The U.S. and British governments on Monday announced sanctions against a company and two people linked to the Chinese government over a string of malicious cyberactivity targeting the U.K.’s election watchdog and lawmakers in both countries.

Officials said those sanctioned are responsible for a hack that may have gained access to information on tens of millions of U.K. voters held by the Electoral Commission, as well as for cyberespionage targeting lawmakers who have been outspoken about the China threat.

The Foreign Office said the hack of the election registers “has not had an impact on electoral processes, has not affected the rights or access to the democratic process of any individual, nor has it affected electoral registration.”

The Electoral Commission said in August that it identified a breach of its system in October 2022, though it added that “hostile actors” had first been able to access its servers since 2021.

At the time, the watchdog said the data included the names and addresses of registered voters. But it said that much of the information was already in the public domain.

In Washington, the Treasury Department said it sanctioned Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company Ltd., which it calls a Chinese Ministry of State Security front company that has “served as cover for multiple malicious cyberoperations.”

It named two Chinese nationals, Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, affiliated with the Wuhan company, for cyberoperations that targeted U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, “directly endangering U.S. national security.”

Zhao, Ni and five other Chinese nationals were hit with federal charges Monday. An indictment brought by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn alleges that the seven men were Chinese intelligence officers who engaged in a yearslong campaign targeting top White House officials, U.S. senators and the spouses of high-ranking members of the Justice Department, among others. 

The suspects are accused of sending tracking emails purported to be from prominent U.S. journalists, which contained legitimate news articles from publications like CNN and VOX. The emails also contained embedded hyperlinks that, when opened, would transmit information about the recipients to a server controlled by the suspects, the indictment says.

One of the group’s alleged campaigns took place from June to September 2018 when they sent more than 10,000 messages to a wide range of targets including Democratic and Republican senators from more than 10 states and the spouses of various government administrators including a high-ranking Department of Justice official, high-ranking White House officials and multiple United States senators.

“These allegations pull back the curtain on China’s vast illegal hacking operation that targeted sensitive data from U.S. elected and government officials, journalists and academics; valuable information from American companies; and political dissidents in America and abroad,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.

Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said her government “firmly opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyberattacks in accordance with law.”

“Without valid evidence, the U.S. jumped to an unwarranted conclusion and made groundless accusations against China,” Liu added. “It is extremely irresponsible and is a complete distortion of facts.”

Separately, British cybersecurity officials said that Chinese government-affiliated hackers “conducted reconnaissance activity” against British parliamentarians who are critical of Beijing in 2021. They said no parliamentary accounts were successfully compromised.

Three lawmakers, including former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, told reporters Monday they have been “subjected to harassment, impersonation and attempted hacking from China for some time.” Duncan Smith said in one example, hackers impersonating him used fake email addresses to write to his contacts.

The politicians are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international pressure group focused on countering Beijing’s growing influence and calling out alleged rights abuses by the Chinese government.

Ahead of that announcement, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterated that China is “behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad” and is “the greatest state-based threat to our economic security.”

“It’s right that we take measures to protect ourselves, which is what we are doing,” he said, without providing details.

China critics including Duncan Smith have long called for Sunak to take a tougher stance on China and label the country a threat — rather than a “challenge” — to the U.K., but the government has refrained from using such critical language.

Responding to the reports, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said countries should base their claims on evidence rather than “smear” others without factual basis.

“Cybersecurity issues should not be politicized,” ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. “We hope all parties will stop spreading false information, take a responsible attitude, and work together to maintain peace and security in cyberspace.”

Source: NBC News

The post U.S. and U.K. announce sanctions over China-linked hacks on election watchdog and lawmakers appeared first on Policy Print.

“Today, the Commission has opened non-compliance investigations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) into Alphabet’s rules on steering in Google Play and self-preferencing on Google Search, Apple’s rules on steering in the App Store and the choice screen for Safari and Meta’s ‘pay or consent model,’” the European Commission said in a statement.

The first two probes focus on Alphabet and Apple and relate to so-called anti-steering rules. Under the DMA, tech firms are not allowed to block businesses from telling their users about cheaper options for their products or about subscriptions outside of an app store.

