Conference

Press release - Products made with forced labour to be banned from EU single market

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Civil service commission, Conference, Prevalence, International trade, Multilateralism, Sale, European single market, S&D, Attention, Official Journal, EU Council, Risk, Parliament, European Commission, Legislation, Rapporteur

Products made with forced labour to be banned from EU single market

Key Points: 
  • Products made with forced labour to be banned from EU single market
    - Suspected use of forced labour to be investigated and, if proven, products to be withdrawn from the market
    - Attention to products coming from areas with a high risk of state-imposed forced labour
    - Products may be allowed back on the market if forced labour is eliminated from the supply chain
    Parliament has given its final approval to a new regulation enabling the EU to prohibit the sale, import, and export of goods made using forced labour.
  • Several risk factors and criteria will be taken into account, including the prevalence of state-imposed forced labour in certain economic sectors and geographic areas.
  • Consequences for companies using forced labour
    Manufacturers of banned goods will have to withdraw their products from the EU single market and donate, recycle or destroy them.
  • The goods may be allowed back on the EU single market once the company eliminates forced labour from its supply chains.

Press release - New EU rules to reduce, reuse and recycle packaging

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, April 25, 2024
EUR, Health, Conference, Table tennis rubber, Condiment, Recycling, Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, Vegetable, Food packaging, Milk, Wax, Parliament, Wine, Council, Restaurant, Drink, Alcoholism, Collection, Legislation

- Measures cover full life cycle of packaging

Key Points: 
  • - Measures cover full life cycle of packaging
    - Less packaging, less waste, restrictions on certain packaging formats
    - Certain single use plastic packaging types will be banned from 1 January 2030
    - Each European generates almost 190kg of packaging waste every year
    On Wednesday, Parliament adopted new measures to make packaging more sustainable and reduce packaging waste in the EU.
  • Reduce packaging and restrict certain types
    The rules, which have been provisionally agreed on with the Council, include packaging reduction targets (5% by 2030, 10% by 2035 and 15% by 2040) and require EU countries to reduce, in particular, the amount of plastic packaging waste.
  • Encourage reuse and refill options for consumers
    Specific 2030 reuse targets are foreseen for alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages packaging (except e.g.
  • Measures also include minimum recycled content targets for plastic packaging and minimum recycling targets by weight of packaging waste.

Press release - Air pollution: Parliament adopts revised law to improve air quality

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, April 25, 2024
SO2, Health, Conference, PM10, Nitrogen dioxide, Gamer, S&D, Parliament, Biodiversity, Commission, Particulates, City, Council, Atmosphere, Air pollution, NO2, Legislation, Pollutant

Air pollution: Parliament adopts revised law to improve air quality

Key Points: 
  • Air pollution: Parliament adopts revised law to improve air quality
    - Stricter 2030 limits for several air pollutants
    - Air quality indices to be comparable across all member states
    - Access to justice and right to compensation for citizens
    - Air pollution leads to around 300,000 premature deaths per year in the EU
    The revised law aims to reduce air pollution in the EU for a clean and healthy environment for citizens, and to achieve the EU’s zero air pollution vision by 2050.
  • More air quality sampling points will also be set up in cities and currently-fragmented air quality indices across the EU will become comparable, clear and publicly available.
  • You can read more about the new rules in the press release after the deal with EU countries.
  • Thanks to Parliament, the updated rules improve air quality monitoring and protect vulnerable groups more effectively.

Press release - EU Health Data Space: more efficient treatments and life-saving research

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Health, Conference, EPP, Intelligence, Patient, Research, Health information management, Prescription, Insurance, Parliament, European Health Data Space, Statistics, Council, Future, ID, EHR, Privacy, Advertising, Medical device

MEPs approved the creation of a European Health Data Space, improving citizens’ access to their personal health data and boosting secure sharing in the public interest.Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food SafetyCommittee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

Key Points: 


MEPs approved the creation of a European Health Data Space, improving citizens’ access to their personal health data and boosting secure sharing in the public interest.Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food SafetyCommittee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

Press release - Parliament adopts Platform Work Directive

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Employment, Conference, Algorithm, Digital, Background, Official Journal, Parliament, Council, European Commission, Workplace, Legislation, Person, Cryptocurrency

The directive obliges EU countries to establish a rebuttable legal presumption of employment at national level, aiming to correct the imbalance of power between the digital labour platform and the person performing platform work.

Key Points: 
  • The directive obliges EU countries to establish a rebuttable legal presumption of employment at national level, aiming to correct the imbalance of power between the digital labour platform and the person performing platform work.
  • The burden of proof lies with the platform, meaning that it is up to the platform to prove that there is no employment relationship.
  • Instead, digital labour platforms must ensure human oversight on important decisions that directly affect the persons performing platform work.
  • Transparency and data protection
    The directive introduces rules that protect platform workers’ data more robustly.

