BRUSSELS: A ban on plastic straws, an end to mobile roaming fees and data protection are beacons among the hundreds of European Union laws adopted in its outgoing five-year legislative term.
The May 23-26 European Parliament elections will kick off a new five-year term for the assembly and the European Commission, the 28-nation EU's executive arm.
The parliament and commission worked with the European Council of member countries to adopt several landmark laws during its last term.
- Plastics ban -
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European lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in March for an EU-wide ban from 2021 on single-use plastic products such as the straws, cutlery and cotton buds that are clogging the world's oceans.
Under the legislation, member countries will recycle up to 90 percent of plastic bottles by 2029 and the EU is strengthening the 'polluter pays' principle to support the cost of waste collection.
- 'Equal pay for equal work' -
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Last year, the EU adopted a reform that limits the time period firms can send workers from low-wage countries to wealthier economies on short-term assignments without paying their host countries' social charges.
Along the principle of "equal pay for equal work," the time is set at 12 months, though it can be renewed for six months.
Wealthier western countries like France, Germany and Austria had complained that rules introduced in 1996 created unfair competition in their markets.
Poland and poorer, mainly eastern countries opposed the rules.
- Copyright -
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The EU adopted copyright reforms championed by news publishers and the media business, but opposed by US tech giants and internet freedom activists who worried it could chill the sharing of information.
The overhaul had triggered unprecedented lobbying from supporters, and opponents like Google which makes huge profits from the advertising generated alongside the content it hosts.
- Private data -
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The bloc last year introduced flagship new data protection laws, which it called the biggest shake-up of data privacy regulations since the birth of the web.
Companies can be fined up to 20 million euros or four percent of annual global turnover for breaches under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Setting new standards in the wake of the Facebook data harvesting scandal, the law says individuals must explicitly grant permission for their data to be used.
It also establishes their "right to know" who is processing their information and what it will be used for, and gives them the "right to be forgotten".
Parents will decide for children until they reach the age of consent, which member states will set anywhere between 13 and 16 years old.
- Roaming charges -
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In 2017, the EU ended roaming charges for Europeans using mobile phones within the bloc, a public relations coup at a time when the bloc faced the ire of populists.
Europeans calling, texting or using the internet when travelling in other EU nations are charged the same as they are at home, instead of higher prices leading to "bill shock" on their return.
- Border guards -
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Since Europe's migration crisis peaked in 2015, the bloc has increased the powers and means of Frontex, the Warsaw-based agency tasked with protecting the EU's external borders.
To back any frontline EU country experiencing a new surge in migrant arrivals, Frontex will have by 2027 a permanent force of 10,000 coast guards and border guards.
Most will be dispatched by EU member countries and Frontex will acquire its own ships and planes.
The Commission had wanted to reach 10,000 around 2020 but it ran up against the reluctance of member countries who were worried about costs and the impact on their sovereignty.
- Counter-terrorism -
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Amid a wave of extremist attacks, the EU adopted in 2016 the Passenger Name Record (PNR), a bloc-wide system to share passenger information to help detect terrorists.
The PNR requires airline firms to share passenger data -- such as travel dates, itineraries, passport details and phone numbers -- with authorities in EU destination countries.
The goal is to detect, for example, individuals who have not been flagged by authorities as presenting a threat but whose travel patterns raise suspicions.
It is then up to one country to alert another or send a specific request for data from another country as part of an investigation.
It applies to flights to and from destinations outside the EU, but member states can also apply them to flights within the bloc.
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