“The way that Apple and Alphabet’s implemented the DMA rules on anti-steering seems to be at odds with the letter of the law. Apple and Alphabet will still charge various recurring fees, and still limit steering,” the E.U.’s competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, said Monday at a news conference.

Apple has already fallen foul of the E.U.’s rules. This month, the company was fined 1.8 billion euros ($1.95 billion) after the European Commission said it found that Apple had applied restrictions on app developers that prevented them from informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services available outside of the app.

In a third inquiry, the commission said it is investigating whether Apple has complied with its DMA obligations to ensure that users can easily uninstall apps on iOS and change default settings. The probe also focuses on whether Apple is actively prompting users with choices to allow them to change default services on iOS, such as for the web browser or search engine.

The commission said that it is “concerned that Apple’s measures, including the design of the web browser choice screen, may be preventing users from truly exercising their choice of services within the Apple ecosystem.”

Apple said it believes it is in compliance with the DMA.

“We’re confident our plan complies with the DMA, and we’ll continue to constructively engage with the European Commission as they conduct their investigations. Teams across Apple have created a wide range of new developer capabilities, features, and tools to comply with the regulation,” an Apple spokesperson told CNBC on Monday.

The fourth probe targets Alphabet, as the European Commission looks into whether the firm’s display of Google search results “may lead to self-preferencing in relation to Google’s,” other services such as Google Shopping, over similar rival offerings.

“To comply with the Digital Markets Act, we have made significant changes to the way our services operate in Europe,” Oliver Bethell, director of competition at Alphabet, said in a statement.

“We have engaged with the European Commission, stakeholders and third parties in dozens of events over the past year to receive and respond to feedback, and to balance conflicting needs within the ecosystem. We will continue to defend our approach in the coming months.”

Alphabet pointed to a blog post from earlier this month, wherein the company outlined some of those changes — including giving Android phone users the option to easily change their default search engine and browser, as well as making it easier for people to see comparison sites in areas like shopping or flights in Google searches.

Meta investigation

The fifth and final investigation focuses on Meta and its so-called pay and consent model. Last year, Meta introduced an ad-free subscription model for Facebook and Instagram in Europe. The commission is looking into whether offering the subscription model without ads or making users consent to terms and conditions for the free service is in violation of the DMA.

“The Commission is concerned that the binary choice imposed by Meta’s ‘pay or consent’ model may not provide a real alternative in case users do not consent, thereby not achieving the objective of preventing the accumulation of personal data by gatekeepers.”

Thierry Breton, the E.U.’s internal market commissioner, said during the news conference that there should be “free alternative options” offered by Meta for its services that are “less personalized.”

“Gatekeepers” is a label for large tech firms that are required to comply with the DMA in the E.U.

“We will continue to use all available tools, should any gatekeeper try to circumvent or undermine the obligations of the DMA,” Vestager said.

Meta said subscriptions are a common business model across various industries.

“Subscriptions as an alternative to advertising are a well-established business model across many industries, and we designed Subscription for No Ads to address several overlapping regulatory obligations, including the DMA. We will continue to engage constructively with the Commission,” a Meta spokesperson told CNBC on Monday.

Tech giants at risk of fines

The commission said it intends to conclude its probes within 12 months, but Vestager and Breton during the Monday briefing stressed that the DMA does not dictate a hard deadline for the timeline of the inquiry. The regulators will inform the companies of their preliminary findings and explain measures they are taking or the gatekeepers should take in order to address the commission’s concerns.

If any company is found to have infringed the DMA, the commission can impose fines of up to 10% of the tech firms’ total worldwide turnover. These penalties can increase to 20% in case of repeated infringement.

The commission said it is also looking for facts and information to clarify whether Amazon may be preferencing its own brand products on its e-commerce platform over rivals. The commission is further studying Apple’s new fee structure and other terms and conditions for alternative app stores.

This month, the tech giant announced that users in the E.U. would be able to download apps from websites rather than through its proprietary App Store — a change that Apple has resisted for years.

The E.U.’s research into Apple and Amazon does not comprise official investigations.

Source: NBC News

The post E.U. launches probes into Meta, Apple and Alphabet under sweeping new tech law appeared first on Policy Print.

