The 14th Dalai Lama visited the European Parliament on Thursday 15 September to meet President Martin Schulz and discuss with members of the foreign affairs committee. Upon his fifth visit to the Parliament, the Dalai Lama expressed his admiration for the spirit of the European Union because it worked for the common interest of the people. “I think this spirit of the European Union eventually should spread in Africa and further in the world,“ he added. “We are all same...

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The European Parliament endorsed the candidature of Sir Julian King as Commissioner for the Security Union. He was nominated by the UK government after Lord Jonathan Hill resigned in the wake of the Brexit vote in June. Parliament backed the appointment of Sir Julian King as Commissioner for the Security Union by 394 votes to 161, with 83 abstentions, in a secret ballot. The Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee held a hearing with the candidate commissioner on Monday evening....

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President Juncker today addressed the European Parliament in his annual State of the European Union speech. He highlighted: Europe must invest strongly in its youth, jobseekers, and start-ups. An ambitious Investment Plan for Africa – a lifeline for those who might risk dangerous journeys for a better life. We propose free wireless for every European village and city by 2020. Journalists, publishers and authors should be paid fairly for their work, wherever it's made and shared. We will defend our borders with the new...

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Since 1 August, U.S. companies have been able to sign up to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield with the U.S. Department of Commerce, which has been verifying that their privacy policies comply with the high data protection standards required by the Privacy Shield. Already 103 have been certified. This means that these U.S. companies can receive personal data from the EU in full compliance with EU data protection rules. European companies can easily check on the Privacy Shield list whether...

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A staggering €159.5 billion in Value Added Tax (VAT) revenues were lost across the EU in 2014 according to figures released by the European Commission today. Research shows that the overall difference between the expected VAT revenue and the amount actually collected (the so-called 'VAT Gap') amounted once again to an unacceptably high yearly figure. The findings support recent calls by the Commission to overhaul the EU's VAT system to tackle fraud and make it more efficient. Member States must...

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A monetary union without fiscal union is generally considered to be incomplete. We consider three steps for increasing the centralisation of fiscal functions, and discuss the prerequisites for moving forward at each one. Above all, fiscal integration is a matter of trust, which is currently at a low level. The first step would be to complete banking union and establish a more credible no-bailout clause. The conditions for addressing the fiscal dimensions of banking union are a denationalisation of the...

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I have many reasons to be grateful and honoured by your decision to award me thePremio De Gasperi today. His character and his experience provide us with an inspiring message, loud and confident: “In Europe we go forward together in freedom”. This message is rooted in the 20th century history of our continent. The raison d’être of any government is to provide security for its citizens, both physically and economically. And in democratic societies, that means providing safety and security by...

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The EU’s budget has been criticised for years for relying too much on member states’ contributions and for being too inflexible when unexpected crises occur. MEPs discussed the issue with their national counterparts during a conference on how to finance the EU's budget on 7-8 September. Most panellists agreed that a reform was necessary to ensure more transparency and efficiency. In 2014 a high-level group on own resources was created to come up with solutions for the future financing of...

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From Brexit and the economy, to the migration crisis and the terrorism threat, Europe is facing many challenges. The annual State of the EU debate on 14 September is an opportunity for MEPs to discuss the direction for the EU to take with Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Read on to find out what political group leaders expect and how you can follow it yourself. The State of the Union speech and debate takes place every year since 2010 during the...

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