Meeting in the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament’s political groups (CoP), the pro-European groups - EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA, The Left -, on Thursday 30 June sent the European Commission their priorities for action for 2023, the last full year of the current mandate before the European elections in spring 2024.
These priorities, which they would like to see included in the 2023 work programme that the Commission President will unveil in mid-September during her State of the Union speech, include the reconstruction of Ukraine, which is in the grip of the Russian military invasion, as well as progress in the EU’s strategic autonomy, in particular through the establishment of a financial instrument designed to finance investments in all the sectors concerned (energy, access to raw materials, food security, etc.).
MEPs call for new initiatives to reduce dependence on Russian hydrocarbons and the implementation of an action plan to ensure food security and sustainable food production both within and outside the EU.
The CoP also calls for a response to the socio-economic consequences posed by the cumulative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the climate transition. A revision of the European economic governance framework is needed in this respect, as well as an updated response to address social and territorial inequalities, she believes. In addition to the realisation of the European pillar of social rights, the CoP calls for the continuation of the SURE instrument to support short-time working schemes “as long as the economic consequences of the war have a negative impact on the labour market”. On the social front, a European strategy to combat poverty is required as well as initiatives to regulate remote working and the right to disconnect.
Finally, MEPs call for a revision of the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework, “no later than the first quarter of 2023”, so that the EU can react to unforeseen events. They note the importance of agreeing new own resources for the EU budget, including a financial transaction tax. And they suggest that the Commission should coordinate the development of national taxes aimed at siphoning off the ‘windfall profits’ of energy and other groups in order to mitigate the socio-economic consequences in the EU of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
See the CoP statement: https://aeur.eu/f/2g2 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)