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World News in Brief: Dignity and justice key to end evil of racial discrimination, methane emissions update, Mpox latest, peacebuilding boost

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World News in Brief: Dignity and justice key to end evil of racial discrimination, methane emissions update, Mpox latest, peacebuilding boost

The international day on Thursday highlights that theme, as well as the importance of recognition, justice and development opportunities for those of African descent, said Secretary-General António Guterres.

He said the results of entrenched racism continue to be devasting: “opportunities stolen; dignity denied; rights violated; lives taken and lives destroyed.”

The African diaspora faces a unique history of systemic and institutionalized racism, and profound challenges, he continued.

“We must respond to that reality – learning from, and building on, the tireless advocacy of people of African descent. That includes governments advancing policies and other measures to eliminate racism against people of African descent.”

Racist algorithms

He also singled out the recent controversy involving some artificial intelligence tools which have reportedly been unable to eliminate racist tropes and stereotypes from even highly advanced algorithms, calling on tech firms to “urgently” address racial bias in AI.

In a joint statement a group of independent UN Human Rights Council-appointed experts said the international day was a time to take stock of “persistent gaps” in the effort to protect hundreds of millions whose human rights continue to be violated due to racial discrimination.

“It is also an opportunity to recommit to our promise to fight all forms of racism everywhere.”

 They noted that racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance continue to be a cause of conflict worldwide.

“We are witnessing a dangerous regression in the fight against racism and racial discrimination in many spaces”, the experts said.

“Minorities, people of African descent, people of Asian descent, Indigenous Peoples, migrants, including asylum seekers and refugees, are particularly vulnerable as they often face discrimination in all aspects of their lives based on their racial, ethnic or national origin, skin colour or descent.”

States must implement international rights obligations, conventions, and declarations to which they are a party, they added. Special Rapporteurs and other rights experts are independent of the UN or any government, and receive no salary for their work.

Tackle methane emissions now, to slow global warming

Tackling emissions of methane now, is essential to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2050, according to a new report issued by the UN-backed Global Methane Forum on Wednesday.

The Forum is meeting in Geneva, hosted by the UN Economic Commission for Europe, the UN Environment Programme-convened Climate and Clean Air Coalition and other partners.

Political momentum is building towards methane mitigation and new technology is allowing more accurate measurement, revealing the urgent need to turn commitment into real cuts, the Forum said in a press release.

Nearly 500 participants from across the world have been sharing success stories to catalyze methane emission reductions in line with the Global Methane Pledge, which aims to reduce emissions by at least 30 per cent from 2020 levels up to end of this decade. It now has 157 countries and the European Union on board.

A powerful greenhouse gas, methane has a warming effect over 80 times greater than CO2 over a 20-year timeframe, which means action to cut emissions now can unlock significant near-term benefits for climate action.

The gas is responsible for around 30% of total warming since the Industrial Revolution and is the second largest contributor to global warming after CO2.

Turning pledges into action

UNECE Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean opened the plenary session on Tuesday by making a global call to mobilize more ambitious action: “Hand in hand with decarbonization of energy systems, methane emissions need to be addressed in governments’ plans for stronger climate action.”

Meeting the Global Methane Pledge goals could reduce global warming by at least 0.2° C by 2050.

“In view of the devastation and suffering caused by extreme weather events, in particular in the most vulnerable countries, the world can simply not afford to miss this opportunity”, she added.

Mpox deaths falling everywhere but Africa, says expert panel

Cases of Mpox are falling everywhere except in Africa, a UN health agency expert panel has said, warning that the virus is causing “high mortality” in children under 15 years old.

The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization meeting in Geneva to advise the World Health Organization (WHO) noted that the African Mpox strain appears to have a different genetic blueprint to other outbreaks reported around the world.

Experts on the panel highlighted the need to monitor and find the source of an ongoing outbreak of Mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo which has been linked to 265 deaths.

WHO’s Dr Kate O’Brien said the agency was encouraging countries to be proactive, “in particular the Democratic Republic of Congo, to have access to the vaccine, to use the vaccine and to do evaluations of the vaccine performance, which we expect to be very high.”

Vaccines should be used in at-risk communities and in non-high risk populations, the panel said.

