Quote of the week by S&D Group president Iratxe García:
“Putin’s cowardly attack on Ukraine makes it inevitable that we increase our defence spending. But it’s not just about spending more, but about spending better. The Strategic Compass designed by High Representative Josep Borrell gives us the opportunity to use our capabilities in an efficient and coordinated manner in the European Union and in full complementarity with NATO.”
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Time for another plenary session of the Conference on the Future of Europe. Our team will be in Strasbourg today and tomorrow to bring you the latest updates from citizens involved in the discussion. Follow #Progressives4Europe on Twitter for details.
This weekend we’re also keeping an eye on elections in Malta and encourage everyone to go out and vote!
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Committee work continues next week. On Monday, members in the committee of constitutional affairs will be voting on a much-needed update on the European electoral law. Trans-national lists are one of the updates that could change the outlook of EU elections.
On Tuesday, members in the women’s rights committee will hold a hearing on the situation of Ukrainian women. Ongoing attacks on Ukraine have forced millions of women to flee from their homes and their situation is precarious. We must do all in our power to help. Tune in at 16.00!
The ACP-EU (European Union – African, Caribbean and Pacific states) Joint Parliamentary Assembly will be underway in Strasbourg from Friday to Sunday next week. Our MEPs Carlos Zorrinho, co-president of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly, and Marie Arena will join. On the agenda: 20 years since the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, international solidarity in the wake of the Covid pandemic and Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
On Wednesday 30 March, we’ll be discussing Artificial intelligence and gender equality. Women are under-represented at all levels in the digital sector in Europe. The gap is largest in ICT specialist skills and employment. Closing the gender gap and ensuring that all women can access digital literacy and exercise their digital rights is of paramount importance if we do not want to leave women behind in the new digital revolution. Interested? Then join the discussion online. More details here.
We will closely follow the elections in Serbia next Sunday, 3 April, with our MEP Thijs Reuten elected as the chair of the Election Observation Mission to Serbia.
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And don’t forget to stay updated on all our initiatives and reactions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Spotify and Apple Podcasts!
