CNA Staff, Dec 3, 2020 / 08:00 am MT (CNA).- A Catholic archbishop spoke out Wednesday after the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning Poland’s pro-life laws. 

In a Dec. 2 statement, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, president of Poland’s bishops’ conference, said that there could be no compromise on the right to life. 

He said: “The right to life is a fundamental human right. It always takes precedence over the right to choose, because no person can authoritatively allow the possibility of killing another.”

The archbishop was responding to a resolution adopted by the European Parliament Nov. 26 condemning Poland’s “de facto ban on the right to abortion.” 

The European Parliament, the European Union’s law-making body, passed the resolution by 455 votes to 145 after Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal ruled Oct. 22 that a law permitting abortion for fetal abnormalities was unconstitutional.

Gądecki, the vice president of the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE), noted that the resolution repeatedly referred to the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, pointing out that the charter declares that “Everyone has the right to life.”

“The European Union thus recognizes that the inalienable dignity of the human person and respect for the right to life are fundamental criteria for democracy and the rule of law,” he said.

The archbishop of Poznań argued that the title of the resolution was itself misleading as there is no “right to abortion” either from an ethical standpoint or in international law. 

“In no democratic legal order can there be a right to kill an innocent person,” he said.

He also objected to the resolution’s reference to an “abortion compromise” in Poland. The phrase refers to laws passed after the collapse of communism which restricted abortion but still permitted it in limited circumstances. 

He said: “Talking about the so-called legal compromise on the protection of life is a falsification of reality because it omits the most important third party in the dispute, i.e. unborn children and their inalienable right to life.” 

“Any compromise in this matter is tantamount to depriving some children of their fundamental right to life and imposing the death penalty in a brutal way, which, let’s recall, is also prohibited by the Charter of Fundamental Rights. There can therefore be no compromise in this regard.”

Gądecki quoted Pope Francis several times in his statement, including the pope’s Nov. 22 letter to a group of Argentine women. In the letter, the pope said that abortion was primarily an ethical issue rather than a religious one. “Is it fair to eliminate a human life to solve a problem?” he wrote after Argentine President Alberto Fernández introduced the bill to legalize abortion. “Is it fair to hire a hitman to solve a problem?” 

Gądecki also noted that Pope Francis had expressed support for pro-lifers in Poland following mass demonstrations against the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling. 

Protesters disrupted Masses while holding signs supporting abortion, left graffiti on Church property, vandalized statues of St. John Paul II, and chanted slogans at clergy. 

The archbishop thanked those who witnessed to the value of human life despite being “often met with aggression and contempt.” 

He also praised communities in Poland that sought to defend unborn life. 

“They are the voice of natural reason, which consistently, contrary to ideological conformism and opportunism, defends human life in every phase of its development,” he said. 

“They are the voice of hundreds of millions of people around the world who have discovered the beauty of every life.”

“Unfortunately, this brave and righteous voice is often met with aggression and violence by the supporters of the civilization of death.”

The archbishop praised people who not only worked for full legal protection of unborn life, but also offered help and support to expectant mothers. 

“From the heart I bless all people of goodwill and pray for the grace of conversion for those who have not yet discovered the stunning beauty of every life,” he wrote. 

“I also recommend to God all those who in Europe maintain an awareness of their spiritual and religious and moral heritage.”

Pakistan International Airlines’ flights to the European Union will remain banned as certain conditions put to the flag carrier were still”not met”, a letter seen by Geo News said.

The suspension, imposed by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), took effect on July 1, 2020, after it came to light that pilots possessed “fake” licences, as put by the aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar.

The EASA, in the letter, expressed satisfaction over certain steps taken by the Civil Aviation Authority to improve the situation. However, it said that a further audit by the agency’s officials was imperative to revoke the ban.

Read more: PIA flights to Europe suspended for six months by air safety agency

“On 16 November 2020, your organisation provided the agency with a comprehensive set of documents as evidence to support the Implementation of the agreed Corrective Action Plan [CAP] for the remaining open level 1 finding related to identifying issues in your Safety Management System,” the letter said.

“The Agency reviewed the submitted material and found it satisfactory and sufficient as a first important step towards the closure of the above-mentioned finding,” it added.

Read more: PIA decides not to appeal EU flight ban

However, the agency said that the conditions that it had laid down in ART 205(c)(2) were not met. 

In particular, the investigation conducted by the European Commission on the issuance of professional licenses was still on-going, which indicates that there is a possibility that the audit will not have the expected positive results, the letter noted.

“We propose to contact you for a next update of the situation as soon as the concerns regarding the issuance of professional licenses is investigated in full and satisfactorily resolved,” the latter said, that their officials would not be able to visit Pakistan amid coronavirus.