But experts highlighted the problems caused by poor vaccine access in parts of Africa and urged greater investment in vaccine research on M-pox.

The WHO announced that Mpox was no longer a public health emergency last May.

Demand for peacebuilding outstrips supply

Amidst an intensification and multiplication of crises, the demand for support to UN peacebuilding continues to outstrip supply, the Secretary-General said in a new report published on Wednesday.

“The wars grabbing the headlines today only underscore the need to invest now in sustainable peace for tomorrow”, said António Guterres.

Covering the period from 1 January to 31 December, the report highlights that in 2023 the Peacebuilding Fund approved over $200 million for projects in 36 countries and territories, including for women’s and youth empowerment.

Redouble peacebuilding efforts

While the decision of the General Assembly to provide assessed contributions to the Fund starting in 2025 marked a milestone, the Fund reached its lowest liquidity level since its inception due to a decline in contributions last year.

“This is a time to redouble, not diminish, peacebuilding efforts”, said Assistant-Secretary General for Peacebuilding Support Elizabeth Spehar.

“This year’s report shows again that peacebuilding works: stronger institutions and inclusive dialogues help break and prevent cycles of violence.”

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The media in Mali are no longer allowed to cover the activities of political parties

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The decision rests with the military junta that has seized power

The junta in Mali continued with its restrictions on political life in the country and banned the media from covering the activities of political parties, reported AFP. This decision came a day after the junta suspended the activities of political parties in Mali.

The military, which overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita a few years ago, announced that until further notice they were suspending the activities of political parties and associations guilty of subversive activity, according to them.

Now the High Communication Authority, which regulates the activities of local media, has asked them to stop covering the activities of the parties. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed deep concern over the suspension of the parties. And US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller criticized the decision and called on Mali to hold elections.

Illustrative Photo by brotiN biswaS: https://www.pexels.com/photo/selective-focus-photography-of-magazines-518543/

This tiny chip can safeguard user data while enabling efficient computing on a smartphone

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A new chip can efficiently accelerate machine-learning workloads on edge devices like smartphones while protecting sensitive user data from two common types of attacks — side-channel attacks and bus-probing attacks. Credits:Image: Chip figure courtesy of the researchers; MIT News

Researchers have developed a security solution with this tiny chip for power-hungry AI models that offers protection against two common attacks.

Health-monitoring apps can help people manage chronic diseases or stay on track with fitness goals, using nothing more than a smartphone. However, these apps can be slow and energy-inefficient because the vast machine-learning models that power them must be shuttled between a smartphone and a central memory server.

Engineers often speed things up using hardware that reduces the need to move so much data back and forth. While these machine-learning accelerators can streamline computation, they are susceptible to attackers who can steal secret information.

To reduce this vulnerability, researchers from MIT and the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab created a machine-learning accelerator that is resistant to the two most common types of attacks. Their chip can keep a user’s health records, financial information, or other sensitive data private while still enabling huge AI models to run efficiently on devices.

The team developed several optimizations that enable strong security while only slightly slowing the device. Moreover, the added security does not impact the accuracy of computations. This machine-learning accelerator could be particularly beneficial for demanding AI applications like augmented and virtual reality or autonomous driving.

While implementing the chip would make a device slightly more expensive and less energy-efficient, that is sometimes a worthwhile price to pay for security, says lead author Maitreyi Ashok, an electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) graduate student at MIT.

“It is important to design with security in mind from the ground up. If you are trying to add even a minimal amount of security after a system has been designed, it is prohibitively expensive. We were able to effectively balance a lot of these tradeoffs during the design phase,” says Ashok.

Her co-authors include Saurav Maji, an EECS graduate student; Xin Zhang and John Cohn of the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab; and senior author Anantha Chandrakasan, MIT’s chief innovation and strategy officer, dean of the School of Engineering, and the Vannevar Bush Professor of EECS. The research will be presented at the IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference.

Side-channel susceptibility

The researchers targeted a type of machine-learning accelerator called digital in-memory compute. A digital IMC chip performs computations inside a device’s memory, where pieces of a machine-learning model are stored after being moved over from a central server.