Source: France 24

The post Italy, Africa seek to lay foundation for socioeconomic partnership through ‘financial, policy tools’ appeared first on Policy Print.

The European Commission published its proposal for an EU raw materials initiative (Critical Raw Materials Act, CRMA) in March 2023. The proposal contains plans to open new mines in Europe and to utilize minerals found in the waste materials of closed mines. Permitting procedures for new mines are additionally proposed to be shortened, and mining companies will be required to report their environmental footprints to the EU. The European Parliament approved the Act last September. To scrutinize the proposed Act, along with its implications to mining practices and our planetary boundaries, we held a seminar series with invited experts during autumn 2023.

The seminar series revolved around crucial questions that are expected to fundamentally shape our future: do we have enough minerals in the world for a green transition? What will be the environmental impact of increasing the number of mines? Is circular economy the solution, or should we reduce our consumption?

Europe depends on imported critical raw materials for its green transition

The autumn seminars were kicked off with a thoroughly informative presentation by Henna Virkkunen, Member of The European Parliament (MEP), working on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE). MEP Virkkunen laid out the facts: the EU is currently dependent on China when it comes to critical raw materials. While Europeans consume around 20% of the world’s critical raw materials, only approximately 2% are produced in Europe. The proposed Act supports the plan to shift this balance towards a more self-sufficient and supply-secure future. The audience raised concerns about environmental safety and environmental degradation due to the increasing volume of mining, especially considering the simplified permitting process for critical raw material projects.

Tackling biodiversity loss while increasing mining is a conundrum

Transitioning from a fossil fuel-based economy is argued to be dependent on mining more (critical) raw materials. But how to do it sustainably with minimal environmental damage, and how well are natural values considered in the short and long term when decisions are made regarding new mines? The Chairman of the Finnish Nature Panel Professor Janne Kotiaho, from the University of Jyväskylä, and environmental activist Riikka Karppinen from Sodankylä further reflected on these questions.

Professor Kotiaho’s message was grimly realistic: biodiversity loss continues at an accelerated rate in both Europe and Finland, and we are all responsible for it. He argued that at the current state of affairs, to truly halt biodiversity and nature loss, we need to implement restorative, nature-positive solutions instead of solutions based on the principle of no net loss. Karppinen expressed shock and discontent regarding the aims to facilitate the opening of new mines in currently protected areas in the name of a green transition. Karppinen has frequently spoken out against a global mining company that is planning on opening a new nickel mine near her home in an area protected by Finnish law and the EU Natura framework. During her presentation, she kindly shared her experiences regarding the residents’ struggles.

The critical raw materials are not renewable

The green transition’s burden on the natural environment may indeed be enormous. But do we have enough materials to fully shift to renewables, or are we about to reach the limits of the planet’s boundaries? Research Professor Simon Michaux, from the Finnish Geological Survey, provided astounding figures on the amounts of minerals actually required for the green transition. According to his estimates, at current energy use rates, we simply do not have enough minerals in the world to fully shift to renewables, and in fact, minerals are “the new oil”. Professor Michaux’s presentation left us thinking: if we do not have enough materials in the world to substitute fossil fuels with renewables, are our current consumption patterns simply doomed?

To better understand how the new Critical Raw Materials Act may look like in Finland, we listened to a presentation by Jarkko Vesa, Special Advisor at the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. He provided a thorough overview on how the implementation process began. As the Director of Sustainable Development of the mining company Terrafame, Veli-Matti Hilla further underscored: it is clear that mining has received a substantial boost from the EU institutes.

A mix of solutions is needed for a sustainable future

Director Lasse Miettinen from Sitra gave the closing presentation to our seminar series, and it ended on a rather optimistic note. He argued – in line with most of our presenters, along with our own concerns – that we are currently exceeding the limits of our planet. To imagine a more sustainable future, we need to learn to think about ecosystems in a more nuanced and interconnected way. The climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and natural resource depletion cannot be solved separately. Both biotic and abiotic resources are part of nature and managing them should be reframed accordingly. Director Miettinen argued that transitioning to a circular economy is a crucial part and precondition of the solution to our multiple crises. To reduce supply risks and ensure positive environmental outcomes, we need circular solutions, diversified supplies, and more local production beside aiming for sustainable lifestyles and biodiversity offsets. He encouraged us to think that building a more sustainable future is indeed possible.

