Briefing by Philippe LAMBERTS (Greens/EFA,BE) and Terry REINTKE (Greens/EFA,DE), Co-Presidents of Greens/EFA

Strasbourg

plenary session

LAMBERTS, Philippe (Greens/EFA, BE)

press conference

REINTKE, Terry (Greens/EFA, DE)

Press conference by Philippe LAMBERTS (Greens/EFA, BE) and Terry REINTKE (Greens/EFA, DE), Greens/EFA Group Leaders

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/68664785/1676374591720_I237135Chapters%5BSD-EN%5D.srt

SOUNDBITE (English), Terry REINTKE (Greens/EFA, DE), MEP 8 - 9th parliamentary terms, Thanks a lot and good morning for my side and I want to start by saying again that, of course, we look at the situation in Syria and Turkey and send condolences to the many families and people who already have lost loved ones. The situation is developing and of course, we also call for the European Union to do everything they can to support the efforts to get people out of the rubble and then also to rebuild the damage that has been done. It's a very big catastrophe what is happening there, we have to keep our eyes on this.

SOUNDBITE (English), Terry REINTKE (Greens/EFA, DE), MEP 8 - 9th parliamentary terms, Having said that, we had a call last week, where one of the major topics was migration. And when we look at the conclusions that came out of the negotiations there, we can only say that the situation was bad before, but it has even worsened. And basically these conclusions are a how to fortress Europe. What we heard from the negotiations, there was even a very strong push needed to get one mention of the protection of fundamental rights into these conclusions. And I think that really shows you the state of play when we speak about migration and asylum inside of the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (English), Terry REINTKE (Greens/EFA, DE), MEP 8 - 9th parliamentary terms, Basically, what the heads of states and governments are trying to do is to even further restrict the access to asylum procedures. And this obviously is something that worries us as means a lot. We are also very concerned about these calls to activate substantial funds for the building of border infrastructure. Because basically the debate that we are having right now is not about whether we want open or closed borders. Everybody in this parliament wants orderly border management.

SOUNDBITE (English), Terry REINTKE (Greens/EFA, DE), MEP 8 - 9th parliamentary terms, The debate that we are having is about whether we have these procedures and the border management done according to existing international and European law, whether we have fundamental rights that are safeguarded or whether there is violence and chaos. And we definitely go for the rule of law version here. And let me also reflect on the position that especially the EPP, the biggest group in this Parliament, has taken in this debate where we have seen a very clear shift to the right over the past month.

SOUNDBITE (English), Terry REINTKE (Greens/EFA, DE), MEP 8 - 9th parliamentary terms, And this is something especially ahead of 2024, that gives us a lot of worry and concern, because what we are observing is that they are trying to build a stronger alliance. Especially with the far right groups in this parliament, the ECR, and the ID and we are again calling also on the EPP, we are in this Parliament, we have had a lot of discussions about migration. We have been trying to build majorities with the pro-European democratic groups and it should stay that way in the future.

SOUNDBITE (English), Terry REINTKE (Greens/EFA, DE), MEP 8 - 9th parliamentary terms, Let me very briefly also reflect on two issues that we are going to debate this week in the Parliament. The first one is the accession to the Istanbul Convention of the European Union, a very important topic. We have numbers that only in 2020, in the 17 Member States, where we have this data from, 788 women have been killed by family members of intimate partners. This is a huge problem. It's a very widespread phenomenon.

SOUNDBITE (English), Terry REINTKE (Greens/EFA, DE), MEP 8 - 9th parliamentary terms, The Istanbul convention is the gold standard in the fight against violence against women, and we need all members of the European Union, but also the European Union as a whole to accede to the Istanbul convention as fast as possible. And the European Parliament is going to reiterate that call. Also this week we are going to push for that. And the last point is on minimum income. We see that almost 100 million people in the European Union are at risk of poverty.

