Today the European Parliament adopted its progress report on Turkey. Drafted by S&D MEP Nacho Sánchez Amor, the report points out that despite some improvements during the last period in high-level contacts between the EU and Turkey, tensions are now back on the rise.  Ankara clearly has no political will to stop the continuous backsliding on democracy and human rights, as shown by the recent life sentence given to activist Osman Kavala.

Today the European Parliament is formally calling on member states to agree to a Convention on revising the EU Treaties so the EU is no longer held hostage by a single government when it comes to decisive action.

Late on Monday night, the European Parliament and the French EU presidency concluded a political agreement on the Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages, in Strasbourg. The agreement is based on two pillars. The first pillar sets decency standards for national statutory minimum wages. By earning a statutory minimum wage, workers must be able to live a decent life.

The Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament congratulate the Danish people for voting in yesterday's referendum to overturn their 30-year-old opt-out from the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). Following on from the Swedish and Finnish applications for NATO membership, the Danish vote is yet another historic response to Russian aggression against Ukraine and the new security situation in Europe.

Croatia’s adoption of the euro will benefit Croatian citizens and businesses, make our common currency stronger, as well as enhance the European resilience and unity. This is the message from the S&Ds welcoming the European Commission’s assessment that the country is ready to adopt the euro on 1 January 2023, bringing the number of the euro area countries to twenty*.

Biljana Borzan, the S&D vice-president responsible for a new economy that works for all, said: