Author: Web Master

Workers are now better protected. For the first time in 40 years, the EU has revisited the limit values for occupational exposure to lead and its inorganic compounds, by reducing them fivefold. These reprotoxic substances can affect sexual function and fertility, and they may also damage the nervous system, among other things. In addition, the directive is the first-ever EU legislation to set l...
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Georges Gilkinet and Pierre-Yves Dermagne, federal Ministers for respectively Mobility and Employment, invited the various partners in charge of road transport in Europe to a conference held in Brussels on Friday 23 February to discuss social challenges in the sector and recent control measures. The aim of these new measures is to protect drivers against social dumping, improve road safety and tac...
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On 22 February, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) issued a report that found the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)/Da’esh responsible for a chemical weapons attack on 1 September 2015 in the Marea town in northwest Syria. The report concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that ISIL/Da’esh units fired artillery munitions containing sulphur m...
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EU Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors gathered in Ghent on the 23rd and 24th of February to tackle the EU competitiveness challenge. Dr. Mario Draghi and EIB President Calviño were invited to share their insights. Across three thematic sessions, discussions aimed at identifying possible financing mechanisms to bolster both internal EU competitiveness, as well as the Union’s global compet...
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Following requests for bilateral aid, Belgium, through B-FAST, has decided to offer material support to the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo to help their population cope with the consequences of the recent flooding of the Congo River. These two countries are recurrently affected by flooding, but this year's situation is exceptional due to the extent of the rainfall. In th...
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Hello everybody, it is really great to be here again and to be here in this magnificent stadium. I want to extend my thanks to Vincent and the Belgian presidency for their excellent hospitality, and as I said, for such an original location within which we can do our work. I will quickly run you through the agenda and the content of today's meeting, noting also that we were joined by the chai...
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PRESS RELEASE 24th High Level Meeting of the EU-CELAC Coordination and Cooperation Mechanism on Drugs   The 24th High Level Meeting of the EU-CELAC Coordination and Cooperation Mechanism on Drugs was held on 22 February 2024 in La Paz, Bolivia. The meeting was co-chaired by Annelies Verlinden, the Belgian minister of Home Affairs, in th...
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Today marks a tragic anniversary: that of Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine in manifest violation of international law and the UN Charter. Two years of violence, brutality, terror and destruction. We shall never forget the initial shock of the attack, the horror of the events in Borodianka, Bucha, Mariupol. Yet, in spite of all the continuing atrocities and suffering inflict...
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Dear Chairman, I would like to welcome the African Union’s representatives to their first G20 meeting as a permanent member. In 25 years from now, one out of four people in the world will be living in Africa. That is why an African strong voice is essential when we discuss global challenges. Today, the global landscape is marked by multiple crises, confrontation and escalation. Multipolar...
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This year, Belgium is chairing the Multilateral Organization Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN). Faithful to its strong commitment to multilateralism, our country will assume responsibility for this presidency after Italy (2023), and before the Netherlands (2025). The defence and strengthening of the multilateral system are of particular importance in the current context. The multipli...
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