Related Research Articles
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solutions companies and projects that achieve the policy aims of the European Union through loans, equity and guarantees.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) is an independent body of the European Union (EU) with juridical personality, established under the Treaty of Lisbon between 23 of the 27 states of the EU following the method of enhanced cooperation. The EPPO was established as a response to the need for a prosecutorial body to combat crimes affecting the financial interests of the European Union (EU). The idea of establishing the EPPO gained momentum with a legislative proposal put forth by the European Commission in 2013. After lengthy negotiations and discussions within the European Council, the European Parliament and Member States, Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 was adopted on October 12, 2017, formalizing the creation of the EPPO. The EPPO Regulation is the EPPO's legal basis, as it outlines the objectives, structure, jurisdiction, and operational procedures. Directive (EU) 2017/1371, also known as the PIF Directive, specifies the criminal offenses affecting the EU's financial interest falling under the EPPO's jurisdiction. The EPPO's primary mandate is to investigate and prosecute offenses such as fraud, corruption, and money laundering that harm the financial interests of the EU, as defined by the PIF Directive. The EPPO represents a significant step towards a more integrated and effective approach to combating transnational crimes within the EU, fostering collaboration and coordination among member states to protect the Union's financial resources. As an independent EU body, the EPPO plays a crucial role in ensuring the rule of law and safeguarding the integrity of the EU's financial system. The EPPO is based in Kirchberg, Luxembourg City alongside the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Auditors (ECA).
Abdalá Jaime Bucaram Ortiz is an Ecuadorian politician and lawyer who was President of Ecuador from 10 August 1996 to 6 February 1997. As President, Abdalá Bucaram was nicknamed "El Loco Que Ama" and was removed from office after being declared mentally unfit to rule by the National Congress of Ecuador on 12 February 1997. He lived in exile in Panama under political asylum laws, then returned to Ecuador in 2017 when the charges against him expired.
Nicos Anastasiades is a Cypriot politician and businessperson, who served as the seventh president of Cyprus from 2013 to 2023. Previously, he was the leader of Democratic Rally between 1997 and 2013 and served as Member of Parliament from Limassol between 1981 and 2013.
Corruption in Sweden has been defined as "the abuse of power" by Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå). By receiving bribes, bribe takers abuse their position of power, which is consistent with how the National Anti-Corruption Unit of the Swedish Prosecution Authority specifies the term. Although bribes and improper rewards are central in the definition of corruption in Sweden, corruption in the sense of "abuse of power" can also manifest itself in other crimes such as misuse of office, embezzlement, fraud and breach of trust against a principal.
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is a global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified in an outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, and spread to other areas of Asia and then worldwide in early 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020, and assessed the outbreak had become a pandemic on 11 March 2020. The WHO ended the PHEIC on 5 May 2023. As of 8 March 2024, the pandemic has caused 7,033,430 confirmed deaths, ranking it fifth in the list of the deadliest epidemics and pandemics in history.
The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and all have reported at least one death, with the exception of Vatican City.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Germany has resulted in 38,437,756 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 174,979 deaths.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Switzerland on 25 February 2020 when the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed following a COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. A 70-year-old man in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino which borders Italy, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The man had previously visited Milan. Afterwards, multiple cases related to the Italy clusters were discovered in multiple cantons, including Basel-City, Zürich, and Graubünden. Multiple isolated cases not related to the Italy clusters were also subsequently confirmed.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Poland was a part of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 strain of coronavirus. As of 21 February 2024, Poland had 6,659,256 confirmed cases and 120,553 deaths due to COVID-19.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Armenia was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Armenia on 1 March 2020 when its first case was reported. It has spread to all of the regions (marz) of Armenia and has caused 4,400 deaths.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The first two cases in Venezuela were confirmed on 13 March 2020; the first death was reported on 26 March. However, the first record of a patient claiming to have symptoms of coronavirus disease dates back to 29 February 2020, with government officials suspecting that the first person carrying the virus could have entered the country as early as 25 February.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Guatemala was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Guatemala in March 2020.
The political impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is the influence that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on politics around the world. The pandemic has affected the governing and political systems of multiple countries, reflected in states of emergency, suspensions of legislative activities, isolation or deaths of multiple politicians and reschedulings of elections due to fears of spreading the virus. The pandemic has triggered broader debates about political issues such as the relative advantages of democracy and autocracy, how states respond to crises, politicization of beliefs about the virus, and the adequacy of existing frameworks of international cooperation. Additionally, the pandemic has, in some cases, posed several challenges to democracy, leading to it being undermined and damaged.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its spread in Europe has had significant effects on some major EU members countries and on European Union institutions, especially in the areas of finance, civil liberties, and relations between member states.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected international relations and has caused diplomatic tensions, as well as resulted in a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding a global ceasefire.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching economic consequences including the COVID-19 recession, the second largest global recession in recent history, decreased business in the services sector during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the 2020 stock market crash, which included the largest single-week stock market decline since the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and the impact of COVID-19 on financial markets, the 2021–2023 global supply chain crisis, the 2021–2023 inflation surge, shortages related to the COVID-19 pandemic including the 2020–present global chip shortage, panic buying, and price gouging. It led to governments providing an unprecedented amount of stimulus. The pandemic was also a factor in the 2021–2022 global energy crisis and 2022–2023 food crises.
Next Generation EU (NGEU) is a European Commission economic recovery package to support the EU member states to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular those that have been particularly hard hit. It is sometimes styled NextGenerationEU and Next Gen EU, and also called the European Union Recovery Instrument. Agreed in principle by the European Council on 21 July 2020 and adopted on 14 December 2020, the instrument is worth €750 billion. NGEU will operate from 2021 to 2026, and will be tied to the regular 2021–2027 budget of the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The comprehensive NGEU and MFF packages are projected to reach €1824.3 billion.
Due to its severity, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused countries to send aid, as part of the international responses and management regarding the pandemic. Types of materials aided includes masks, medical supplies, personal protective equipment, money, and test kits. It started with aid to China as the virus spreads primarily there, and then internationally as it spreads globally. The destination of the aid ranges from hospitals, COVID-19 healthcare workers, research on the vaccine, to societies vulnerable. People donating includes the government of said country, notable people, organizations and institutions, charities, as well as regular people.
The government of Germany has initially responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country with preventive measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 in the country. With the nationwide spread of the disease from March 2020, preventive measures were replaced by containment measures, including a lockdown from March. On 25 March, the Bundestag made the determination of an epidemic situation of national significance. This created a legal framework for the government of chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of the 16 German states to agree on nationwide pandemic restrictions. Implementation of decisions by that panel remained a matter of individual states, however, leading to differences in anti-pandemic rules and regulations across states.
References
- ↑ "Todos los nombres investigados en el caso Koldo... y otros actores salpicados" (in Spanish). 20Minutos. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
- ↑ "Assessing the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain: Large-Scale, Online, Self-Reported Population Survey". NBCI.NLM.NIH.gov. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
- ↑ "Brussels looks into potential misuse of EU funds in Spanish Koldo corruption case". Euractiv.com. 29 February 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.