Quote of the week by President Iratxe García Pérez:
“Without any objective reason, Bulgaria and Romania have been waiting eleven years for the Council to unblock their entry into Schengen. Freedom of movement is one of the fundamental pillars of our Union, and citizens of Bulgaria and Romania have the same right as citizens of other member states. No more and no less. It is a question of fairness. This discriminatory blockade in the Council must end, otherwise citizens in these countries will run out of patience.”
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Upcoming events
On 14-15 October, the S&D Group led by Iratxe García Pérez will be at the Party of European Socialists Congress in Berlin. Check out the PES site for details on the programme and side-events. Under the motto "With Courage. For Europe", the 2022 PES Congress will bring together heads of state and government, European Commissioners, party leaders, MEPs and other progressive representatives. Leaders will discuss international security, soaring energy prices and inflation, climate change, and social challenges. The main plenary session of the congress will also be broadcast live on our Facebook page.
Contact our press team if you're a journalist with a media enquiry about the S&D Group’s delegation to the PES Congress.
During the congress, we will be glad to welcome those interested in our S&D event, Europe at a crossroads: Make or break (Saturday, 15 October). Details on the speakers and venue are found here. Registration is free – keeping in mind that we only have a 80-seat capacity.
On Wednesday, 12 October, the S&D Group is organising a workshop on "People, Planet and Profit – Debating the Future of Due Diligence". S&D Group President Iratxe García Pérez will open the event at 14:00. You can find out more details about speakers and registration here. For any media enquiries about the event, please contact Ewan.Macphee@europarl.europa.eu.
Also on Wednesday, members in the committee on agriculture will hold a public discussion on “Paths for people-centred policies. Our vision for the EU’s rural areas. Towards stronger, connected, resilient and prosperous rural areas by 2040”. The event will start at 14:30 and is open to the public. Registration and further details can be found here.
The following day, 13 October, our Group is holding a debate on “Strengthening the EU’s Human Rights Toolbox: A more effective framework”. The event aims to provide members and stakeholders a platform for open dialogue and for relaunching a discussion inside the European Parliament on the importance of strengthening the EU’s tools to protect human rights. Discussions will be live-streamed on our site, starting at 15:00. Registration and details on speakers are also available.
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Next week's agenda
Committee work and preparation for the upcoming plenary session also resumes next week.
On Monday, 10 October, members in the Parliament’s special committee on Covid-19 will hold a debate with representatives of five pharmaceutical companies - Pfizer, CureVac, Novavax, Glaxo Smith Kline, and HIPRA. The S&D Group deeply regrets the decision by Pfizer to not be represented by their chief executive officer, Albert Bourla, as all other companies sent their leading representatives, and is looking forward to hear the reasons for his absence.
Also on Monday, the employment committee will vote on employment guidelines that are of utmost importance in the current crisis of skyrocketing living costs. Our aim is to protect workers, strengthen the welfare state, as well as ensuring socially-just, green and digital transformations.
On the same day, the civil liberties, justice and home affairs committee will vote on a report on racial justice, non-discrimination and anti-racism, drafted by S&D MEP, Evin Incir. The report urges national governments to do more to tackle racial discrimination in the EU.
Our members Margarida Marques, Alfred Sant and Lina Gálvez Munoz will head to Prague on Monday where they will host a meeting with colleagues from national parliaments. Ahead of the Inter-parliamentary Conference on Stability, Economic Coordination and Governance in the EU, they will discuss policy responses of our socialist family to the current crises.
This Tuesday also marks the start of the European Week of Cities and Regions. Together with Commissioner Elisa Ferreira and our partners in the committee of the regions we will discuss the importance that cities and regions hold at a European level.
On Wednesday, 12 October, our members will react to the European Commission’s annual enlargement package, evaluating progress made by countries aspiring to join the EU. The following day, on Thursday, the AFET committee will vote on Tonino Picula’s report on The New Strategy for Enlargement.
On Thursday, we will also know who the three finalists for this year’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought are. We, together with Renew Europe, nominated the people of Ukraine. The winner will be selected later this month.
