Quote of the week

"The tragic events in Paris and Brussels have highlighted yet again that information is simply not shared or used appropriately by member states. We urgently need to improve the sharing of information between law enforcement agencies. That is why we pushed so hard for the Data Protection Package to be voted alongside PNR.  Thanks to the approval of the Data Protection Package we now have a harmonized European system that will allow national agencies to process and protect all data much more easily.

The Socialists and Democrats proved once again that for us maintaining coherence means assuming responsibility and responsibility means standing firm for our citizens and keeping the pledges we make for them"

Gianni Pittella

 

Events

This week has been a busy one, as the plenary session in Strasbourg unfolded. Trade secrets, new data protection rules, the Passenger Name Record (PNR) and the aftermath of the Panama Papers were just a few of the issues under debate in Strasbourg.

Check our site for more details on our activities during the plenary session.

Next week we are looking forward to meeting no less than 100 young, enthusiastic people from all over Europe in the second edition of our School of Democracy. We will be traveling to Reggio Emilia, Italy, where S&D MEPs will be joined by representatives of FEPS, ETUC, Solidar, the University of Oxford, the European Commission, journalists and local politicians for two days of interactive debates, workshops and discussions on the role of democracy in an ever-changing Europe.

You can watch the debate live on our site and interact with us on social media using #DemocracyDays.

On 20th April, our Group is hosting a roundtable organised by Equinet and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The event will address the issues of work-life balance, pregnancy and parenthood related discrimination at national and EU levels. It will gather Members of the European Parliament and representatives of national equality bodies.

Next week the S&D Group is also engaged in a series of important votes, on highly relevant topics. On Tuesday, April 19th the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality has scheduled a vote on Poverty-a gender perspective. Our MEP Maria Arena is the rapporteur for the respective committee.

A vote on the text agreed during interinstitutional negotiations on Protective measures against pests of plants is also scheduled next week, on April 21st in the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, with our shadow rapporteur MEP Viorica Dancila.

Votes in the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection are also scheduled on April 21st, on The Single Market Strategy, A new forward-looking and innovative future strategy on trade and investment, Unfair trading practices in the food supply chain and Virtual Currencies.

Follow our site for daily updates on votes and other events organised by the S&D Group.

Kontakt(y) prasowy(e) S&D