Blow for Macron as Le Pen tops EU election in France

PARIS -- The far-right National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen finished top in European elections in France, final results showed Monday, dealing a symbolic blow, but not a knock-out punch, to pro-EU President Emmanuel Macron.

Le Pen's National Rally (RN) received 23.31 percent of the vote, with Macron's centrist alliance trailing with 22.41 percent.

The two groups will have the same number of seats in the European Parliament, 23, after Britain's expected departure from the EU.

Le Pen, who lost out to Macron in a bitter presidential contest in 2017, called for the head of state to dissolve the parliament and call new elections, a proposal that was immediately rejected by the government.

"It is up to the president of the republic to draw conclusions, he who put his presidential credit on the line in this vote in making it a referendum on his policies and even his personality," Le Pen said in a brief speech late Sunday.

But despite triumphalist comments from RN figures, the final results were a mixed picture for the 50-year-old Le Pen: her party ended up losing ground since European elections in 2014 when it finished top with 24.9 percent.

In a first reaction after exit polls were released late on Sunday, an aide to Macron called them "respectable". Leading allies of the 41-year-old president sounded satisfied that the margin of defeat looked like it would be slender.

A second-place finish for the ruling Republic on the Move (LREM) party was a disappointment for Macron after he put his reputation on the line by campaigning, but it is a symbolic setback that aides said would have no bearing on his policies.

"The catastrophe that some people predicted for Macron has not taken place and the RN has a significant score, but not a spectacular one when you compare it to five years ago," analyst Zaki Laidi from the Cevipof political institute said.

'TIME FOR ACTION'

An aide to Macron, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said that there would be "no change of line" and that he would intensify his planned reforms which include tax cuts for the middle classes and controversial changes to the pension and unemployment benefits system.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the results confirmed the "redrawing" of French politics, which was evident in the presidential election in 2017 when France's traditional parties were eclipsed by Macron's new centrist movement and the far-right.

"The time is for action because the French people will judge us ultimately on one thing: results," Philippe said in a televised statement on Sunday.

He also said the government had "received a message about the ecological emergency" after France's main green party, EELV, looked set to finish third, with around 13 percent of the vote compared with 8.9 percent in 2014.

Macron had made no secret of the significance he attached to the results, telling regional French newspapers last week that the EU elections were the most important for four decades as the union faced an "existential threat".

He is a leading champion of further EU integration and is keen for further advances to link the economies, militaries and political systems of the bloc, which numbers 28 member states including Britain.

At home, the former investment banker started his 5-year term as an energetic pro-business reformer intent on cutting unemployment and making France more entrepreneurial.

But for 6 months he has faced so-called "yellow vest" protesters who have blocked roads and demonstrated to denounce him as a "president of the rich" who has ignored the plight of the working poor and rural France.

Macron has since announced major tax cuts for the middle classes and a rise in the minimum wage.

ALLIES?

His influence and Le Pen's in the European parliament will now depend on whether they can make alliances.

Le Pen has previously called for the formation of a "supergroup" of eurosceptic parties, but the hard-right ruling party in Poland -- PiS -- has shunned her because of her pro-Russian views, while Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban remains aloof.

"The gains for our allies in Europe and the emergence of new forces across the continent... open the way for the formation of a powerful group in the European parliament," the RN's top campaigner, 23-year-old Jordan Bardella, told supporters on Sunday.

Macron meanwhile is in alliance with the ALDE centrist and liberal grouping which is seen as finishing third in the parliament behind the conservative PPE formation and the center-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D).

But the French president, who redrew French politics in 2017, is still hoping to forge a new broader alliance of pro-European which would bring together so-called "progressives."

"At the European level, the president is still maneuvering to form a large progressive alliance, a force that will be essential in the new parliament," an aide said on condition of anonymity.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'Betrayal': Thousands vent anger on Brexit Day that never was

LONDON--Flying English flags and crying Brexit betrayal, thousands massed outside the British parliament on Friday on what should have been "Independence Day" -- until political paralysis prompted a last-ditch delay.

