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Politics

European Parliament Press Kit for the European Council of 27 and 28 June 2024 | News

by NewsB 5 July 2024

written by NewsB

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola will represent the European Parliament at the summit, where she will address the heads of state or government around 14.45 and hold a press conference after her speech.

When: Press conference around 15:30/16:00 on 27 June.

Where: European Council press room and on Parliament’s multimedia centre and EbS.

At their meeting in Brussels, heads of state or government will continue discussions on the next institutional cycle, including the appointments to the EU’s top jobs. Russia’s war against Ukraine, the latest developments in the Middle East, security and defence issues, competitiveness and migration will also feature, among others, on the summit agenda.

European Elections

The European elections took place from 6 to 9 June. Provisional results are published on the European elections website and will be regularly updated until the constitutive session of Parliament’s tenth legislative term on 16-19 July in Strasbourg.

In order to “Europeanise” the elections and to boost the democratic legitimacy of EU decision-making, ahead of the 2014 European elections Parliament called on the European political parties to nominate candidates for the Presidency of the European Commission. The aim was to allow citizens to influence directly, through their vote in the European elections, the choice of the head of the European executive. Before this year’s European elections, Parliament confirmed the importance of applying the lead candidate mechanism (or “Spitzenkandidaten” system) and laid out its position for the upcoming elections in December 2023.

MEPs insist that a clear and credible link between the choice of voters and the position of the Commission President is necessary. They say that, based on the EU Treaties, this choice should depend on the candidate that secures majority support in Parliament and call on the European Council to end the practice of making deals behind closed doors.

Speaking at the informal EU summit on 17 June, EP President Roberta Metsola reiterated “the European Parliament’s full cooperation and strongest commitment to ensuring the smooth running of the process leading to the election of the President of the European Commission. In the European Parliament, our work has already started – and will continue – in that regard.”

She also stated that the election results “show a majority of our citizens have called for the defence of our values and for security to remain a top priority. Our support to Ukraine must continue. Everyone must benefit from the twin transitions. The green deal needs to be a driver of economic growth without burdens, bureaucracy and red tape. We need to move from being in ‘crisis mode’ to thinking long term, building on our greatest asset, the single market and prioritising the EU’s competitiveness. That is how we cement Europe’s place in the world.”

During the constitutive plenary session in Strasbourg, Parliament will elect its President, 14 Vice-Presidents and five Questors. MEPs will also decide on the number and size of Parliament’s standing committees and sub-committees and who will sit on them.

The final agenda for the session, with possible additions besides the election of Parliament’s leadership, will be adopted by Parliament’s Conference of Presidents (EP President and political group leaders) during their meeting on 11 July.

Further reading

European Parliament ready to engage, President Metsola tells the European Council

Elections website

Election Press tool Kit

MEPs propose lead candidate system rules ahead of European elections

MEPs to contact

Sven Simon (EPP, DE), rapporteur

Domènec Ruiz Devesa (S&D, ES), rapporteur

Russia’s war against Ukraine

In a joint statement issued on 23 February, the Presidents of the EU institutions stressed that “the European Union will always support Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.

Russia and its leadership bear sole responsibility for this war and its global consequences, as well as for the serious crimes committed. We remain determined to hold them to account, including for the crime of aggression. (…)

The European Union will continue its strong and unwavering political, military, financial, economic, diplomatic and humanitarian support to help Ukraine defend itself, protect its people, its cities and its critical infrastructure, restore its territorial integrity, bring back the thousands of deported children, and bring the war to an end.

We will continue to address Ukraine’s pressing military and defence needs, including deliveries of urgently needed ammunition and missiles. (…) We are also working on future security commitments which will help Ukraine defend itself, resist destabilisation efforts and deter acts of aggression in the future.”

In a resolution adopted on 29 February, MEPs took stock of the two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Highlighting how the war has fundamentally changed the geopolitical situation in Europe and beyond, they say the main objective is for Ukraine to win the war, warning of serious consequences if that does not happen. MEPs say that other authoritarian regimes are watching how the conflict develops to assess their own leeway for enacting aggressive foreign policies.

For Kyiv to win the war, there should be “no self-imposed restriction on military assistance to Ukraine”, with Parliament reaffirming the need to provide the country with whatever is needed to regain full control over its internationally recognised territory.

All EU and NATO allies should support Ukraine militarily with no less than 0.25% of their GDP annually, MEPs argue, while urging EU countries to immediately enter into dialogue with defence companies to ensure increased production and deliveries of ammunition, shells and missiles to Ukraine, which should be prioritised over orders from other third countries.

The resolution underlines the urgent need for a solid legal regime to allow Russian state-owned assets frozen by the EU to be confiscated and used for reconstruction in Ukraine and to compensate victims of the war. Russia must be obliged to pay reparations imposed on it to ensure that it contributes substantially to rebuilding Ukraine.

Sanctions

On 12 March, Parliament adopted a directive, agreed with member states, on criminalising the violation and circumvention of EU sanctions. It will introduce a common definition of, and minimum penalties for, violations.

EU sanctions can consist of freezing funds and assets (including crypto-assets), travel bans, arms embargoes, and restrictions on business sectors. While sanctions are adopted at the EU level, enforcement relies on member states, amongst which the definitions of sanction violations and associated penalties vary. The new law sets consistent definitions for violations, which would include acts such as not freezing funds, not respecting travel bans or arms embargoes, transferring funds to persons subject to sanctions, or doing business with state-owned entities of countries under sanction. Providing financial services or legal advisory services in violation of sanctions will also become a punishable offence.

The directive ensures the punishment for violating and circumventing sanctions is dissuasive by making them criminal offences carrying prison sentences of a maximum of five years in all member states.