Professor of Practice in Environmental Responsibility and Chair of the seminar series, Hannele Pokka further noted that while observing how mining in Finland has developed over the years, ordinary people tend to support mining but under no circumstances do they want a mine near their homes. Finland is an old mining country, and minerals have been extracted from the land for hundreds of years. Public opinion in Finland has taken a more critical stance on mining in recent years, which has been reinforced by the Talvivaara mine environmental disaster. It has been difficult for new mining projects to gain social acceptance, and several mining projects, especially in Northern Finland are pending. If mining companies want to seek approval for their projects, mining should be reformed to incorporate a more comprehensive notion of sustainability, including new approaches and technological solutions in water management.

The seminar series, above all, taught us that what used to be possible in mining is not so any longer, and we need drastic changes to remain within our planetary boundaries.

Seminar recordings and further reading materials are available via the links embedded in the text.

Source: Mirage News

The post Probing EU Mineral Policy: Can Mining Become Sustainable? appeared first on Policy Print.

“BUY land,” American wit Mark Twain famously quipped, “they’re not making it anymore.”

That investment advice would have proven wise in Scotland in 2020, according to a report published earlier this week.

Compiled by the Scottish Land Commission (SLC), the report found that prices for farmland in north east Scotland had risen by 58% between 2020 and 2022, 42% in the south west, and 25% in the Highlands and Islands.

Asked if investors in Scottish land could expect to continue to see such returns, SLC chief executive Hamish Trench said: “We don’t know. That’s the short answer.”

He said the skyrocketing prices were a result of “a match of very high demand and low supply”, but added that the incomplete picture we have of land transactions in Scotland makes analysing patterns very difficult.

“Getting a fuller picture of how the rural land market is working in Scotland is important, vital, to informing some of the changes in law and policy that we’re looking at in terms of land reform,” Trench said.

“What we’re trying to do here is to bring more information, a better picture, better transparency to the way the rural land market is working.”

The SLC chief said there had “long been a challenge in relation to Scotland’s land in terms of the openness and transparency of information”, raising concerns that sometimes communities were not even made aware that local land was on the market until it had already been sold.

“We know that there’s quite a number of transactions that actually have off-market, where they aren’t brought to public sale,” Trench (below) said.

“Over the last two years, we’ve started to develop new reporting approaches for the rural land market precisely because there’s been very little information giving an overview of this.

“What we see regularly, of course, are sector reports from agents operating in the market, for example, companies like Savills or Strutt & Parker.

“Inevitably, agents’ reports will focus on the parts of the market that they’re operating in. So you get different reports that focus on different sectors, for example, forestry, farmland or estates, and different sizes of transactions.

“Our report is really trying to capture all of that in a single approach that gives a better picture of what’s happening across the market.”

The SLC report published earlier in the week covered the years 2020-2022. Moving forward, the publication is set to become an annual date on the land commission’s calendar.

“We’re trying to do this work regularly, year on year, so that we can actually track a pattern of what is happening,” Trench said.

The SLC chief explained that one “significant driver” of rising prices had been an increase in demand for commercial forestry land, while one of the “newer factors” was companies looking to buy land for carbon investment and offsetting.

“This new report shows that although it may not be adding up to a large percentage of sales, it’s certainly significant,” Trench said. “Particularly in upland Scotland and in the estates market, where we’re seeing a new motivation of nature- and climate-driven acquisition.

“We’re seeing some corporate buyers, for example, wanting to buy land essentially to offset their own emissions within a business, examples like Brewdog or [investment firm] Abrdn.”

Trench said that data in SLC reporting could help inform work on “stronger regulation to manage those markets”.

The Scottish Government has previously said it will introduce a land reform bill “by the end of 2023”.

Asked in Holyrood in September about the bill’s progress, Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said the Government was “committed to introducing a land reform bill to further improve transparency of land ownership [and] to help ensure that large-scale land holdings deliver in the public interest.”