Nearly 3 years after the divisive referendum that saw 52 percent of voters back leaving the EU, Britain's MPs are at a loss on how, and even whether, the UK can properly leave the bloc.

As lawmakers voted inside to reject Prime Minister Theresa May's agreement struck between London and Brussels -- for a third time -- crowds gathered in the sunshine outside on Parliament Square to demand MPs respect the vote of the majority.

"Brexit hard. Brexit now. Theresa May is a treacherous cow," the crowd chanted.

"This is about democracy. It's that simple. They're playing Russian roulette with our country. I'm so angry about it. I'm 54 and I've never been on a protest in my life," said Debbie, from Billericay, east of London, who was draped in the British flag.

"These Remain MPs have an arrogance. There's going to be a massive kickback against them."

Leave voters milled around holding up placards reading "Trust in politicians is dead" and "What is our liberty for if not to govern ourselves?", while others waved British, English, Welsh, Cornish and other UK flags.

The atmosphere was a mixture of party, wake and protest -- as the vote result triggered shrugs from people whose preference is for Britain to leave the EU with no deal at all.

"Stop the Brexit Betrayal", "Give Our Kingdom Back" and "Free Britain Now" read some of the placards.

QUESTION OF LIBERTY

"This is so much bigger than party politics. It's the fundamental question of what it means to be free. It's 2019 in the UK and we're having to think about our liberty. That worries me," said John Abbott, 37, who traveled down from Nottingham in central England.

"There has been political chicanery and obfuscation by a bunch of rich idiots failing to do their jobs.

Some Leave voters completed a two-week, 270-mile (435-kilometer) protest march from northeast England.

Others were led to the parliament building on the banks of River Thames by Scottish pipe bands and a fishing boat on the back of a truck.

"I'm not going to have my country taken over by a dictatorship," megaphone-wielding Terry Calladine told AFP.

"All the Labour and Conservative MPs are a bunch of frauds that need dragging out by their hair," he said.

"They are opposing what they obtained their seat on. That's about as low as a snake's belly can get."

PARLIAMENT V THE PEOPLE 

Suzanne Evans, a eurosceptic former member of the European Parliament, said the implications of failing to leave the EU on time at 2300 GMT on Friday were severe.

"This was supposed to be a celebration of our Independence Day. They promised us. And now we just can't trust them at all. It's absolutely disgraceful," she said of Britain's MPs.

"It is parliament versus the people. This has gone beyond being about Brexit.

"It's about democracy. It's about does the ballot box still work? From the shenanigans across the road, the answer has to be no. We are in dire straits as a country."

Jan Bowman, a 63-year-old artist Jan, said she would have been carrying "fireworks", rather than a large banner, if Britain had really been leaving the EU on Friday.

Small numbers of fiercely pro- and anti-Brexit demonstrators have kept up a constant presence in Westminster in recent months.

Ardent Brexiteers want Britain to leave the bloc now without any divorce deal in place, falling back on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

At the other end of the political spectrum, europhile London Mayor Sadiq Khan launched a campaign bus on Friday emblazoned with the slogan "We are all Londoners".

"I think we can all agree that Brexit has been a complete and utter mess," the mayor told AFP.

Elsewhere, the Church of England has invited parishioners to "cafe-style meetings" over the weekend in a bid to forge some unity over that most British of things: a cup of tea.

Suitable Bible passages and newly-composed prayers will be chosen under the slogan "Together" to prompt the faithful -- whatever their views about leaving the EU -- to start conversations.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Google fights European copyright overhaul

BRUSSELS -- Internet giant Google on Monday urged the European Parliament to resist approving a planned overhaul of the bloc's online copyright law that the company said would hurt Europe for "decades to come".

European lawmakers could vote as soon as next week on the landmark legislation that is intended to modernize copyright for the digital age but has set off a furious lobbying war in Brussels.