Further reading

MEPs approve trade support measures for Ukraine with protection for EU farmers

Joint Statement by the Presidents of the European Union Institutions on the occasion of the 2 year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Parliament calls on the EU to give Ukraine whatever it needs to defeat Russia

EU sanctions: new rules to crack down on violations

MEPs: EU must actively support Russia’s democratic opposition

Yulia Navalnaya: “If you want to defeat Putin, fight his criminal gang”

Debate 12 March 2024: Preparation of the European Council meeting of 21 and 22 March 2024

Debate 13 March 2024: Need to address the urgent concerns surrounding Ukrainian children forcibly deported to Russia

Parliament wants tougher enforcement of EU sanctions against Russia

A long-term solution for Ukraine’s funding needs

How the EU is supporting Ukraine

EU stands with Ukraine

MEPs to contact

David McALLISTER, (EPP, DE) Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

Nathalie LOISEAU (Renew, FR) Chair of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence

Michael GAHLER (EPP, DE) Standing Rapporteur on Ukraine

Andrius KUBILIUS (EPP, LT) Standing Rapporteur on Russia

Sophie in ’t Veld (Renew, the Netherlands), rapporteur on the violation of Union restrictive measures

War in the Gaza Strip

In a resolution adopted on 25 April, MEPs strongly condemn the Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel and call for further sanctions against Iran. Parliament voices serious concern over the escalation and threat to regional security. MEPs reiterate their full support for the security of the State of Israel and its citizens and condemn the simultaneous rocket launches carried out by Iran’s proxies Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi rebels in Yemen against the Golan Heights and Israeli territory before and during the Iranian attack.

At the same time, they deplore the attack on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus on 1 April, which is widely attributed to Israel. The resolution recalls the importance of the principle of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises, which must be respected in all cases under international law.

In a resolution adopted on 14 March, MEPs call on Israel to immediately allow and facilitate full aid delivery into and throughout Gaza via all existing crossings, underlining the urgent need for rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access.

They reiterate their call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire to address the looming risk of mass starvation in Gaza and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. The International Committee of the Red Cross must be given immediate access to all Israeli hostages being held in Gaza to provide them with medical care.

There can be no prospect of peace, security, stability and prosperity for Gaza or for Palestinian-Israeli reconciliation, MEPs warn, as long as Hamas and other terrorist groups play any role in Gaza.

Parliament also strongly condemns the rise in extremist settler violence and attacks by the Israeli armed forces against Palestinians in the West Bank, attacks that have already killed hundreds and injured thousands of Palestinian civilians. MEPs strongly condemn the acceleration of the illegal settlement of Palestinian land, which constitutes a violation of international law. They are deeply concerned about the risk of escalation in the conflict, in particular in Lebanon.

Further reading

Parliament condemns Iran’s attack on Israel and calls for de-escalation

Parliament calls on Israel to open all crossings to Gaza for humanitarian aid

Israel-Hamas war: MEPs call for a permanent ceasefire under two conditions

MEPs condemn Hamas attack on Israel and call for a humanitarian pause

Resolution: The despicable terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel, Israel’s right to defend itself in line with humanitarian and international law and the humanitarian situation in Gaza

President Metsola at the European Council: EU must remain coherent and united

Leading MEPs condemn attack by Hamas terrorists against Israel

MEPs to contact

David McALLISTER, (EPP, DE) Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

European security and defence

In two reports on the EU’s foreign, security and defence policy, adopted on 28 February, MEPs warn that the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has sparked a series of global economic shocks and added significant destabilising pressure on countries in the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership.

They want the EU to reform its neighbourhood policy and accelerate the enlargement process, while advancing institutional and decision-making reforms, including the publication of a roadmap for future work by the summer of 2024. MEPs urge the EU to improve its capacity to act in response to, as well as to pre-empt, global crises.

With US-China competition as a backdrop, Parliament is concerned about the increasing relevance of more exclusive formats of cooperation and emphasises that traditional multilateral forums – in particular the UN and its agencies –should be the EU’s preferred forums for cooperation.

With the focus on Russia’s illegal, unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine, Parliament highlights the role played by Iran, Belarus, North Korea and China in supporting the Kremlin’s war machine. MEPs say Russia’s war is part of a wider strategy to undermine the rules-based international order and underline that the EU will continue to support Kyiv with the necessary military means to end the conflict.

MEPs also demand an increase to and acceleration of the EU’s financial and military assistance, stressing that Ukraine’s military victory and the country’s future integration in the EU and NATO are necessary to guarantee Europe’s security, stability and sustainable peace.

Further reading

Foreign policy, security and defence: the EU should focus on strategic alliances

MEPs to contact

Nathalie LOISEAU (Renew, FR) Chair of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence

David McAllister (EPP, Germany), Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee and rapporteur on the Common Foreign and Security Policy

Sven Mikser (S&D, Estonia) rapporteur on the common security and defence policy

Competitiveness

On 25 April, Parliament approved the net-zero industry act to bolster EU production in technologies needed for decarbonisation. It sets a target for Europe to produce 40% of its annual deployment needs in net-zero technologies by 2030, based on National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and to capture 15% of the global market value for these technologies.

Technologies to be supported include all renewable technologies, nuclear, industrial decarbonisation, grid, energy storage technologies, and biotech. The law will simplify the permitting process, setting maximum timelines for projects to be authorised depending on their scope and output.

The Act provides for the creation of “Net-Zero Acceleration Valleys” initiatives, speeding up the permitting process by delegating parts of the evidence collection for environmental assessments to member states.

On 23 April, MEPs approved a revamp of EU fiscal rules making them clearer, more investment-friendly, better tailored to each country’s situation, and more flexible. MEPs significantly beefed up the rules to protect a government’s capability to invest. It will now be more difficult for the Commission to place a member state under an excessive deficit procedure if essential investments are ongoing, and all national expenditure on the co-financing of EU-funded programmes will be excluded from a government’s expenditure calculation, creating more incentives to invest. Countries with excessive debt will be required to reduce it on average by 1% per year if their debt is above 90% of GDP, and by 0.5% per year on average if it is between 60% and 90%. If a country’s deficit is above 3% of GDP, it would have to be reduced during periods of growth to reach 1.5% and build a spending buffer for difficult economic conditions

Further reading

MEPs adopt plans to boost Europe’s Net-Zero technology production

New EU fiscal rules approved by MEPs

MEPs to contact

Christian Ehler (EPP, DE), rapporteur Net-Zero industry Act

Markus Ferber (EPP, DE), co-rapporteur on new fiscal rules

Margarida Marques (S&D, PT), co-rapporteur on new fiscal rules

Migration

On 10 April, Parliament adopted ten legislative texts to reform EU migration and asylum policy. The new regulation on asylum and migration management aims to improve support for EU countries subject to migratory pressure, whereby other member states will have to contribute by relocating asylum applicants or beneficiaries of international protection to their territory, making financial contributions, or providing operational and technical support.

