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Describing Alexei Navalny’s detention on his return to Moscow yesterday as a violation of human rights, President Sassoli underlined that all MEPs support his release.
The President also paid tribute to Lithuanian citizens who defended their independence and freedom thirty years ago on 13 January 1991, when Soviet tanks attacked the Vilnius television tower.
Outgoing MEPs
Cristian Ghinea (Renew, Romania) as of 22 December 2020
Kris Peeters (EPP, Belgium) as of 11 January 2021
Incoming MEPs
Erno Schaller-Baross (EPP, HU) as of 10 January 2021
Alin Mituta (Renew, Romania) as of 28 December 2020
Changes to the agenda
Tuesday
There will be a statement by the EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell on the arrest of Alexei Navalny as the first item in the afternoon. The debate will be wound up with a resolution.
The sitting is extended to 20.00.
Wednesday
The Council and Commission statements on the inauguration of the new President of the United States and the current political situation are changed into European Council and Commission statements.
The information concerning the distribution of votes is available on the website of the European Parliament under the section “Priority information”.
The changes to the agenda with timing of votes can be found here.
Requests by committees to start negotiations with Council and Commission
Decisions by committees to enter into inter-institutional negotiations (Rule 71) are published on the plenary website.
If no request for a vote in Parliament on the decision to enter into negotiations is made by Tuesday 12.00 midnight, the committees may start negotiations.
Information on the extraordinary remote participation procedure is available here.
The European Union condemns the detention of the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny upon his return to Moscow on 17 January and calls for his immediate release. Politicisation of the judiciary is unacceptable and Mr Navalny’s rights must be respected. We also call upon the Russian authorities to immediately release all those journalists and citizens who have been detained in connection to their reporting of, and support of, Mr Navalny upon his return. This detention confirms a continuous negative pattern of shrinking space for the opposition, civil society and independent voices in the Russian Federation. The EU will follow closely the developments in this field and will continue to take this into account when shaping its policy towards Russia.
The European Union has condemned in the strongest possible terms the assassination attempt, through poisoning using a military chemical nerve agent of the “Novichok” group, on Alexei Navalny, to which it responded by imposing restrictive measures on six individuals and one entity. Together with our partners, the European Union will continue to call upon the Russian authorities to urgently investigate the assassination attempt on Mr Navalny in full transparency and without further delay, and to fully cooperate with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to ensure an impartial international investigation.
The European Investment Bank has signed a €100 million loan agreement with Valmet, a Finnish developer and supplier of technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. The financing will support Valmet’s R&D response to important global trends, ranging from enhancing raw materials efficiency to efficiency in the use of water and energy, as well as using renewable raw materials and reducing Valmet’s customers’ emissions. The supported R&D will be carried out in Valmet’s locations in Finland and Sweden.
With this loan, Valmet will co-finance its R&D investments for 2020-2023 on paper and board mills, pulping and fibre technologies, tissue mills, energy production equipment and equipment to produce biofuels and biomaterials. Valmet’s R&D is expected to bring positive environmental impacts in terms of supporting the development of technologies for sustainable energy generation and the wider adoption of renewable raw materials, improving energy and resource efficiency in processing renewable fibre for use in high-value consumer goods by developing more efficient machines that will reduce the environmental load of downstream operations, as well as supporting the production of bio-based materials and fuels.
EIB Vice-President Thomas Östros stated: “Once the ongoing health crisis is behind us, climate challenges will still be there, which is why the EIB is glad to support Valmet’s efforts in this area. Now is the time to look ahead and see how we can modify traditional businesses for a low-carbon future, so it’s good to see that leading companies such as Valmet are taking these challenges very seriously.”
This EIB first supported Valmet back in 2004. More recently, the EIB signed two loans with Valmet in 2015 and 2018.
Valmet Oyj is a leading global developer and supplier of services and technologies for the pulp, paper and energy industries. The technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bio-energy production. Its Services division provides spare parts, plant improvements and turnkey packages as well as maintenance outsourcing solutions. The company has over 200 years of industrial history and was reborn following the demerger of the pulp, paper and power businesses from the Metso Group in December 2013. Valmet is amongst the global market leaders in all its core business segments.
January 18, 2021 Website
EasyFiling – EUIPO’s new e-filing form for trade marks, designed especially for SMEs
On Monday 18 January the EUIPO launched its new e-filing form designed for direct filers (usually small businesses and individual entrepreneurs) from the European Economic Area.
EasyFiling is a new, mobile-friendly application combining artificial intelligence and the latest technologies to simplify e-filing for direct filers. First-time applicants, with little or no knowledge of the EU trade mark application process, will be guided in a way that should prevent mistakes and avoid delays in the registration of their trade mark. An interactive virtual assistant will facilitate, among other things, the selection of pre-approved terms of goods and services and help inexpert filers understand the risks of conflict with similar, pre-registered trade marks.
If you are a business applying for a trade mark for the first time, we encourage you to try out the new service and provide feedback on your experience.
Access the new EasyFiling tool on the Ideas Powered for business web page.
For queries, please contact information@euipo.europa.eu.