News

Quicker, simpler expulsion of criminal aliens

10 February 2017

At the proposal of State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Theo Francken, a new package of measures has been accepted that will make the repatriation of criminal aliens quicker and easier. “The new measures also make our repatriation policy more flexible, lasting, clear and complete,” the State …

Online paid services usable everywhere in the EU

8 February 2017

The European Parliament and the European Council have reached an agreement which makes paid online subscriptions portable to all countries of the European Union. “Flemish Netflix enthusiasts who travel abroad will undoubtedly have noticed that the film or TV series they want to watch isn’t …

Free Interrail passes dumped, and rightly so

7 February 2017

The European Commission has done a 180° and dumped the idea of a free Interrail pass for all European 18-year-olds. The Christian Democrat EPP group has therefore had to accept that its proposal has come to naught. “The Commission estimated the cost at two billion euros a year, even more than first …

Struggle for a more democratic Turkey: the Kurds testify

7 February 2017

At the invitation of the N-VA, a delegation of the pro-Kurdish Turkish opposition party HDP told its story in the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Relations. Representatives Eyyup Doru and Ertuğrul Kürkçü informed their colleagues about the intimidation and prosecutions that they experience on a …

Supervisory mechanism for undemocratic practices

2 February 2017

The Romanian government, led by socialists, has dramatically relaxed that country’s anti-corruption legislation. The upshot of this decision has been mass street protests in Romania itself. The European Commission is so far limiting its reaction to merely voicing its concern. “It is not acceptable …

Erasmus+ deserves expansion