S&D priorities on the agenda, 3 to 6 April 2017


  • Negotiations with the United Kingdom following its notification that it intends to withdraw from the European Union Wednesday, 5

 

Gianni Pittella
gianni.pittella@europarl.europa.eu
+ 33 3 88 17 5159

A divorce is always a defeat. Contrary to the false promises of the Brexiters' propaganda, leaving EU will involve difficult decisions and there will be unexpected and often harmful consequences. British citizens should never forget who is to blame for this leap in the dark: Nigel Farage, the UK Conservatives, David Cameron and Theresa May.
For the S&D Group it is clear that the four freedoms of the single market are indivisible. Theresa May can forget about an arrangement that alters this. This is a red line for us. We will not allow a future relationship that damages the integrity of the single market or lowers European legal, social, environmental and health standards.
We want to ensure an orderly Brexit. We want the negotiations to be fair, the future relationship with UK to be balanced and comprehensive and the United Kingdom to remain a close political and economic partner to the EU.

 

  • Statement by the President of the Eurogroup - State of play of the second review of the economic adjustment programme for Greece Tuesday, 4

 

Gianni Pittella
gianni.pittella@europarl.europa.eu
+ 33 3 88 17 5159

Collective bargaining must be guaranteed for all including the Greek citizens. Greece has already paid an enormous price for unjustified austerity.
S&D Group calls on the Eurogroup and creditors to conclude without delay and in respect of European social justice the second review of the adjustment programme.
Greece is a European democracy and the creditors should understand that European standards and the acquis, particularly in the field of the working relations, must be respected and applied.
Europe has to become a social project again, a project that works for its people and delivers basic and decent living conditions. This will be our main task as the S&D Group to ensure that the European Union of tomorrow is a fair and social one.
We would have expected a clear apology from Dijsselbloem after his statement that was both shameful and impossible to misinterpret.

 

  • MFF revision Multiannual financial framework for 2014-2020 Tuesday, 4

 

Isabelle Thomas
isabelle.thomas@europarl.europa.eu
+ 33 3 88 17 5432

Négocié en 2013, le cadre budgétaire de l’Union européenne 2014-2020 a été largement dépassé par les nouveaux défis. Une révision s’imposait pour rendre à l’Europe sa capacité d’action. Déjouant les pronostics, le Parlement a su s’unir pour faire pression sur la Commission et le Conseil et obtenir une véritable révision. Elle porte sur jusqu'à 3 milliards d'euros supplémentaires pour la flexibilité d'ici 2020 et le déblocage de près de 3 milliards d’euros pour 2017-2020. Dans cette bataille, les Socialistes & Démocrates ont notamment arraché 1,2 milliard d'euros pour lutter contre le chômage des jeunes. C’est un précédent historique dont le Parlement peut se féliciter. Néanmoins, cette révision demeure insuffisante au regard des nombreux enjeux. Les Socialistes & Démocrates resterons fermes et déterminés lors des futures négociations des budgets annuels, et dès cette année pour les négociations sur le budget 2018, afin de doter l’Europe une ambition budgétaire à la hauteur. Nous serons également mobilisés pour une programmation budgétaire ambitieuse pour l'après 2020

Negotiated in 2013, the EU budgetary framework for 2014-2020 has been largely overtaken by the new challenges. A revision was necessary to restore Europe's capacity to take action. The European Parliament was united in putting pressure on the Commission and the Council, and obtained a substantial revision, gaining up to €3 billion euros more for flexibility by 2020 and the release of around €3 billion for 2017-2020. In this battle, a notable victory for the Socialists & Democrats was securing €1.2 billion to fight youth unemployment. The Parliament can congratulate itself for this historic precedent. Nevertheless, this review remains insufficient to address the many issues we face. The Socialists & Democrats will remain steadfast and determined in the future negotiations on the annual budgets – as they already have shown this year on the negotiations for the 2018 budget – in order to give Europe a sufficiently ambitious budget. We will also be pushing for an ambitious budgetary programme following 2020.

 

  • Hate speech, populism and fake news on social media – towards an EU response Wednesday, 5

 

Tanja Fajon
tanja.fajon@europarl.europa.eu
+ 33 3 88 17 5493

In a world where social media are increasingly becoming the main source of news for many, fighting "fake news" is becoming a necessity and a priority. We, Socialists and Democrats, are committed to lead the fight on this dangerous practice, based on lies, originating from propaganda and serving political purposes. Abusing media and discrediting journalists, or politicians, only for provoking people's emotions like fear and hatred, is disgraceful and has to be punished. It is crucial to counteract by promoting quality journalism and media literacy, including boosting EU funds for this. This is why a debate on this in the Plenary is absolutely necessary and I look forward to it.

