Feed aggregator

Branded drugs face duties for the first time, while generics remain exempt

"Iran is trying to hold the global economy hostage in the Strait of Hormuz," British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper said

Rådigheten över kulturarvet är en grundbult i ett hållbart samhällsbygge och kan inte återskapas om den förstörs. Därför bör regeringen och berörda myndigheter stoppa försäljningarna, skriver debattörer.

"Many Europeans were slowly warming up to the idea of an EV as the car to buy in five to ten years, but the current energy shock is turning that into the car to buy next month"

EU review highlights youth uptake and rapid growth of e-cigarettes

Rome proposed a UN mandated ‘humanitarian corridor’ to avoid a new food crisis

Macron's advice to Trump: be serious and talk less

EU countries have also agreed to streamline space activity liability concerns, per Cyprus presidency document obtained by Euractiv

Including: Orbán backs Beijing, trade and protectionism

Consolidation has long been the buzzword in the EU defence bubble

More than 90 million doses face uncertain future after court ruling

Customers are snapping up any EV they can find as petrol and diesel prices surge

Tillgången på hormonläkemedel för behandling av klimakteriebesvär är osäker. Flera av läkemedlen ingår heller inte i högkostnadsskyddet. Det är ett systemfel som drabbar hundratusentals kvinnor, skriver flera debattörer.

Each stage of the generalist exam could run over several days

Trump mocked the French president in a video posted briefly on the White House YouTube channel

In today's edition: Water framework directive, EU ETS, Nordic grids

Det går inte att besluta om förebyggande arbetssätt i socialtjänsten utan att säkra professionella förutsättningar. Att höja ambitionerna utan rätt villkor skapar ett gap mellan löften och verklighet, skriver socionomen Charles Jeganeh.

Med mitt budgetkontrollutskott var vi veckan före påsk på två dagars “mission” till Malta för att besöka huvudkontoret för EU:s asylbyrå. Dag två mötte vi Europaministern i Maltas regering, fick dragningar av EU:s program på ön samt möte med organisationer i civilsamhälle.

Asylbyrån EUAA har en budget på nästan 1,4 miljarder euro för den här budgetperioden (2021-27). Och kommissionen vill öka den till över 2 miljarder euro för nästa. Det är en ökning på 47 procent. 

Jag ställer frågor i Europahuset i Valletta på Malta.

Det har funnits svåra problem med ledningen av EUAA med anklagelser om korruption och dåligt ledarskap. Nya ledningen visade på siffror på den interna organisationen som visar på framgångar, bland annat har man utbildat 140.000 i asylhandläggning i 12 länder.

Men på frågan vilket resultat asylbyrån har för effektiviteten i asylhandläggning fick vi inget bra svar. Man har hjälpt länder med “backlog” alltså sätta in resurser där oavslutade ärenden är många. Men är det värt pengarna?

Svårt att svara på. Det är som om polisen skulle presentera hur många poliser de satte in på gatorna och hur många rapporter de skrivit — men aldrig berätta om brottsligheten faktiskt minskade.

För att tilldelas en kraftigt ökad budget måste några frågor besvaras. Har migrationstrycket på medlemsstaterna faktiskt minskat genom EUAA? Har handläggningstiderna för asylärenden gått ner? Har kvaliteten på besluten förbättrats? Är återvändanden till ursprungsland mer effektiva? Integreras personer som beviljats skydd faktiskt på arbetsmarknaden?

Det är sådana fakta som betyder något för europeiska skattebetalare. Inte hur många personer man skickade någonstans — utan vad som faktiskt förändrades i EU genom deras verksamhet.

Det är vad jag kommer att driva i ansvarsfrihetsförfarandet — där vi som EU-parlamentariker har makten att utkräva ansvar av EU:s institutioner för det mervärde de levererar.

Här är det officiella uttalandet vi Europaparlamentariker gemensamt ställde oss bakom på skärtorsdagen:

Press statement of the Head of Delegation Tomáš Zdechovský on the conclusions of the CONT mission to Malta

The CONT Mission to Malta had multiple objectives: first, to assess the functioning of the EU Agency for Asylum; second, to exchange on the implementation of EU funds in Malta and the protection of the financial interests of the EU in Malta; and last but not least, to discuss with civil society representatives on the overall situation of the justice system in Malta.