The entire model is too big to store on the device, but by breaking it into pieces and reusing those pieces as much as possible, IMC chips reduce the amount of data that must be moved back and forth.

But IMC chips can be susceptible to hackers. In a side-channel attack, a hacker monitors the chip’s power consumption and uses statistical techniques to reverse-engineer data as the chip computes. In a bus-probing attack, the hacker can steal bits of the model and dataset by probing the communication between the accelerator and the off-chip memory.

Digital IMC speeds computation by performing millions of operations at once, but this complexity makes it tough to prevent attacks using traditional security measures, Ashok says.

She and her collaborators took a three-pronged approach to blocking side-channel and bus-probing attacks.

First, they employed a security measure where data in the IMC are split into random pieces. For instance, a bit zero might be split into three bits that still equal zero after a logical operation. The IMC never computes with all pieces in the same operation, so a side-channel attack could never reconstruct the real information.

But for this technique to work, random bits must be added to split the data. Because digital IMC performs millions of operations at once, generating so many random bits would involve too much computing. For their chip, the researchers found a way to simplify computations, making it easier to effectively split data while eliminating the need for random bits.

Second, they prevented bus-probing attacks using a lightweight cipher that encrypts the model stored in off-chip memory. This lightweight cipher only requires simple computations. In addition, they only decrypted the pieces of the model stored on the chip when necessary.

Third, to improve security, they generated the key that decrypts the cipher directly on the chip, rather than moving it back and forth with the model. They generated this unique key from random variations in the chip that are introduced during manufacturing, using what is known as a physically unclonable function.

“Maybe one wire is going to be a little bit thicker than another. We can use these variations to get zeros and ones out of a circuit. For every chip, we can get a random key that should be consistent because these random properties shouldn’t change significantly over time,” Ashok explains.

They reused the memory cells on the chip, leveraging the imperfections in these cells to generate the key. This requires less computation than generating a key from scratch.

“As security has become a critical issue in the design of edge devices, there is a need to develop a complete system stack focusing on secure operation. This work focuses on security for machine-learning workloads and describes a digital processor that uses cross-cutting optimization. It incorporates encrypted data access between memory and processor, approaches to preventing side-channel attacks using randomization, and exploiting variability to generate unique codes. Such designs are going to be critical in future mobile devices,” says Chandrakasan.

Safety testing

To test their chip, the researchers took on the role of hackers and tried to steal secret information using side-channel and bus-probing attacks.

Even after making millions of attempts, they couldn’t reconstruct any real information or extract pieces of the model or dataset. The cipher also remained unbreakable. By contrast, it took only about 5,000 samples to steal information from an unprotected chip.

The addition of security did reduce the energy efficiency of the accelerator, and it also required a larger chip area, which would make it more expensive to fabricate.

The team is planning to explore methods that could reduce the energy consumption and size of their chip in the future, which would make it easier to implement at scale.

“As it becomes too expensive, it becomes harder to convince someone that security is critical. Future work could explore these tradeoffs. Maybe we could make it a little less secure but easier to implement and less expensive,” Ashok says.

Written by Adam Zewe

Mass graves in Gaza show victims’ hands were tied, says UN rights office

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WHO - People gather outside the remains of Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest health facility. (file)

Disturbing reports continue to emerge about mass graves in Gaza in which Palestinian victims were reportedly found stripped naked with their hands tied, prompting renewed concerns about possible war crimes amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday.

The development follows the recovery of hundreds of bodies “buried deep in the ground and covered with waste” over the weekend at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, central Gaza, and at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in the north. A total of 283 bodies were recovered at Nasser Hospital, of which 42 were identified. 

“Among the deceased were allegedly older people, women and wounded, while others were found tied with their hands…tied and stripped of their clothes,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. 

Al-Shifa discovery

Citing the local health authorities in Gaza, Ms. Shamdasani added that more bodies had been found at Al-Shifa Hospital.

The large health complex was the enclave’s main tertiary facility before war erupted on 7 October. It was the focus of an Israeli military incursion to root out Hamas militants allegedly operating inside which ended at the beginning of this month. After two weeks of intense clashes, UN humanitarians assessed the site and confirmed on 5 April that Al-Shifa was “an empty shell”, with most equipment reduced to ashes.

