The German NGOs Mehr Demokratie, Campact and foodwatch have joined forces to file a constitutional complaint against the EU free trade agreement with Singapore (EU Singapore Free Trade Agreement, EUSFTA). According to the action group, the agreement exemplifies a new type of free trade agreement that confers far-reaching competences to the European Union – without the participation of the German Parliament (Bundestag).

The four defendants in the Spanghero case, named after the French company that sold horse meat instead of beef, were handed their sentences in Paris on 16 April. The judgement is less severe than the prosecutor demanded in the trial. Six years after the scandal that shook the whole of Europe, foodwatch notes that consumers are still not sufficiently protected against food fraud. It is becoming increasingly urgent to reform the system that allows this scale of deception.