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Parliament asserts its institutional role in European policy-making by exercising its various functions. Parliament’s participation in the legislative process, its budgetary and control powers, its involvement in treaty revision and its right to intervene before the Court of Justice of the European Union enable it to uphold democratic principles at European level.

Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware (PEGA) was set up on 10 March 2022. Chaired by MEP Jeroen LENAERS, PEGA Committee investigated infringements and maladministration in application of EU law in relation to the use of Pegasus and equivalent spyware surveillance software. Spyware and other hacking techniques are critical threats to privacy, data protection and democracy in the EU. They serve oppressive agendas against journalists, political activists ...

This study presents an overview of how the issue of obstetric and gynaecological violence is currently being apprehended in the EU. Based on research carried out across the EU 27 Member States, it identifies issues and challenges; looks at the legal framework currently applicable to this form of violence; examines ongoing political and legal developments; and gathers initiatives carried out at the national level to improve understanding and prevention of this form of gender-based violence by healthcare ...

In December 2021, the European Commission presented a proposal to amend the Schengen Borders Code, which lays down the rules governing controls at the EU internal and external borders. While debates on the reform of Schengen have been going on for a while, recent challenges – relating to the coronavirus pandemic on the one hand, and attempts to instrumentalise migrants as a way to put pressure on the EU's external borders, on the other – have created new momentum for reform. The Commission's proposal ...

Since the introduction of Article 4(2) of the Treaty on European Union, the meaning and function of the notion of constitutional identity have become an important point of contention. This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the AFCO Committee, examines what the concept of constitutional identity means and how it has been understood in various EU Member States. It assesses the impact of this concept on ...

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) is in charge of the audit of EU finances. As the EU’s external auditor, it contributes to improving EU financial management and acts as the independent guardian of the financial interests of the citizens of the Union.

In the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), as well as in several other fields such as enhanced cooperation, certain appointments and treaty revision, the decision-making procedure is different from that prevailing in the ordinary legislative procedure. The dominant feature in these fields is a stronger component of intergovernmental cooperation. The challenge of the public debt crisis has led to increased use of such decision-making mechanisms, notably in the framework of European economic ...

In areas in which the European Union does not have exclusive competence, the principle of subsidiarity, laid down in the Treaty on European Union, defines the circumstances in which it is preferable for action to be taken by the Union, rather than the Member States.

This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the PETI Committee, analyses the impact of digitalization on vulnerable social groups in terms of lower income and education, age, people affected by disabilities, minority ethnic groups and people living in remote/isolated geographic areas. It includes a review of the relevant academic literature, secondary data analysis, as well as three case studies focused ...

In July 2021, the European Commission tabled a proposal to establish a new EU authority to counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism (AMLA). This was part of a legislative package aimed at implementing the 2020 action plan for a comprehensive Union policy on preventing money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The AMLA would be the centre of an integrated system, composed of the authority itself and national authorities with an AML/CFT supervisory mandate. It would also support ...