Quote of the week from Birgit Sippel, S&D MEP and spokesperson on civil liberties:
“This week, the Parliament received a scandalous letter from the Commission as a reply to our 24 August deadline on the rule of law mechanism. Clearly, the Commission is trying to buy time and pass on the hot potato to the Parliament by asking us to detail again why the conditions for using the rule of law mechanism under Article 265 are met. Pretending that the conditions are not fulfilled is pathetic and only plays into the hands of Orbán, PiS & co. In contrast to the Commission, we are not afraid to call a spade a spade: the conditions for applying the rule of law mechanism are more than met. We expect the Commission to act. It is long overdue.”
Next week, Parliament will knuckle down and get busy again with committee meetings after the summer recess and we are starting big: with an extraordinary meeting of group leaders to discuss the extremely worrying situation in Afghanistan and the conditionality mechanism on the rule of law on Monday at 5pm. On Afghanistan, the special focus of our group leader, Iratxe García, will be on how best to protect the rights of women and girls.
On 3 September, 11:00- 12:30 we will be hosting a webinar on gender-mainstreaming the EU budget. This may sound technical but in fact impacts the daily lives of women all across Europe. How can we ensure equality between men and women, and how can we achieve this goal using the EU’s multiannual financial framework? During the webinar we will try to find answers on how to actually achieve this goal.
The online event will include a keynote speech by the European Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli and will be hosted by S&D MEP Margarida Marques, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on the Multiannual Financial Framework of the EU. The programme also includes a welcome address by S&D MEP Heléne Fritzon - vice-president of the S&D Group - and interventions by Mr Gert Jan Koopman, Director General for Budget, European Commission; and by experts such as Mr Jon Blondal, OECD expert on gender budgeting; Mrs Carlien Scheele, Director of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE); S&D MEP Eider Gardiazabal Rubial, the S&D Group’s co-ordinator in the European Parliament’s committee on budgets. The webinar will close with remarks from S&D MEP Evelyn Regner, the chair of the European Parliament’s committee on women’s rights and gender equality.
You can follow the livestream here.
From 5 to 7 September, an S&D mission will head to Lebanon for a fact-finding mission and discussions with local authorities, civil-society representatives and high-ranking politicians. Our message to all players will be to set aside their differences and come together to form a government to rebuild the country, relaunch the economy and undertake necessary reforms. In particular, we will urge them to investigate the causes of the devastating explosion in Beirut port one year ago and address the serious shortage of oil and water. Our delegation will be made up of Pedro Marques MEP, S&D Group vice-president for foreign affairs, Tonino Picula MEP, S&D spokesperson for foreign affairs, Evin Incir MEP with responsibility for Palestine, as well as Isabel Santos MEP and Nora Mebarek MEP.
