The Socialists and Democrats Group welcomes the European Parliament’s adoption of the ‘New EU-Africa Strategy’ report. This own-initiative report is a response to the Commission’s joint communication on the EU-Africa strategy, which highlights some new elements for a renewed partnership in view of the upcoming EU-Africa Summit that, hopefully, will take place this year. We are…
Air pollution causes more than 400,000 premature deaths per year. It is the largest environmental risk to health in Europe and has a direct negative effect on the environment. This must stop. The Ambient Air Quality Directives have been only partially effective so far. Several pieces of legislation have already been passed but implementation is…
The following statement was issued today by leading MEPs following the decision by Chinese authorities to sanction the Subcommittee on Human Rights and other European entities and officials. “We take note of the decision by the Chinese authorities to impose sanctions in retaliation to the Council’s decision of 22 March to impose sanctions on four Chinese officials…
Renew Europe has reconfirmed its commitment to do ‘whatever it takes’ to ensure that the European Parliament and the European Commission defend the Rule of Law conditionality regulation and ensure its long overdue application. At the initiative of Renew Europe, a resolution on the application of the Rule of Law conditionality mechanism has been tabled…
The European Commission presented its proposal for a “Digital Green Certificate”, which will attest to whether the holder has been vaccinated against Covid-19 or tested negative, or recovered from the virus, to facilitate free movement within the EU. The Green Certificate will need to be adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in order…
The EPP has said that “Russia must immediately stop intimidating Lithuanian judges.” The group also said the EU should establish a mechanism to protect its citizens from being transferred to third countries on the basis of illegal or politically-motivated extradition requests”. This is the demand of MEPs Jeroen Lenaers and Rasa Juknevičienė. Their comments come as…
Parliament has adopted its negotiating position on the new Fisheries Control system, which will reform the rules that have governed EU fishing activities since 2010. By 401 votes in favour, 247 against and 47 abstentions, MEPs agreed to use new technologies to better enforce fishing rules and improve security and transparency. They also insist that…
The Austrian Vice-Chancellor, Werner Kogler, insists to reject the EU-ercosur Agreement in a letter to Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa. The Austrian government calls to reject the EU Mercosur Agreement because it is in contradiction with the objectives of the Green Deal and the Paris Agreement. The Portuguese EU Presidency had announced that it would…
The parliament’s Environment Committee this week adopted a strong report on the implementation of EU air quality legislation. A progressive majority of Socialists, Liberals, Greens and the Left (43 votes in favour, 33 against, 3 abstentions) adopted ambitious demands for clean air. The result was negotiated by the Socialist rapporteur Javi López from Spain with…
To mark International Women’s Day 2021, the S&D Group held a two-day online event, organised by the Sixth Progressive Youth Forum in co-operation with its partners. In a full day of workshops on Thursday for young people, the S&D MEPs working on gender equality issues and the EU Commissioner for equality, Helena Dalli, discussed how to tackle…
