News

Dieselgate Committee: preventing a new emissions scandal

28 February 2017
Dieselgate Committee: preventing a new emissions scandal

The Dieselgate Committee of the European Parliament has approved a series of recommendations to prevent a new emissions scandal. “A year and a half after the outbreak of Dieselgate, it is clear that this scandal for public health could and should have been avoided,” says MEP Mark Demesmaeker, vice …

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Procedural abuse in cases involving aliens finally tackled

24 February 2017
Procedural abuse in cases involving aliens finally tackled

At the proposal of State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Theo Francken, a draft bill has been approved with which the fight against procedural abuse in cases involving aliens can be both facilitated and turned up a notch. “From now on, it is possible in one and the same hearing to pronounce …

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Freeze EU accession negotiations with Turkey

24 February 2017
Powerful signal to Erdogan

Following the federal parliament, the Flemish majority parties in the Flemish Parliament are now also asking for Turkey’s accession procedure to be frozen and the European Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) to be scrapped. “In the light of the worsening human rights situation and the decline in …

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First step towards investment agreements without Wallonia

23 February 2017
Karl Vanlouwe

Flemish Minister-President Geert Bourgeois has reached an agreement to investigate how Flanders can conclude open asymmetric investment agreements without the other federal entities. After all, for a year and half now, Wallonia and Brussels have been blocking various different investment agreements …

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Zuhal Demir new Secretary of State

23 February 2017
Zuhal Demir

At the recommendation of N-VA Chairman Bart De Wever, Zuhal Demir from Genk has been unanimously confirmed by the party council as the successor to Secretary of State Elke Sleurs. Zuhal Demir will be responsible for Equal Opportunities, Poverty Reduction, Persons with a Disability, Urban Policy and …

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New European measures against tax avoidance approved

21 February 2017

The Ecofin Council, at which the Ministers of Finance of all European countries have a seat, has reached an agreement on a new directive against the avoidance of taxes and on the criteria for a tax havens blacklist. “The international backdoors are finally being closed,” notes Minister of Finance …

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