The crisis and force majeure regulation establishes a mechanism to respond to sudden increases in arrivals, ensuring solidarity and support for member states facing an exceptional influx of third-country nationals. The screening regulation establishes that people who do not meet the conditions to enter the EU will be subject to a pre-entry screening procedure, including identification, collecting of biometric data, and health and security checks, during a period of up to seven days.

A new common procedure across the EU to grant and withdraw international protection was also adopted, with the objective of making processing asylum claims at EU borders faster, with shorter deadlines for unfounded or inadmissible claims. Parliament also backed new uniform standards for all member states for recognising refugee or subsidiary protection status, and regarding the rights granted to those qualifying for protection.

The reception condition directive makes sure that member states have equivalent reception standards for asylum seekers when it comes to, for example, housing, schooling and health care. Finally, according to the new EU resettlement framework and humanitarian admission, member states will, on a voluntary basis, offer to host UNHCR-recognised refugees from third countries, who would travel to EU territory in a legal, organised and safe way.

Further reading

MEPs approve the new Migration and Asylum Pact

MEPs to contact

Tomas TOBÉ (EPP, SE), rapporteur for the Asylum and migration management regulation

Juan Fernando LÓPEZ AGUILAR (S&D, ES), rapporteur for the Crisis and force majeure regulation

Birgit SIPPEL (S&D, DE), rapporteur for the Screening regulation

Fabienne KELLER (Renew, FR), rapporteur for the Asylum procedure regulation

Matjaž NEMEC (S&D, SL), rapporteur for the Qualification regulation

Sophia IN ‘T VELD (Renew, NL), rapporteur for the Reception conditions directive

Jorge BUXADÉ (ECR, ES), rapporteur for Eurodac

Malin BJÖRK (The Left, SE), rapporteur for the Union resettlement framework.

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5 July 2024 0 comment

Politics

The Reintroduction of Kamala Harris

by NewsB 5 July 2024

written by NewsB

By early this year, around the time a prosecutor called President Biden a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” Vice President Kamala Harris already knew something had to change.

It was up to her, she had told allies, to finally distinguish herself in her job — something she had been struggling to do for more than two years — and reassure American voters that the Biden-Harris ticket was still a safe bet. She had been feeling sidelined in the early stages of the campaign, one adviser said, and she wanted a bigger role.

She fled the Washington bubble and embarked on an ambitious travel schedule, making more than 60 trips this year alone. She tossed talking points to speak out more forcefully on abortion rights, the war in Gaza and race. She invoked her personal story more often, from her mother’s influence on her life to her inspiration for becoming a prosecutor.

Her allies emphasize that she has been taking on a bigger role for some time, notably after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago and during high-profile foreign assignments. But even before the questions about Mr. Biden’s age and acuity burst into the open, people close to her say, she was looking for more powerful ways to support the ticket.

Now, the effort to reintroduce herself has reached its most critical moment, with Mr. Biden’s candidacy plunged into crisis after a devastating debate performance in Atlanta and Democrats seriously weighing the prospect that she could become the nominee.

And while Ms. Harris, 59, has shown steadfast support for Mr. Biden in the frenzied week since the debate, her allies insist she is the only logical choice to lead the ticket if he steps aside.

Representative James E. Clyburn, the South Carolina Democrat who is widely credited for reviving Mr. Biden’s 2020 campaign, said in an interview this week that he would support Ms. Harris should the president bow out. He threw cold water on any alternative.

“This party should not, in any way, do anything to work around Ms. Harris,” he said.

Ms. Harris declined to be interviewed for this article.

But many Democrats acknowledge that having her at the top of the ticket comes with substantial risks. Her 2020 presidential campaign unraveled swiftly, raising questions about her strength as a candidate. Even Mr. Biden, early in his presidency, described her as a “work in progress.” And Democrats have expressed concerns at times that she struggled to convey publicly that she was in command of the issues.

“Things have gotten better for her,” said the longtime Democratic political strategist Robert M. Shrum. “And she’ll get a second look. She has to live up to that second look.”

Although a CNN poll found that Ms. Harris was two percentage points ahead of Mr. Biden in a hypothetical contest against Mr. Trump, she still lost to Mr. Trump in the survey.

In recent days, the Trump campaign and Republican critics have amped up their attacks on her, hinting at how a Harris candidacy could lead to even more of the kinds of racist and sexist assaults that she has been fending off during her time as vice president.

Yet Democratic leaders say choosing any other candidate could alienate vital constituencies, including Black women, who helped carry Mr. Biden to the White House in 2020. Uniting quickly behind one person would also avoid a wide-open convention in Chicago next month.

One major Democratic donor, Steve Phillips, a San Francisco lawyer, said that downplaying Ms. Harris as a possible replacement for Mr. Biden was “implicit bias and racism and sexism.”

“She’s the vice president of the United States, which for the past 50 years of this country has been heir apparent,” he said in an interview. “So it’s unseemly at best that now that we have a woman and a person of color as the vice president, that there’s this discussion about all these other people, most of whom are white and men.”

In interviews over several months, more than two dozen current and former aides, administration officials, advisers, close friends and people who have met privately with Ms. Harris said her main goal was to support Mr. Biden — and prove she could step into the role of president should she have to.

‘Who Is This Kamala?’

Senator Laphonza Butler, Democrat of California and a close friend of Ms. Harris’s, said she noticed a change in her this year.

