MEPs debate on Wednesday 6 July the best way to protect whistle-blowers. Although whistle-blowers provide an important service to society, it's not without risk as they often face prosecution. On 29 June Antoine Deltour was convicted of theft for having leaked details of controversial tax deals with multinationals in Luxembourg. However, revelations by people like him have allowed Parliament to set up inquiry committees to look into LuxLeaks and the Panama papers. Follow the debate live online. The importance of...

European Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip, responsible for the Digital Single Market, and Commissioner Günther H. Oettinger, in charge of the Digital Economy and Society, welcome today's vote by the European Parliament's plenary to adopt the Directive on Security of Network and Information Systems (the 'NIS Directive'). Vice-President Andrus Ansip said: "If we want people and businesses to make the most of digital services, they need to trust them. A Digital Single Market can only be created in a secure online...

Today European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, addressed the European Parliament on the outcome of last week's European Council summit, and reviewed the achievements of the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU. The President welcomed the European Council's clear support for the Commission's political priorities and ongoing work: "I am particularly happy that the European Council adopted the Commission's agenda for the deepening of the Single Market," said the President. "I am satisfied that the European Council, once again,...

The Commission today launches a new public-private partnership on cybersecurity that is expected to trigger €1.8 billion of investment by 2020. This is part of a series of new initiatives to better equip Europe against cyber-attacks and to strengthen the competitiveness of its cybersecurity sector. According to a recent survey, at least 80% of European companies have experienced at least one cybersecurity incident over the last year and the number of security incidents across all industries worldwide rose by 38%...

During the visit of the College to Bratislava, Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, has offered the Slovak Government the full support of the Commission as the country launches its first-ever Presidency of the Council of the European Union. In his joint press conference with the Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico, which followed today's meeting in Bratislava between the College of Commissioners and the Slovak Government, President Juncker welcomed the priorities of the Slovak Presidency, which are "in total harmony" with the...

The Commission has today adopted a proposal to further reinforce EU rules on anti-money laundering to counter terrorist financing and increase transparency about who really owns companies and trusts. The Juncker Commission has made the fight against tax avoidance, money laundering and terrorism financing one of its priorities. The changes proposed today will tackle new means of terrorist financing, increase transparency to combat money laundering and help strengthen the fight against tax avoidance. This Commission proposal is the first initiative to...

Slovakia takes over the helm of the Council of the EU from the Netherlands on 1 July. Over the next six months the country wants to strengthen the EU's economy, modernise and deepen the common market in the areas of energy and digital economy and work on a sustainable migration and asylum policy. In addition it will have to deal with the new situation in the wake of the UK referendum. Read what Slovak MEPs from Parliament’s three main...