“I was glad to speak to President Biden this afternoon – the first of many exchanges and the start of a good personal partnership.” “As a symbol of this fresh start, President Biden and I agreed to suspend all our tariffs imposed in the context of the Airbus-Boeing disputes, both on aircraft and non-aircraft products,…
Tag: #von der Leyen
Recovery and resilience facility: local and regional governments must have a say
If the coronavirus pandemic has had a shocking impact on the health of citizens, their daily life and local economies, the EU’s recovery plan constitutes an historic act of solidarity for our continent and a turning point for our Union, writes Stefano Bonaccini. Without this new financial windfall, we will not be able to overcome…
EU Social Rights
Ahead of this week’s presentation of the European Commission’s Action Plan on how to implement the 2017 European Pillar of Social Rights, the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament issued a strong call for making social rights a reality for all Europeans by introducing binding targets. Iratxe García, S&D Group leader, said:“9 out of…
Hands Off Navalny!
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has issued the following statement following the arrest of Alexei Navalny at Moscow Airport yesterday:- “I condemn the detention of Alexei Navalny yesterday by the Russian authorities, upon his return to Russia. The Russian authorities must immediately release him and ensure his safety.” “Detention of…
Setting a New Social-Ecological Contract
Despite a spectacular economic reaction to the pandemic crisis, the authors of the 2020 edition of the European “Bilan social’’, express concerns about the so-called ‘social affairs players’ being sidelined in the new Recovery and Resilience Facility, the “fuzzy” EU commitment to gender issues, the EU response to rising in-work poverty and the setting a new…
EP to Scrutinise EU-UK deal
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…
CAP Reform
In a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, leading EPP Group Members of the European Parliament’s Agricultural Committee have requested that she lets the negotiations on the Common Agricultural Policy go on and that Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans respects the co-legislators and the democratic process. “We note with great concern that contradictory…
Defending our Values and our Freedom
Yesterday (Tuesday 10th November) Chancellors Merkel and Kurz and President Macron held an online summit on the implications of the latest Islamist terrorist attacks in France and Austria. They agreed that they wanted to work on reforms for the Schengen area, which consists of Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,…
Gender Pay Gap Too Great
Women in the European Union still earn less than men. The gender pay gap in the EU-27 has slightly improved since last year: from 14.5% to 14.1% according to the latest Eurostat findings. The European Equal Pay Day marks the day when women symbolically stop getting paid compared to their male colleagues for the same…
Commission Work Programme 2021
The Commission on Monday adopted its 2021 work programme, designed to make Europe healthier, fairer and more prosperous, while accelerating its long-term transformation into a greener economy, fit for the digital age. It contains new legislative initiatives across all six headline ambitions of President von der Leyen’s political guidelines and follows her first state of the union…