 

  • Addressing refugee and migrant movements: the role of EU External Action

 

Elena Valenciano
elena.valenciano@europarl.europa.eu
+ 33 3 88 17 5846

For a too long time, the external dimension has been missing in the definition of the EU response to migration movements although it’s fundamental to address the root causes of this phenomenon. The S&D Group has managed to build a strong, constructive and critical position of the Parliament with regard to the numerous initiatives deployed in the last year by the Council and the Commission in this field. We call for the full respect of migrants and refugees’ rights and dignity, no matter their legal status; we reject any conditionality on EU aid upon collaboration of third countries on migration issues; we urge for the establishment of safe and legal channels to reach the EU for asylum seekers and potential migrants, which would be the best way to break the business of human traffickers and organised crime; and we demand that the Parliament be fully involved in all current initiatives and their budgetary consequences.

 

  • European Solidarity Corps Monday, 3

 

Petra Kammerevert
petra.kammerevert@europarl.europa.eu
+ 33 3 88 17 5554

The launch of the Commission's registration platform for potential young volunteers has spurred a tremendous amount of interest among young Europeans. Yet, this initiative could quickly turn into general frustration, if the Commission doesn't present a convincing and sustainable approach soon. In view of the high number of registrations, the Commission needs to make sure that sufficient funding is dedicated to the initiative and that all stakeholders are sufficiently involved in the development and implementation of the European Solidarity Corps. We cannot reallocate funds from priority programs, such as ERASMUS+, often lacking sufficient resources, to finance new policy initiatives. We need fresh money. And we cannot create a new initiative which goes against well-established and well-functioning programmes.

 

  • International Roma Day Thursday, 6

 

Soraya Post
soraya.post@europarl.europa.eu
+ 33 3 88 17 5584

In the words of George Santayana: "Those who forget about history are doomed to repeat it."
After the Holocaust our societies made a pledge to never forget. But at that point we had already conveniently forgotten about one particular group of Holocaust victims – those who were Roma.
They were not recognised until 1982 and have still not been properly compensated. Their grandchildren still face the same type of racism that sent their grandparents to Auschwitz-Birkenau: anti-Gypsyism.
Europe needs to fully recognise, remember and reconcile with its largest and most persecuted minority. We need a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Europe, to deal with our history of anti-Gypsyism. And we need to eradicate this racist disease from our continent so that the Roma citizens of Europe can finally be full citizens in their own countries. To combat anti-Gypsyism is to combat the far right populism that also plagues Europe today.
Taves Bachtale! Happy Roma Day 2017!

 

  • Medical devices Tuesday, 4

 

Glenis Willmott
glenis.willmott@europarl.europa.eu
+ 33 3 88 17 5459

This legislation provides for the regulation of all medical devices through design and manufacture, clinical testing, authorisation, marketing and post-market surveillance.  It covers all medical devices, from plasters and hospital beds to breast implants, hip replacements and pace-makers.  Medical devices are an important and innovative industry in Europe but we must ensure that devices are safe and that patients are protected. The new law introduces much stricter requirements for manufacturers of medical devices and for the notified bodies that have responsibility for authorising devices. We've also tightened up the system of post-market surveillance: manufacturers will have to develop and maintain a post-market surveillance system for every device, including producing a Periodic Safety Update Report, to ensure that devices are constantly monitored and action can be taken quickly if things do go wrong.  Crucially we achieved a key S&D demand to have additional pre-market scrutiny for certain high-risk devices. The new legislation will mean that patients can have more confidence in the safety of medical devices, without stifling the innovation that is key to this industry.

 

  • Inquiry into emission measurements in the automotive sector Tuesday, 4

 

Christine Revault d'Allonnes-Bonnefoy
christine.revaultdallonnesBONNEFOY@europarl.europa.eu
+ 33 3 88 17 5853

S&D Group was leader for the creation of the inquiry committee, and kept its strong position all along EMIS work. We manage to lead a progressive coalition to build an ambitious, yet accurate, conclusions report at the committee stage, against a divided right wing, and we had several political iconic wins. Now, for the plenary stage, we want to secure our gains, especially the victory on the creation of an EU Agency for vehicles surveillance, and also promotion of cleaner mobility to tackle air pollution. We also want to insert new paragraphs to ensure workers protection, and to strengthen consumers' rights to compensations. This resolution will be the occasion to promote a protective Europe that puts general interests ahead of industrial lobbying. Public opinion waits for a strong European message to the Dieselgate scandal.

 

  • Approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles and their trailers, and of systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles Tuesday, 4

 

Christel Schaldemose
christel.schaldemose@europarl.europa.eu
+ 33 3 88 17 5491

The European Parliament will vote on the first piece of legislation drawing the lessons from Dieselgate. For one year the Socialists and Democrats have been the driving force in pushing for stricter control and surveillance for new cars put on the market. We are also working to secure a majority for an independent EU agency to carry out controls and inspections for the vote in plenary to ensure a level playing field for car manufacturers, better environmental protection and safeguarding of consumer interests.

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