The Scottish Government has proposed a limit of 3000 hectares, above which land sales will trigger a public interest test.

Campaigners have called this “timid” and called for a 500-hectare trigger, while the SLC and others have suggested the trigger could be linked to “whether the holding controls key local infrastructure”.

This is one of the areas where the SLC’s work could inform policy. Trench said: “What’s helpful is understanding from this report that 93% of sales are under 500 hectares, and there are relatively few sales over 3000 hectares [some 1.1%]. So it helps provide some context to think about how that kind of measure would work.”

Source : Yahoo

The post Report Aims to Plug ‘Vital’ Information Gap for Scottish Land Reform Policy appeared first on Policy Print.

A control area covering Airbnb-style lets in Edinburgh has been ruled “unlawful” for a second time.

Lord Braid said this aspect of City of Edinburgh Council’s attempt at regulating short-term lets (STL) was “unfair and illogical”.

Landlords took legal action against the local authority over retrospective permission required for accommodation.

City of Edinburgh Council said it would consider its next steps following the ruling.

The STL control area rules came into force on 5 September 2022, meaning property owners leasing their homes to visitors before that date would have apply for planning permission to change them to commercial premises.

However, landlords Iain Muirhead and Dickins Edinburgh Ltd argued that policy violated existing legislation.

During the judicial review at the Court of Session, they argued council guidance could only apply to lets which started operating after that date.

In a judgement published on Friday, Lord Braid agreed, stating the planning application “actively discourages” anyone from applying who does not have planning permission or an application in the pipeline, despite this not being required in every case.

‘Unfair and illogical’

He cited the hypothetical example of two STL operators – one of which had a certificate of lawful use before the cut off date and the other who did not.

He said that an operator who had permission to run a STL for several years before the deadline would have to reapply for their licence.

However, that could then be rejected under the new legislation, which Lord Braid said would “deprive thousands of landlords of compensation”.

Meanwhile, an STL operator leasing through a site such as Airbnb could apply after the cut-off – having never gained permission before – and have it approved.

Lord Braid branded that “not only unfair, but illogical”.

The council was given power to impose the control area – the first of its kind in Scotland – by the Scottish government.

The policy was introduced amid concern over the spread of Airbnb- style properties across the city and impact on available housing stock for permanent residents.

Neighbours had also linked the rise in STL’s to an increase in anti-social behaviour.

‘Onerous and oppressive’

A separate ruling from the Court of Session in June found the legislation to be “onerous and oppressive”.

The legislation was amended as a result.

The council’s planning convener, James Dalgleish, said the local authority would consider its next steps following the ruling.

He said: “It’s important to point out that, following today’s ruling, residential properties that began being used as STLs after the control area came into force on 5 September 2022 still require planning permission.

“Those that began before that date may still need it and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.”

Source : BBC

The post Short-Term Let Policy Ruled Unlawful for Second Time appeared first on Policy Print.

It has been said that foreign policy is really domestic policy with its hat on. In a sense, this is true. — former US Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, June 29, 1966.

And the truth is that a country’s foreign policy carries all these small or large ideological, cultural and ethnic conflicts that unfold daily inside it. It incorporates, at the same time, however, the historical memory of a nation and is a sharp reflection of its positions.

In this chessboard, Greece and, by extension, its political leadership are consistently noteworthy actors and mobilisers of developments in foreign policy. With its unwavering position on the right side of history in any conflict or conflagration in the foothills of the European continent or its wider neighbourhood.

By vigorously renouncing from the first moment the expansionism and the illegal occupation acts created by the Russian invasion. At the same time, he decisively participated in material support and various international gatherings in favour of Ukraine’s right to defend its territory.

Today, with the flare-up in the Middle East ongoing, the Government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis immediately took a position in favour of Israel’s right to self-defence, calling on the friendly country, however, not to stray from the path of International Law and International Humanitarian Law. Proposing sustainable solutions that will lead to a bloodless future and not a repeat of the past in the region.

In Europe, our country has a steady pace and a special displacement, managing to change the attitude of the Union towards Immigration, but also the way of dealing with natural disasters and climate change. With initiatives such as the vaccination certificate amid the pandemic and the now coherent external border protection policy.