Press release - European Parliament updates trans-European transport network guidelines

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Create, Civil service commission, Brenner Base Tunnel, Conference, EPP, European Parliament, Travel, Official Journal, Parliament, Commission, European Commission, Rail Baltica, Legislation, Rail transport

European Parliament updates trans-European transport network guidelines

Key Points: 
  • European Parliament updates trans-European transport network guidelines
    - Major transport links to finish by 2030
    - Cut transport infrastructure ties with Russia and focus on Ukraine
    - Create better conditions for military mobility along major EU roads and railways
    On Wednesday, MEPs endorsed updated plans to complete major trans-European transport projects, such as cross-border roads, railways, bridges and tunnels, by the end of 2030.
  • Major transport infrastructure projects on the core TEN-T network should be completed by the end of 2030, to secure a comprehensive network by the end of 2050.
  • Major European airports (processing more than 12 million annual passengers) will be connected to the trans-European railway network.
  • AT) said: “The regulation will enable rail transport to compete with road transport, if it is implemented as foreseen.

Press release - Parliament adopts EU-wide Disability and Parking Cards

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Conference, Travel, Official Journal, Disability, Quality of life, Parliament, Loss, Commission, Council, Animal, European Parliament, Person, Insurance

Both cards will grant card holders, as well as those accompanying them and assistance animals, access to most of the same conditions as national card holders.

Key Points: 
  • Both cards will grant card holders, as well as those accompanying them and assistance animals, access to most of the same conditions as national card holders.
  • The new rules will only apply for short stays, with an exception for disability card holders that move to another member state for a mobility programme, such as Erasmus+.
  • European Disability Card
    The European Disability Card will be issued in physical format and, when available, in digital format, and will be issued and renewed free of charge.
  • European Parking Card for persons with disabilities
    The European Parking Card for persons with disabilities will be issued in physical form.

Press release - New EU rules to combat money-laundering adopted

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, April 25, 2024
European Parliament, EUR, Conference, Authority, AML, Registry, Parliament, Council, Future, AMLA, Legislation, Cryptocurrency

In addition to current information, the registries will also include data going back at least five years.

Key Points: 
  • In addition to current information, the registries will also include data going back at least five years.
  • The laws also give Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) more powers to analyse and detect money laundering and terrorist financing cases as well as to suspend suspicious transactions.
  • Wide-reaching due diligence
    The new laws include enhanced due diligence measures and checks on customers’ identity, after which so-called obliged entities (e.g.
  • Next steps
    The laws still need to be formally adopted by the Council, too, before publication in the EU’s Official Journal.

South Africa’s youth are a generation lost under democracy – study

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Health, African National Congress, Democracy, AIDS, Conference, Social exclusion, NGO, Unemployment, HIV, Risk, Education, Abuse, Ageing, Research, Policy, Recidivism, Male, Quality of life, Index, ANC, Apartheid, Catholic Church, Violence, Toy

But what is the real state of young South Africans – defined as people below the age of 34 – after 30 years of democracy?

Key Points: 
  • But what is the real state of young South Africans – defined as people below the age of 34 – after 30 years of democracy?
  • My recent research paper tracing 30 years of analysing youth marginalisation has found that youth in South Africa, who make up 34.3% of the population, have not fared well under democracy.

Measuring marginalisation

  • The survey recorded indicators like unemployment and level of education, as well as subjective views like feelings of alienation (not belonging in society).
  • The results were arranged on a scale of how far some young people had been pushed to the margins of society.
  • Comparing data from the 1992 and 2018 indices of youth marginalisation, the same proportion (5%) is clearly “lost” – scoring off the chart on virtually every indicator.
  • In terms of how much potential South Africa has squandered, they represent an entire generation of opportunity lost to the country.

Marginalised but not lost

  • As ever, they demonstrated their instrumental value to the adults controlling violence on various sides.
  • Those same adults and the media spoke of a “lost generation” – specifically, black, male, urban youth.

Marginalisation over time

  • In 1993, after first presenting to assembled youth organisations in 1992, we released the first iteration of the marginalisation index, Growing up Tough.
  • Despite the belief of our church sponsors that no-one is ever truly “lost”, that became the central category of the index.
  • In all, 5% of respondents scored high on all, or most, of the indicators in the 12 dimensions.
  • Most of the items in the index were later used by the Gauteng City Region Observatory in its early Quality of Life survey, allowing analysis of marginalisation across the entire Gauteng province population.
  • Only 0.3% of white youth (and 0.5% of Indian youth) showed signs of high marginalisation.


David Everatt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.