Quote of the week - S&D Group leader Iratxe García Pérez on Finland’s historic first steps to join NATO:
“The more Putin threatens Russia’s neighbours, the more united we will be to ensure our collective defence. Deterrence is the last resort to guarantee peace when faced with aggression and threats.”
UPCOMING EVENTS
As Finland is preparing to join the transatlantic alliance, the S&D Group will be in Helsinki on Saturday 14 May to host an event on ‘Finland, NATO and the EU’ as part of a series of wrap-up debates on the Conference on the Future of Europe, #Progressives4Europe. Our Finnish MEPs, Miapetra Kumpula-Natri and Eero Heinäluoma, as well as our vice-president Marek Belka, will participate. Read more here
Another opportunity to discuss the challenging times ahead is at our yearly Open Day events. Last week, we exchanged views with many citizens at the Open Day in Brussels; this Sunday 15 May, you are welcome to visit us at the European Parliament in Strasbourg to share your vision of Europe with us and ask whatever you would like to know about our values and ideas. Read more here. You can also visit our online forum and have your say: #Progressives4Europe.
One of our priorities is a fairer Europe for everyone, including young people. This will be debated at an event ‘Towards a fair Europe shaped by our youth’ that we are hosting in Palma, Spain, on 26 May. S&D Group leader Iratxe García will participate at this debate that is also part of a series of citizens’ debates on the future of Europe. Read more here. Join our online youth debate and tell us your experiences, ideas and solutions to make the future brighter for Europe's young people #Progressives4Europe.
NEXT WEEK
The spotlight will be on the plenary session on Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 in Brussels focusing on various aspects of the Russian war against Ukraine. The president of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, will address the plenary on Wednesday. On Thursday, the parliamentarians will adopt the resolution on the social and economic consequences of the war for the EU, address recent cuts in the gas supply to Poland and Bulgaria, and debate on how to fight against impunity for war crimes in Ukraine.
The European Parliament will also debate and vote on the reports on North Macedonia and Albania, again urging the EU member states to finally start the membership negotiations with both countries. Our group has been calling for this repeatedly. The debate will take place on Wednesday and the vote on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, the plenary is set to adopt Aurore Lalucq’s report calling for a rapid transposition of the global deal on minimum tax rate for multinational companies into the European law. This is being blocked by Poland and the S&D Group has repeatedly called on Warsaw to enable the deal.
There will be some significant moves in the committee work as well. Under the leadership of our trade vice-president Marek Belka, our MEPs in the trade committee will, on Monday 16, vote in favour of temporarily lifting import and anti-dumping duties on products from Ukraine to boost its economy devastated by the war.
Also on Monday, the trade committee will make a big step towards banning products made with blood and tears by adopting the S&D resolution negotiated by Raphael Glucksmann and Bernd Lange. To defend human dignity we can no longer tolerate products made by enslaved women, men and children.
On Tuesday 17, the European Parliament is meeting with national parliaments to talk about the outcome of the Conference on the Future of Europe. With citizens’ input, we want to make sure we follow up and implement their proposals to improve people’s lives in Europe.
And don’t forget to stay updated on all our initiatives and reactions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Spotify and Apple Podcasts!
