The conference on “Fundamental rights, non-discrimination and the protection of vulnerable groups, including LGBTI”, which took place in Albania on 20-21 November 2014, has shown that enlargement countries have improved legal and policy framework for fundamental rights, but that LGBTI citizens remain at risk of discrimination, marginalization or even violence.
Almost half (48.7 percent) of non-EU citizens aged 18 and over were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU28 in 2013, while the levels for citizens of the reporting country, referred to as “nationals”, and for citizens of another EU Member State were much lower (22.8 percent and 28.1 percent respectively), latest Eurostat survey showed.
High Representative Federica Mogherini, Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica, Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides and Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Vera Jourova welcomed in a joint statement global support to the UN Convention on the rights of the child and recalled that children are at the heart of EU policy.
In 2012, more than 800,000 persons acquired citizenship of an EU28 Member State, up by four percent compared to 2011, according to Statistical Office of the European Communities Eurostat.
The European Union Foreign Affairs Council discussed the situation in Ukraine, urging “all parties to fully implement the Minsk documents” and “in particular for respect of the cease-fire, the withdrawal of all illegal forces and military equipment, as well as for securing the Ukrainian-Russian border.”
The European Commission welcomes the results of the G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia (15-16 November 2014) as they help to put the global economy on a sustainable growth path. The EU has been instrumental in achieving these results, the Commission said in a statement.
Federica Mogherini, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Christos Stylianides, Commisioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, condemned the murder of a US aid worker and a number of Syrians, vowing that the EU would spare no effort to bring to justice all perpetrators of human rights abuses and tackle the threat posed by ISIL and other terrorist organisations in Syria and Iraq.
The European Union, a full member of G20 group along with four of its member states – France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom will push for an agreement on a consistent set of growth strategies at the G20 summit in Brisbane (Australia), to be held on November 15-16. At the first G20 summit to focus on supporting economic recovery after years of fighting with global crisis the EU should also work towards strong resultsto deliver outcomes on resilience – completing corefinancial reforms and actions on tax and anti-corruption as well as strengthening cooperation with G20 partners on trade and energy.
Following the landing of the Philae lander on 12 November, Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs ElżbietaBieńkowska congratulated the European Space Agency and the Member States that participate in the Rosetta mission and the Philae lander.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Herman Van Rompuywelcomed the announcement by the Presidents of the United States and China on their respective post-2020 actions.
