Quote of the week by S&D president, Gianni Pittella
“In front of the Hungarian people, we want to be clear on this: It is not Europe who is confronting Hungary, it is not Europe who is attacking your newspapers, closing independent NGOs or destroying your universities. Europe is your home and you are at the heart of Europe. We must stand side by side to fight back against this authoritarian drift that is undermining democracy not only in Hungary but in the whole of Europe”
Past activities
The mini plenary session this week has put a series of important topics on our Group’s agenda. From Hungary, to Turkey, the social pillar and stronger legislation in the garment sector - the issues have raised interest and will continue to do so in the following period. So, follow all the updates on our site.
Activities
The next few weeks will be full of events from our Group, so follow us on Facebook and Twitter, to make sure you don’t miss out on any of them.
The Open Days, both in Brussels and in Strasbourg, a new TOGETHER event in Tallinn, Estonia, and a series of interesting conferences are just some of the events.
Upcoming activities
This year’s Open Days are getting closer. This is the perfect opportunity for all those interested to come and visit our stands on May 6th in Brussels and May 14th in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. This is an opportunity for everyone to learn about the day-to-day work of the institutions, as well as the broader issues, challenges and benefits of the European Union for its 508 million citizens.
Our team will be there, ready to greet everyone and guide our guests in a journey through all our initiatives and priorities. Our young visitors will enjoy a series of games inside our stand and there will also be live music.
One other event we are looking forward to is the next TOGETHER debate, which will take place on May 12th in Tallinn, Estonia. The topic for debate will be Social Europe, and the full programme and registration form can be found on the new debate platform.
On Saturday, EPP leaders will meet and discuss the future of Victor Orban's party in their group. FIDESZ have shown a consistent disregard for European values and are attacking the independent institutions in Hungary. They have no place in the party of Alcide de Gasperi, Helmut Kohl and other figures who built our Union. We strongly call on EPP to finally kick Orban out.
The European Council will meet this weekend to finalise their negotiating guidelines for Brexit. We want them to take Parliament's position into account – ensuring the rights of all citizens living in the UK and in the EU are guaranteed and show unity between the remaining EU27.
On May 9th we will be hosting the conference Rethinking Yemen: Partnership for a Better Future. Guest speakers will include Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Nicola Pedde, Institute for Global Studies, Rome, Donald Kaberuka, former president of African Development Bank and current co-chair of the LSE-Oxford Commission on State Fragility, Growth and Development, Rafat al Akhali, former minister of Youth Affairs in Yemen and Founder and CEO of Deep Root Consultants and Farea al Muslimi, Chairman of the Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies and a leading political and Civil Society activist.
At the end of the conference, a film on the EU role in Yemen by the award-winning Yemeni filmmaker Khadija al-Salimi will be shown. Should you wish to attend our event, you can register at: s-d.afet@europarl.europa.eu.
The following day we will organise another event - S&D Group Seminar: The Palestinian Arab Community in Israel - Today and Tomorrow. Our Group President, Gianni Pittella will open the seminar and the two panels will focus on the situation of the Palestinian Arab community in Israel and the role of the Palestinian Arab community in Middle East peace efforts.
Registrations close on May 2nd, and if you would like to join our event, send an email to: s-d.middleeastpeace@europarl.europa.eu.
