News

Launched in 1999 and updated regularly, Statewatch News includes our own reporting and writing as well as articles, announcements, documents and analyses from elsewhere on civil liberties, EU policies and state practices. You can receive updates in your inbox by signing up to our mailing list, or use our RSS feed to get instant alerts.

24 February 2020

EU summit collapses as leaders struggle to fill €75bn Brexit hole

"A summit of EU leaders seeking to fill a €75bn hole in the bloc’s budget left by Brexit dramatically collapsed after Angela Merkel led major contributors in rejecting a proposal that would have left them paying billions more."

24 February 2020

Leaked Reports Show EU Police Are Planning a Pan-European Network of Facial Recognition Databases

A report published by The Intercept looks at plans to expand the EU's 'Prüm' network of police databases to include facial recognition technology.

24 February 2020

Balkan spies 'feed' EU's police database via Czechs

"Secret services in at least one non-EU Western Balkan state are indirectly feeding the EU's police database with alerts on suspected foreign terrorist fighters, according to a confidential document seen by this website."

24 February 2020

EU backtracks on plans to ban facial recognition

Unlike a previously-leaked draft, the EU's white paper on artifical intelligence makes no mention of a possible moratorium on facial recognition technology.

24 February 2020

EU stops Operation Sophia and sends warships to stop Libya weapons trafficking

Operation Sophia is to be halted and replaced by a new military mission in the Mediterranean that will focus on enforcing the UN arms embargo on Libya.

24 February 2020

Hungary turns its back on Europe

A report looking at the Hungarian government's undermining of education, science, culture and the media since 2010.

20 February 2020

Eyes wide shut: collective punishment of Roma in 21st-century Europe

Violence, discrimination and intimidation of Roma people continues across Europe. Governments must be forced to take action.

17 February 2020

EU diplomats call for changes to Operation Sophia so "chances to conduct rescue operations are lower"

The European External Action Service (EEAS) has called on EU governments to limit the saving of lives at sea by Operation Sophia. A note sent to the member states' permanent representatives in Brussels says the mission should prioritise the enforcement of a UN arms embargo on Libya, rather than monitoring migrant smuggling activities, and suggests that ships could be placed "at least 100km off the Libyan coast, where chances to conduct rescue operations are lower."

17 February 2020

EU: Joint statement: The new Pact on Asylum and Migration: An Opportunity Seized or Squandered?

Will the new Commission's 'Pact on Asylum and Migration' support the fundamental rights of migrants and refugees?

17 February 2020

New analysis: Spain: Will the new ‘progressive’ government uphold freedom of expression?

Civil liberties in Spain have deteriorated markedly in recent years. Will the new 'progressive' government take action?

17 February 2020

UK: British father pled “not guilty” to terrorism charges for supporting his son, an anti-Daesh YPG volunteer

The father and brother of a man who volunteered to fight for the anti-ISIS Kurdish group the YPG have been charged with terrorism offences.

 

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