Quote of the week by S&D President, Gianni Pittella    17.04.2017

“Another harsh blow against democracy and rule of law has been dealt in Turkey. This is yet another decisive step away from Europe. Erdoğan has closed his doors to the EU with this referendum. The EU accession talks should be suspended once Turkey decides to implement the 18 constitutional amendments. We remain convinced that the majority of the Turkish citizens are still looking at democracy and rule of law as crucial benchmarks. The S&D Group will do whatever it takes to reinforce democracy and rule of law against the authoritarian drift carried out by the Erdoğan.”

Past activities

On Wednesday the S&D Group kicked off the third School of Democracy in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Over three days, one hundred young people from over 30 different countries debated and discussed the future of Europe with leading politicians, academics and civil society leaders. A number of high-level figures spoke including S&D Group president Gianni Pittella, Susan George, president of the Transnational Institute, and Sergei Stanishev, president of the Party of European Socialists. The School of Democracy is one of the biggest initiatives in political training in Europe organised by the S&D Group as a way of bringing young progressives together with leading politicians and thinkers.


[[{"fid":"136569","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"School of democracy","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"School of democracy"},"type":"media","attributes":{"alt":"School of democracy","title":"School of democracy","height":"373","width":"561","border":"0","style":"display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;","class":"media-element file-default"},"link_text":null}]]


Activities

We are looking forward to a heated debated in the mini-plenary session that will take place in Brussels on 26 and 27 April. Following the outcome of the constitutional referendum in Turkey, the European Parliament will discuss the state of play in the country as well as the stance of the EU with the vice-president of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR), Federica Mogherini. In addition to this, the Euro MPs will debate the situation in Hungary. S&Ds have called on the Commission to back up dialogue with threat of sanction and urged the EPP to kick Orbán out.

During the plenary, the Commission will present the decision adopted on the European Pillar of Social Rights and work-life balance initiative. The Socialists and Democrats are calling on the Commission to put labour and social rights at the heart of the strategy for the future of the European Union. The Euro MPs will also discuss the state of play of the second review of the economic adjustment programme for Greece with the president of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem.

 

Upcoming activities

This year’s Open Days are also coming closer. This is the perfect opportunity for all those interested to come and visit our stands - on May 6th in Brussels and May 14th in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. This is an opportunity for everyone to learn about the day-to-day work of the institutions, as well as the broader issues, challenges and benefits of the European Union for its 508 million citizens.

S&D MEPs Elena Valenciano and Victor Boştinaru are organising a high-level conference with keynote speaker the VP/HR, Federica Mogherini, and many other high-profile politicians and civil society representatives. The conference entitled “Rethinking Yemen: partnership for a better future” will take place at the European Parliament in Brussels in room ASP A5-E2 on Tuesday 9 May 2017 from 15h00 to 17h30. Please, register at s-d.afet@europarl.europa.eu.

On Wednesday 10 May S&D Euro MPs organise a seminar entitled “The Palestinian Arab Community in Israel - Today and Tomorrow”. S&D president Gianni Pittella along with S&D vice-presidents Victor Boştinaru and Elena Valenciano will discuss the situation and role of the  Palestinian Arab community in Middle East peace efforts. The seminar will take place in room ASP 3G-2 at the European Parliament in Brussels. To register, send an email by Tuesday 2 May 2017 to s-d.middleeastpeace@europarl.europa.eu .

Our next Europe Together event “Our Choice: A Sustainable Social Europe” is approaching. On 11 and 12 May our MEPs will go to Tallinn, Estonia for a new #EuropeTogether discussion on a sustainable social Europe. MEPs Maria João Rodrigues, Udo Bullmann and Marju Lauristin will take part in the event, among others, joined by Estonian and international speakers.  Registrations will be open soon here: http://www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu/europe-together. Until then, join the debate on www.europe-together.eu.

S&D press contact