In our neighbourhood, in the Balkans, Greece is a driving force of developments and their accession perspective, undertaking specific initiatives. Without, however, being the “useful idiot” of the story, but by acting as a bellwether for their obligations. After all, it proved it recently when neighbouring Albania also slipped from the European path in the Beleri case and trampled on the principles of the rule of law.

At the same time, it does not neglect to strengthen its diplomatic and defence capacity. Recently, the launch of the first Belharra frigate was on our televisions, while over the skies of the SEF, we welcomed the new Rafalle and upgraded F-16s. All this is a sample of a country constantly developing, with its feet on the ground of the harsh reality of international politics.

Now, we are talking about a new Greece. A new Greece that has apparently left the era of withering and laxity behind for good. That develops, matures and sets the course for tomorrow.

It is precisely this Greece that wears its hat and exudes the same determination and punch, both abroad and at home.

Most importantly, our country is now invited and asked for their opinion. Before the recommendations, during the decision-making process, and afterwards, not only for her region but also for the wider European neighbourhood. A country that is a real actor and not a sidekick to developments.

Source : Greek City Times

The post Foreign Policy: Greece is a Actor and Not an Observer appeared first on Policy Print.

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) is calling on the federal government to follow the example of New Zealand’s “smoke-free generation” law, which sought to ban cigarette sales to anyone born after 2008 for their entire lifetime.

Even though the New Zealand policy is now at risk due to a new government’s plans to abandon it, OPH recommended Health Canada adopt a “similar approach” as it reviews the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act.

According to OPH, current restrictions are not sufficient to protect young people from addiction. It also pushed for a federal minimum age of 21 to buy tobacco, nicotine and vaping products.

An Ottawa doctor specializing in smoking cessation called the generational ban “an exceptionally good idea,” but an expert in drug and alcohol policy warned it would repeat failed experiments in prohibition that only benefit the black market.

Last year, then-prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s government passed legislation to gradually raise the smoking age to prevent anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009 from ever being able to buy cigarettes legally in New Zealand. The ban was set to come into effect in 2027.

The policy also would have restricted the number of retailers allowed to sell cigarettes and limited concentrations of nicotine to non-addictive levels.

Last month’s elections produced a new coalition government in New Zealand, which this week said it plans to reverse that law, at least partly, to fund tax cuts.

OPH said it had no one available to comment on its proposals, which appeared in a report to the city’s board of health.

In that document, OPH explained that New Zealand shares Canada’s goal of cutting the smoking rate to below five per cent.

‘Abundant good sense’ or boon for criminals?

Dr. Andrew Pipe, a professor at the University of Ottawa’s faculty of medicine and an expert on smoking cessation, said the proposal “makes abundant good sense.”

He went further, saying the generational ban should apply to all nicotine products — not just cigarettes.

“It’s a very good way of restricting access to tobacco products,” he said. “You have a cohort of young people who are completely unable to purchase nicotine products, and that’s important because nicotine is the most tenaciously addictive drug we deal with in our community.”

New Zealand’s policy is “world-leading” and “innovative,” according to Sir Collin Tukuitonga, president of the New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine.

In an interview with CBC, he said there’s still time for that government to reverse itself.

He said the model is realistic for Canada and noted the United Kingdom already plans to copy it. New Zealand’s smoking rate is already low, at around eight per cent, but Tukuitonga said it can get lower.

“We think that the whole package of things — education, legislation, reducing availability through a limited number of outlets — all of those things will overall lead to a continued reduction,” he said.

Sarah Butson, public affairs and policy analyst with the Canadian Lung Association, said it’s “unnecessary” for young people to be able to buy tobacco in the future, given the harms associated with smoking.

“This is a strategy that makes a lot of sense to make sure that our younger generations simply cannot get these products in their hands,” she said.

“We know that public education, unfortunately with most health issues, only goes so far.”

Dan Malleck, a professor of health sciences at Brock University who specializes in drug and alcohol regulation, called the policy another example of prohibition — which has a long history of failure.

“Prohibition never works. This is prohibition. It’s just generational,” he said. “There’s a lot of ways to get your hands on something you want to try, and if you make something illegal, for some people it becomes more appealing.”

