In its priorities document for the new 2024-2029 legislature, which will be approved shortly, the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament presents these suggestions for measures to tackle the multiple challenges facing the EU.
It also reiterates its determination not to cooperate with the far right and the far left within the European Parliament, as the group’s president, Valérie Hayer, pointed out on Thursday 4 July. “A stronger Europe can only be built from the political centre, which we embody”, she declared.
European defence is once again at the top of the list of priorities, as can be seen from the document consulted by Agence Europe.
European defence. “We must strengthen our capabilities by investing massively in our defence, reforming our decision-making processes and reinforcing our unwavering support for Ukraine”, the document states.
Among the measures called for by the group are an increase in the European Defence Fund, the mobilisation of €100 billion for the joint acquisition and development of defence equipment, and the implementation of the ‘Buy European First’ principle.
The group is also calling for the appointment of a European Commissioner for European Defence and a dedicated European Parliament committee.
Competitive industry. The group goes on to call for European industry to be strengthened and for the EU’s competitiveness to be boosted, in particular by completing the EU’s single market, adopting a new European industrial pact and proposing a ‘Competitiveness Act’.
Renew Europe is also calling for the appointment of an “enforcement” commissioner, the completion of the Capital Markets Union (CMU) and the adoption of a Digital Network Act to complete the single market in electronic communications.
Implementation of the ‘Green Deal’. On the energy front, the group is calling for a complete phase-out of fossil fuels from Russia and a review of the security of supply regulation.
Secondly, it would like to see the deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs) encouraged through European funding, and massive investment in offshore wind power.
The group is therefore calling for the implementation of the ‘European Green Deal’ and the extension of the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and the European Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
Revision of the treaties. With regard to migration, the group expects the Commission to closely monitor the implementation of the new asylum and migration package in order to prevent any abuses.
“We will not accept any derogation from the implementation of the Pact or any proposal to outsource the processing of asylum applications such as the Italy-Albania model”, the document stresses.
In order to support European farmers, Renew Europe suggests European legislation that restores the balance of power between producers and retailers and supports the creation of a risk reduction plan for farms that commit to climate-related agricultural projects.
Finally, the group calls for respect for fundamental democratic values and the launch of a convention to revise the Treaties, with a view to reducing the size of the Commission, strengthening the powers of the European Parliament, ending unanimity in EU Council decision-making and increasing the EU’s shared competences. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)