Quote of the week by Brando Benifei on Artificial Intelligence:
“The whole world is watching us. ChatGPT was a wake-up call for the potential risks and threats of artificial intelligence. Europe is ready to give its response to existing – and also future – risks. We are proud to have found a good balance between innovation and protection of fundamental rights. We managed to include the mandatory consultation of trade unions when introducing AI in the workplace.”
Upcoming activities
On Tuesday, 20 June, the European Commission will present its proposal for a revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) – the EU budget for the period 2021-2027. Our Group has long been calling for a bigger and better MFF, and we are convinced this is only possible through a profound reform of its structure, size and rules. The current MFF has been pushed to its limits – less than two years following its adoption – due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis. It is clear that we have to change the MFF so it can meet the expectations and needs of our citizens and businesses.
From Monday to Wednesday 19-21 June, the committee on regional development of the European Parliament (REGI) will go on a mission to France. This has been initiated by our French Member Nora Mebarek, who will go to Marseille and Bouches-du-Rhône department with the S&D REGI coordinator Marcos Ros Sempere and MEPs from other political groups. They will meet with representatives of the steel, energy and petrochemical industries, as well as with local authorities, civil society, social partners and academia to discuss the Just Transition Fund and its use in territories and communities facing serious socio-economic challenges arising from the transition towards climate neutrality.
During the same period, our MEPs Carlos Zorrinho and Udo Bullmann will join the commissioner for international partnerships Jutta Urpilainen on mission to Zambia. The goal of the mission is to assess the state of play of the implementation of the Global Gateway in Zambia. Further topics will be the country’s extreme indebtedness to China, as well as the issue of food security due to climate change.
S&D MEP and European Parliament’s chief negotiator on the EU deforestation law Delara Burkhardt, as well as S&D vice-president on the Green Deal Mohammed Chahim, will take part in an ENVI (Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety) delegation to Brazil, from 19 to 21 June. The delegation will meet and exchange views in preparation of the UNFCCC COP28 meeting later this year as well as on key environmental problems like deforestation, with various stakeholders. These include the Brazilian Minister for Environment Ms Marina da Silva, the Ambassador of the European Union to Brazil Mr Ignacio Ybáñez, the chairs of the environment and sustainable development committee and of the economic development committee of the Chamber of Deputies, as well representatives of environmental NGOs and industries, among others.
On 20 and 21 June, S&D MEPs from the home affairs committee will be in Lampedusa, Sicily meeting with local authorities, the Italian Coast Guard and organisations including the UN Refugee Agency to look at search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean. The delegation, including committee chair Juan Fernando López Aguilar, Sylvie Guillaume and Pietro Bartolo, will also meet with NGOs receiving refugees and asylum seekers. The mission comes just days after another tragic shipwreck in the Mediterranean has resulted in scores of refugee fatalities. For the S&D Group, saving lives is the shared responsibility of all EU member states, not just southern European countries, which is why solidarity is the guiding principle for the Migration and Asylum Pact currently under negotiation with the Council.
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