European Parliament

Leading NGOs including Oxfam, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, and T&E highlight the absurdity of burning food for fuels ahead of upcoming EU Parliament vote on the EU’s green fuels law.

 

The European Parliament voted on its EU budget for aid and foreign policy (NDICI). In response to the vote, Evelien van Roemburg, Oxfam EU Head of Office said: "This new financial instrument stands a real chance at combatting poverty and inequality which has leapt during the pandemic."

Europe faces a shift in the political landscape, marked by a rise of far-right and euro-sceptic political parties. While the next few weeks may see some political jostling, centrist parties are set to hold their majority. However, the European Parliament will likely see more fragmentation and less consensus building, as the increase of the far-right will lead to a focus on short-term, self-serving agendas or even political gridlock. But we cannot let that happen. There is simply too much at stake.   

Today, Members of the European Parliament called for a humanitarian pause in the resolution they adopted on the events in Gaza. In response, Vittorio Infante, Oxfam EU conflict expert said: "This is a timid gesture. While any window to bring in aid to Gaza safely should be seized at this catastrophic stage, this is not the real answer.

Human-rights abuses are commonplace in farms linked to major European supermarkets such as Aldi, Lidl and Tesco, new Oxfam research reveals. The organisation calls on the EU to introduce new legislation that requires companies to respect the human rights of people working in their global supply chains.

The European Parliament is right to call out EU governments for their failure to agree the reforms needed to tackle large-scale tax avoidance, said Oxfam in reaction to a key vote on tax in the European Parliament.

Following a vote in the European Parliament on the EU budget for 2019, Oxfam is concerned that the EU continues to prioritize migration management at the expense of humanitarian action and sustainable development.

Following the Paradise Papers revelations, the European Parliament decided today to establish a new special committee on tax fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning. 

Europe can continue burning food to fuel cars and trucks in the EU, the European Parliament voted today. In the vote on the reform of the Renewable Energy Directive for 2030, MEPs supported rules that would allow member states to force-feed car drivers with biofuels made from food-crops at current levels until 2030.

Today the European Parliament adopted the report by its Panama Papers inquiry committee and voted in favor of recommendations aimed at stopping corporate tax avoidance across the European Union. Oxfam welcomes the Parliament's call for EU member states to adopt the reforms needed to end corporate tax abuses.