Quote of the week by Iratxe Garcia, S&D Group leader, on the recovery fund

“We’ve seen some progress in last week’s European Council but leaders need to get a move on! Europeans are waiting for strong action to tackle the post-COVID crisis and are expecting us to build a better future. We urgently need a robust multi-annual budget and a recovery fund, based on Next Generation EU.”

 

The decisions EU institutions will be taking in the coming months to tackle this crisis will have a long-term impact on society. That is why, together we sent EU leaders a united message from the European Parliament to turn this crisis into an opportunity to build a fairer, more sustainable, resilient and more human EU.

On Tuesday, Council President Charles Michel will present his new negotiating package for the next EU multi-annual budget. The European Parliament, and our Group in particular, have called for an ambitious proposal that delivers on citizens' needs and expectations.

You can follow our reactions to the proposals on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Negotiations on the Collective Redress Directive continue today. The S&D Group has long called for rules that allow the collective interest of consumers to be represented across the EU. But Member States are putting the negotiations with the European Parliament at risk by making it possible to exclude air and rail passenger rights from collective action.

On Tuesday, MEPs in the employment committee will vote on a report on EU employment guidelines to call for a shift in policy to focus on employment and income support to avoid a severe and long-lasting impact of the Covid-19 crisis.

On Tuesday at 6.30pm, S&D Group leader, Iratxe Garcia, will also set our plan for a recovery that works for people and the planet during an online event hosted by the Party of European Socialists. #PESTalks: a plan for people, jobs and the economy will see Iratxe join other key figures from the progressive movement to discuss socialist and social democratic plans to rejuvenate Europe post-COVID19.

On Wednesday, S&D MEPs will welcome co-leader of the German SPD, Norbert Walter-Borjans, to the Group to discuss, among other things, the priorities of the German presidency of the EU for the second half of 2020. The S&D Group will also adopt its position paper on the European Education Area. This paper provides a snapshot of the necessary demands from a Socialist perspective to make the completion of this initiative by 2025 a success, with tangible benefits to all EU citizens.

The S&D Group will also be closely following the Commission’s two-year review of the EU General Data Protection Regulation due to be released on Wednesday. The Commission will also publish a new strategy on victims’ rights this week.

S&D-Pressekontakt(e)