He noted that past experiments with prohibition provided ample opportunities for criminal networks to profit.

“There’s established smuggling networks. People will continue to do this,” he said. “It would be better for public health to focus on limiting the negative effects on others, which we’ve done fairly successfully.”

Malleck noted the proportion of young people smoking is already dropping. He said the most successful strategies for curtailing smoking rely on providing alternatives, not bans.

More vendors selling to minors, OPH says

In addition to the smoking age recommendations, OPH is also urging Health Canada to ban smoking and vaping on federal lands, like parks, trails and beaches, and to regulate nicotine product placement in streaming and social media, including by influencers.

The agency is also pushing for financial incentives for smoking cessation counselling or medication, and for smoking cessation training for tobacco and vaping vendors.

According to OPH, tobacco enforcement officers have noted a significant increase in vendors selling to people under 19 in Ottawa recently.

There have been 114 charges and seven warnings during youth access inspections so far this year, according to OPH — a new record.

Source : CBC

The post Ottawa Public Health Urges Tough Anti-Smoking Policy That New Zealand is Scrapping appeared first on Policy Print.

Olly sold her tourism business in Botswana after Covid-19 struck and paid almost £8,000 for visas and flights to take a job as a carer in the UK. The work was stressful enough, involving long miles between clients around rural Somerset in an unfamiliar manual car.

But in August, just weeks after her family joined her, her employer folded. She swiftly found another job in a care home willing to sponsor her visa, but is only allowed to work part-time while the Home Office processes the paperwork — and risks deportation from next week if the delay continues. “It is very difficult financially, because the savings I had got finished,” Olly said. “Right now we don’t know . . . if the Home Office will tell us to pack our bags and go.” Olly is one of hundreds of migrant care workers who have sought help over the past year from Unison, the largest UK union, after the job they had pinned their hopes on left them in acute difficulties. 

This is the group of workers ministers have in their sights as they seek ways to cut record immigration. Home secretary James Cleverly, under pressure from the right wing of the Conservative party, is reviewing options to reduce work-related migration that include higher salary thresholds and limits on the number of dependants care workers can bring.  Immigration through all channels — study, work-related and humanitarian — has surged since the pandemic, partly reflecting international trends that affect many advanced economies, and partly because of the design of the UK’s post-Brexit visa system. 

Other inflows are now slowing, but visa applications for care workers are still rocketing; more than 100,000 were granted in the year to September, according to official data, almost half the total of all skilled worker visas.  Unions and employers, however, argue that a clampdown on migrants and their families will achieve nothing and that ministers need to boost funding so that the care sector can pay enough to recruit and retain UK workers.  “The care system would implode without migrant care staff,” said Christina McAnea, Unison’s general secretary. “The government needs to reform immigration rules, not make them more draconian.” In a report published on Tuesday, the union detailed the experience of many other migrant workers who had taken care jobs in the UK only to find themselves underpaid, overworked, charged thousands in dubious fees, or stranded with big debts as their employer went bust. 

“We didn’t expect this kind of work. It is far better in my country,” said Nimesha, who sold her house in Sri Lanka and spent £12,000 on agents’ fees, visas and flights to come to the UK, with a further £2,000 loan for the car needed to cover the long distances between clients. The reality of the job has been crushing: she leaves home at 7am and is often on the road until 11pm, stumbling around in the dark trying to find the homes of clients for late-night calls. UK staff at the same agency work on much more flexible terms, she noted, and rarely at night. 

But with rent of £1,000 a month for a house shared with another family, it will take her years to earn enough to repay her debts and return home. Like the other workers interviewed by the Financial Times, she spoke under an assumed name because she could not risk antagonising her employer. The government’s Migration Advisory Committee recommended opening up entry-level care jobs to migrants in 2022 only reluctantly. It worried that workers in effect tied to their employer by the terms of their visa would be vulnerable to this type of exploitation.  Last month, MAC chair Brian Bell told ministers he was “increasingly concerned about the serious exploitation issues being reported within the care sector”. But he said employers should retain the ability to hire overseas for now, because the government had not addressed the underfunding that made it impossible to recruit at home.  Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents health organisations across England, said the latest migration data showed how urgent it was to fund a plan to resolve the workforce crisis. 