“I think that she’s got to a point where most Black women get to when the criticism is unrelenting, the expectations continue to mount,” Ms. Butler said. “And she just said, ‘I’m not going to make everybody happy. I’m not going to please everybody all the time. But what I am here to do is be the very best vice president for this country that I can be, and I’m just going to focus on doing that.’”

During a meeting with Black pastors in South Carolina in February, Christopher Richardson, one of the attendees, noticed a difference. The son of one of the pastors in the room, Mr. Richardson had seen Ms. Harris at other events, and to him it seemed as though she was “singing somebody else’s song.”

But at this event, he said he saw Ms. Harris engage with the group more authentically. She “really connected with the audience,” he said, speaking about the need to bring a polarized country back together. She even gave his niece a hug.

“I turned to my fiancée and was like: Who is this Kamala?” Mr. Richardson recalled.

At the time, Ms. Harris was in the process of trying to change the narrative about her vice presidency. She had been so caricatured by critics that she had become too guarded and fearful of making a mistake that would provide more fodder, aides and allies said.

And while she realized she could reach critical constituencies in ways that Mr. Biden could not, one of her advisers said she felt she was being sent out to talk about only Black and women’s issues, and she was not satisfied with that.

She turned to old friends, who told her she had a power that members of Mr. Biden’s tight inner circle — predominantly made up of white men — did not. One friend recalled telling her that she was the only one in the room with Mr. Biden who could not be fired.

Friends say she started to let her guard down, invoking her personal story and the fact that she had made history as the first woman, the first African American and the first Asian American to serve as vice president.

On March 3, as Ms. Harris headed to Selma, Ala., to give a speech for the 59th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday attacks on civil rights marchers, she wanted to voice to the world what was weighing on her mind.

There were reports that weekend of families in Gaza eating leaves and animal feed, and the description of families who were shot by Israeli soldiers as they rushed a food convoy as “looters” had her stirring. She spent the flight making edits to her remarks, swiping her blue pen through page after page.

Ms. Harris had given a speech two years earlier at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, considered hallowed ground for the civil rights movement. Back then, she rallied a crowd around the message that the Biden administration was steadfast in championing civil and human rights.

This year, aides said, she believed that case would be harder to make. Mr. Biden’s support for Israel in its war in Gaza was causing outrage on the left, particularly in the crowd at Selma that empathized with Palestinians.

Her speech that day did not go beyond White House policy, but it was confrontational and an explicit acknowledgment of the human suffering the war had caused. Her speech made news for its focus on Palestinians and its implicit criticism of Israel.

“Our hearts break for the victims of that horrific tragedy and for all the innocent people in Gaza who are suffering from what is clearly a humanitarian catastrophe,” she said to resounding applause. “People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane. And our common humanity compels us to act.”

She also demanded an “immediate cease-fire,” drawing cheers from the crowd. She directed those remarks at Hamas, not Israel’s leadership, and repeated that she and the president remained “unwavering in our commitment to Israel’s security.”

“When she showed up in Selma, she was the Kamala we saw when she was a district attorney in the Bay Area,” said Maya Wiley, the chief executive of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, who was in Selma. “We saw the Kamala who was an attorney general, we saw the Kamala who was cross-examining people as a senator.”

“She was all her human self,” Ms. Wiley said.

The vice president has also become the White House’s leading voice on abortion rights, a topic that Mr. Biden has never been comfortable talking about publicly.

At an event in April, when Ms. Harris spoke of state bans on abortions that make no exception for rape or incest, she revealed that when she was in high school, a friend confided that she was being sexually abused by her stepfather.

That friend, Wanda Kagan, recalled in an interview that a 16-year-old Ms. Harris said, “Oh no, you’re going to come live with us,” before she had even asked her mother.

“I often reflect on where I would be had she not intervened in the most crucial time of my life,” Ms. Kagan said.

In May, the vice president was leaning more into how she has navigated a lifetime of often being the only woman of color in a room.

“When you walk in those rooms being the only one that looks like you, the only one with your background, you walk in those rooms chin up, shoulders back,” Ms. Harris said at a gathering of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander groups.

“We have to know that sometimes people will open the door for you and leave it open. Sometimes they won’t. And then you need to kick that door down,” she added, using an expletive to make her point.

The Road to November

Soon after Ms. Harris appeared on CNN and defended the president’s debate performance last Thursday — “I’m not going to spend all night with you talking about the last 90 minutes when I’ve been watching the last three and a half years of performance,” she said — the cable network’s chief national correspondent, John King, weighed in.

In one indication of how the political conversation about Ms. Harris has shifted, he called it “political malpractice” that the White House had not made better use of her in the past few years.

She is hardly the first vice president whose readiness to become president has been questioned. But none of her predecessors served under a president as old as Mr. Biden or faced the kind of scrutiny that she has in recent days amid his stumbles.

After a campaign fund-raiser in California on Tuesday, Ms. Harris made clear that she stood by the president. When asked about the calls for him to drop out, she said: “Joe Biden is our nominee. We beat Trump once. And we’re going to beat him again, period.”

Asked whether she was ready to step in if need be, Ms. Harris said, “I am proud to be Joe Biden’s running mate.”

Still, there are deep reservations among many in the Democratic Party about her strength as a candidate. Republicans are already moving fast to discredit her.

“Kamala Harris is incompetent,” said Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign. “She’s proven to be the weakest, worst vice president in history, and she has 100 percent supported Joe Biden in every single disastrous policy that he has implemented over the last four years.”

Ms. Harris has also faced harsh criticism over immigration, a top concern of voters.

Although Mr. Biden assigned her with addressing the root causes of migration — not specifically “securing the border” — she has become a favorite target for one of the administration’s biggest liabilities.

“VP Kamala Harris’s chief responsibility was securing the border,” Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, wrote on social media last month. “What a disaster. Harris is — by far —-the most unqualified, uninformed, and incompetent vice president in history.”

The White House has gone out of its way to express its confidence in Ms. Harris.