“Reports suggest that there were 30 Palestinian bodies buried in two graves in the courtyard of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City; one in front of the emergency building and the others in front of the dialysis building,” Ms. Shamdasani told journalists in Geneva.

The bodies of 12 Palestinians have now been identified from these locations at Al-Shifa, the OHCHR spokesperson continued, but identification has not yet been possible for the remaining individuals. 

“There are reports that the hands of some of these bodies were also tied,” Ms. Shamdasani said, adding that there could be “many more” victims, “despite the claim by the Israeli Defense Forces to have killed 200 Palestinians during the Al-Shifa medical complex operation”.

200 days of horror

Some 200 days since intense Israeli bombardment began in response to Hamas-led terror attacks in southern Israel, UN human rights chief Volker Türk expressed his horror at the destruction of Nasser and Al-Shifa hospitals and the reported discovery of mass graves. 

“The intentional killing of civilians, detainees and others who are hors de combat is a war crime,” Mr. Türk said in a call for independent investigations into the deaths.

Mounting toll

As of 22 April, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including 14,685 children and 9,670 women, the High Commissioner’s office said, citing the enclave’s health authorities. Another 77,084 have been injured, and over 7,000 others are assumed to be under the rubble. 

“Every 10 minutes a child is killed or wounded. They are protected under the laws of war, and yet they are ones who are disproportionately paying the ultimate price in this war,” said the High Commissioner. 

Türk warning

The UN rights chief also reiterated his warning against a full-scale Israeli incursion of Rafah, where an estimated 1.2 million Gazans “have been forcibly cornered”.

“The world’s leaders stand united on the imperative of protecting the civilian population trapped in Rafah,” the High Commissioner said in a statement, which also condemned Israeli strikes against Rafah in recent days that mainly killed women and children.

This included an attack on an apartment building in the Tal Al Sultan area on 19 April which killed nine Palestinians “including six children and two women”, along with a strike on As Shabora Camp in Rafah a day later that reportedly left four dead, including a girl and a pregnant woman.

“The latest images of a premature child taken from the womb of her dying mother, of the adjacent two houses where 15 children and five women were killed, this is beyond warfare,” said Mr. Türk.

The High Commissioner decried the “unspeakable suffering” caused by months of warfare and appealed once again for “the resulting misery and destruction, starvation and disease and the risk of wider conflict” to end. 

Mr. Türk also reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all remaining hostages taken from Israel and those held in arbitrary detention and the unfettered flow of humanitarian aid.

A young girl is transferred from the Kamal Adwan hospital, in the far north of Gaza to a hospital in the south of the enclave. (file)
© WHO – A young girl is transferred from the Kamal Adwan hospital, in the far north of Gaza to a hospital in the south of the enclave. (file)

Massive settler attacks in West Bank

Turning to the West Bank, the UN rights chief said that grave human rights violations had continued there “unabated”. 

This was despite international condemnation of “massive settler attacks” between 12 and 14 April “that had been facilitated by the Israeli Security Forces (ISF)”.

Settler violence has been organized “with the support, protection, and participation of the ISF”, Mr. Türk insisted, before describing a 50-hour long operation into Nur Shams refugee camp and Tulkarem city starting on 18 April.

“The ISF deployed ground troops, bulldozers and drones and sealed the camp. Fourteen Palestinians were killed, three of them children,” the UN rights chief said, noting that 10 ISF members had been injured.

In a statement, Mr. Türk also highlighted reports that several Palestinians had been unlawfully killed in the Nur Shams operation “and that the ISF used unarmed Palestinians to shield their forces from attack and killed others in apparent extrajudicial executions”. 

Dozens were reportedly detained and ill-treated while the ISF “inflicted unprecedented and apparently wanton destruction on the camp and its infrastructure”, the High Commissioner said.

Rule of Law in Hungary: Parliament condemns the “Sovereignty Act”

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European Parliament - Press conference EP LIBE delegation to Hungary, Budapest

A new resolution on the rule of Law in Hungary pinpoints several concerns, especially given the upcoming elections and the Hungarian Presidency of the Council.

