Plenary Flash: 10-13 February

US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, the WHO and the suspension of US development and humanitarian aid

At the request of the Greens/EFA Group, the European Parliament will hold a debate on the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organisation (WHO), as well as the suspension of USAID. The Greens/EFA Group is deeply concerned about the direction the Trump administration is taking to unravel the multilateral order and global cooperation. By withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, Trump is threatening humanity’s chances of keeping global temperature rises below 1.5c of global heating. Trump asserts that climate action has negative consequences on US competitiveness, however, under Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the US attracted unprecedented investment in clean tech, energy and transport, while reducing the tax burden on industry and the production cost of clean technologies and creating new jobs. The withdrawal from the WHO will reduce its budget by 15-20% and weaken the global health architecture.

Debate: Wednesday, 12 February
MEP: Lena Schilling
 

Commemorating the murder of Alexei Navalny

On Wednesday, MEPs will commemorate the murder of Alexei Navalny by the regime of Vladimir Putin on 16 February 2024. The Greens/EFA Group calls for EU action in support of those unjustly imprisoned in Russia for their pro-democratic resistance against the Putin regime and its brutal war of aggression against Ukraine. The EU needs to stand with independent civil society and against political persecution. We continue to call for the release of all political prisoners and for the Commission and Member States to increase support, including the provision of humanitarian visas, to Russian human rights defenders, pro-democracy activists and independent journalists at risk of political persecution. The Greens/EFA Group call for targeted measures against individuals orchestrating and implementing the system of judicial repression in Russia.

Debate: Wednesday, 12 February
MEP: Sergey Lagodinsky

Continuing the unwavering EU support for Ukraine

On Thursday, MEPs will debate the need for continuing the unwavering EU support for Ukraine after three years of Russia’s war of aggression. The Greens/EFA Group calls on the EU and all allies to continue their steadfast support for Ukraine and to accelerate military assistance. We call on all international actors to show support for Ukraine’s Peace Formula and Victory Plan as the best basis for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace for the people of Ukraine and the wider region.

Debate: Thursday, 13 February
MEPs: Villy Søvndal, Sergey Lagodinsky

Commission Work Programme 2025

On Wednesday morning, the Commission will present its Work Programme for 2025. The Work Programme will primarily focus on what the Commission has named ‘regulatory simplification’ and in principle will include very few, but likely very damaging, legislative proposals. Our group believes that simplified rules can make sense, but not as a tool to strip away environmental protection and better working conditions. On February 26, President Von der Leyen will present the first Omnibus Regulation to amend three key pieces of the Green Deal (The Taxonomy Regulation, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive). Reopening these legal texts questions institutional stability and legal certainty for businesses, risks back sliding on climate and human rights achievements, and will hamper the competitiveness of the EU economy. If Europe has lost competitiveness and fallen behind in decarbonisation, it is because the regulatory framework was too weak to guide industry towards a clean transformation and shows that the Commission is on the wrong track.

Commission Statement & Debate: Wednesday, 12 February
More: Greens/EFA letter to the Commission, 13 January

Competitiveness Compass

The Commission’s Competitiveness Compass sets out economic policy priorities for the current mandate, including a series of measures across innovation support, the decarbonisation of key industries and security of supplies, in order to increase the competitiveness of European companies. The Greens/EFA Group welcomes the aim to make the EU more competitive with decarbonisation playing a leading role. However, our group stresses that the Green Deal is the key to Europe’s competitive advantage. We have concerns that the Compass is too narrowly focused on CO2 reduction alone and not on protecting nature. Our group supports simplification as a tool to make peoples’ lives easier, but not as a byword for deregulation aimed at cutting environmental regulations.  If the EU is to provide business certainty, then the Commission must not completely reopen previously adopted sustainability legislation in the Omnibus proposal due in February.

Debate: Wednesday, 12 February
MEPs: Bas Eickhout, Terry Reintke
More: Green Deal key to EU’s competitive success

EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement

On Thursday, at the request of the Greens/EFA Group, the European Parliament will hold a debate on the EU-Mercosur trade agreement sealed last December by President Von der Leyen. The Greens/EFA Group opposes this treaty which is incompatible with climate objectives, the Green Deal and a model of sustainable trade and development. This agreement will strengthen the agro-industrial model to the detriment of sustainable agriculture and the rights of indigenous peoples. The 'rebalancing mechanism' added in the last stage of negotiations will potentially hamper the proper implementation of EU Green Deal related measures and future EU sustainability-related measures. The Greens/EFA Group is calling on the European Commission not to split the treaty in order to short-circuit ratification by national parliaments.

More: Alternative trade partnership, Briefing, Greens/EFA Mercosur Campaign, Study
Debate: Thursday, 13 February
MEP: Saskia Bricmont

Georgia

On Thursday, MEPs will vote on a resolution highlighting further deterioration of the political situation in Georgia. The Greens/EFA Group stands in solidarity with all protesters who have taken to the streets in Georgia for over three months to fight against authoritarianism and for the country’s democratic future  and calls for all the immediate release of all those detained in the context of the protests. We reiterate our call for a re-run of the Georgian parliamentary elections in line with international standards, as well as the immediate repeal of repressive legislation in particular the recently adopted “foreign influence” and anti-LGBTI laws. We call on the EU and Member States to impose targeted sanctions against Georgian officials responsible for Georgia’s democratic backsliding and police brutality.

Vote: Thursday, 13 February
MEPs: Reinier van Lanschot, Markéta Gregorová, Sergey Lagodinsky

Protests in Serbia

On Tuesday afternoon, MEPs will debate the political crisis in Serbia, where protests have erupted across the country. The Greens/EFA Group stands in support with Serbian students and their remarkable display of civil disobedience and defence of fundamental freedoms. We call on the European Commission to recognise the severity of this crisis and condition its engagement with Serbian authorities with the genuine accountability of their officials.

Debate: Tuesday, 11 February
MEPs: Vladimir Prebilič, Gordan Bosanac, Thomas Waitz

Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

On Thursday, MEPs will debate the recent escalation of violence in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This conflict is linked to a longstanding strategic fight over access to minerals in the region, involving Rwanda and the M23 rebel group. The Greens/EFA Group call for all civilians to be protected and, as a leverage to restore peace and territorial integrity or Rwanda, the suspension of EU cooperation with Rwanda, namely on critical raw materials.

Debate: Thursday, 13 February
MEP: Sara Matthieu