour,” said Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon, ILO Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Africa. “It is unacceptable that this number is likely to go up due to COVID-19. It is untenable that half of these children are in hazardous work that puts their safety, health and sometimes their lives at risk. It is indefensible that almost a third of them don’t go to school. Child labour is a grave problem that requires us to take drastic action,” she said.
The event, hosted by FAO’s Regional Office for Africa, brought together stakeholders from across the continent to engage on fast-tracking solutions to ending child labour in agriculture in Africa. Participants included technical experts, government representatives, financial institutions, farmers’ groups and labour organizations. Today’s event is part of a series of regional events around the world ahead of FAO’s high-level Global Solutions Forum: Acting Together to End Child Labour in Agriculture, in November.
The problem
Child labour in agriculture harms children, damages the agriculture sector and perpetuates rural poverty. It is defined as work that is inappropriate for a child’s age, affects their education, or is likely to harm their health and safety. Much of the work children carry out in agriculture is unpaid and takes place within the family unit. It could include carrying very heavy loads, coming into contact with hazardous pesticides and other chemicals, or working extremely long hours.
Globally, there are 160 million children in child labour. The International Labour Organization and UNICEF estimate that the economic impacts of COVID-19 may drive millions more children around the world into work.
Through the Sustainable Development Goals (Target 8.7), countries have committed to ending child labour in all its forms by 2025, but progress is not on track to meet this target. Eradicating child labour globally will not be achieved without a breakthrough in Sub-Saharan Africa, and particularly in agriculture.
What can be done?
Recommendations discussed at today’s event include supporting decent livelihoods for smallholder farmers such as through social protection, stronger and better organized producers’ groups, integrating child labour prevention into the design of investment programmes for agriculture and rural development, and introducing labour-saving technologies.
Among those at today’s event reaffirming their pledge for greater action was Godfrey Bahiigwa, the Director of Agriculture and Rural Development at the African Union Commission.
“The African Union is committed to accelerating the achievement of SDG 8.7 and reducing child labour in Africa, and using its political and convening capacities to drive greater coordination of implementation efforts across the continent,” he said.
Taking action to end child labour
Through the Framework on Ending Child Labour in Agriculture, FAO works with agricultural stakeholders and rural communities to improve livelihoods and promote good and safe agricultural practices so that families can afford to send their children to school, rather than to work. FAO also works with national governments to advocate for policy and program changes to end child labour.
The European Union has co-funded a multi-year, multi-country FAO project to support cotton farmers to expand their livelihoods and send their children to school instead of to cotton fields. The CLEAR Cotton Project is implemented by ILO in collaboration with FAO in Burkina Faso, Mali and Pakistan.
In Uganda, teenagers at risk of falling into labour instead attend Junior Farmer Field Schools, or ‘schools without walls’, where they learn relevant skills including innovative agricultural practices.
2021 is the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour which aims to drive progress at local, national and international levels.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of FAO Regional Office for Africa. 
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The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is grateful a generous contribution of €500,000 (US$ 423,500) from the European Union (EU) that will help meet the needs of 53,600 vulnerable Swazi households through cash transfers.
The EU’s funding will be used to scale up WFP’s cash transfers operations to reach families hardest-hit by the impacts of a poor harvest, rising food prices and the prolonged secondary effects of COVID-19 in the rural, urban and peri-urban areas of the Manzini, Lubombo and Hhohho regions. According to a recent government-led assessment by the Eswatini Vulnerability Assessment Committee, close to 27 percent of Eswatini’s population (317,000) will be at high risk of hunger over the next six months.
Monthly cash transfers will be delivered via a mobile money platform established in partnership with mobile service provider MTN. The money can then be used to purchase food items at selected stores that are owned and operated by local retailers, which in turn helps boost the local market.
“We thank the European Union for continuing their support, allowing WFP and the government to provide much needed assistance to vulnerable people affected by COVID-19 and climate shocks”, said Deepak Shah, WFP’s Head of Office in Eswatini. “This timely contribution will help WFP change lives by improving the food security and nutrition of children, orphans, pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as people living with HIV and AIDS.”
The Cash-Based Transfer programme will also continue to integrate Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) to provide knowledge and information on basic hygiene for prevention of COVID 19, as well as knowledge on nutritional practices to enhance purchasing choices for households to meet their nutritional needs.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Food Programme (WFP). 