“The president’s trust in her, his reliance on the vice president, his respect for her judgment — that has only deepened and increased,” Jeff Zients, Mr. Biden’s chief of staff, said in an interview this year. “I think he really relies on her ability to get to the root of a problem,” he added. “And so often, she’s right.”

As for Mr. Biden, he suggests she is no longer “a work in progress.”

“My name is Joe Biden — I work for Kamala Harris,” Mr. Biden told a group in the Rose Garden in May. “I asked her to be my vice president because I knew I needed somebody smarter than me.”

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5 July 2024 0 comment

Politics

Top story – The European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize 2023 – Parliament honours Jina Mahsa Amini and Iranian women protesters

by NewsB 5 July 2024

written by NewsB

Top story – The European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize 2023 – Parliament honours Jina Mahsa Amini and Iranian women protesters The European Parliament’s 2023 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought has been awarded to Jina Mahsa Amini and the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran.
Source : © European Union, 2023 – EP

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#Top #story #European #Parliaments #Sakharov #Prize #Parliament #honours #Jina #Mahsa #Amini #Iranian #women #protesters

5 July 2024 0 comment

Politics

Infant Mortality Rate Rises in Texas After Abortion Ban

by NewsB 5 July 2024

written by NewsB

New data from Texas shows a possible consequence of abortion bans: a rise in infant mortality.

In 2022, the year after the state’s six-week abortion ban took effect, deaths of infants before their first birthdays increased 13 percent, an analysis published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics showed.

The increase was driven by congenital defects or chromosomal abnormalities, it found. The number of babies with such conditions who died rose 23 percent in that period, compared with a 3 percent decrease in the rest of the country.

Fatal fetal anomalies include trisomy 18 or conditions in which fetuses are missing kidneys or parts of the brain. Many are not discovered until the anatomy ultrasound at roughly 20 weeks of pregnancy, well after the gestational age limit in Texas’ abortion ban.

The results “suggest that additional live births occurring in Texas in 2022 disproportionately included pregnancies at increased risk of infant mortality, particularly those involving congenital anomalies,” the study’s authors wrote.

The period of the study did not include most babies born after Dobbs, the Supreme Court decision in June 2022 that ended the constitutional right to abortion. Seventeen states now have total bans or six-week bans, and most do not have exceptions for fatal fetal anomalies.

It takes a long time for complete data on births and deaths to be released, so it is too early to know much about the effect of these bans on infant mortality. But the new study adds to research on earlier bans showing a link to increases in infant deaths, births with chromosomal abnormalities, and maternal health complications.

The new analysis “is a provocative finding that should be taken seriously,” said Charles Stoecker, a health economist at Tulane and an author of another study linking abortion restrictions and infant deaths. “It’s not fully convincing alone, but there is an emerging body of evidence that show that these abortion restrictions have serious negative consequences for infant mortality.”

Women who end their pregnancies because of maternal or fetal health complications have become a focus of the abortion debate.

In a case that drew national attention last year, a Texas woman, Kate Cox, had her fetus diagnosed with a fatal chromosomal abnormality, and she traveled out of state for an abortion after the Texas Supreme Court stopped her from having the procedure. In a ruling on an Idaho case Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily cleared women in the state to receive an emergency abortion when their health is at risk, but did not rule on the substance of the case.

Abortion opponents say that fetuses, regardless of a fatal diagnosis, “deserve every chance at life,” said Amy O’Donnell, the communications director for Texas Alliance for Life.

“It is heart-wrenching for any parent to lose a child, and our sympathies go out to families who have experienced such loss,” she said. “Nevertheless, no disease, disability or disorder justifies abortion.”

In 2022, the year of focus for the study, infant mortality increased nationwide by 2 percent, after decreases since 1995. Researchers are not sure why, but they say the pandemic may have played a role — because of infection, stress or fewer doctor visits. Also, the United States has had declining maternity care in some places, especially for complicated pregnancies.

But in Texas, the number of infants who died increased significantly more — 2,240 infants died, 255 more than in 2021, an increase of 13 percent.

About one-fifth of infant deaths in the United States are because of congenital defects. In Texas in 2022, one-fourth were, the researchers found, using federal death certificate data.

Data shows that most women with fatal diagnoses choose to terminate their pregnancies.

“As a doctor, these moments are both haunting and heartbreaking,” said Dr. Maria Isabel Rodriguez, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Oregon Health and Science University who researches reproductive health policy. “In a post-Roe America, options depend on where a person lives and what their resources are.”

The authors of the new study hypothesized that other factors might have contributed to the rise in infant deaths in Texas, such as financial or emotional stress among women with unintended pregnancies.

Infant deaths because of maternal pregnancy complications increased 18 percent in Texas, compared with 8 percent in the rest of the United States. The study did not have detail on these complications, but in general, maternal health issues are a main cause of fetal or infant mortality. Although state abortion bans have exceptions for the life of the mother, they do not necessarily have health exceptions.

The data did not include women’s income or race. Overall, Black babies have a higher infant mortality rate than among other large groups.

As more data becomes available, the ramifications of abortion bans will become clearer, said Suzanne Bell, an author of the study and an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins: “We’re starting to see more evidence of the downstream effects of those policies.”

Josh Katz contributed reporting.

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5 July 2024 0 comment

Politics

Trump asks judge to halt documents case after Supreme Court immunity ruling

by NewsB 5 July 2024

written by NewsB

Fallout from the Supreme Court immunity decision

A look at the fallout from the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision

02:02

Washington — Former President Donald Trump and his legal team asked the federal judge overseeing the case involving his handling of sensitive government documents to pause proceedings until she resolves his pending requests to toss out the charges based on presidential immunity and the constitutionality of special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment.

The motion from Trump and his lawyers was among filings they submitted to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Friday, which cite the Supreme Court’s decision Monday that found former presidents are entitled to immunity from federal prosecution for official acts taken while they occupied the Oval Office.

Trump and his legal team argued that the partial stay is warranted based on the high court’s reasoning in that case, which arose out of Trump’s prosecution by Smith in Washington, D.C., related to the 2020 election.