Wrapping up the plenary debate that took place on 10 April, Parliament adopted on Wednesday (399 votes in favour, 117 against, and 28 abstentions) its final resolution in the current legislative term assessing democracy in Hungary. The text denounces serious deficiencies related to the justice system, anti-corruption and conflicts of interest, media freedom, fundamental rights, the constitutional and electoral system, the functioning of civil society, the protection of the EU’s financial interests, and compliance with the single market principles.

Concerns about the Sovereignty Protection Office

Looking into the latest instances of the “persistent systemic and deliberate breach” of EU values in the country, Parliament condemns the adoption of the Protection of National Sovereignty Act and the establishment of the Sovereignty Protection Office (SPO). The SPO has “extensive powers and a strict system of surveillance and sanctions, which fundamentally violates standards of democracy […] and breaches multiple EU laws”, Parliament says. MEPs ask the Commission to request the EU Court of Justice for interim measures to immediately suspend the law, as it affects the principle of free and fair elections.

An incomprehensible decision by the Commission

In light of all this, MEPs deplore the Commission’s decision to release up to €10.2 billion frozen EU funds, which prompted Parliament to appeal to the EU Court of Justice. The recent leaked revelations by Hungary’s former minister of justice should lead the Commission to revoke the disbursement of EU funds, the text states. Besides, MEPs stress that it is incomprehensible to release funds citing improvements to the independence of the judiciary, while funds covered by different EU laws remain blocked due to ongoing deficiencies in the same field.

Need to protect EU institutions

MEPs reiterate the need to determine whether Hungary has committed “serious and persistent breaches of EU values” under the more direct procedure of Article 7(2) instead of the Article 7(1) process that Parliament initiated in 2018 and that remains blocked in the Council. They also worry that the Hungarian Government will not be able to credibly fulfil its duties in the Presidency of the Council in the second half of 2024 and call yet again for a comprehensive mechanism to protect EU values.

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New EU rules to combat money-laundering adopted | News

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New EU rules to combat money-laundering adopted | News

The new laws ensure that people with a legitimate interest, including journalists, media professionals, civil society organisations, competent authorities, and supervisory bodies, will have immediate, unfiltered, direct and free access to beneficial ownership information held in national registries and interconnected at EU level. In addition to current information, the registries will also include data going back at least five years.

The laws also give Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) more powers to analyse and detect money laundering and terrorist financing cases as well as to suspend suspicious transactions.


Wide-reaching due diligence

The new laws include enhanced due diligence measures and checks on customers’ identity, after which so-called obliged entities (e.g. banks, assets and crypto assets managers or real and virtual estate agents) have to report suspicious activities to FIUs and other competent authorities. From 2029, top-tier professional football clubs involved in high-value financial transactions with investors or sponsors, including advertisers and the transfer of players will also have to verify their customers’ identities, monitor transactions, and report any suspicious transaction to FIUs.

The legislation also contains enhanced vigilance provisions regarding ultra-rich individuals (total wealth worth at least EUR 50 000 000, excluding their main residence), an EU-wide limit of EUR 10 000 on cash payments, except between private individuals in a non-professional context, and measures to ensure compliance with targeted financial sanctions and avoid sanctions being circumvented.


Central watchdog

To supervise the new rules on combatting money laundering, a new authority – the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLA) – will be established in Frankfurt. AMLA will be charged with directly supervising the riskiest financial entities, intervening in case of supervisory failures, acting as a central hub for supervisors and mediating disputes between them. AMLA will also supervise the implementation of targeted financial sanctions.

The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) package consists of the sixth Anti-Money Laundering (AML) directive (adopted with 513 votes in favour, 25 against, and 33 abstentions), the EU “single rulebook” regulation (adopted with 479 votes in favour, 61 against, and 32 abstentions), and the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) regulation (adopted with 482 votes in favour, 47 against, and 38 abstentions).


Next steps

The laws still need to be formally adopted by the Council, too, before publication in the EU’s Official Journal.

By adopting the law, Parliament is responding to the demands of citizens put forward in the conclusions of the Conference of the Future of Europe, notably proposal 16(1) and 16(2) on preventing tax evasion and cooperating on corporate taxation.