Read more: After EASA move, UK aviation industry suspends PIA flights from three airports

“In the meantime, the Agency will closely monitor the situation and further developments,” the letter added.

‘Fake’ licences, ‘dubious’ credentials

The ban was a big blow to the airline, which was already under scrutiny across the world due to recently uncovered pitfalls within Pakistan’s aviation industry, such as pilots possessing “fake” licences as put by the aviation minister.

The startling revelations came as the aviation minister presented the interim report on the probe into the May 22 PIA plane crash.

Following the report, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) had expressed concern over the “serious lapse in-licensing and safety oversight by the aviation regulator”.

Subsequently, on June 24, the aviation minister announced that the qualifications of 262 pilots in Pakistan are “dubious” and thus they will be barred from flying.

The pilots that were in the line of fire included 141 from PIA, nine from Air Blue, and 10 from Serene Airline.

The rest of the 262 belonged to flying clubs or chartered plane services, the aviation minister had said. 

He said all the airlines and the clubs had been conveyed that: “Their credentials are dubious, and they shouldn’t be allowed to fly.”

With the back to back developments causing an international uproar, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) had grounded all Pakistani pilots working in the country.

Vietnam had licensed 27 Pakistani pilots, and 12 of them were still active at that time, while the other 15 pilots’ contracts had expired or were inactive due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the CAAV.

Today at the Web Summit 2020, the European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group) launched a new financing instrument to support artificial intelligence companies across Europe. The co-investment facility of up to €150 million will allow the EIB Group to invest alongside funds backed by the European Investment Fund (EIF) in companies that are active in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector and in technologies that directly complement AI, such as Blockchain, the Internet of Things and robotics.

Europe’s artificial intelligence sector has a multibillion-euro funding gap compared with the United States and China. The facility launched today targets this gap. It complements and builds on EIB and EIF expertise in the sector, developed through the existing €100 million Artificial Intelligence/Blockchain pilot under InnovFin Equity and direct EIB financing for AI companies through its venture debt instrument. The new instrument is part of a larger initiative of the EIB Group and the European Commission to support the development of Europe’s digital future in areas such as high performance computing, quantum technologies and cybersecurity, to name a few.

“The potential of AI is enormous. Today we can already see the initial impact of AI in many areas of our day-to-day lives, but it will be the defining factor for the way we work, study and live in the future,” said EIB Vice-President Teresa Czerwińska, responsible for innovation and digitalisation. “If Europe wants to stay competitive and shape the conditions of AI development and use, while ensuring European values are respected, it needs to embrace AI and lead its development. That is why I am very proud of the new instrument we have launched today. By using our resources and combining the expertise and market access of the EIB and the EIF we are pioneering new ways of financing AI, and helping to encourage more investment in this important sector.”

EIF Chief Executive Alain Godard said: “Artificial intelligence is a key component in a technological revolution that we are already witnessing. There is strong market demand for co-investments in this sector. The EIB’s expertise in assessing individual equity-type investments and the EIF’s market reach and ability to leverage strongly on the fund managers in our portfolio active in the AI domain will ensure that the facility is deployed efficiently.”

European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, said: “Europe has all it takes to become a hub for cutting-edge developments in Artificial Intelligence. We have the talent and a wealth of industrial data – both of which will give us an important comparative advantage in AI if we use them wisely. We are putting a framework in place to leverage our strengths and build trust – including through clear and predictable rules. The co-investment facility announced today will further support companies so that they can grow in the EU thanks to the design and the deployment of trustworthy AI.”

The new funds will be available in the European Union and in Horizon 2020 associated countries and are expected to be deployed during the next four years. By collaborating with private investors, the EIB Group expects to support approximately 20-30 small and medium-sized companies. The focus will be on early and growth-stage companies investing in the development of breakthrough AI applications. The resource allocation to potential co-investments in companies will be considered on a first come, first assessed basis and on the merits of the proposal. By assisting fund managers investing individual tickets of over €1 million in high-growth European companies the new instrument will complement the EIF’s existing fund activities. Additional information on the AI Co-Investment Facility can be found here.

InnovFin Equity is part of InnovFin – EU Finance for Innovators, a generation of EU financial instruments and advisory services developed under Horizon 2020 to help innovative firms access finance more easily. InnovFin Equity provides equity investments and co-investments to or alongside funds focusing on early-stage financing of enterprises operating in innovative sectors covered by Horizon 2020, located or active in the European Union or in Horizon 2020 associated countries.

EIB finances Worldsensing

• • The EU bank supports the start-up’s R&D strategy, focused on innovative growth and market expansion.