“Resolution of these threshold questions is necessary to minimize the adverse consequences to the institution of the presidency arising from this unconstitutional investigation and prosecution,” lawyers Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and Chris Kise said in the filing. “A partial stay is also appropriate to prevent further exploitation of judicial institutions and resources by Executive Branch personnel in connection with the shameful ongoing lawfare campaign.”

Trump asked Cannon in February to toss out the charges brought against him on the grounds he is entitled to presidential immunity and that Smith’s appointment violates the Constitution’s Appointments and Appropriations Clauses. She has yet to rule on either of his requests.

The former president is facing 40 charges related to his alleged mishandling of documents marked classified after leaving office in January 2021 and efforts to obstruct the Justice Department’s investigation. He has pleaded not guilty.

Melissa Quinn

Melissa Quinn is a politics reporter for CBSNews.com. She has written for outlets including the Washington Examiner, Daily Signal and Alexandria Times. Melissa covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts.

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5 July 2024 0 comment

Politics

Biden: ‘No one’s pushing me out’

by NewsB 5 July 2024

written by NewsB

Biden: ‘No one’s pushing me out’

President Joe Biden unexpectedly joined a Zoom call with campaign and Democratic National Committee staff on Wednesday, mounting a new push to preserve the viability of his embattled candidacy, according to two people on the call.

Amid reports that Biden is privately acknowledging to allies that his candidacy is hanging in the balance, the president stated that he’s in the race for the long haul, though he conceded that the days since last week’s debate with former President Donald Trump have been damaging, according to two people on the call who were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

“Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can — as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running … no one’s pushing me out. I’m not leaving. I’m in this race to the end and we’re going to win,” Biden said on the call.

Biden’s forcefulness and resolve, especially compared to how he came across during last week’s debate, was as reassuring to several attendees, who discussed the call afterward via text message, as what he said.

Vice President Kamala Harris, whose profile has risen in recent days as Democrats focus on her with new seriousness as a possible replacement atop the ticket, was seated beside Biden on the video call.

“We will not back down,” Harris said. “We will follow our president’s lead. We will fight, and we will win.”

The president thanked everyone working on his campaign and reminded them of what’s at stake. “There is no one I’d rather be in this battle with than all of you,” Biden said. “So let’s link arms. Let’s get this done. You, me, the vice president. Together.”

The Biden campaign has been trying to reassure staffers, donors and allies in recent days that the president’s campaign is not doomed after his disastrous debate performance. The president joined that Wednesday call amid reports of plummeting staff morale in the White House as well as his Wilmington campaign headquarters. He phoned top Democrats in Congress earlier Wednesday, and he was also scheduled to meet in the evening with Democratic governors — some of whom have traveled from across the country to attend the gathering in person rather than virtually.

Although most Democrats are still publicly standing behind him, there have been some cracks in Biden’s support. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) called on Biden to drop out of the race on Tuesday, and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), a key ally of the president, said in an interview with MSNBC that he would back Harris if Biden steps aside.

Biden’s inner circle and the president himself understand the extraordinarily high stakes before them over the next few days, according to three people familiar with internal conversations but not authorized to discuss them publicly.

Many Democrats, however, have been frustrated that Biden hasn’t been more visible or active in the days following the debate, questioning whether he truly appreciates the sudden precarity of his campaign or is capable of a more convincing response. At Wednesday’s briefing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed those concerns, suggesting that Biden’s speech last Friday in North Carolina, where he acknowledged his age and shaky performance, was sufficient.

“He did address it,” she said. “He took it head on.”

In talks with family members and close aides, there has been no discussion of abandoning the reelection bid, the three people said. But Biden and his inner circle understand that the next week needs to go well. Among the key moments on the horizon: campaign appearances in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and, most of all, an ABC interview scheduled to be taped Friday.

Although some Democratic lawmakers and operatives are calling for him to step aside, Biden and his senior team believe that a strong stretch can save them. If things go badly, then, they believe, the campaign could be in further jeopardy, the three people said.

Biden has told a few close confidants he knows those moments will be key in efforts to hold off further calls for him to abandon his reelection bid, according to two of the people familiar with internal conversations. Democrats in Congress, many of whom have been holding private conversations about when to publicly call for Biden to abandon his campaign, are currently on recess but return to Washington next week.

Small differences are also starting to emerge within Biden’s family, according to two of the people. First lady Jill Biden and the president’s son Hunter Biden are dead-set on the campaign going forward. Biden’s sister, Valerie, is also supportive but has expressed more worry about the toll it could take on her brother’s health and legacy, according to the two people.

On Wednesday afternoon, chief of staff Jeff Zients also held a call with White House staffers and urged them to tune out the “chatter” and “noise,” according to a recording shared with POLITICO. Zients argued that “there have been countless times that the president has been counted out,” but that he has “always seen it through.”

Some staffers had grumbled in recent days about the president’s senior team having not convened such a call earlier. Zients, in addressing the staff, said he’s eager to hear from anyone in the building when they have concerns or feedback.

Minutes after Biden and Zients wrapped their calls, The New York Times and Siena College published their much anticipated post-debate survey, which found that Trump now leads Biden 49 percent to 43 percent among likely voters nationally — a 3-point shift from before the debate.

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5 July 2024 0 comment

Politics

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather appointed as new antisemitism adviser

by NewsB 5 July 2024

written by NewsB

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather says he is “looking forward to making a real difference” as the government’s new special adviser on Jewish community relations and antisemitism.

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather appointed as new antisemitism adviser

The Prime Minister’s Office announced his appointment to the role on Friday, saying Housefather will advise the prime minister and cabinet and work with the Jewish community.

Housefather, who is Jewish, has been outspoken about the rise in antisemitism in Canada since the current conflict between Israel and Hamas began in October.

The appointment comes four months Housefather considered leaving the Liberal caucus after an NDP motion on the Israel-Gaza war left him feeling intense anger and isolated within his party.

Following that period of reflection he said he would stay as a Liberal and that Trudeau had asked him to work with the government to address the “massive” issue of antisemitism in Canada right now.