European Commission Speech Brussels, 29 Sep 2021 Dear Minister Počivalšek, dear colleagues,
I would first like to thank everyone for organising today’s meeting and the very fruitful discussions held tod…
The European Union has contributed EUR 3 million to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Zimbabwe. Funding will be used to support highly vulnerable people living in urban communities who are struggling to meet basic food needs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The contribution, made through the EU’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations Department (ECHO), will come in the form of cash assistance used to support beneficiaries of WFP’s Urban Social Assistance and Resilience Building Programme. Recipients will receive USD 12 per person, per month via either e-voucher or Western Union cash transfer – to help cover basic food needs such as maize meal, cooking oil and salt.
“At the EU, we are committed to working with partners like WFP to bring life-saving assistance to vulnerable populations, most of whom are struggling to make ends meet in these challenging times,” said EU Ambassador Timo Olkkonen. “But our assistance can never cover all those in need, only sound public social policies and sustainable economic growth based on political and economic reforms can.”
WFP Zimbabwe Country Director and Representative Francesca Erdelmann said the already dire food insecurity situation in urban and peri-urban areas has been further exacerbated by restrictive measures implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19. This has resulted in the loss of urban livelihoods and income.
“Urban populations face high living costs to obtain basic food needs, along with other critical items such as rent, water and electricity. We are seeing a 30% increase in the average price (in ZWL) of basic food items (maize meal, maize grain and sugar beans) in the first half of 2021 (Jan-Jul), when compared with the second half of 2020. Cash assistance can help to ease the burden for households, providing people with greater autonomy when planning monthly expenses.”
According to the 2020 Urban Livelihoods Assessment, 2.4 million urban dwellers are estimated to be cereal insecure. The findings, released by the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) in March 2021, show increasing food insecurity of vulnerable households by 12% since 2019. This is due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown measures that have resulted in the widespread loss of urban livelihoods.
WFP is assisting 326,000 people, based on available resources. With the support of our partners, WFP aims to reach up to half a million people in urban areas by end of the year.
A total of USD 88 million is needed to support growing humanitarian needs in urban locations.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Food Programme (WFP). 
European Commission Daily news Brussels, 10 Aug 2021 EU strengthens support to speed up vaccination in the Eastern Partnership region
As part of the European Union’s efforts to support vaccination in partner count…
European Commission Press release Brussels, 10 Aug 2021 The European Commission has found a €550 million German support measure in favor of Deutsche Bahn AG (“Deutsche Bahn”) to be in line with EU State aid rules.
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The European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian aidOperations (ECHO) has allocated approximately USD 1,672,874.91 towards strengthening humanitarian response in the education and child protection sectors, and COVID-19 vaccination-related medical waste management.
UNICEF has scaled up its emergency preparedness and response in Libya since 2012, focusing on support to basic service provision, in health, nutrition, education and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). Additional focus has been on building a protective environment for children and contributing to and building national capacity in evidence generation and evidence-based policy-making. In collaboration with national and international NGO partners, UNICEF provided direct humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable in line with the Humanitarian Response Plan.
Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Libya in March 2020, UNICEF has been implementing a multi-sectoral response, with interventions in Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE), Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and WASH, among other areas.
In line with this commitment, UNICEF Libya in partnership with UNICEF US came up with a non-emergency action project aimed at strengthening capacities and coordination mechanisms for education and child protection in emergencies, and COVID-19 vaccination-related medical waste management in Libya. The project began on 01 May 2021 and will run for 12 months.
The outcomes of the action are expected to be four fold: the action will strengthen the humanitarian response in the education and child protection sectors in Libya through reinforcing and strengthening sector coordination and investing in sectoral capacity through dedicated resources; Secondly, the action will support sector capacity building through joint assessments, advocacy, resource mobilization, and trainings; Thirdly, the action will contribute to advancing the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) through mainstreaming PSEA in both sectors, including through training of fellow United Nations agencies, INGOs and local CSOs; and last but not least, the action will support the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Libya, focusing specifically on medical waste management in remote areas to minimize the risk of health care-associated infections (HAIs) linked to COVID-19 vaccination and medical and biohazardous waste.
Nearly 1,343,192 people, of whom 122,000 are children between the ages of five to nine, will benefit from the USD 1,672,874.91 contribution toward this project.
UNICEF Libya would like to express its sincere gratitude to the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian aidOperations(ECHO) for their generous support, without which this project would not have been possible.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). 
ADELANTO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, August 7, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/
Oklahoma, USA, on April 14, 2021, The INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL COURT in the United States gave the judgment for case number ENC201215 that the Provisional National Government of Vietnam – Republic of Vietnam the Third (PNGVN – 3rd RVN) won with the amount of $38 trillion US dollars against Communist China and the Vietnamese Communist Party. The judgment also stated that if the settlement cannot be satisfied with currency, then the PNGVN – 3rd RVN led by IMPERIAL DUKE, DAO MINH QUAN, the Third President of RVN, has the right to cease all the properties and investments around the world that belong to both Communist Parties China and Vietnam.
