Quote of the week by Birgit Sippel:
“Child sexual abuse is a horrible crime and we need to prevent the spread of online child sexual abuse material. For this reason, we have agreed to extend the derogation currently in place that allows some companies to use technology to detect online child sexual abuse material. However, we have adopted a tight deadline for the expiration of the interim regulation as a means of applying continued pressure on the Council to adopt a position on the permanent regulation.”
The world has lost another freedom fighter. Another hero.
"We are shocked to hear the news of Alexei Navalny's death. The 2021 Sakharov Prize winner was imprisoned in one of Russia’s notorious penal colonies. He was there for unjustified and purely politically motivated reasons.
He will not be forgotten. His fight will not be forgotten! Rest in power!"
Upcoming events
On Monday and Tuesday next week, 19 - 20 February, members of our Bureau and Heads of Delegation will be on mission to Bucharest, Romania. During the two-day visit, they will hold working meetings with PSD (Partidul Social Democrat) Ministers and the President of the Chamber of Deputies.
On Tuesday morning at 11:00, our delegation will join the outreach event ‘Living better with Europe’, hosted by PSD, with the participation of Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, at the Palace of the Parliament.
There will be a press conference on Tuesday, 20 February, at 12:00, at the Palace of the Parliament, with Group President Iratxe García and Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.
S&D Press contact: Victoria Martin de la Torre, president’s spokesperson
Upcoming activities
On Tuesday, the European Parliament and the EU Council are poised to reach a provisional agreement on the landmark revision of the Air Quality Directive. Air pollution remains the main environmental threat to human health, causing over 300,000 premature deaths in the EU every year. Hence, under S&D leadership, the provisional agreement will aim to align the EU’s air quality standards with the World Health Organisation’s most recent guidelines on thresholds and limits for key air pollutants.
On Thursday, 22 February, members in the European Parliament’s committee on consumer protection will vote on the draft report on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). This is an out-of-court system ensuring redress for consumers when they think that a trader has breached their obligations. With its modernisation, the Commission aims to adapt the ADR to the digital transition and increase consumers’ and traders’ participation. Our Group is calling for mandatory participation of airline companies in ADR procedures, since this sector faces a high number of consumer complaints. We are also suggesting that traders establish ADR information on their websites and on bills to raise awareness among consumers.
Also on Thursday, members in the European Parliament committee on consumer protection will vote on the draft report on combating late payment in commercial transactions. In Europe, one in four bankruptcies are due to invoices not being paid on time, with a particular impact on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), for which chasing debtors is a bigger burden than for large corporations. The protection of SMEs is a high priority for the S&D Group. This is why we support a deadline for payments defined by law instead of a case-by-case scenario – as it could lead to abuse among businesses.
Starting on Friday, 23 February, our MEPs Bernd LANGE, Kathleen VAN BREMPT and Javier MORENO SANCHEZ will be in Abu Dhabi, for a European Parliament delegation. They will participate in the Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organisation in connection with the 13th ministerial conference (MC13) taking place in Abu Dhabi. The S&D Group remains committed to multilateralism – and a multilateral trading system – and we hope for a successful outcome of the MC13, including a comprehensive package on institutional reform, with fully functional and independent dispute settlement.
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