As one of the largest consumers of energy in the EU, building stock has a big impact on the EU’s climate goals. Buildings are responsible for 40% of energy consumption in the EU and contribute 36% of total emissions. This is why the S&D Group in the European Parliament has issued a position paper today,…
In the European Parliament, the Socialists and Democrats Group has strongly condemned the arrest of Alexei Navalny, one of Russia’s most influential dissidents and anti-corruption activists. Navalny was arrested on his return to Moscow after having spent five months in Germany recovering from a near-deadly poisoning last August. The S&D Group calls for a strong EU…
Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament are leading the drive to reject the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) Quick Fix.On Thursday they voted against it in the European Parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee. The European Commission’s declared objective was to amend the MiFID regime to alleviate the impact of the Covid-19 crisis…
Despite all the benefits of teleworking, it is now important not to slide into a culture of “round-the-clock” availability of employees That was one of the messages to emerge from the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) when it held a remote hearing on the challenges of teleworking. Bringing together EESC and European Parliament (EP) members, as…
The Socialists and Democrats salute the US Congress’ confirmation of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s victory in the November presidential election. Yesterday’s assault on the Capitol by a violent mob of Trump’s supporters shows how important democracy and civility are. We look forward to rebuilding and strengthening our transatlantic relations. S&D leader Iratxe García Pérez MEP said: “I am still shocked by the images…
On Monday 28 December, the leaders of the political groups in the European Parliament and President David Sassoli exchanged views with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier on the deal reached on 24 December on the future relationship between the EU and the UK. The Conference of Presidents reiterated…
The European Parliament is calling on European leaders to make social rights legally enforceable and reach concrete social objectives by 2030. The Socialists and Democrats had pushed for the 2017 adoption of the European Pillar of Social Rights in Gothenburg and are now leading the drive for a Porto Agenda, to be signed by EU…
Building climate-resilient societies in line with the forthcoming EU adaptation strategy is vital, says Parliament in a resolution voted last week. The resolution on adaptation to climate change will provide input on a new adaptation strategy, expected from the Commission in 2021 as part of the European Green Deal, and was approved with 550 votes…
The European Parliament adopted a resolution for the new EU Security Union Strategy, presented by the Commission, to step up the fight against violent extremism and to increase EU resilience against security threats. The ECR Group specifically welcomes the move to increase efforts against terrorism, organised crime, human trafficking and online child sexual abuse. However,…
European Parliament group leaders, agreed in the Conference of Presidents of the Parliament to push ahead with a vote on a potential Brexit deal before the end of the year. The Greens/EFA group express concern that expediting the consent procedure will not allow adequate time for proper democratic scrutiny of any potential deal with the…