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Parliament approves a revision of the EU’s common agricultural policy | News

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Parliament approves a revision of the EU’s common agricultural policy | News

On Wednesday, Parliament approved a review of the CAP Strategic Plans Regulation and the CAP Horizontal Regulation with 425 votes in favour, 130 against, and 33 abstentions. MEPs adopted the draft law with technical modifications proposed by the Council and endorsed by the Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture on 15 April 2024.

Next steps

The regulation now has to be approved by Council. The Belgian Presidency of the Council has informed Parliament that if MEPs endorse the proposal in the form agreed by the Council’s Special Committee on Agriculture, the Council will adopt the same text.

Following the approval by the Council, the law will be published in the EU Official Journal and enter immediately into force. Farmers will already be allowed to apply revised environmental “conditionalities” for their claims for EU financial support in 2024.

Background

The CAP review changes the rules for three environmental conditionalities farmers must adhere to in order to receive funding. It also provides more flexibility for EU countries to grant exemptions from CAP standards if there are problems with applying them and in case of issues caused by extreme weather. Small farms under 10 hectares would be exempt from controls and penalties for non-compliance with some CAP rules.

To speed up the adoption of the measures, the Parliament has agreed to deal with the file under its so-called urgent procedure.

Parliament decided on Tuesday to not object to the Commission proposal complementing the CAP simplification package. According to the text, member states will have more leeway when applying the CAP requirement to keep the ratio of permanent grassland to agricultural area above 5% compared to 2018 (GAEC 1).

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Parliament celebrates the 20th anniversary of the EU’s biggest enlargement | News

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Parliament celebrates the 20th anniversary of the EU’s biggest enlargement | News

EP President Roberta Metsola, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, former EP President Pat Cox, and former Commission President Romano Prodi participated in a formal sitting of Parliament to mark the 20th anniversary of the 2004 EU enlargement.

Addressing the ceremony, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said:

”In these past two decades, Europe has been met with unprecedented challenges. Together, we have managed to meet them head-on. I know how tempting it was, in the most difficult of moments, for each one of us to go at it alone, and yet we resisted. Because we understood that even with all of its frustrations and imperfections, the European Union is still the best guarantee for all our people.

The transformative effect of EU enlargement on the lives of generations of Europeans is without any doubt. It is evident in each and every one of our Member States. From the enforceable rights afforded to its citizens to the opportunities that are offered to young and old alike. From the Single Market that is strengthening our economies to our cohesion policy that realises our commitment to the equality of Europeans. Joining the European Union is not just about transposing legislation. It goes much deeper and far beyond that.

Unity does not mean being homogenous. Europe does not seek to make everyone the same. We are proud of our differences. Proud of our unique traditions, our cultures, our languages and our diversity. We have proven that over the past 20 years.

Rather, Europe is about embracing differences while ensuring equality of opportunity. Everyone must have the same chance, not necessarily the same viewpoint. That is our strength. That is our Europe. And that is why membership is a win-win for all. Europe may have changed each one of its Member States since 2004. But each and every one of those Member States has equally changed Europe.”

The present and former EU leaders were joined by the former European Commissioner for Enlargement Günter Verheugen and representatives from the ten countries, that joined the EU 20 years ago:

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus Georgios Iacovou

Former Prime Minister of Hungary Péter Medgyessy

Former President of Latvia Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Antanas Valionis

Former Prime Minister of Malta Lawrence Gonzi

Former Chief Negotiatior for Malta’s European Union Accession Negotiations Richard Cachia Caruana

Former Prime Minister of Slovenia Anton Rop Former Prime Minister of Slovakia Mikuláš Dzurinda

Former Prime Minister of Poland Leszek Miller

Former Minister of Foregn Affairs of Estonia Kristiina Ojuland

Former Chief Negotiatior for the Czech Republic’s European Union Accession Negotiations Pavel Telička

During the ceremony, the guests answered questions from a group of young people from the then-new member states and born on or around 1 May 2004 and present in Strasbourg.

The ceremony ended with Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, performed by the Voix de Stras’ acapella choir.

Watch the video recording of the event.

Background

On 1 May 2004, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined the European Union. It was the biggest enlargement in the EU’s history.