Tech giants, artistic creators and EU member states have battled for three years over the reform, with Google making a last-minute effort to dissuade MEPs from passing the law this month.

The biggest stumbling block has been a provision that calls for Google-owned YouTube and other platforms to remove illegal content using automatic filters, or face massive liability.

Despite certain benefits, this aspect of the reform "creates vague, untested requirements" that would lead to the websites "over-blocking content", said Kent Walker, Google's senior vice president of global affairs in a blog post.

"This would be bad for creators and users, who will see online services wrongly block content simply because they need to err on the side of caution and reduce legal risks," he added.

These "unintended consequences" may "hurt Europe's creative economy for decades to come," he added.

Another bone of contention is a provision to create "neighboring rights" -- that opponents call a link tax -- for media publishers.

News organisations, including AFP, have pushed for the move, arguing that giants like Facebook and Google make billions in revenue from advertising tied to news stories, while publishers suffer.

The planned reform "hurts small and emerging publishers, and limits consumer access to a diversity of news sources," said Walker.

"Under the directive, showing anything beyond mere facts, hyperlinks and 'individual words and very short extracts' would be restricted," he warned.

At first considered a formality, the outcome of the vote in the European Parliament is now highly uncertain.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Brexit: What happens next?

LONDON - Britain's parliament has demanded that Prime Minister Theresa May renegotiate a Brexit divorce deal that the other members of the European Union say they will not reopen.

Less than two months until the United Kingdom is due by law to leave the EU, the options include a disorderly Brexit, a delay to Brexit or no Brexit at all.

Below is a summary of what is due to happen next:

MAY MEETS CORBYN

Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who had refused to hold talks on Brexit with May, said after the vote on Tuesday night that he was now prepared to meet with her.

That meeting is due to take place at 1500 GMT on Wednesday, with a source in his party saying Corbyn would tell May a no-deal exit must be taken off the table and she should pursue his party's "alternative plan" for Brexit.

May's Conservatives do not have a majority in parliament and many of her own lawmakers and the small Northern Irish Party which props up her government oppose her deal as it stands, so winning the support of Labour would help ensure she can get it through parliament.

The meeting is not expected to result in a breakthrough.

MAY SPEAKS TO LAWMAKERS

On Tuesday, lawmakers backed a symbolic call on the government to stop a potentially disorderly no-deal exit, sending a signal that most oppose such a departure. It does not bind the government but May said she would talk to lawmakers to discuss how that outcome could be prevented by securing a deal which parliament could support.

May also said she would engage seriously with a compromise plan put forward by Conservative lawmakers which seeks to draw a line under internal divisions that have so far prevented parliament approving a deal.

It courts Brexiteers with a promise to ditch an unpopular Irish border policy in favour of an alternative, and appeals to remain-supporting Conservatives by pledging safeguards against the risk of disruption if no deal can be agreed with the EU.

MAY SPEAKS TO EU LEADERS

May has said she will speak to the EU to seek the changes demanded by parliament, but she has no confirmed plans to travel to Brussels yet.

EU27 ambassadors are due to meet on Wednesday to discuss Brexit, and May will speak to European Council President Donald Tusk by phone at 1745 GMT on Wednesday.

On Tuesday Tusk said the divorce deal was not up for renegotiation.

May will also speak to Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar later on Wednesday.

NEXT VOTE IN UK PARLIAMENT

May said the government would bring a revised deal back to parliament for a vote as soon as possible. Before the previous vote, parliament held five days of debate but it is not clear whether there would be another lengthy debate before any subsequent vote.

May said that if she did not bring a deal back for a vote by Feb. 13, she would make a statement to parliament and put forward a motion for debate on Feb. 14. Lawmakers will be able to put propose amendments to that motion.

An attempt by Labour lawmaker Yvette Cooper and Conservative Nick Boles to give parliament the power to request a delay to Britain's March 29 exit was defeated by lawmakers on Tuesday, but Boles said he would renew that effort on Feb. 14 if a deal has not been passed by then.

