Press briefing by Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR) and Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Co-Chair of The Left, hold a press conference in the European Parliament in Strasbourg to present the priorities of the group for the plenary session. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

Strasbourg

press conference

SCHIRDEWAN, Martin (The Left, DE)

AUBRY, Manon (The Left, FR)

The Left

Press briefing by Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR) and Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Co-Chair of The Left

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/72695232/1697189010853_I247573Chapters%5BSD-EN%5D.srt

'SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Co-Chair of The Left, Thank you very much indeed for being here in such numbers. I would like to focus on three principal topics. The first of all, the debate that's taking place on the Stability and Growth Pact, which today is the heads of state and government will be talking about. Then, I'd like to talk about the Commission work program, which is on the agenda. At 3:00 they'll be presenting their working program, although some of it's leaked out already. We know to some extent what's on the agenda. And then of course, I'd also like to focus on the dominant issue this week for our session, which is of course Palestine and Israel.

'SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Co-Chair of The Left, 'So, the heads of state and government are meeting to talk about the Stability and Growth Pact. It's supposed to contribute to stability and to growth, but de facto it doesn't because its rules are constantly suspended. This has taken place once again in post-pandemic. It was also clear during the euro crisis that the debt rules were simply put on ice and economic growth in the eurozone.

'SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Co-Chair of The Left, It has actually recovered more quickly this time than it did the last time. So it's quite clear that if you don't have the Stability and Growth Pact, sometimes the economic growth is better. The economy will do, at least as well, if not considerably better, without the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact. Therefore, it's ultimately pointless and it's not something that we should be continuing with. It's really a piece of sabotage.  And it's something which the coalition government in Germany is keen to perpetuate.

'SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Co-Chair of The Left, Frankly, reason doesn't dominate in Berlin these days and very often the government doesn't even care that it's undermining the economy. And, at the same time actually contributing to undermining the economy of the whole EU. It doesn't seem to care about that. It's sinking their own economy and ours without a truce. And so we need a sustainability and a jobs pact more than a stability and growth pact.

'SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Co-Chair of The Left, And secondly, the working program of the commission for the remainder of its period. The situation, as we currently have it, is that they've really run out of inspiration and ideas. And that notwithstanding, Von der Leyen feels obliged to propose some potential ideas which might be delivered upon by the end of their period in office. There's nothing really new.

'SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Co-Chair of The Left, The titles always sound good, the inspiration and the PR department's good. But the trouble with that is that the content doesn't reflect the wonderful sounding titles. What does it mean? You talk about food security. What does that mean? Where there are millions of people suffering from poverty and can't make ends meet and are having to go to food banks? So the titles are fine, as I say, but really?

'SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Co-Chair of The Left, And then all this working for people. This honestly sounds like a title chosen from some capitalist tract of the 19th century. That's essentially what it is. It sounds good in terms of company management. But in terms of what the Commission actually does on minimum tax, it doesn't even meet the first requirement, let alone the standards required for social employment rights.

'SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Co-Chair of The Left, Poverty isn't addressed a toll, and this is not by any shape of a stretch of the imagination an economy that works for all. There are people struggling to find housing. There's child poverty, which is rampant. A quarter of the pensioners in the European Union are struggling and on the brink of poverty. And I honestly think that this is shameful. Once again, Von der Leyen isn't producing anything constructive to help the people of the European Union. It's just a bunch of sound bites and titles, nothing more.

'SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Co-Chair of The Left, Then Israel and Palestine, which is of course a source of great concern to everybody. There's a major escalation in the Middle East. It's basically on fire. The attacks perpetrated by Hamas on Israel have cost the lives of many people. Many, many people have lost their lives. There have been shocking hostage taking. There are many people still taken hostage. This is very shocking.

'SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Co-Chair of The Left, And we are very grateful to all those who are making efforts to try to liberate the hostages. The declared aim of Hamas is the destruction of Israel and the inception of an Islamist dictatorship. There is no justification for murder and to say in the name of antisemitism or attacks on the civilian population. The Hamas leadership has also endangered the Palestinian people terribly.

'SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Co-Chair of The Left, And if you stand back and look at what is going on, the aggressive military response from Israel, which is bound to cost lives of thousands more already. The people in Gaza can't even escape because they're blockaded and trapped in there awaiting the unleashing of this massive wave of military violence and aggression which will simply take all before it.

'SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Co-Chair of The Left, This is an affront on the rights to live and civilization of the Gaza people. They are not collectively responsible the terrorist strategy and terrorist actions of Hamas, and it is therefore, the Commission continue to comply with universal humanitarian and international law, open a humanitarian corridor and ensure that humanitarian aid is supplied. that it gets to the people in Gaza. We would call upon the Commission to ensure that the borders are open so people can escape Gaza.

'SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Co-Chair of The Left, As far as Israel is concerned, then our concern is that the total blockade on energy and food supplies for the 2 million Palestinians should be lifted because this is a clear breach of international humanitarian law. Therefore, it must be withdrawn. So, if Israelis and Palestinians can't live in peace and freedom together, as long as that is the case, everybody's peace and freedom is under threat and therefore we subscribe to the right to exist of Israel and a peaceful solution founded on a two state solution, a sovereign and secure Israel, a sovereign and secure Palestine with this recognition of Jerusalem. Thank you very much.

'SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), Co-Chair of The Left, Good morning, everyone. I will start this press conference with a heavy heart. Islamist terrorism has struck European soil once again yesterday evening in Brussels, where the two Swedish nationals targeted by a fanatic. Three days after the cowardly murder of a teacher in France, Dominique Bernier, at school. A real symbol, a symbol for emancipation. And he was targeted three years after Samuel Paty was murdered. School is a symbol of emancipation, and maybe that is what fanatics detest the most.

'SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), Co-Chair of The Left, And we know well that terrorists seek to divide us. And over the last few days we Europeans have been tested. And the role of politicians, here, is not to fan the flames, but to set out our resistance unity in the face of this hatred that the terrorists wish to sow. In our left group, we will not offer them this victory. We will continue to show our strong humanity as a response in resistance. And this is what we want to stress very strongly in these troubled times.

'SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), Co-Chair of The Left, Humanity, too, has been put to the test in the Israeli Palestinian conflict. We are currently experiencing one of the most serious humanitarian disasters to take place over the last few years and decades. I'm not saying this of my own, but the NGOs are saying it and the Israeli army is preparing for a ground offensive. Thousands of deaths. One third children.

'SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), Co-Chair of The Left, For several days now, we've seen a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, 2.5 million people without water, electricity, food. And it's a very worrying situation for them. Gaza is an open air prison. It's about to become a cemetery. Ambulance workers are being targeted, for example. Emotion is legitimate, necessary after Hamas's terrorist attack in Israel. There again, civilians were targeted. Dreams shattered. Grandparents and children taken as hostages.

'SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), Co-Chair of The Left, On behalf of my group, I would condemn with great firmness these appalling acts. There are no words for them. But I would like to say very clearly to EU leaders, the right to defense is not the right to blind and indiscriminate vengeance. You do not respond to atrocious war crimes with other terrible war crimes. And Ursula von der Leyen, the Commission President and Parliament President Robertoa, how did they dare go to Israel to give unqualified support and carte blanche to an extreme right government without a single word about the Palestinians who were targeted?

'SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), Co-Chair of The Left, Nothing about a ceasefire either. Is the life of a Palestinian worth so much less than the life of an Israeli. Every life counts. And we stand for peace and a ceasefire. It is urgent. The hostages need to be released. The Israeli hostages taken hostage it  need to be released. We need a humanitarian corridor and this blockade needs to stop. And we will not have a durable peace without a two state solution, which our Parliament has defended on various occasions in our resolutions. We continue to defend this in our resolution which will be voted on on Thursday.

'SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), Co-Chair of The Left, And let me say a final word about the work program, which Martin mentioned, with regard to the ecological dimension. Over the last few months, you've seen people attacking the Green Deal, and you'll see that in the Commission work program where the pesticides and chemicals lobbies won the day over our lives. The REACH program is going to be revised with regard to these chemical products. We're seeing legislation being put on and put off and shelved may be linked to that to the extension of glyphosate for ten years that there was a failure on Friday in the Council.

'SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), Co-Chair of The Left, And this idea of an ecological environmental pause mentioned by Macron and echoed by others is reflected in that. We support a Green deal. We won't let those who want to destroy environmental action win the day. And this is what we will remind us of underline of for the last few months of the mandate.

Q&A, on the foreign policy of the EU and in pariticular on the role of Joseph Borrell, Higher Representative for the European Union and the second one on the recent trip to Israel by Ursula von der Leyen, EC President. Two questions, the first focusing

Q&A, focusing on the developing situation in Israel and the role of Hamas.