Quote of the week by Nils Ušakovs, S&D negotiator on the building policy in the committee on budgets:
“The idea for a new building of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, called Osmose, means taking it on a lease for a period of 99 years. We are worried from a legal point of view – the French authorities have proposed we take on a lease from them on a building they don’t own. This is outrageous! Our Group asked for the vote to be withdrawn from the agenda until we get an official opinion from the EP Legal Service confirming whether this leasing is legally possible. Unfortunately, the other groups denied this S&D Group request and the project was put to vote and adopted. In times when European citizens are struggling to pay their bills and one year before the European elections, the committee on budgets made a bad decision on this extremely controversial issue.”
Upcoming activities:
From 23 to 26 July, our member and vice-chair of the European Parliament's delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula, Niels Fuglsang, is travelling to Yemen as part of the parliamentary mission to the region. Clashes among military groups in Yemen are receding, but peace remains distant, and the S&D Group believes this is a very worrying situation.
From 24 to 27 July, several S&D MEPs will participate in the 15th meeting of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat) in Madrid. This gathering will be an opportunity to assess the outcome and conclusions of the EU-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Summit that took place on 17 and 18 July. For the Socialists and Democrats, it is crucial to reinforce the politics of the people, of international law and of a rules-based multilateralism. This is why the EU-CELAC summit, together with the upcoming EuroLat Summit, should be the turning point for much closer cooperation and dialogue. On top of reinforcing cooperation between the two regions, parliamentarians will address key issues for both regions such as the right to water, relations with the civil society and gender equality.
Upcoming events:
Preparations are already underway for our first event of the autumn. So, save the date! On September 6, in the European Parliament, we will be debating the State of the Social Union alongside president Iratxe García and several of our MEPs and specialists. Registration is already open here.
Don’t forget to stay updated over the summer on all our initiatives and reactions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Telegram, Mastodon, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and TikTok!
