#EU

7 posts from the 2021–2022 archive.

Law ·

Fed gov of Austria ordered a lockdown for non-vaccinated people

Barred from leaving their homes, with threat of a $500 fine. Applies to anyone not 'fully vaccinated' or previously infected.

65% of the country is vaccinated.


Protests:


Law ·

EU (ECJ) fines Poland 1m Euros per day

In Poland there's a disciplinary chamber that, critics say, can make judges leave if they don't follow the 'right wing' party line.

The chamber, EU says, violates EU law because it compromises the independence of the judiciary in Poland.

ECJ decided this last summer and Poland accepted it, but Poland didn't really take any steps to remove the chamber.

The method of fines is standard for the EU when a country does something they don't like, but usually the countries fall into line.

In September, one of Poland's high courts (with ties to government it is said) also decided Poland's courts can overrule the ECJ.

Law ·

EU majority vote against mass surveillance through facial recognition

... such as that used by police. It's called 'biometric surveillance.'

It's not a law against, that they voted for. It's more of a statement against the idea.

Economics ·

EU fined WhatsApp (FB) $270m for privacy violations

Someone commented that until it's over a billion or double-digit billions FB will view these fines as costs of doing business, and that the EU is using the company as an ATM.

#BigTech #EU #Law

Technology ·

EU border wall, sound weapons, AI lie detection

In order to keep out migrants several EU countries are building border walls (nevermind their negative response to the 2017 Trump proposal), employing sound cannons, and working on an AI lie detection tool.

Analysts have commented that often these types of tools, implemented for such causes as migrants, are tested out before being turned on the citizens of the countries that built them.

They also note that the steps will possibly result in more deaths, as the migrants will turn to smugglers and other more dangerous methods of entering Europe.

World ·

EU Parliament threatens Russian oil sector

The EP, responding to Russian military buildups on the Ukraine border, passed a resolution that "demands that Russia immediately end the practice of unjustified military build-ups targeted at threatening its neighbors."

The EU stated that other countries should supply more arms to Ukraine, and threatened that if Russia invaded Ukraine the EU "imports of oil and gas from Russia to the EU be immediately stopped, while Russia should be excluded from the SWIFT payment system, and all assets in the EU of oligarchs close to the Russian authorities and their families in the EU need to be frozen and their visas cancelled."

Russia responded by saying it was ready to be shut off from Swift.

SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is a transaction network that connect thousands of banks in over 200 countries. Russia's central bank has its own transaction network, SPFS (System for Transfer of Financial Messages) but outside of Russia only 8 banks use it.
"demands that Russia immediately end the practice of unjustified military build-ups targeted at threatening its neighbours."

Read more on UNIAN: https://www.unian.info/world/russian-aggression-ep-resolution-proposes-switching-off-swift-for-russia-if-kremling-invades-ukraine-11406190.html
It also "demands that Russia immediately end the practice of unjustified military build-ups targeted at threatening its neighbours."

Read more on UNIAN: https://www.unian.info/world/russian-aggression-ep-resolution-proposes-switching-off-swift-for-russia-if-kremling-invades-ukraine-11406190.html
It also "demands that Russia immediately end the practice of unjustified military build-ups targeted at threatening its neighbours."

Read more on UNIAN: https://www.unian.info/world/russian-aggression-ep-resolution-proposes-switching-off-swift-for-russia-if-kremling-invades-ukraine-11406190.html