In Germany, Syrians still do not feel fully assimilated after 10 years
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Euronews
4 hours ago
- Euronews
Greek farm fund scandal to impact discharge of Commission's budget
A scandal involving Greek use of EU agricultural funds is set to play a role in the EU Parliament's discharge of the Commission budget later this year, the co-chair of the European Parliament's Intergroup on Anti-Corruption has told Euronews. German Green MEP Daniel Freund was commenting on the "fake farmer" fraud scandal, a sprawling case that has triggered political turmoil in Greece and raised questions over the management of EU agricultural subsidies. The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) announced in May that it has an ongoing investigation into an alleged organised fraud scheme involving agricultural funds and corruption involving public officials of the Greek Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aids (OPEKEPE). Five high-ranking Greek government officials, including a minister and three deputies, resigned on Friday following allegations of involvement in the case, which stems from the alleged mismanagement of EU subsidies for agriculture between 2019 and 2022 by OPEKEPE, a government agency tasked with handling the funds. According to the EPPO, a "significant number of individuals" received subsidies through the agency based on false declarations, including claims of owning or leasing pastures that were in fact public land. 'In September 2024, Greek authorities placed OPEKEPE's accreditation on probation, and an action plan was designed to address the deficiencies identified,' a European Commission spokesperson told Euronews, adding: 'The Commission is working closely with the Greek authorities in this context.' Freund called on the European Parliament's budget control committee to investigate whether the alleged fraud points to deeper structural issues in Greece's management of EU funds. 'This issue will for sure play a role into the discussion on the discharge of the Commission's budget after the summer,' he said. The Commission said it could not comment on ongoing EPPO criminal investigations or criminal trials. Under EU law, member states must accredit only those paying agencies that meet minimum standards for managing EU funds, and if an agency fails to meet these conditions, it must be placed under probation and eventually stripped of its accreditation. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has publicly acknowledged the scandal as 'evidence of the state's inadequacy' in addressing corruption, pledging to establish a special taskforce to conduct a swift and thorough investigation. 'Clientelism cannot govern the way we conduct business,' he told his cabinet, vowing that 'since OPEKEPE didn't manage to do its work, the state will do it centrally.' In June the Athens-based EPPO referred to the Hellenic Parliament information regarding the alleged involvement of two former Ministers of Rural Development and Food in criminal offences. The Greek Constitution provides that only the national Parliament has the power to investigate and prosecute serving or even former members of the Greek government. This legal limitation has forced EPPO to split its investigation, a move the office argues undermines its mandate under EU law. EPPO has reported this issue to the European Commission, suggesting that national legal protections for ministers could limit the EPPO's competence and therefore be in breach of the EU's prosecutorial framework. Former agriculture minister Makis Voridis, who was serving as migration minister until recently, was one of those who resigned last week. 'I hope that the Greek Parliament lifts the immunities of MPs involved, in order to allow a proper investigation,' Freund said.
Euronews
4 hours ago
- Euronews
Poll suggest Europeans want tougher Big Tech EU enforcement
The majority of French, Spanish, and German citizens want stricter EU enforcement of Big Tech, according to a new YouGov survey. Almost two-thirds in France (63%), 59% in Germany, and 49% in Spain said EU enforcement of laws addressing Big Tech's influence and power is too relaxed, when asked to choose between too relaxed, too strict, or about right. Only 7% of respondents in France, 8% in Germany, and 9% in Spain felt the enforcement was too strict. The survey, commissioned by two NGOs—People vs Big Tech and WeMove Europe—follows the EU's 2022 adoption of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA), aimed at regulating tech giants' impact on users and the marketplace. Both regulations are caught up in the trade dispute between the EU and the US, in which the US has described the DSA and DMA as unjustified non-tariff barriers. EU Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera told Euronews last week that the EU would not give in to US pressure on the issue. 'We are going to defend our sovereignty,' Ribera said, adding: 'We will defend the way we implement our rules, we will defend a well functioning market and we will not allow anyone to tell us what to do.' Surprisingly, the survey results also show that the survey participants believed Big Tech holds more power than the EU itself. Half of French respondents (50%), 48% in Germany, and a majority in Spain (55%) believe that Big Tech companies are 'more powerful' or 'slightly more powerful' than the EU. In contrast, only 9% in France, 12% in Germany, and 15% in Spain think tech giants are 'slightly less powerful' or 'much less powerful.' The survey was conducted on a sample of 2,070 respondents in France, 2,323 in Germany, and 2,077 in Spain.
LeMonde
6 hours ago
- LeMonde
In Germany, Syrians still do not feel fully assimilated after 10 years
As soon as the opportunity arose, Amer Alqadi took the subway. He counted 27 stops on Line 7 before getting off at Hermannplatz, in the south of Berlin. He had been advised to go to Neukölln, a working-class neighborhood in the German capital. With another Syrian, he walked along the main thoroughfare, Sonnenallee. Tired of the same bread and cheese handed out every day near the asylum seekers' reception center set up in an old military barracks, they wanted to "eat Arab" or "Mediterranean." Having arrived in Berlin just a few days earlier, Alqadi had found a place in a tent, shared with seven other men. But on that particular day, he was dreaming "of shawarma and falafel," a nostalgic pleasure.