According to IMPERIAL DUKE, the collection will distribute to all the Vietnamese people. (https://youtu.be/td8Ju03hC1Y)
Recently, on April 21, 2021, the Staff Office of the PNGVN – 3rd RVN, by order of PRESIDENT DAO MINH QUAN, issued a policy of leniency, calling for national unity to protect the Fatherland, leading the country to move forward, fast and Firm in the international arena. It stated:
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Soldiers, Policemen who are serving the communist regime, please pay close attention below:
THE PRESIDENT DAO MINH QUAN once taught:
“In the past, we were soldiers like you, brothers and sisters. If we encountered each other on the battlefield, the bullets on both sides would certainly have no eyes but only execute the orders and unhesitatingly advance to the target. However, we have no hostile feelings”.
Therefore, He is very sympathetic to Communist members ‘ inside dreams. Except for the wicked leaders who took privileges and particular advantages, what will life be for millions of party members, police, and active soldiers if they are discharged from military service? The majority of people will have to face poverty and be harassed by evil official mobsters.
In this statement, the Staff Office reminded all the Communist Party Members who thought they won the war to invade the South of Vietnam, forced the Republic of Vietnam to retreat and exile in America, but fooled by Chinese Communists to become their henchmen. It quoted:
“You were the “Winners”. Who did you sacrifice your blood for? In the past, did you take up arduous sacrifices by taking guns with the ambition to fight for national independence and freedom for the people? Did you fight “against the US invasion”?
Nevertheless, the Americans did not occupy our land, fields, and houses. The Americans did not plow or hoe our ancestor’s graves. They did not occupy our rice fields. They did not collect our seafood. They did not force our people to go into the sea to look for pearls. They did not force our people to go to the forest to look for agarwood. They did not collect gold, silver, diamonds, and gems. Moreover, they did not collect high taxes like the Chinese enemy in the past and the current Vietnamese Communist oligarchs.
So, what did you fight for?
Did you fight for the victorious Communist oligarchs to rule the country, then they bowed before the Communist Chinese invaders to earn them a luxury living and to make you suppress your heads so they can control nearly 100 million Vietnamese people, including you and your family, friends, and relatives?
The oligarchs Vietnamese Communist Party possess all the “loots” that they gained from the blood and bones of millions of soldiers and fellow citizens who have sacrificed their lives for nothing except for the oligarchs and their families.
They shared treasures, gold vaults, jewelry, foreign currencies in the RVN bank, wealth, and vehicles from Cambodia and then buried alive the soldiers who escorted the property to silence them. The oligarchs of the Vietnamese Communist Party even change money, trafficked children, trade labor, use drugs, make fake drugs and gold, and take over villas and buildings for their own.
So, what are your patriotic traditions?
Is it only endurance, suffering, and loss that the entire people are suffering?
In this, the soldiers, the warriors, and their families are left in bitterness and in the most disadvantaged situation.
After 46 years of ruling, the Vietnamese communist has uncovered the mask that they are just a gang of corrupting, factionalizing, stealing, robbing, sharing and enjoying the sweat and blood of the people. They even brutally murdered their “Comrades”, who sacrificed their bones and blood to fight for their enjoyment today, as in the case of Le Dinh Kinh’s family massacre is an obvious example.
The so-called “State” of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at present, which is led by the idiot and bogey, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who is just a bunch of illegal, NOT BEING VOTED BY THE PEOPLE. He clearly shows their nature of passive, ignorance, cowardice, powerless, lewd, immorality, talking and doing are not the same, utterly lacking leadership, and no talent to run the country. The oligarchs Vietnamese Communist Party also drag their gang to plunder national property, arrest, beat and murder patriots, imprison innocent pupils, students and civilians. Even the family of martyrs who died for their homeland were also targeted.
Apart from all that, these rulers have bribed, bought, and sold official positions, corruption, sectarianism, and abuse of power. In society, the evils of entertainment-like, drugs, gambling, prostitution, are spread everywhere. Our country has corrupted and lost its morality. What has left is a fake appearance.
Vietnamese women, even adolescent girls, have been tormented and contemned by foreigners. Many young men and women were forced into slavery around the world.
Furthermore, while working abroad, the Vietnamese communist descendants did not keep their status and manners well but committed to steal, teach each other misleading tricks, making the whole world look down on the Vietnamese people.
Most of the children in the country are still starving for food and education. Older people have no social support. The orphans, the widows, the handicaps abandoned. The ancestor’ graves trampled, even worse than that of the French colonial period and the time of Japanese military occupation of our country.”