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Click to play video: 'Montreal MP Anthony Housefather mulling his future with Liberal Party'

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Montreal MP Anthony Housefather mulling his future with Liberal Party

Housefather would go on to help start a parliamentary committee study into antisemitism on university campuses in May.

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Housefather himself has been the target of antisemitic hatred including earlier this week when posters were taped to signposts in Montreal calling him a Nazi, equating Zionism to terrorism and telling him to “get out of Canada.”

Housefather welcomed his appointment which will include working with Deborah Lyons, the federal government’s special envoy on combating antisemitism.

“Jewish Canadians need to feel safe in our communities, on campus and in Canadian life,” he said in a statement.

The original NDP motion included a demand that Canada officially recognize the state of Palestine.

Click to play video: 'Reaction to Liberals passing Israel-Hamas Motion'

5:54
Reaction to Liberals passing Israel-Hamas Motion

Housefather called that wording one-sided, and the motion caused significant division among members of Parliament including within the Liberal caucus.

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The motion that eventually passed was revised to be very close to existing Canadian foreign policy, including a recognition that Palestinian statehood would be part of a two-state solution within the Middle East peace process.

Wording was added to call for Hamas to lay down its weapons and clearly identify the militant group as a recognized terrorist organization. The motion also included a call for Canada to stop approving transfers of arms exports to Israel.

At the time, Housefather acknowledged the last-minute changes improved the motion but said he could not support it in part because the changes came so late in the process they were not fully debated.

&copy 2024 The Canadian Press

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5 July 2024 0 comment

Politics

Biden Again Gambles on an Interview With ABC’s George Stephanopoulos

by NewsB 5 July 2024

written by NewsB

With his poll numbers dropping and Democrats writing off his candidacy, Joseph R. Biden Jr. sat down with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News in the hope that a major TV interview could help revive a presidential campaign that appeared all but finished.

The date was Feb. 9, 2020. Mr. Biden would finish fifth in the New Hampshire primary two days later — but he then staged a remarkable comeback, soaring back to win South Carolina and ultimately fighting his way to the presidency.

Four and a half years later, as Mr. Biden faces mounting calls to withdraw from the presidential race, he and his advisers are once again gambling on an anchor who has interviewed him at some of the most dire moments of his political career.

Mr. Stephanopoulos’s high-stakes interview on Friday with Mr. Biden is set to be taped in the afternoon in Madison, Wis., and broadcast in its entirety at 8 p.m. Eastern. It is widely viewed as the president’s best hope to quiet the cascading alarm over his mental and physical fitness in the wake of a cataclysmic performance at last week’s debate against former President Donald J. Trump.

Friday’s interview is likely to last between 15 and 25 minutes, according to three people familiar with the negotiations, who requested anonymity to share details of private discussions between ABC and Mr. Biden’s aides. While presidential advisers routinely haggle over the framework for any major interview, the exact length often depends on what transpires during the taping. Mr. Biden could extend the interview of his own accord, or Mr. Stephanopoulos might press for more time to ask additional questions.

ABC has pledged to air the interview in full and without edits, meaning that any attempt by a Biden aide to cut off the conversation early would be captured by cameras and likely shown to viewers. The prime-time special, “One on One with President Biden,” has been previewed to affiliates as lasting for 30 minutes, but it could be extended.

The plan for the interview began to come together late Tuesday morning, when Mr. Stephanopoulos received a text message from Ben LaBolt, the White House communications director, according to a person familiar with the sequence of events. Mr. Biden’s team wanted to know if the anchor would be up for sitting down with the president.

ABC was chosen by the White House in part because it has a large viewership compared with competitors, and also because it is widely considered a nonpartisan news outlet, according to another person familiar with the Biden team’s strategy.

ABC’s “World News Tonight,” which will air the first clips from the interview at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on Friday, is the highest-rated evening newscast, beating NBC and CBS. ABC also recorded the highest debate viewership of the three big broadcast networks, nearly equaling the audience of the debate’s host, CNN.

Mr. Biden is also well acquainted with Mr. Stephanopoulos, who has conducted dozens of interviews with him throughout his career as a senator, as vice president and finally as president. Mr. Stephanopoulos last interviewed Mr. Biden at the White House in August 2021, when the president faced intense criticism in the aftermath of the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Now Mr. Stephanopoulos, a star anchor and a former Democratic strategist who helped oversee Bill Clinton’s messaging in the 1990s, has the delicate task of pressing the commander in chief on intimate questions of aging, physical decline and what exactly transpired under the lights of the debate stage, where Mr. Biden repeatedly lost his train of thought, stared agape at his opponent and struggled to convey simple political arguments.

Mr. Stephanopoulos has spent the last few days preparing for the interview before he flies to Wisconsin, where Mr. Biden is making a campaign stop on Friday. The executive producer of “Good Morning America,” Simone Swink, and the political director of ABC News, Rick Klein, are expected to be present for the taping, according to one person familiar with the plans.

Mr. Stephanopoulos, who joined ABC in 1997, will inevitably face scrutiny of his own. Will his questions be viewed as too soft and sympathetic, or too harsh and callous? What level of candor will he be able to elicit from Mr. Biden in the time allotted?

Already, some right-wing websites have peddled conspiracy theories that, because the interview is not airing live, ABC could selectively edit and reframe Mr. Biden’s answers. ABC initially said that it would air the interview in full on Sunday morning’s episode of “This Week.” But hours later, the network changed course, announcing that the unedited interview would air on Friday in prime-time instead.

ABC informed the Biden camp of that decision on Tuesday and received no objections, two of the people familiar with the discussions said.

Fans of “Jeopardy! Masters” may be out of luck: ABC’s corporate parent, the Walt Disney Company, agreed to interrupt a rerun of the game show on Friday night to accommodate the prime-time airing of the interview.

Katie Rogers contributed reporting.

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5 July 2024 0 comment

Politics

Putin’s Hungarian ally Orban draws EU ire over ‘peace mission’ to Moscow

by NewsB 5 July 2024

written by NewsB

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin meets with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Kremlin in Moscow on July 5, 2024.

