The Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament today voted in favour of a resolution deploring the Orbán government’s failure to adopt sufficient reforms on the rule of law in Hungary. The S&D Group’s view remains that no EU money should be released to a government that cannot guarantee funds are protected from misuse.

Eider Gardiazabal Rubial, S&D MEP and co-negotiator on the issue from the European Parliament committee on budgets, said:

As proposed by the Socialists and Democrats, the European Parliament today urged the Commission to proceed immediately with the coordinated exit of the EU from the ECT and called on member states to support such a proposal. This is the best option to prevent the ECT from putting the EU’s climate and energy security ambitions in jeopardy.

The S&Ds led the negotiations between political groups on the European Parliament’s resolution on human rights violations in Qatar that will be voted on today in the context of the ongoing FIFA World Cup. An intense international spotlight on breaches of rights of migrant workers, women, and LGBTIQ community in the host country must be a wake-up call to FIFA. An international organisation of such relevance should always champion human rights.

THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP), FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION (FAO) AND THE WHOLE GRAIN INITIATIVE JOIN FORCES TO HIGHLIGHT THE POSITIVE IMPACT OF WHOLE GRAINS ON SUSTAINABLE AND RESILIENT FOOD SYSTEMS

Today, the European Parliament adopted the report drafted by S&D MEP, Tonino Picula, on the New Strategy for Enlargement. It stresses that if the EU wants to be a geopolitical player, it must remain an open project, and also proposes a clear deadline: accession negotiations should be concluded by the end of 2030.