An understaffed care system could not “keep relying on international recruitment to plug these huge gaps”, he said — but at present, overseas staff were essential “to keep it going”.  If ministers pressed ahead with proposals designed to cut migrant numbers — in particular, restrictions on bringing family — they would make workers’ lives harder without solving the sector’s problems, Unison said.  The union said their priority should be to vet recruitment agencies more effectively and make it easier for care workers to move job if their employer is exploitative or goes out of business. Those made redundant have just 60 days to find a new visa sponsor, and can only work 20 hours a week while they are waiting for an application to go through. 

Many migrant workers recently made redundant by another provider are keeping afloat only because they came to the UK with a partner who can also work, according to Patricia. The senior care assistant from the Philippines, whose earnings help her father pay for the medication he needs at home, also lost her job when her employer went into liquidation this month. She said her work began smoothly in 2021 but worsened over time, with staff often underpaid and asked to travel farther.  “I love domiciliary care, having conversations with clients . . . but I am traumatised now,” she said, describing 12-hour days in which she often drove more than 100 miles. She hopes a new job, with clients closer to home, will work out, if the Home Office approves the visa.  “I am lucky I found this company, because they care also about the carers, Without carers, who is doing the care?”

Source : Financial Times

The post Long Hours and Large Debts: Care Workers Stranded by UK’s Migration Policy appeared first on Policy Print.

Startups can be at the forefront of economic recovery, job creation, and a more sustainable future. They are the most innovative actors in the economy and an economic force to be reckoned with. However, while they are the giants of the future, they are more often than not overlooked in policymaking. 

In the last five years alone, startups have been met with a tidal wave of digital regulation. While well-intentioned, overregulation often creates a hostile environment for innovative businesses by implementing market barriers and imposing additional operating and compliance costs.

The 2024 European Union Elections offer an opportunity to reverse this trend by ensuring that startups have a seat at the policy table so that Europe can build smart regulations and at the vanguard of startup innovation.  

Allied for Startups and its Members have published its EU Election Startup Manifesto, a standard with which startup communities and leaders will evaluate the success of any candidate, party, or group seeking a leading role in a democratic Europe in 2024.

While these policy prescriptions are a baseline of the needs of the growing entrepreneurial communities of Europe, support for these entrepreneurs and job creators must be aligned with an acknowledgment of the need for further investment in diversity, equity, and inclusion.

This integrated approach is likely the most effective pathway toward ensuring Europe’s continued growth and economic success.

What do startups need from policymakers?

Policymakers must embrace strategies and initiatives that will foster a growth-oriented environment for startups to deliver on the digital and green transitions as promised.

Hence, we propose a variety of actions, including:

Appointing a dedicated Commissioner for Digital Entrepreneurship, in order to simplify and harmonise all regulation that affects startups in a single place.

Introducing a startup and scale-up test for legislation, essential to creating regulatory frameworks that startups can not only comply with but thrive under.

Streamlining talent acquisition through an efficient EU-wide startup visa and simplifying regulatory processes with an EU company status.

Startups advocate for a harmonised level-playing field that allows them to innovate, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding net neutrality, fortifying the Digital Single Market, and strong research, investment and digital skills framework to nurture a competitive and thriving ecosystem.

What are startups’ expectations across EU institutions?

Startups’ expectations across EU institutions extend to the creation of dedicated groups and teams within the institutions, integrating startup perspectives into relevant deliberations, nominating counterparts, and emphasizing startups and SMEs in official titles.

Effectively, having a seat at every policy table.

While a new Parliament is on the ballot next year, startups recognize the importance of and positive outlook for all EU institutions to build a sustainable, lucrative future for European startups.

Prioritising startups’ needs during this election season holds the potential to transform Europe into an environment where innovation thrives, startups prosper, and Europe secures a prominent role in the global entrepreneurial landscape.

With these 10 items at the forefront of voter outreach and discussion, Europe can re-emphasise its commitment to building a strong startup community and lead the global economy.

Source : Tech EU

The post Startups Should Have a Seat at the Policy Table, Not on the Menu appeared first on Policy Print.