Council and Commission statements - The state of play of the EU's COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy

S&D press officer: MARTIN DE LA TORRE Victoria - victoria.martindelatorre@europarl.europa.eu  + 32 473 23 41 73

Debate on Wednesday 10 February

Iratxe García Perez, S&D Group President

“Getting Europeans vaccinated is our top priority. Transparency and accountability are crucial in the rollout of the EU’s vaccination strategy. That is why it is so important that the European Commission President will take part in a public debate with all MEPs in next week’s plenary session. With €3 billion in public money invest in pharmaceutical companies, people also deserve to know how taxpayer’s money is spent. On my initiative, European Parliament political leaders will soon hold a hearing with the CEOs of the pharmaceuticals involved in the EU’s vaccination rollout.”

 

Implementation of the Anti-Trafficking Directive

S&D press officer: MACPHEE Ewan - ewan.macphee@europarl.europa.eu  +32 478 96 19 14

Debate on Monday 8 February and Final vote on Tuesday 9 February

Juan Fernando López Aguilar MEP, S&D chair of the civil liberties, justice and home affairs committee and rapporteur:

“The anti-trafficking directive has been in place in the EU for 10 years, but the time has come to revise the rules to better prevent and prosecute human trafficking in Europe. Nearly 75% of all victims of human trafficking in the EU are women and girls, and most are victims of sexual exploitation. We must do everything in our power to eradicate these terrible crimes inflicted on vulnerable people, many of whom are migrants or asylum seekers and a quarter of whom are children who need strong child protection measures in place. Next week in the European Parliament, we are debating human trafficking and calling for a specific revision to the anti-trafficking directive that would make it a criminal offence to knowingly use services provided by victims of trafficking, as well as improving their protection in social, legal and procedural assistance. The EP will call for effectively fighting impunity of traffickers across the EU.”

 

Establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility

S&D press officer: CHIRU Dana - dana.chiru@europarl.europa.eu  +32 460 96 33 54

Debate and final vote on Tuesday 9 February

Eider Gardiazabal MEP, S&D BUDG coordinator

“The Recovery and Resilience Facility is the opportunity to advance the green economy and digitisation without leaving anyone behind. This is the most important investment programme in the Next Generation EU recovery plan. This mechanism is a double success: in the short term it will help alleviate the social impact of the Covid-19 crisis, and in the long term it will allow us to move towards a green and digital transition. We must bear in mind that it is the most important investment programme in the coming years, and we have to seize the opportunity. The agreement includes a retroactive clause that will allow any investment made since February 1, 2020 to be reimbursed. Together with the approval of the Multi-annual Financial Framework, its own resources and the mechanism that links the budget to compliance with the rule of law, the European Union is closing a cycle of historic agreements that will mark its future over the next decade. The RRF is a double win, mitigating the social impact of the Covid crisis in the short term and allowing us to make a major step towards the green and the digital transition in the long term.  With this agreement we finally have achieved a long-standing demand from the EP!.”

 

European Central Bank – annual report 2020

S&D press officer: PELZ Silvia - silvia.pelz@europarl.europa.eu  + 32 478 75 07 12

Debate on Monday 8 February

Final vote on Tuesday 9 February

Pedro Marques, S&D Vice-president for the Green Deal and responsible for the annual report on the European Central Bank

The European Central Bank’s (ECB) policies, together with member states’ fiscal efforts, have kept the European economy afloat during this crisis and must now even be reinforced to speed up the recovery. Looking beyond the immediate needs in this pandemic, the ECB is called upon to play its role in building a good future for the planet and the people and step up its efforts in line with the EU efforts towards sustainability. The S&D group expects the ECB to live up to its commitment to combat the climate emergency and calibrate its policies towards sustainability, like purchasing more green bonds. End of last year, the S&D Group proposed a formal inter-institutional agreement between the European Parliament and the ECB, endorsed by the political leadership of Parliament, to increase the democratic accountability of the ECB and improve the working relationship between the two institutions in light of the growing powers of the ECB.

 

The de facto abortion ban in Poland

S&D press officer: CZERNY-GRIMM Inga - inga.czerny-grimm@europarl.europa.eu + 32 474 62 28 84

Debate on Tuesday 9 February

Maria Noichl, S&D coordinator in the women’s rights committee

“Unfortunately we have to once again discuss the abortion ban in Poland, given that the PiS government decided to continue its war against women. The restriction that just entered into force in Poland are simple barbaric, as even in extreme cases of severe birth defects or fetal abnormalities Polish women are now deprived of the right to decide if they wish to terminate their pregnancy. As progressives, we cannot accept that ultra conservatives are putting Polish women’s helth and life at risk. This is  a breach of women’s fundamental rights. We call on the European Commission to urgently widen the scope of the Art. 7 procedure against Poland, and include the attacks on fundamental and women rights.”

 

Markets in financial instruments

S&D press officer: PELZ Silvia - silvia.pelz@europarl.europa.eu  + 32 478 75 07 12

Debate and vote on Wednesday 10 February

Eero Heinäluoma, MEP and S&D negotiator on the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID) Quick Fix

The Socialists and Democrats are leading the drive to reject the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) Quick Fix, in next week’s plenary vote. The European Commission’s declared objective was to amend the MiFID regime to alleviate the impact of the Covid-19 crisis to encourage investment in the real economy and free up resources for both companies and investors. However, the proposals by the Commission, made without a proper consultation and impact assessment, went so far as to specifically remove some transparency requirements and position limits in the derivatives market. The agreement reached by the EPP negotiator and the German presidency in December failed to improve the Commission’s proposal in points deemed crucial by the S&D Group to achieve the goal of actually supporting SMEs instead of deregulating for the sake of the special interests of the financial services’ industry. 

MEPs involved
President
Spain
Vice-president
Portugal
Coordinator
Spain
Coordinator
Germany
Treasurer
Finland
S&D press contact