The Staff Office of the PNGVN – 3rd RVN tried to analyze the current state in the country of Vietnam in order to awaken the national spirit that they believe is still flowing in the bloodstream of every Vietnamese citizen, even though the person is a communist, who is not of the same ideal.
Dear brothers and sisters!
Where will the future of the country go?
More dangerously, the oligarchs of the Vietnamese Communist Party are bowing their heads, shutting their mouths to let the Chinese Communist Party arrest and kill the Vietnamese people, bring poisonous food into our country, and increase the pressure to take our land and territory, islands and rivers slowly. The oligarchs of the Vietnamese Communist Party are incapable and shameless to accept COWARD WITH THE CHINESE ENEMY AND WICKED WITH THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE. They are submitting to be controlled by Communist China to turn our civilized thousand-year-old country into a society of corrupt, microbial nests of the era, producing immoral, malignant violent people who no longer have the moral principles of our ancestors.
Therefore, PRESIDENT DAO MINH QUAN calls us to work together to save the country, REGAIN ANCESTRAL LANDS – END POPULACE SUFFERING. We believe that it is an ideal, a common obligation of those who have ambitions to serve their homeland and take care of the future of themselves, their families, and their children. We are of the exact origin and wish for a peaceful, sovereign nation, a happy and prosperous people, not to be enslaved by Russia, China, or any other nation in the world. Let us all let go of the past, join hands with the entire people, unite, defeat the evil forces of the communist rulers, rebuild the country’s homeland, and make the country famous in all four directions, seas, and five continents.
On the contrary, the PNGVN – 3rd RVN has a leader, who loves the homeland, the country, who can foresee and has a close relationship with the First superpower like the United States and the European Union, and who is determined not to let the Chinese Communist use the flame of bean wood for cooking bean, use the Vietnamese to kill Vietnamese, to turn our country into their district.
In the meantime, we need help from our American friends and allies. From an outside look, there is a bustle from many countries trading with our country for profit. However, it is only for a short period because they never believe in the Communist regime. For the United States and other liberal capitalist countries to be more devoted and coordinated, we must change the Communist regime with the PNGVN – 3rd RVN to have solid strategic allies to build the Nation and prevent Communist China from aggression.
The power must return to the people. The people are the majority, the owner of the country. The evil oligarchs in the Communist Party are the minority, whom the law must punish. The entire people will rejoice when we are in the same house, no longer hostile to each other and work together in a spirit of loving, united in innovation to rebuild a mighty Vietnam under the wise, benevolent, and tolerant leadership of IMPERIAL DUKE DAO MINH QUAN, President of the Republic of Vietnam.
With the overwhelming ETHNIC EMOTION, with the rise of NATIONAL RIGHTEOUSNESS, with the power of the entire people who want to unite to defend the Motherland, our country will go robust, fast, and steady the world.
The statement ends with the message of IMPERIAL DUKE PRESIDENT DAO MINH QUAN:
“To the Great Heroes of New Democracy!
To, Vietnamese Sibling Brothers and Sisters!
We, formed by the Ethnic, for the People to fight.
This standing up will transmit until forever, forever and ever.
For the fertile of the land, the agglomeration of Vietnamese Essence.
It is the pride, the legacy for our children and grandchildren.
Essence and Soul are always with the Mountain and River.
Live must be imposing! Die, must be proud, indomitable, and heroic.”
The PNGVN – 3rd RVN calls on all Vietnamese people to join Referendum to assert the stance of solidarity for the entire Nation, not accepting communism (www.tcdy.us), welcoming the IMPERIAL DUKE PRESIDENT DAO MINH QUAN to come home (https://dontongthong.com) and joining to work for RVN the Third (https://www.chinhphuquocgia.com).
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM AND THE PEOPLE SWEAR TO PROTECT THE ANCESTRAL LAND, PROTECT THE PEOPLE, PREVENT THE ENEMY FROM INVADING OUR COUNTRY.
PROVISIONAL NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OF VIETNAM
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has submitted to the European Parliament its opinion on the discharge decision.
The document, adopted by the Board of Supervisors, provides an overview of the measures taken by EIOPA in the light of the observations and comments made by the European Parliament in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2019.
In the opinion, EIOPA points out specific actions taken related for example to its workload which is increasingly shifting from regulatory tasks to enforcing and applying Union law, its efforts towards a more coordinated supervisory regime across the European financial system, enhanced cooperation with National Supervisory Authorities and other EU institutions, staff policies and procurement, internal control and audits management.
Background
The last revision of EIOPA Regulation introduced Article 64(11) requiring EIOPA to provide a reasoned opinion on the position of the European Parliament and on any other observations made by the European Parliament provided in the discharge procedure.