I can say that the overall atmosphere was constructive and I would like to thank both the EUAA Management and the Maltese officials for their engagement and readiness to discuss.

Activity of the European Union Agency of Asylum

We wanted to make sure that the EUAA functions properly, particularly in light of its increased responsibilities deriving from the Pact on Asylum and Migration. The Agency will have a very important role in implementing our new rules on migration and we want to make sure that the funds it receives are adequately spent and that the staff at the Agency is working under decent conditions.

The delegation came to Malta, because last year, the Committee on Budgetary Control decided to postpone the discharge for the Agency because of an OLAF Report which pointed to certain deficiencies in terms of human resources, particularly related to appointments and promotions. We decided to grant the discharge to the Agency only because of the Plan that the Executive Director put forward to address the issues.

I can conclude that the situation has improved in the Agency. The measures that the Agency has put in place seem to work, but they need to be maintained and enforced. The Management must continue to rebuild trust with staff and more transparency must be ensured in processes such as promotions and internal procedures. Furthermore, the Agency needs to report better on the added value it brings: for example, it is very important for us to know if the Agency’s actions are leading to reduced time of processing of asylum applications.

The Agency has to become an example in the coming years in order to ensure full trust of EU taxpayers. We will continue to monitor the situation in the Agency in order to ensure that the ongoing measures are completed.

Implementation of EU funds in Malta

We also came to Malta to make sure that the European funds that Malta receives are used to improve the lives of the Maltese citizens and to improve the business environment here.

We met with representatives of the European Union Programmes Agency (EUPA), where we discussed the implementation of the Erasmus+ programme and the structural constraints linked to Malta’s size and geographical position. We also had a meeting with the Minister for European Funds and the Implementation of the Electoral Programme.

These discussions focused on the governance, coordination, and oversight of EU funds, as well as on national responsibilities in ensuring compliance and accountability.

In addition, the delegation also met with the Audit Authority for EU Funds, which provided insight into audit methodologies, control mechanisms, and the broader assurance framework.

The Maltese authorities provided us with a rather positive outlook of the situation and the measures in place to ensure that EU funds are adequately spent. Nevertheless, the delegation concluded there are still steps to take and measures to be implemented by the authorities to ensure that all issues are addressed.

The authorities further informed us about the efforts undertaken by the Government to increase absorption rate and make sure that no Euro is lost. In our opinion issues remain in relation to the functioning of the justice system, particularly in relation to the implementation of EU funds.

For example, EPPO had in 2025, 17 active cases in Malta with an estimate damage of 235 million EUR. Just to compare, Latvia and Lithuania had active cases with similar estimated damage (270 million EUR), but with a population 3 and 5 times bigger than Malta. It seems that there are some issues with fraud with EU funds, but which do not seem to be finalised by the judicial system adequately. We discussed some concrete cases of alleged fraud, and we will follow up on them.

The scope of our mission was not to assess the situation of the justice system or rule of law in Malta. But the situation of rule of law has an impact on the EU Budget in all Member States, because if the justice system does not function properly, then you cannot ensure transparent public procurement, you cannot ensure adequate appeal mechanisms, etc.

The positive picture which the authorities presented was contradicted by civil society organisations, which presented us with a slow justice system, in which high-level corruption cases are not prosecuted, or which are not finalised in due time. Concerns were also raised about the transparency of the assets of high-level politicians which may lead to situations of conflicts of interest, as well as issues related to access to information of citizens or NGOs.

These are findings which we will need to follow up in the future, because we want to avoid that the EU funds are captured or used by only a few privileged people which are close to the Government. More transparency is needed, access to information has to be guaranteed to citizens and NGOs in order to build trust in the authorities and in the processes. We want to avoid that Malta becomes a captured state like Hungary or Slovakia. EU funds are for the Maltese citizens and businesses and they must be used for them, not for a small circle of politicians.

Scheduled cuts to ‘free allocation’ CO2 emission allowances to cost EU industry billions

'We will work with our partners to ensure freedom of navigation can resume as soon as possible,' said Ursula von der Leyen