Quote of the week by Iratxe García in response to Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union speech:
“It is essential that you have broken your silence on the ecological transition and on the Nature Restoration and Air Quality laws. We will do our utmost to make sure that these statements are fulfilled.
I would have liked to hear a stronger commitment to the Social Pillar. Inflation, high interest rates and the rise in mortgage prices make it difficult for people to fulfil their life project. Public housing is a right, not a good to speculate with. The EU must also ensure equal gender pay and opportunities, a minimum vital income and an anti-poverty strategy with binding objectives.”
Upcoming activities:
Next Monday, President Iratxe García will travel to Greece to visit – along with the President of PASOK KINAL Nikos Androulakis, and the MEP of PASOK KINAL Nikos Papandreou – the areas of Thessaly affected by the floods.
On Wednesday, the environment committee will vote on the revision of the outdated urban wastewater treatment directive, dating back to 1991. An update is therefore needed, in light of the increasing pollution due to rainwater, nutrients, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and micro-pollutants, which harm human and animal health as well as our environment. The main novelty will consist of treating harmful substances from pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. The S&Ds are fighting hard for the implementation of the ‘polluter pays principle’ outlined in the Commission's proposal. The S&D Group believes that the burden of covering the treatment costs for pollution caused by industries responsible for releasing micro-pollutants should not fall on taxpayers, as opposed to what liberals and conservatives are advocating. With this review, we also make the water treatment facilities more energy responsible in line with the Green Deal, and try to prevent future pandemics by systemic monitoring of water in Europe.
On the same day, members of the home affairs committee will be voting on rules governing the Schengen area, one of the EU’s greatest success stories. For the S&D Group, the Schengen Area, representing the end of internal borders in the EU, has in recent years been a victim of knee-jerk reactions from national governments using border controls as a political tool. Leading the negotiations on the Schengen Borders Code on behalf of the S&D Group, Sylvie Guillaume MEP has made it a priority to protect the Schengen Area and preserve free movement in the EU. The committee vote is the first step in reaching Parliament’s position ahead of negotiations with EU governments.
Also on Wednesday, the committee on budgets will vote on the long-awaited reform of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). One of the two co-authors of the report is our Margarida Marques from Portugal. She believes it is no longer possible to respond to the emerging needs of our citizens and businesses without changing the way the MFF works. The S&D Group feels that the revision has to bring forward important reforms such as raising the ceilings where needed, by preserving the heart and financing of the cohesion policy and by ensuring that there is enough flexibility in our budget to deal with emergencies and unexpected events. Increased flexibility in our budget, including via the creation of a permanent crisis instrument, has been a long-standing priority for our Group and we will continue to put this forward in our discussions with the Commission and the Council. If the report is adopted on Wednesday, the next step will be the adoption by all Members of the European Parliament in October I plenary in Strasbourg (2-5 October 2023).
Upcoming events
On Wednesday, from 19:00 to 20:00, we will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of President Salvador Allende. To that aim, we are organising an event with the participation of Senator and daughter of Salvador Allende, Maria Isabel Allende Bussi, and former Chilean Union Leader and director of the Allende Committee 50, Sergio Rojas Fernandez, as well as S&D President, Iratxe García Pérez.
See the full programme and register here: https://www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu/events/sd-meeting-occasion-50th-anniversary-death-president-salvador-allende
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