Quote of the week
The Parliament and Commission stand together in defending the achievements of integration. It's now up to the member states in Bratislava to come onboard, by ensuring their support to reinforce the tools the EU desperately needed to tackle its current challenges. We cannot face the challenges of austerity, low growth, migration flows, Brexit and terrorism whilst armed only with a water gun. We cannot wait for events to unfold; be they the British referendum, the French elections or the German elections. To move forward - we need action now.
Gianni Pittella
Last week’s highlights
After a full working week in Strasbourg we’re glad to announce that the last plenary session has delivered some long-awaited results. You can follow all the updates on our siteor watch the highlights here
Activities
Following the civil liberties, justice and home affairs committee's hearing with the new UK Commissioner, Julian King's, our impressions about his performance and his grasp of the Security Union portfolio were generally positive. Read more about our verdict here.
In Strasbourg, we also made an important step forward in achieving transparency in the European Parliament. At the initiative of French socialist MEP Sylvie Guillaume, a mechanism for a new 'legislative footprint' was finally approved by the Parliament's Bureau on the 12 September, after years of discussions.
Work-life balance was another crucial point on the Strasbourg plenary agenda this week. Our Group won a cross-party majority for a progressive roadmap to strengthen this balance for millions of workers in the EU. More details on the result of the vote and the way it will affect employees can be found here.
We’re also proud to announce that after months of work and negotiations, our MEP Guillaume Balas’ initiative report on the fight against social dumping in the EU was adopted with a large majority in the European Parliament.
And, since the fight for equality in all walks of life is never over, this week we have called for ambitious reforms in the energy sector to make it more efficient, environmentally responsible and socially oriented. The Commission will present its proposals for energy efficiency soon and we need to make sure that nobody gets left behind on this issue. See more details on the S&Ds' commitment to affordable heating and cooling here.
Following the State of the European Union speech delivered in Strasbourg, S&D president Gianni Pittella delivered a well-received intervention, focused on our Group’s priorities: sustainable growth, jobs, European democracy, solidarity.
Upcoming activities
This weekend, the Bratislava Summit with leaders of the European member states takes place. The most important topic on the agenda: the future of the EU.
S&D vice-president Maria João Rodrigues set out the key issues:
“European citizens want practical solutions to Europe's problems. The good news is that Europe has already formulated concrete and detailed solutions: a strong majority in the European Parliament has agreed a roadmap, the Juncker Commission has shown readiness to act, and 177 trade unions and civil society groups are sending a similar message: Europe needs to act together for a proper recovery, social rights and sustainable development.”
Her fellow vice-president, Kathleen Van Brempt, added:
“As social democrats we fully support the initiative taken by the European trade unions and civil society. Their signal is clear: leaders in Bratislava should renew their commitment to the European project by choosing solidarity over competition and conflict, and citizens over institutions.”
This week the Global Progressive Forum will be on its way to Tunisia for an interesting conference on EU-Tunisia commercial agreements. On the 18th September Pier Antonio Panzeri will bring our progressive approach to Tunis, together with our colleagues from Solidar Tunisie and PES.
The Group’s Relaunching Europe initiative will also be back on the road on the 21st of October. Bucharest is our destination and, together with important national and European leaders, we’ll try to deliver answers to one of Romania’s most important topics - its future in the EU and the future of the young generation.
Registrations will open soon. In the meantime, check out the initiative’s new look on the new site!
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This week we have also launched our new Snapchat account. Follow us for fresh behind-the-scenes updates on our Group’s activities!
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