Towards an Effective Climate Policy

emissions reduction

MEPs from the Greens/EFA Group along with a progressive majority have successfully voted down a “considerably weakened position” on the EU Emissions Trading System, following efforts of the EPP Group and industry lobbies. The ETS file will now go back to the Environment Committee. As a consequence, the votes on the Social Climate Fund and…

More Arms Needed for Ukraine

MEPs have welcomed the “unity and additional sanctions” delivered by the European Council but called for “more arms to Ukraine and more attention to those struggling within the EU.” Last Wednesday, MEPs discussed the conclusions of last week’s European Council summit with Presidents Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen. MEPs very broadly welcomed the…

Ban Live Export Awareness Day 2022

On the occasion of Ban Live Exports Awareness Day 2022, 15 Members of the European Parliament joined together in calling on the European Union to ban the export of live farmed animals to third countries. The MEPs, representing various EU member states and political parties,  says they “recognise the suffering and terrible conditions that the animals…

S&D Group Mission to Israel and Palestine

Iratxe Garcia

The leader of the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament has announced that she will be leading a mission of S&D MEPs to Israel and Palestine  from June 12-16. Together with Iratxe García MEP, the members taking part in the mission are: Pedro Marques MEP, S&D Group vice-president for foreign affairs Evin Incir MEP, standing rapporteur…

Minimum Wages for EU

Kim van Sparrentak

Negotiators from the European Parliament, Commission and Council  have reached an agreement on rules for minimum wages in the EU. The result of the trilogue negotiations is a big step forward to combat in-work poverty, the gender pay gap and wage inequality for workers all across the EU and the Greens/EFA Group welcome the results….

Turkish Government Propaganda Targets Swedish MEP

Evin Incir

The Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament said it “strongly condemns the disinformation spread by Turkish government-controlled media against EU Member States and the attacks on European politicians, including S&D MEP Evin Incir.” The accusation that they took part in an armed struggle, that they are proxies of foreign organisations and that they…

EP Backs Suspension of Duty on Ukrainian Imports

The European Parliament has backed a one-year suspension of EU import duties on all Ukrainian exports, to support the country’s economy. This temporary trade liberalisation, endorsed by 515 votes, with 32 against and 11 abstentions, is a response to the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine, which is hampering the country’s ability to trade. The…

Denmark Joins EU Common Defence and Security Policy

Denmark

The Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament have congratulated the Danish people for voting in last week’s referendum to overturn their 30-year-old opt-out from the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).  Following on from the Swedish and Finnish applications for NATO membership, the Danish vote is yet another historic response to Russian aggression…

EU’s Coronavirus Recovery Funds

The EPP Group says that EU Member States must use the EU’s Coronavirus Recovery Funds better.  The fact that billions of euros of the money has not yet been accessed is a great concern, EPP Group Vice-President, Siegfried Mureşan MEP, and Group spokesman on Budgets, Jose Manuel Fernandes MEP, have warned.  European Parliament Committees on Budgets and the Economy will this week endorse the first implementation report on the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), co-authored by Mureşan. ”Now that…