, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20210304IPR99207/
European Parliament Strips Ex-Catalan Leader Puigdemont of Immunity
The waiver was adopted by the vote of a majority. For instance, 400 lawmakers voted to strip Puigdemont of immunity, 248 voted against it, and 45 more abstained.
In January 2020, the Supreme Court of Spain requested the European Parliament to waive the MEP immunity from Puigdemont, Comin and Ponsati in order to prosecute them for their participation in the 2017 Catalan independence referendum. The lifting of immunity may result in resumption of consideration of extradition requests.
EU Presidents to sign declaration on the Conference on the Future of Europe | News | European Parliament
The signature on Wednesday will set the Conference in motion, in order to address challenges old and new, while strengthening European solidarity.
The joint declaration on the Conference on the Future of Europe will be signed on Wednesday at 13.00 by President Sassoli on behalf of the Parliament, Prime Minister Costa for the Council and Commission President von der Leyen.
This begins the process that will enable citizens to participate in reshaping the EU’s policies and institutions. The declaration includes the EU institutions’ commitment “to listen to Europeans and to follow up on the recommendations made by the Conference” in line with their respective competences enshrined in the Treaties.
Using an inclusive, open and transparent approach, people of all backgrounds, civil society representatives and stakeholders at European, national, regional and local level will participate and set the Conference’s tone and agenda in line with their concerns, in a multitude of events and through a multilingual digital platform.
Read the statement made by Parliament’s Conference of Presidents following their decision to approve the joint declaration.
Companies should be held accountable for their actions, say MEPs | News | European Parliament
, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20210303STO99111/
European Parliament votes to lift immunity of Catalan separatist Puigdemont
The European Parliament has voted to lift the immunity of the former president of Spain’s Catalonia region, Carles Puigdemont, and two of his associates
The move could pave the way for their extradition back to Spain and reopen the scars of separatism in the country.
The Spanish government immediately welcomed the decision by the European Union’s legislature as a victory for the rule of law and against those who sought to break the rich north-eastern region away from the rest of Spain.
The decision is likely to extend the three-and-a-half year legal saga on the fate of the three separatists by months, if not years, since many avenues for appeal remain open before any possible extraditions.
In the decision on Mr Puigdemont, 400 legislators voted for the waiver of immunity, 248 were against and 45 abstained.
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The measures to lift the immunity of his associates – former Catalan health minister Toni Comin and former regional education minister Clara Ponsati – were by largely similar margins.
Mr Puigdemont and a number of his separatist colleagues fled to Belgium in October 2017, fearing arrest after holding an independence referendum for Catalonia that the Spanish government said was illegal.
In 2019, Mr Puigdemont and his two associates won seats in the European Parliament and were afforded protection as members of the EU assembly.
Mr Puigdemont’s lawyer in Spain, Gonzalo Boye, announced that the former Catalan president is going to appeal against the assembly’s decision to the EU’s higher courts in Luxembourg.
Spain’s foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez-Laya said the assembly’s decision showed that Mr Puigdemont and his two aides cannot shield behind their legislative seat to avoid appearing before the national justice system.
In a video statement, Ms Gonzalez Laya also said the decision meant that “the problems of Catalonia are solved in Spain, they are not solved in Europe”.
Dolors Montserrat, a European legislator with the centre-right European People’s Party and a former cabinet member of the Spanish administration that ousted Mr Puigdemont, told TVE: “Spain wins, Europe wins, democracy wins.”
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She added the decision certified that Mr Puigdemont is “a fugitive who has to answer before Spanish courts”.
Iratxe Garcia Perez, the leader of the S&D socialist group, said “the European Parliament doesn’t judge anybody. We just guarantee that justice does its job. A clear majority, absolute majority of the parliament, supported the fact that Spanish justice should be able to do its job”.
Despite the wide margin to lift the three legislators’ immunity, Mr Boye said the assembly’s backing was not as overwhelming as Spain wanted it to be.
“It’s evident that there are people in the conservative group, in the EPP, and among the Socialists that have voted against,” he told Spanish broadcaster TVE.
The 2017 independence vote in favour of Catalonia breaking away from Spain won by a landslide but the central government in Madrid declared the vote illegal and unconstitutional.
Hundreds of people in Catalonia were injured in a police crackdown on the day of the poll.
Spain has attempted to have Mr Puigdemont returned for trial but failed to convince Belgian justice authorities to extradite him.
The country could well start new efforts now to have him extradited but Mr Puigdemont has vowed to fight on.
Jacinda Ardern and US Vice President Kamala Harris address European Parliament
/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/XCYNT4FPBN2FQXVXTOIZS622RI.jpg?w=696&resize=696,0&ssl=1 "Jacinda Ardern and US Vice President Kamala Harris address European Parliament")
European Union President David Sassoli, New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern, US Vice President Kamala Harris and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen honoured women battling against Covid-19. Photo / European Parliament
Prime Minister Jacinda was one of a number of high-profile guests, including US Vice President Kamala Harris, to address the European Union Parliament for International Women’s Day.
“We need to stick together because we are all in this together,” Ardern told MPs via video yesterday (NZ time).
She said Covid-19 had exacerbated structural inequalities between women and men.
“Only by fully – and meaningfully – including women in leadership at all levels can we ensure that our responses to the pandemic meet the needs of everyone.”
