From the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to transatlantic trade relations, the Social Democrat (S&D) Group in the European Parliament is calling on the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to act to ensure respect for international law when she delivers the first State of the Union Address (SOTEU) of her second mandate on Wednesday 10 September in Strasbourg.
“We cannot allow backsliding into a multipolar world based on extortion, in which the strong dominate the weak. The EU should urgently take the lead in consistently putting international law as the core principle in all its external policies, from Gaza and Ukraine to trade with the US, China and the rest of the world, and it must remain a staunch defender of the United Nations”, said the President of the S&D Group, Iratxe García Pérez of Spain, in a letter to Ms von der Leyen on Wednesday 3 September. She also wants the EU to reassert its sovereignty in drawing up and applying its own rules, particularly in the digital sector.
On the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, Ms García Pérez called on the Commission to put an end to its “intolerable” inaction and to propose suspending the EU/Israel association agreement and Israel’s participation in the Horizon Europe framework programme.
With regard to the trade agreement approved by the Commission with the Trump administration, the Social Democrats point to the “dangerous precedent massively eroding both our credibility and our autonomy” if the EU were to resign itself, without asserting its economic weight or defending the multilateral system, to accepting tariffs that are “unilateral” and “illegal” under WTO rules. “The agreement with the US is neither fair nor balanced”, they stress. And they recommend building “partnerships” with other parts of the world that respect international law. In Ms García Pérez’s view, the agreement with Mercosur, which the Commission proposed finalising on Wednesday (see EUROPE 13701/1), is a way of offsetting trade tensions with the United States.
The S&D group also reiterates its social priorities. It is calling, for example, for the presentation of a European action plan to make housing more affordable in the EU, a strategy to eradicate poverty by 2050 and an ambitious package on the quality of employment, including the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace. The introduction of social conditionality in public procurement is also highlighted. In addition, the political group expects an “ambitious” strategy for gender equality after 2025, including proposals on combating rape “on the basis of absence of consent” and allowing legal abortion to be included in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Finally, on the climate issue, Ms García Pérez rejects any backtracking on the ‘European Green Deal’ which would call into question the climate target agreed for 2050 and the one proposed for 2040 (see EUROPE 13701/18). She called on Ms von der Leyen to present a strategy for implementing the ‘Green Deal’, including the ‘Social Climate Fund’.
To see the letter from Ms García Pérez: https://aeur.eu/f/i9j (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)