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MEPs approve aid worth €3 million for 835 dismissed steel workers in Germany | News

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MEPs approve aid worth €3 million for 835 dismissed steel workers in Germany | News

European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF). MEPs acknowledged that the “COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine have reduced economic competitiveness and have a negative impact on economic growth in Germany”.

Following years of financial losses, a number of restructuring and downsizing measures and a dedicated recovery plan were launched in 2018. In 2021, Vallourec S.A. in France decided to sell its tube mills in Mülheim an der Ruhr, in the Ruhr area, and to move offshore production to Brazil. The sale failed, leading to the definitive closure of the sites and resulting in the remaining workforce losing their jobs by 1 January 2025.

National co-financing

The support is to facilitate the reintegration of the affected workers into the labour market, acknowledging the structural shifts in the global steel industry and the local impact on employment. The total cost of the proposed measures is €4.97 million, with the EGF covering 60% (€2.98 million) and the remaining funds being provided by German national sources.

Tailor-made support for dismissed workers

The support entails guidance, including counselling and vocational orientation, job search assistance like job scouting and participation in job fairs, as well as training offers. Former workers can also receive funding of up to €22 000 to start their own business. They can receive allowances when they participate in support measures such as training courses, and bonus payments or salary top-ups when they start a new job.

Next steps

The report by Jens Geier (S&D, DE) recommending that Parliament approve the aid was passed by 602 votes, 24 against and 3 abstentions.

Background

The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) is a special EU instrument to express EU solidarity with European workers or the self-employed that were dismissed due to restructuring, and to help them find new jobs. As a general rule, the EGF can be activated when a single company (including its suppliers and downstream producers) lays off over 200 workers, by SMEs in various sectors in the same region or in a particular sector in one or more neighbouring regions. The EGF has an annual budget of €210 million for 2021-2027. It can fund from 60% to 85% of the cost of projects designed to help workers made redundant find another job or set up their own businesses. National or regional authorities implement and manage EGF cases. Each project runs for two years.

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Parliament adopts EU-wide Disability and Parking Cards | News

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Parliament adopts EU-wide Disability and Parking Cards | News

The new rules, adopted with 613 votes in favour, 7 against and 11 abstentions and already agreed on by the Parliament and the Council, will establish an EU-wide disability card to make sure that persons with disabilities have equal access to preferential conditions, such as reduced or zero entry fees, priority access and access to reserved parking.

Both cards will grant card holders, as well as those accompanying them and assistance animals, access to most of the same conditions as national card holders. The new rules will only apply for short stays, with an exception for disability card holders that move to another member state for a mobility programme, such as Erasmus+.

European Disability Card

The European Disability Card will be issued in physical format and, when available, in digital format, and will be issued and renewed free of charge. Depending on the country, costs could be charged for loss and damaging the card.

European Parking Card for persons with disabilities

The European Parking Card for persons with disabilities will be issued in physical form. EU countries are encouraged to also issue the card in a digital format, and may choose to charge a fee for the administrative costs of issuing and renewing the card.

Access to information

The directive demands EU countries and the Commission to raise citizens’ awareness about the cards, including by setting up a central European website. This website will be linked to national websites, containing information on how to obtain, use and renew the cards and information on preferential conditions.

Third-country nationals in the EU

Parliament also endorsed the provisional agreement between Parliament and Council on the extension of the EU Disability and Parking Cards to third-country nationals legally residing in the EU with 607 votes in favour, 8 votes against and 17 abstentions.

This proposal extends both cards to third-country nationals legally residing in the member states, including asylum-seekers and stateless persons, and their personal assistants, regardless of their nationality.

Quote

Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová (Renew, SK), rapporteur, said: “The EU must advocate for equal rights for persons with disabilities within the EU. I am particularly proud that the cards will now cover certain stays longer than three months so that individuals with disabilities will have access to the card when they study abroad. The significance of the European Disability Card extends beyond simply facilitating travel; it embodies the EU’s commitment to ensuring free movement for all Europeans.”

Next steps

The agreed text will now have to be formally adopted by the Council, too, before publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and entry into force.

With the adoption of these proposals, Parliament is responding to citizens’ expectations on anti-discrimination, equality and quality of life, and inclusive labour markets, as expressed in proposals 29 and 14 of the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

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