European Parliament

The Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA) is opening an investigation into the leak of the name, photographs and other personal information of a woman who has accused a Greek European Parliament lawmaker of raping her. 

The way has been paved for EU funding of border infrastructure such as the Evros fence in northeastern Greece after an amendment introduced by the European People's Party was voted through in Strasbourg. 

The European Parliament voted on Tuesday to approve sweeping reforms to the European Union's carbon market, which are expected to hike the cost of polluting in Europe in the coming years and cut CO2 emissions faster.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is backing Saturday's planned shutdown of the country's last three operating nuclear power plants, even though one of the smaller partners in his coalition government, the Free Democratic Party (FDP), is proposing to keep the reactors as an energy "reserve," reports DPA, quoted by BTA.

Belgian police and German investigators carried out a raid on Tuesday at the headquarters of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) as part of an investigation in Germany.

The party, which has the most members in the European Parliament, said in a statement that representatives of authorities from Belgian and Germany had visited its headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday.

"Belgian police officers raided the first and third floors of the party's headquarters in Rue du Commerce," the source said.
According to initial information, the police seized the computers as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged corruption during the election campaign for the 2019 EU elections.

BRUSSELS - Serbian First Deputy PM and FM Ivica Dacic kicked off a visit to Brussels on Tuesday with a meeting with MEPs.

Dacic met with shadow rapporteur Demetris Papadakis and the European Parliament's mediator in the dialogue with the Serbian parliament, Matjaz Nemec.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola is expected to announce the launch on Wednesday of the procedure for the waiver of the immunity of Greek MEPs Eva Kaili and Maria Spyraki. 

The announcement during a Plenary of the European Parliament on Wednesday follows a request by the European Public Prosecutor's Office.

A key suspect in a spreading EU graft scandal, former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, has cut a deal to divulge information about countries involved and bribes made, Belgian prosecutors said Tuesday.

Roberta Metsola achieved a number of firsts when she was elected president of the European Parliament a year ago.

She was the first person from Malta, the smallest European Union country, to hold the job; the first woman in 20 years; and, at 43, the youngest president in the Parliament's history.