Quote of the week

"On behalf of my group I expressed our sincere willingness to do our utmost to ensure the UK remains in the EU. Britain leaving would bring about very negative consequences, first of all for British workers and businesses, but also for the EU as a whole. It would set a dangerous precedent"

Gianni Pittella

 

Events

One of our priorities in the upcoming period will definitely be the Group's EDUCA initiative. Our goal - to double the financing for the education of children in conflict areas. "Today 61 million children of primary school age are out of school. More than half of them live in poor countries afflicted by conflicts. We must increase overall spending in humanitarian aid specifically for education to give these generations hope and perspective" - Gianni Pittella, the S&D Group President.

 

Next week we are looking forward to a report in the plenary on the European Semester for economic policy coordination: Annual Growth Survey 2016, with MEP Maria João Rodrigues as rapporteur.

The report, scheduled to be discussed on the 24th and voted on Thursday, the 25th of February, reiterates the need for responsible fiscal policies, taking into account debt sustainability, the economic cycle and investment gaps, emphasises the need for improved tax collection, fighting tax evasion and avoidance and improved tax policy coordination and also supports all efforts towards improving the quality and growth-friendly character of public expenditure.

 

Next week, we are also involved in a plenary vote on a topic that will affect thousands of pet owners all across the EU. We are aiming for the introduction of compatible systems for the registration of pet animals across Member States that will allow us to harmonise the national identification and registration systems and requirements for pets across the European Union.

 

We are also getting ready for a series of upcoming events during the first week of March. Our Group will organise the first edition of the Youth Forum for Gender Equality, from March 2nd to March 4th, an initiative of the S&D FEMM members, in partnership with PES Women, FEPS, GPF and Rainbow Rose. We have selected 25 young female and male candidates (18 - 25 years old) from the EU and the MENA region, out of more than 1.500 applicants.

We would like to invite you to listen and engage with them on their vision of gender equality and their projects and demands, on Wednesday, March 2nd, from 17:30 to 18:30. Save the date!

 

At the beginning of March we are also looking forward to our new seminar on Counter Terrorism, Security and Human Rights. Some of the issues we will be debating alongside our specialist guests will be the fight against terrorism and organised crime, Fundamental Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.

The seminar is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 2nd March, from 14:30 to 18:00 in room ASP 3G-3.