She said that as leaders, “we will be tested”.
“We must resist the false promises in the face of those tests of protectionism and nationalism in our recovery from Covid-19.
“We must also do more to support women-led business to be part of the recovery, so they can more readily experience the benefits of trade.”
Ardern was followed by Harris – the first female Vice President of the United States.
“We must ensure women’s safety at home and in every community.
“We must treat them with dignity at work and put in place the structures needed so that they can both care for their families and excel in the workforce.”
And she said that women need to have an equal voice in decision-making – this, she said, is essential to free and fair democracies.
“This not just an act of goodwill; this is a show of strength. If we build a world that works for women, our nations will all be safer, stronger and more prosperous.”
The session in the EU Parliament focussed on women’s empowerment and leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In his opening speech, European Union President David Sassoli said: “The pandemic risks wiping out decades of achievements gained by European women’s struggle for the right to work, to share care work, for autonomy, for respect and for the right to make their own choices.”
Alex Ferguson regrets not telling Gers boss to ‘f*** off’ over wife’s religion
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Women at the forefront of the COVID-19 response in Albania: “We will keep fighting until this virus is defeated”
On International Women’s Day, 8 March, WHO/Europe recognizes the huge contribution made by female health workers to the COVID-19 response. As Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, said in a recent statement, “The face of that frontline health worker we so often talk about is mostly the face of a woman.”
Meet Ms Dumi
One of these frontline health workers is Ms Hëna Dumi, head of the nursing care sector of an Albanian COVID-19 designated hospital. Formerly a university hospital, it was repurposed in March of last year and started treating only COVID-19 patients.
Ms Dumi, its chief nurse, has been fighting the pandemic since the beginning. Although she has worked in the health-care sector for 25 years, she says she never expected that anything on this scale would ever occur.
During the first days of the pandemic, Ms Dumi remembers being deeply shocked at the cases she saw. She put on a brave face for her patients, despite the risk of burnout she and her colleagues faced due to the increasing number of patients being admitted and the emotionally draining hospital shifts.
Currently, just over 110 000 cases of COVID-19 in Albania have been reported to WHO, with the number of deaths now coming close to 1900. The female nurses on the frontline, treating patients and saving lives from the virus, are shining examples of endurance and perseverance in the fight against this pandemic.
One common challenge that health workers like Ms Dumi face is the extreme difficulty of caring for multiple patients at the same time while coping with their own fatigue and fear of getting infected. Ms Dumi admits that it is especially difficult to lose patients to the virus – patients who are more than a statistic, who have already become like members of the family.
Regardless of the taxing workload, stress and anxiety, Ms Dumi is not ready to give up. To her, these difficulties pale in comparison to the joy she feels when a life is saved. This gives her the strength to fight until the virus is defeated. “We have to get this done. We need to do our best and put in some additional effort to bring life back to normal again,” she emphasizes.
Data show that health workers account for 8% of global COVID-19 cases, and that their risk of getting infected is more than triple the risk faced by most of us, the ones they are trying to protect. Five weeks ago, out of the 1.3 million health workers that had been infected with COVID-19, 68% were women.
Empowering our female health workers
Globally, 70% of the health workforce is made up of women as nurses, midwives and community health workers. Progression in this sector, however, is not guaranteed if you are a woman. There are stereotypes and barriers that deter women from moving up the career ladder or getting engaged in the decision-making process.
Distrust and pressure are among the challenges that Ms Dumi has herself faced as a woman in her profession. Closing the gender gap requires collective action. “We need to fight hard for our rights if we are to achieve any progress moving forward in this direction,” she says.
Collective action is required for an effective COVID-19 response as well, and WHO continues to cooperate with a number of national partners in Albania to ensure this, including health authorities, health workers, hospital managers, communicators, logisticians and laboratory technicians.
Protecting health workers who risk their lives saving others in the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuring access to vital resources are among the top priorities of the WHO Country Office in Albania and its national partners.
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European Parliament lifts immunity of Carles Puigdemont
The European Parliament voted on Tuesday in favor of lifting immunity from the former leader of Spain’s Catalonia region, Carles Puigdemont.
The European lawmakers also waived immunity for former Catalan health minister Toni Comin and former regional education minister Clara Ponsati.
The trio fled to Belgium in October 2017 along with other Catalan separatists. They are wanted by Spain after holding an independence referendum that the Spanish government said was illegal.
In 2019, Puigdemont, Comin and Ponsati won seats in the European Parliament. This gave them protection in their positions as members of the EU assembly.
But at the request of the Spanish judiciary, the parliament opened an inquiry into waiving their immunity. The parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee voted last month to recommend this.
MEP’s overwhelmingly supported lifting immunity
In the decision on Puigdemont, 400 legislators voted for the waiver of immunity, 248 were against and 45 abstained.
The motions against Comin and Ponsati were adopted by 404 votes to 247, the parliament said.
Votes shows Catalonia is a national issue
The vote sends “a message that the problems of Catalonia are to be resolved within Spain and not at a European level,” Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya told reporters in a statement.
Separatists plan to appeal
The three MEPs have already announced that they will take the case to the EU’s highest court, the European Court of Justice.
kmm/rt (AP, AFP, dpa)