Valery Sharifulin | Afp | Getty Images

Russia’s closest European ally, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has drawn ire from the EU over his Friday trip to meet Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Orban, whose country assumed the European Union’s rotating presidency on July 1, is a self-declared “peacemaker” whose administration has repeatedly opposed — but mostly allowed to pass — EU and NATO military and financial aid measures in support of war-torn neighbor Ukraine.

Hungary has retained working relations with Russia despite most other Western countries completely cutting ties with the nation in response to its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Setting a landmark precedent, NATO last month agreed to allow Budapest’s nonparticipation in the coalition’s deepening support of Ukraine — in exchange for Hungary not blocking such initiatives.

Hungary will soon become the only country in Europe able to carry out dialogue with both Russia and Ukraine, Orban told Putin during the Friday visit, according to comments reported by Reuters and Russian state news agency Tass.

The trip to Moscow is the second stop on Orban’s self-described “peace mission,” after the Hungarian leader carried out his first wartime visit to Ukraine on Tuesday to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

After the engagement, Zelenskyy said that the pair had held talks over “the most fundamental issues of our neighborly relations – trade, cross-border cooperation, infrastructure, and energy,” and noted that the dialogue could set the foundation for “a new bilateral document” between the two nations.

Orban also stressed Budapest’s intentions to improve ties with Ukraine, while calling on Zelenskyy to consider a cease-fire in the hostilities with Russia in a bid to accelerate peace talks, Reuters reported.

“You cannot make peace from a comfortable armchair in Brussels,” Orban said Friday in a social media post. “Even if the rotating EU-Presidency has no mandate to negotiate on behalf of the EU, we cannot sit back and wait for the war to miraculously end. We will serve as an important tool in making the first steps towards #peace. This is what our peace mission is about.”

Several peace initiatives have been floated — including Zelenskyy’s 10-point plan, a Chinese proposal and Putin’s own conditions to entertain negotiations — without gaining traction.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said Kyiv was not advised of Orban’s trip to Moscow, which was made “without agreement or coordination with Ukraine,” according to a Google-translated statement.

“We remind you that for our country the principle of ‘no agreements on Ukraine without Ukraine’ remains inviolable and we call on all countries to strictly adhere to it,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said, adding that the “only realistic way to restore a just peace” remains Zelenskyy’s peace formula.

Orban’s trip to Moscow has also drawn the wrath of European officials, who questioned his authority to represent the bloc.

Metsola to EUCO:Focus on competitiveness, security & defence and social equality | News

by NewsB 5 July 2024

written by NewsB

Addressing the European Council today in Brussels, President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola highlighted the following topics:

Ukraine

“The European Parliament welcomes the new security cooperation pact between Ukraine and the European Union.

The presence of President Zelenskyy here to mark the occasion is of important symbolical value and bears proof to our mutual commitment to our common security and shared destiny.”

Enlargement

“The step taken to begin formal EU membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova this month is significant and important. The European Parliament has been a strong advocate for the launch of EU accession negotiations.

Getting our Union ready for enlargement must remain a top priority in our next institutional cycle.”

Delivering on messages from the elections

“We have now a much clearer view of what people expect us to deliver on over the next five years. The challenge is now to turn these electoral messages into a political programme for the European Union. One that is serious, deliverable and implementable.”

Security and defence

“People have called for the robust defence of our values and for security to remain a top priority. Our support for Ukraine must continue.

It also means doing more to increase Europe’s ability to respond to any type of crisis and strategic autonomy. This requires a pressing need to develop a real common security and defence policy.

We have already worked together to ramp-up our capabilities, decrease duplications and reduce the fragmentation of the defence industries. Establishing a strong defence industrial base is the next step.”

Competitiveness and the Single Market

“European competitiveness is critical from an economic and a political perspective – we need to reinforce Europe’s place on the global stage.“

“We need to re-double our efforts for open, balanced, fair trade that is based on international rules, and broaden our network of trade agreements with partners by concluding and ratifying the ones we have in the pipeline.”

“Strengthening competitiveness will also require deepening the Single Market. Only by increasing productivity, speeding-up investments in own industrial capabilities, can we reduce strategic dependencies while simultaneously supporting and sustaining economic growth. The Single Market is our greatest economic driver.”

Financing growth

“If we are to grow our economies and pay back our debts, we have to get serious about finding innovative ways to fuel both public and private investment.”

“The increase of the ceilings in a mid-term revision of the EU’s current long-term budget was an important step in the right direction. As we prepare for the next MFF, we need to ensure a budget that is fit-for-purpose.”

“We need to complete our Banking and Capital Markets Unions, if we are serious about mobilising private capital to invest in our priorities, and to incentivise our companies to stay in Europe. This is how we sustain economic growth and create new quality jobs and futures with dignity.”

Leaving nobody behind

“When it comes to making progress on the green and digital transitions, no one should be left behind. Implementation here is key. That must be our focus now.”

“Whilst we are extremely proud of our world leading targets, burdens, bureaucracy and red-tape risk holding back progress. Each regulation may well be justified, but when taken together we need to be careful to ensure that this does not become too much. Our proposals must work for families. For industry. For farmers.”

“That is how we can bring Europe a little bit closer to how our people want it to be. How we can reflect on the message that the electorate sent us. How we will deliver on a stronger, safer, fairer and better Europe for all Europeans.”

Election of the President of the European Commission

“The European Parliament remains firmly behind the Lead Candidate process and we confirm that the European People’s Party is once again the largest political group in the European Parliament.

We will respect the due process. After the European Council communicates to us the name, we will invite the person to meet with Group leaders on Tuesday (2 July). The aim of this is to determine the candidate able to form the necessary qualified majority in Parliament to become the next Commission President. A candidate with a political programme that is able to capture the main electoral messages and reflect the views of the majority of the House.

The European Parliament stands ready to move the smooth process forward for electing a new Commission President without delay as soon as the European Council submits its candidate and for the hearings of the Commissioners after that.”

President Metsola’s full speech is available here.

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