The overwhelming majority of the European Parliament’s political groups, with the exception of ID and GUE/NGL, as ECR did not take the floor, welcomed the European Commission’s work programme for 2021 (see EUROPE 12584/19), in a debate with Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič on Tuesday 20 October in plenary session.
Each political group played its part. Thus, the EPP, through the voice of the Bulgarian Andrey Kovatchev, welcomed the proposals of the European Commission, stressing the importance of digital and artificial intelligence and digital solutions in the judicial field at cross-border level.
He also called for better protection of the Schengen area by ensuring better coordination between Member States in order to combat obstacles to free movement. The MEP added the importance of taking action in the field of health (citing the topic of cancer, dear to the EPP President Manfred Weber) and the importance of the Union taking a stronger position at geopolitical level to impose its standards on the international stage.
He was quick to mention the Green Deal and quickly linked it to the need to save jobs in the time of the pandemic.
The position of Renew Europe, outlined by Malik Azmani of the Netherlands, was almost point by point convergent with that of the EPP.
Portugal’s Pedro Marques, speaking on behalf of the S&D group, stressed the social dimension of the pandemic crisis and the dual digital and green transition. The MEP therefore urged the Commission to act as quickly as possible to present an action plan on the European pillar of social rights, but also to combat energy poverty.
He also stressed the importance of fiscal equality and the need to avoid the pitfalls of the past, including austerity policies. In his view, there is a need to rethink the mechanisms of solidarity between people, Member States and regions.
As for the co-president of the Greens group, Belgian MEP Philippe Lamberts, he did not hide his satisfaction with the European Commission’s objectives in the fight against climate change, while stressing his deep regret at the new Common Agricultural Policy (on which Parliament was going to vote the same day - see other news), which is not aligned with the Green Deal.
Among the voices that were clearly critical of the work programme were the ID group and the GUE/NGL group, for diametrically opposed reasons. The Austrian Harald Vilimsky, from the extreme right group, castigated European responses to the pandemic that would tend to centralise competences ever more at European level, while the Greek Dimitris Papadimoulis, on behalf of the GUE/NGL, deplored, on the contrary, too little Europe, the Commission’s lack of ambition and its tendency to systematically align itself with the EU Council’s position.
The German EPP delegation is concerned
At the same time as the debate, 18 MEPs from the German EPP delegation (CDU/CSU), under the banner of PKM Europe, issued a statement criticising the low priority given to SMEs in the next work programme.
Mixed unions
The European Trade Union Confederation, for its part, certainly welcomed some positive aspects of the package, such as the action plan on the European pillar of social rights, a strategic framework on health and safety at work, an initiative on combating violence against women and legislation. On the other hand, trade unions regretted the lack of reference to workers and employment in the section dedicated to the Green Deal, the absence of proposals in the field of taxation or economic governance, and the lack of an initiative to introduce minimum income schemes.
Talks have begun. The three institutions concerned (Parliament, EU Council and Commission) are expected to reach a joint statement on the work programme in December. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)