Quote of the week by Group leader Iratxe García:
“The far right continues to deny the reality of climate change. Where they govern they spread environmental hoaxes, delay the implementation of low emission zones and reject EU policies, ignoring that the cost of inaction to curb global warming is already higher than the cost of combating it. This latest disaster is a stark reminder that the climate crisis is, first and foremost, a social one. This should not become the new normal, nor should the climate denial of the far right. Therefore, the S&Ds will continue fighting for strong EU efforts to avoid catastrophic global warming and adapt to its already existing impacts.”
Activities:
It’s been a busy week in Strasbourg, as the expected reveal of the suggested portfolios of the next EU Commission finally took place on Tuesday.
Check out what our leader said on the commissioners designate here.
And congratulations to our four comrades en route to leading crucial policy departments in the new EU Commission!
This week, the portfolios of our vice-presidents and quaestor of the European Parliament have also been revealed.
Check out the team and their responsibilities here.
Looking back, this week was also marked by the devastating floods in Central and Eastern Europe. Our Group was behind the timely debate held in Plenary. See our stance here.
The Union's 2025 Budget was also on the agenda of the Plenary. Our position has been clear from the start: we call on member states to avoid making major cuts in EU programmes. Read more here.
Last week, the EU Court of Justice confirmed that Ireland granted €13 billion of unlawful state aid to Apple. Great news for all Europeans and tax justice. This week, in a debate in the European Parliament, the S&D Group urged that this historic ruling must trigger bold reform of company tax that would eradicate sweetheart tax deals for multinationals at the expense of taxpayers. More on that here.
Unfortunately, this week we have also witnessed the European Conservatives taking advantage of Venezuela to team up with the far right, to the detriment of the Venezuelan people. Our Group denounces the European People’s Party’s (EPP) decision to team up with the extreme right in the European Parliament for a resolution on the situation in Venezuela, which was voted on Thursday. With this decision, the EPP is showing its true colours by breaking its commitment to respect the cordon sanitaire and normalising anti-European extremist groups in the European Parliament. Our position here.
And, our S&D Group candidates for this year’s Sakharov Prize have been announced – “Women wage peace” and “Women of the sun” and their co-founders Yael Admi and Reem Hajajreh (Israel-Palestine).
Coming up next:
On 21-22 September, our MEPs Marta Temido, Udo Bullmann and Tiemo Wölken will be on mission to New York for the United Nations Summit of the Future. This is an important opportunity to discuss reinforcing multilateralism and reforming UN governance to more effectively ensure peace, security and achieve our sustainable development goals.
More details about the Summit can be found here.
Note to journalists: if interested in details or interviews with the MEPs on mission, please contact the press officer in charge.
And as always don’t forget to stay updated on all our initiatives and reactions on Facebook, X, Instagram, Telegram, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and TikTok!