• • The company’s product Loadsensing increases reliability, efficiency and safety of critical infrastructures through monitoring within mining, construction and rail.

• • The project is supported by the Investment Plan for Europe and is expected to create 50 new highly skilled jobs in the R&D sector.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide a €10 million financing to support the R&D strategy of the Spanish start-up Worldsensing, a widely recognised Internet of Things (IoT) pioneer that focuses on designing IoT solutions for monitoring sensors and operates in more than 60 countries. The EIB long-term and advantageous financing of Worldsensing will support the company’s innovation efforts aimed at increasing its production capabilities, developing a portfolio of new products and at enhancing the company’s commercial and distribution network.  The agreement was announced today at Web Summit by EIB Vice-President Ricardo Mourinho Félix and Worldsensing CFO David Deprez.

Thanks to the EU bank support, the Barcelona-based start-up will further develop the Loadsensing product portfolio, a battery-powered, wireless, wide-area data transmission solution, to  monitor in near real-time the status of infrastructures, improve efficiency and prevent disasters. The company’s monitoring solution collects sensor data of critical infrastructure, including tailings dams in the mining sector, thus improving the safety of workers that normally collect this data manually and the communities that often live near these sites. Moreover, the EIB backing will enable Worldsensing to not only help preserve monuments in cities and to monitor the status of urban infrastructures, but  will also create safer work environments and address the lack of infrastructure resilience through predicting landslides, floods, infrastructure fatigue and collapse.

EIB Vice-President Ricardo Mourinho Félix, who is responsible for the Bank’s operations in Spain, highlighted: “Preserving our cultural heritage, creating safer work environments and monitoring the status of our infrastructure are only some of the results that can be achieved using Worldsensing’s technology. This is a very good example of a project whose impact will improve our day-to-day life, wellbeing and security. EIB is pleased to support the company’s RDI strategy to further develop its next generation monitoring solution and wide range of important applications. Boosting this type of cutting-edge technologies is critical for the competitiveness of the European economy, not only to face the COVID-19 crisis but also to address Europe’s long-term challenges. The Web Summit is the ideal place to announce these ground-breaking projects.”

Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, said: “This agreement between the EIB and Spanish start-up Worldsensing, supported by the Investment Plan for Europe, shows how technology can be put at the service of society. Thanks to the new financing, Worldsensing will develop a solution to monitor remotely the status of critical infrastructure like bridges and railways: helping to prevent disasters and save lives.”

David Deprez, Chief Financial Officer at Worldsensing, said: “The EIB investment will enable us to accelerate our solution development. As a market leader in the space, we see safeguarding critical infrastructures as a mission that Worldsensing is uniquely positioned to deliver on,” said Deprez. “At this point in our growth, the EIB funding will help us to expand our global footprint and continue driving infrastructure resilience and safety through our partner network.”

Some recent examples of projects where Worldsensing’s technology has been applied include new infrastructure projects like the expansion of the Paris metropolitan underground system, the metro tunnel construction monitoring of the U5 metro line extension in Frankfurt (Germany), and monitoring water wells across one of the largest open pit mines in the world (Chile).

The EIB is financing this RDI project through a venture debt operation backed by the European Growth Finance Facility (EGFF) – a programme loan under Investment Plan for Europe. It is a financing instrument used by the EU bank that supports leading companies in innovative sectors. Since it was launched in 2016, this initiative has granted over €2 billion in financing for projects in areas such as robotics, artificial intelligence and biomedicine. The project will help create 50 new highly skilled R&D jobs in Worldsensing’s headquarter, located in Barcelona (Spain).

Background information:

EIB venture debt

The EIB’s venture debt product is a financing instrument that supports startup and fast-growing innovative companies in cutting-edge technology sectors. It combines the advantages of a long-term loan with a remuneration model based on the company’s performance. Venture debt transactions help strengthen the borrower’s economic capital without diluting the shares of existing investors. The product, developed four years ago in response to market needs, is backed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the financial pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe.

Worldsensing

Worldsensing is a global IoT pioneer. Founded in 2008, the industrial monitoring expert works with over 270 engineering partners in more than 60 countries to provide safety through critical infrastructure monitoring in mining, construction, rail and structural health. The company is a member of the EIT RawMaterials, initiated and funded by the EIT (European Institute of Innovation and Technology), a body of the European Union, and has recently joined the European Raw Materials Alliance.  Worldsensing has more than 80 employees and offices in Barcelona, London, Los Angeles and Singapore and investors include Cisco Systems, Mitsui & Co, McRock Capital and ETF Partners, among others.

About Web Summit

Web Summit is an annual technology conference with more than 70 000 attendees held in Lisbon, Portugal. It is considered one of the largest and most important tech events in the world.