Block exclusion on blood donation by gay and bisexual men: a disappointing CJEU ruling

 Alina Tryfonidou, Associate Professor in EU Law, School of Law, University of ReadingIn a much awaited judgment delivered earlier this week in Case C-528/13 Léger, the Court of Justice ruled that permanent Member State bans on the donation of blood by gay and bisexual men which are based merely on the fact that they had had sexual relations with another man, may, in certain circumstances, be justified by the need to ensure a high level of health...

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Fact-checking Nigel Farage: Will the EU’s asylum policies admit half a million terrorists?

Steve PeersYesterday, Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party, arguedthat the EU’s response to the migrant deaths crisis ran the risk of admitting half a million terrorists on to EU soil. He based this claim on the threat of the ‘Islamic State’ (Daesh) terrorists to send such killers to the EU via means of smuggling routes, and demanded that David Cameron veto the EU plans. Do these claims make sense? Not in the slightest. First of...

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Don’t Rock the Boat: EU leaders do as little as possible to address the migrant crisis

 Steve Peers Yesterday the EU leaders, in the European Council, adopted a policy for addressing the recent crisis of large-scale migrant death tolls crossing the Mediterranean. It builds upon the recent 10-point plan adopted by ministers (discussed here), but builds upon it in some respects. There were also some interesting last-minute changes to the earlier draft of the text (all of which are shown in the annex below), indicating leaders’...

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The EU response to migrant deaths: protection and prevention – or policy laundering?

Steve PeersOn Monday, EU foreign and interior ministers adopted a ten-point plan in response to the recent huge death toll of migrants crossing the Mediterranean. There will be a summit on Thursday to examine the issue further, and then an EU Commission strategy proposed on May 13th. But for now, I want to examine the initial plan. Overall, this is a very disappointing document. It’s not only vague on crucial details but more importantly focusses...

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Migrant deaths in the Mediterranean: What can the EU do?

 Steve PeersThe latest tragedies in the Mediterranean add to the enormous and growing death toll of migrants crossing that sea. Today EU ministers will consider the issue as a matter of urgency, and the Commission is due to propose an EU strategy next month. Here are some thoughts as to what parts of the EU response should be. First of all, it is necessary to reinstate a major search and rescue operation. The EU’s ‘Triton’ operation which replaced...

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