"We remain committed to ensuring that we don't reach the cliff edge on 29 March without a deal," Boles and Cooper said in a statement on Tuesday.

May also said that if she brings a deal back for a vote and it is rejected, she will put forward a motion the following day which lawmakers will be able to propose amendments to.

EU SUMMIT

All EU leaders are due to meet in Brussels on March 21-22. This could be an oppportunity for an eleventh-hour deal, or it would be the last chance to agree an extension of the Article 50 negotiation period and delay Brexit to avoid no-deal disruptions.

EXIT DAY?

If May does not get a deal approved by parliament by March 29, Britain faces a disorderly exit, or may be forced to seek an extension of Article 50 to give more time to reach an agreement. It is not certain the EU would agree to this. Some lawmakers, including Labour leader Corbyn, have said it is now "inevitable" that the government will have to seek an extension regardless, as there will not be enough time to pass the necessary legislation for Britain's exit before March 29. Last week the leader of Britain's lower house of parliament, Andrea Leadsom, said the date might need to be pushed back by a couple of weeks.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS

The bloc will vote to elect a new European Parliament on May 23-26. The new chamber would sit from July 2, a date that is shaping up to be the EU's limit for any extension of Article 50.

The EU says Britain would have to organise European Parliament elections on its soil if it were to delay Brexit beyond that as otherwise its people would be deprived of their democratic representation while still being in the EU. The bloc fears Britain would not do that.

Some in the EU also fear that, should Britain vote, it would elect a staunchly eurosceptic representation to the European Parliament that is already expected to have a larger contingent of EU critics influencing the bloc's policies.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

I'm sorry', Facebook boss tells European lawmakers

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg apologized to the European Parliament on Tuesday for the "harm" caused by a huge breach of users' data and by a failure to crack down on fake news.

But Zuckerberg's appearance failed to satisfy MEPs who accused him of dodging questions and criticized a format that gave the parliament's political leaders far more time to give long-winded speeches.

His livestreamed testimony in Brussels was the latest stop on a tour of apology for the Cambridge Analytica scandal that saw him quizzed for ten hours in the US Congress in April, and will take him to Paris on Wednesday.

Zuckerberg said that while Facebook has brought in new features to connect people, it had become clear in the last two years that they "haven't done enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm".

"And that goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections or developers misusing people's information. We didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility," he said in his opening statement.

"That was a mistake, and I'm sorry for it."

'TOO SLOW' 

The European Parliament invited Zuckerberg in March after Facebook admitted that up to 87 million users may have had their data hijacked by British consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica.

The firm, which was working for US President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, has since declared bankruptcy.

Zuckerberg originally tried to send a junior executive instead but finally bowed to pressure to appear. However he only agreed for it to be livestreamed on Monday after initially insisting on it being behind closed doors.

Appearing calm and unruffled during the 90-minute hearing, Zuckerberg welcomed the EU's sweeping new personal data protection rules, which come into effect in three days, saying that his website would be "fully compliant".

In that spirit, Zuckerberg said Facebook was bringing in new features including a special "clear history" button that would allow them to delete any cookies or browsing history details it stores.

Zuckerberg admitted that Facebook had been "too slow to identify Russian interfering" in the 2016 US presidential ballot but was working with European governments for future elections.

In the run-up to last year's French elections Facebook "found and took down more than 30,000 fake accounts", he said.

'PRE-COOKED' FORMAT 

But some European lawmakers were still unhappy with the format in which Zuckerberg answered questions for only 25 minutes -- half as long as the time it took the parliament's political leaders to get through their long-winded questions.

"Today's pre-cooked format was inappropriate and ensured Zuckerberg could avoid our questions," Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's Liberal leader, tweeted afterwards.

The former Belgian prime minister asked Zuckerberg during the hearing if he wanted to be remembered as a "genius who created a digital monster".

