Pedro Marques (S&D, Portuguese) is Vice-Chair of the S&D Group in the European Parliament. Interviewed by EUROPE at the Congress of the Party of European Socialists in Rome on 2 March, where Luxembourg’s Nicolas Schmit was nominated to head the list for the European elections, the MEP and member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs explains how the PES differs from the EPP and looks at the crucial political choices that the EPP will also have to make if it hopes to forge an alliance with the Socialists. (Interview by Solenn Paulic)
Agence Europe: Why was it so important for the European socialists to meet in Rome?
Pedro Marques: Coming to Rome is indeed quite special, not just because of what happened in the streets of Rome at Acca Larentia a few weeks ago (hundreds of people gave fascist salutes on 7 January to commemorate the death of three activists from a former far-right and neo-fascist party, editor’s note), but for the simple fact that we have this government between the far right and the centre right here in Italy.
Elsewhere in Europe we have these marriages between the centre right and the far right, but here they have really taken centre stage. And we want this political family, the progressives, the social democrats, to send out a clear message: there is no flirting, there is no marrying with these ideas and these people. And Europeans must know this. This is a clear message to all the democrats in Europe: we are the political family that will not compromise with the far right and its values.
How do you feel when you see Ms von der Leyen rubbing shoulders so often with Georgia Meloni? What attitude would you adopt if, after the election, she tries to obtain Ms Meloni’s votes to ensure her reappointment?
This is the time to discuss political choices, political options and priorities in the run-up to the election. And there is a clear difference between us and the EPP. Will they continue, for instance to support the Green Deal and a fair transition, or will they try to go back the Green Deal? Will they continue to support social rights and prioritise them? Or will they put them at stake, as we assume? Will they support a clear stance on the Rule of law and not compromise with those people who are against the Rule of law? Or will they continue to support governments, like Serbia, where Mr Vucic is a prominent member of the EPP? These are the questions we will be putting to the EPP and which will be raised during the debate for the European elections. And these are questions that we will obviously also be putting to Ursula von der Leyen.
Because all this is also aimed at her. We saw Ursula von der Leyen supporting, throughout this term, the Green Deal, Frans Timmermans’ proposals and the policies that our political family has included in its programme. She implemented social policies through our candidate, Nicolas Schmit. But now it’s the moment for her to make it clear. Is she for these policies or was she just simply implementing them because they were part of the compromise with the progressives?
To come back to Nicolas Schmit. Why do you think he is the best candidate for the European Commission?
The choice is obvious. Our entire Congress focused on the social conditions of families in Europe, of the middle classes, of poorer families, on the fight against the high cost of living, the housing crisis, the possibility of increasing minimum wages, collective bargaining, worker protection and fair transitions. This is the core of our political family’s programme. And it was Nicolas Schmit who, throughout these five years, was the leader of these social policies within the European Commission. It was he who drew up the Porto social agenda with the Portuguese government, putting the pillar of social rights at the heart of European policies. So it’s an obvious choice.
Many Socialist MPs are calling for a new Social Deal, a new ‘Social Green Deal’. What concrete initiatives could it contain?
Over the next five years, we will have to tackle the cost of living, the consequences of transition, support families, small businesses and farmers in the transition, and put social issues at centre stage. And then, of course, you also need the resources. That’s why we’re fighting for the own resources, for a European investment capacity. These are policies that are distinguish themselves from the far right, and certainly even from the EPP. This idea that we need a stronger Europe with more social policies and resources to support them through investment capacity. This is a clear difference between us and the centre-right, as it’s talking about completely different priorities. They're talking about walls. They are talking about going back on the Green Deal. You don’t hear them saying anything significant on social policies.
Are you afraid that some leaders will be tempted to choose between social spending and defence spending?
We need a Europe that is more autonomous, more strategic in terms of our international situation, in terms of even our security as Europeans. We need a more ambitious Europe, because that’s the kind of choice I don’t want us facing. We need to take care of our security, but there is an important dimension, which is the economic security of our citizens. The citizens need to feel safe that they will not lose their jobs because of transitions, that they will not end up in extreme poverty without any support from the state. So for us not to have these kind of choices, we need to be more ambitious. We need to implement the resources that we have repeatedly discussed in the European Parliament and that the Council has been delaying. We need to move towards more Europe, a better Europe, a more social and safer Europe.
To return to the Green Deal and farmers. Is it too late for the Socialists to talk to farmers? How can you reconcile with them?
There has been a lot of hypocrisy both by the Liberals and the EPP when it comes to farmers, because the Liberals and the EPP voted with us for the Green Deal: they voted with us for all these policies at the beginning. Now they are trying to backtrack on the Nature Restoration Law.
They presented these big objectives with us, these bold objectives, but when you really have to implement the policies, they start to backtrack. You cannot go (carbon) neutral at European level without implementing these policies. We don’t want to go back on the Green Deal just for the sake of a few votes.
What we need to do is support the poorest families, support small and medium-sized companies and support the farmers in the transition, in terms of training, in terms of supporting their businesses in the transition, in terms of supporting workers in the digital transition. We need also more resources to help for the transition and probably the Social Climate Fund, for example, is one of those areas in which you might need to reinforce the resources.
It’s not backtracking on Europe’s ambition that will get us anywhere. That's what I've been seeing from the EPP and it’s certainly not progress.