Details
 
"There is no reason to panic, but we must take the situation seriously and monitor it closely", said MEP Dr. med. Peter Liese, health spokesperson of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP), in view of the spread of the new coronavirus from the Wuhan region in China. According to Liese's assessment, the danger to EU citizens is very low. "Firstly, there are only three direct flights from the crisis region to the EU. Secondly, according to the scientists, the virus is much less dangerous than the SARS virus, which caused many deaths a few years ago. Furthermore, within the European Union, we are now better prepared, since a coordination mechanism between the Member States was agreed upon a few years ago. There is a 24-hour on-call duty in all Member States and the European Health Office ECDC in Helsinki is monitoring the situation very closely. We have uniform recommendations for the entire European Union. A few years ago, it was still the case that something was dealt with completely different in the Netherlands compared to Germany, for example. If you take into account that passengers in border regions often use airports in neighbouring countries, it used to be an absurd situation," says Liese. The Christian Democrats have requested that the European Parliament's Committee on Environment and Health will deal intensively with the issue as early as next week.
 
 

Details

Commission works on emissions trading for transport and buildings despite Green and Socialist opposition


"The Green Deal, if properly implemented, can provide additional jobs and growth to Europe," MEP Peter Liese, EPP spokesperson for environment. "We are currently spending around one billion euros a day on imports of oil, gas and coal. If we invest this money in efficiency and new technologies within the European Union, it will benefit all of us and of course help the climate. Ursula von der Leyen has found the right framework to combine ambitious climate protection goals with jobs and growth. Also in March, just like the presentation of the climate protection law, an industrial strategy will be presented, which will describe in more detail how we will enable our energy-intensive industry to produce climate neutrally.”

Details

Fight against cancer becomes top priority for the EU

"The European Parliament will establish a special committee on cancer. This makes the fight against cancer a top priority for the whole European Union", said MEP Peter Liese, health spokesperson of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP).

The group chairs had already agreed to set up a special committee at the initiative of the EPP Group last week. Formal adoption by the plenary and the official establishment of the committee is due in the coming weeks. "The establishment of a special committee on cancer is a strong signal that we want to join forces in the fight against cancer to help patients". On 4 February 2020, International World Cancer Day, the European Commission will officially launch the consultation on Europe´s Beating Cancer Plan to be presented by the end of this year. The European Parliament´s Special Committee will make contribution to the plan and assist in monitoring its implementation.

Details

Important step towards CO2 reduction - good for the climate, wallet and jobs - 46 million tonnes of CO2 savings

On Thursday (5 December) the European Commission will publish new energy efficiency requirements for 10 different products in the Official Journal. The measures adopted under the Ecodesign-Directive are designed to save energy and thus protect the climate. There will be new requirements for refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers, electronic displays (including televisions), light sources and separate control gear, external power supplies, electric motors, direct sales refrigerators (e.g. supermarket refrigerators, cold drink vending machines), transformers and welding equipment. This will save 46 million tonnes of C02. This corresponds to Denmark's annual energy consumption or the CO2 emissions of about 27 million cars.

  1. European Parliament sets signal against Trump / MEPs want alliance with other industrialized and emerging countries to boost climate protection
  2. Pesticides: European Parliament wants to protect bees better
  3. Stella Kyriakides to become new commissioner for health
  4. Situation of forests will be priority for the European Parliament in the next months
Cookies make it easier for us to provide you with our services. With the usage of our services you permit us to use cookies.
Ok Decline