Manfred Weber, the German head of the center-right European People's Party, the largest group in parliament, said the Facebook chief was "not very convincing" and "did not answer all our questions".

But European Parliament President Antonio Tajani -- who invited Zuckerberg and arranged the meeting -- called Zuckerberg's visit a "success" even if he said his apology was "not enough" and required follow up.

Zuckerberg meanwhile pledged that Facebook would make fresh investments to protect its users in the wake of the scandal -- with many of those in Europe where he plans to have 10,000 employees by the end of the year.

"It's going to take time to work through all of the changes we must make. But I'm committed to getting it right, and to making the significant investments needed to keep people safe," he added.

"I expect this will significantly impact our profitability. But I want to be clear: keeping people safe will always be more important than maximising our profits."

Zuckerberg is due to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Wednesday.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

European lawmakers urge immediate release of De Lima

European legislators on Thursday called on the Philippines to immediately free a senator who has waged a decade-long bid to expose hardline President Rodrigo Duterte as the leader of death squads.

Human rights activist Leila de Lima was arrested last month for drug trafficking, in what her allies say were trumped-up charges.

She has said the charges are to silence her probes into thousands of killings allegedly orchestrated by Duterte when he was a city mayor.

The often volatile Duterte won presidential elections last year after promising to eradicate drugs in society by killing tens of thousands of people and reinstating the death penalty.

MEPs in a resolution called "for the immediate release of Senator Leila M. De Lima and for her to be provided with adequate security whilst in detention."

They also strongly condemned "the high number of extrajudicial killings by the armed forces and vigilante groups related to the anti-drug campaign".

The MEPs said they felt "grave concern over credible reports to the effect that the Philippine police force is falsifying evidence to justify extrajudicial killings," the resolution added.

Since Duterte took office in the middle of last year, about 7,000 people have been killed in a crackdown on crime, prompting accusations by rights groups that the president could be overseeing a crime against humanity.

On Thursday Duterte's ruling party stripped a dozen lawmakers of congressional leadership posts for voting against the death penalty, turning up the pressure on his opponents.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Dalai Lama, in Europe, urges 'constructive criticism' of China

STRASBOURG - Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, said on Thursday the European Union should offer "constructive criticism" of China.

Speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, he said he hoped that the Tibetan issue would be resolved but urged the outside world and the European Union in particular not to hold back from criticising Beijing.

Communist troops marched in and took control of Tibet in 1950 in what Beijing calls a "peaceful liberation". The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 following a failed uprising against the Chinese.

"Some constructive criticism is sometime necessary, helpful," the Dalai Lama told reporters.

Beijing denounces the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist who wants an independent Tibet. He denies espousing violence and says he only wants genuine autonomy for his Himalayan homeland.

Contact between the Dalai Lama and foreign governments is frequently a source of friction with Beijing. Although a guest of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the Dalai Lama did not meet French government officials while in France.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

European parliament throws out global pact vs online piracy

STRASBOURG, France - The European parliament massively rejected a controversial global pact to battle counterfeiting and online piracy Wednesday, quashing any possibility of EU ratification.

Twenty-two of the 27 EU states as well as other countries, including the United States and Japan, signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in January but the treaty has yet to be ratified anywhere amid protests that it would curtail Internet freedom.

The parliament ignored European Commission pleas that the treaty was needed to protect the economic interests of companies hit by counterfeiting and online piracy.

Members voted by 478 to 39 against the pact, with 165 abstentions, ignoring a last-minute call by conservatives for them to wait until the European Court rules on its conformity with European Union law.

The run-up to the vote, which followed the line of every parliamentary committee consulted on the pact, saw hundreds of thousands of people demonstrate against ACTA and 2.8 million sign a petition decrying it.

Other signatories to the agreeement include Australia, Canada, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Switzerland.

The European parliament's rapporteur on ACTA, David Martin of Britain, acknowledged the importance of fighting counterfeiting and piracy, but he said the text of the agreement was too vague and hence threatened individual freedoms.

source: interaksyon.com