SOUNDBITE (English), Terry REINTKE (Greens/EFA, DE), MEP 8 - 9th parliamentary terms, These are numbers that are absolutely unacceptable and the European Union needs to do more in order to fight against that. And this is why this Parliament session, we are going to vote on a report calling for the introduction of a minimum income scheme that will actually then create a situation where we have minimum incomes in Member States that are above the poverty line, because this is what we want. We want people to live free from poverty in the European Union. Thanks a lot.

SOUNDBITE (French), Philippe LAMBERTS (Greens/EFA, BE), MEP 7 - 9th parliamentary terms, I have a question for Manfred Weber: where is the EPP headed? I can remember as a child that the EPP was a Christian Democratic Party, the cornerstone of the European project, supporting growth in the social democratic economy or the social market economy. Now the EPP would appear to be chasing the heels of far right parties. We've seen this when it comes to migration. It is clear that they have adopted the language and posture of the far right.

SOUNDBITE (French), Philippe LAMBERTS (Greens/EFA, BE), MEP 7 - 9th parliamentary terms, I was quite shocked by the language used by Ursula von der Leyen, when she wrote to heads of State and government on migration. She is pushing for Europe to become fortress Europe, using the language of the far right, it seems par for course, nowadays. The European Union, it would appear, has no responsibility for the root causes of migration for people seeking asylum on our shores. It would appear that Europe has no resources to deal with these migrants. We seem to be flouting our humanitarian responsibility and our reception capabilities. So the Fortress Europe approach seems to be the only game in town.

SOUNDBITE (French), Philippe LAMBERTS (Greens/EFA, BE), MEP 7 - 9th parliamentary terms, The European Green deal there too, we see the EPP adopting a climate sceptic approach. Manfred Weber would deny that, but look at the pillars underpinning the legislation, one of them is cars. But the EPP is now saying, well, we don't understand why you would get rid of an internal combustion engine. But we're saying that would happen in 2035, in 12 years time. I mean, if we want a European industrial strategy, then we really need to get going on the transition. We can't be nervous, we can't shy away from change.

SOUNDBITE (French), Philippe LAMBERTS (Greens/EFA, BE), MEP 7 - 9th parliamentary terms, Look at the draft resolution on European competitiveness and the EPP talking about safeguarding industries of the past. Rather than worrying about potential industries for the future. Above all, we have to safeguard the crown jewels of the past. Well, I think the fastest way to lose all that is to shy away from the steps needed for the transition. So increasingly we are seeing a problem, we see this in Sweden. You may recall what happened in Italy, Manfred Weber's said there that the EPP connection to the far right government in Italy would make it more reasonable, be a moderating force.

SOUNDBITE (French), Philippe LAMBERTS (Greens/EFA, BE), MEP 7 - 9th parliamentary terms, Well, surely he's joking when it comes to Berlusconi. Putin is looking to get the right people in place in different countries around Europe. So you could argue that Meloni is closer to Zelenskyy than others and really the EPP seems to have lost its head here. You look at the democratic landscape in Europe. You have parties that are working hard on the European project respecting rule of law. But I think the whole architecture is weakened now, and that calls into question the stability of the whole project.

SOUNDBITE (French), Philippe LAMBERTS (Greens/EFA, BE), MEP 7 - 9th parliamentary terms, So by 2024, we could see a change of between now and then, we'll have to adopt a lot of legislation. The EPP seems to be seeking shelter in the arms of the far right, and I think that is a dangerous path to wander down. So those are the serious concerns that we currently harbour. There are some areas in Europe, some German States, for example, where the EPP is working with far right parties. The EPP had pushed for the Green Deal, but I think if the EPP continues towards the far right, I think this does not augur well for the future of all these projects.

Q&A Question regarding the European response to the eathquakes in Turkey and Syria. Second question about vulnerable communities in northwest Syria and how to reach them to do more.

Q&A Question regarding the pact on migration and asylum.

Q&A Question regarding the expectations of the contact group for rescues at sea droping a coorporation framework for NGO vessels that work in the Mediterranean.

Q&A Question regarding the debates on reforming the Parliament. Second question regarding the Greens and EPP to host a debate on NGOs.

Q&A Question regarding an independent ethics group set up within the European Parliament.