S&D Times - Issue 17

This week 

EU Retail Investment Strategy 

On Wednesday, the European Commission unveiled the EU Retail Investment Strategy. However, it does not include a proposal for a full ban on biased commissions to financial advisers, also known as inducements. For us, this is a disappointment and a lost opportunity to ensure that financial markets work for the people. We will continue to insist on a full inducement ban to ensure the protection of small investors when seeking financial advice to secure their life savings and put money aside for their retirement or for a rainy day.

Industrial Emissions Directive

This week, the committee on environment, public health and food safety approved the much-awaited Industrial Emissions Directive. 

This is a crucial step towards slashing toxic industrial emissions, addressing the intertwined challenges of environmental pollution and public health. Our unwavering support for the Green Deal has yielded a breakthrough! 

A new roadmap towards a social Europe

Today we will be in Porto attending the PES Social Summit, and the following day the Social Forum organised by the Portuguese government. Two years after the Porto Social Summit where we set key commitments and targets, we are now returning to Portugal to further strengthen our fight for a prosperous future for all Europeans.

In Gothenburg in 2017, our political family delivered the European Pillar of Social Rights. Four years later, the Porto Social Summit adopted an action plan with concrete commitments and targets. This week in Porto, we will focus on enhancing the social pillar as well as tackling the social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

The Porto Summit defined three main social targets by 2030: a minimum 78% employment rate in the EU, at least 60% of adults in training courses every year, and reducing the number of people at risk of social exclusion or poverty by at least 15 million, including five million children. This is not enough. We are calling for more targets, such as quality job creation, at least 80% collective bargaining coverage by 2030, zero deaths at work, and the eradication of homelessness by 2030.

What’s coming up 

Next week we’ll be busy for a mini plenary session in Brussels. Here are our priorities:

Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive 

Next week, our Group is leading a crucial vote in plenary on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. S&D MEP Lara Wolters is Parliament’s rapporteur on binding rules to make businesses respect people and planet. Under the new rules, companies are obliged to identify and stop the negative impact of their activities on human rights and the environment throughout the entire value chain, both inside and outside the EU. Failure to comply will mean sanctions, and victims that are harmed should be able to get justice in court.

Hungary’s breaches of rule of law and fundamental rights 

MEPs will also debate and vote on a report on the Hungarian government’s relentless breaches of the rule of law and fundamental rights and EU frozen funds. Our Group is determined to stop EU funds lining the pockets of friends and family of the Hungarian government, while at the same time determined to find ways to ensure EU funds reach citizens, local authorities, and NGOs. Furthermore, in light of the relentless attacks on democracy and EU values, the S&D Group does not believe the Hungarian government is up to the task of the presidency of the Council. The Socialists and Democrats will use the plenary debate next week to urge the Council to act.

Act in Support of Ammunition Production

The plenary will also be voting on the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (known also as ASAP or the Ammunitions Act). Our Group welcomes the Commission’s proposal and we are fully committed to help Ukraine in the war by increasing our production of ammunitions and their delivery to Ukrainians. At the same time, we are convinced funding this production should not be at the cost of cohesion policy, the targets of the national Recovery and Resilience Plans, or the social rights of European workers.

EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles

The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles is scheduled for a plenary vote on Thursday, June 1st. European textile consumption ranks fourth in terms of its impact on the environment and climate change, after food, housing, and mobility. With the leadership of our S&D rapporteur, we have successfully incorporated key measures into the strategy. These include the requirement for all textile products sold in the EU market to be durable, repairable, and recyclable. Moreover, a significant proportion of these products will be composed of recycled fibres, ensuring a reduced environmental footprint. Additionally, they will be free from hazardous chemicals and manufactured in compliance with social rights and environmental standards.

Resolution on Antimicrobial Resistance 

On Thursday, we will also vote on the Resolution on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) as a reply to the Commission's recommendation to the Council. Antimicrobials - including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics - are medicines used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals, and plants. If overused, they create a resistance, meaning that bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to medicines making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease propagation, severe illness, and death. This is why we need to use antibiotics prudently for humans and animals. Under our lead, we will make sure the European Union takes action to prevent the excessive use of antimicrobials, as well as decrease the pharmaceutical waste in the environment wherever possible, because it leads to the proliferation of antimicrobial resistance. We will also ensure a better promotion of research and development of novel antibiotics, and alternative treatments including bacteriophage products. Already now, more than 1.2 million people die globally due to infections caused by bacteria resistant to antibiotics. 

Protecting the democratic process from malicious foreign actors

We will also debate and then vote on how to protect the democratic process from malicious foreign actors, and particularly from Russia and China. Hostile foreign interference, disinformation, hybrid threats, cyberattacks, and other tactics exploiting the vulnerabilities in European open societies are increasing, and will intensify in the run-up to the European Parliament elections in 2024. We urge the European Commission and member states to step up their efforts and implement recommendations, such as prohibiting foreign funding from non-EU countries to political parties and identifying common EU rules on political campaigning and political party financing. We have to strengthen resilience, defend our democracies, and safeguard the European elections.