Prior to the plenary session, Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Co-president of The Left group in the Parliament, gives the priorities of the group. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

Press conference by Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Group Co-President - The Left briefing

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Group Co-President - The Left, Thank you David. And that is exactly how we see our work as a left-wing group in the European Parliament with one foot in the street, active in social movements and with another leg here in the Parliament actively working for the interests of the majority of the population.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Group Co-President - The Left, I would like to address three points at this point, first of all about the Commission Work program. Colleagues of yours thankfully presented the document, which has been known so far, to the public, i.e. leaked it at this point.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Group Co-President - The Left, And I would like to address two points. First, the Stability and Growth Pact. The reform of the financial rules was actually announced for this month. The Commission has now postponed to the first and second quarters of spring. In other words, we will not know until then how the states can invest in the future, for example, or how they can mobilise finances in view of the enormous crisis situation in which we find ourselves, even within their Member States, without violating the rigid corset of the Maastricht criteria.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Group Co-President - The Left, This is a big mistake and the time to postpone it to the first and second quarters also indicates that the Commission has absolutely no confidence that there will be an agreement in the Council on what a new macroeconomic framework should look like so that the states actually can respond adequately to the crisis, on the climate crisis, the energy crisis, the democratic crisis and how they can invest in the future of their countries and the population.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Group Co-President - The Left, And the second point goes in a very similar direction: the serious reform of the electricity market design, which is actually necessary and which is pending. The market failure is obvious, has been postponed until the fall of next year. I would say that this is a classic self-portrayal by Mrs. von der Leyen. It seems as though she wanted to present with the State of the Union speech next year what everyone actually needs now, namely an energy market that is subject to democratic control, meets very public needs and not only helps the big gas and oil companies get richer and richer at this point.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Group Co-President - The Left, And I have the impression that the central reform projects are being postponed by this Commission and this, of course, opens the door to speculation that it is actually not wanted to seriously close the electricity market on the one hand and the financial framework on the other hand, not the European financial framework, but to reform the macroeconomic framework of the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Group Co-President - The Left, Second point, something is being presented today in the area of energy and a few points have also become known, even in advance. I would like to address some of the points that are benevolently critical at this point. First, we welcome the idea of joint gas purchases by the European Union. Working together helps the European Union to act as a unified, strong player in the negotiations. And we are hopeful that this will actually result in prices being reduced. That is precisely the first and obvious goal that must be achieved so that people can still heat and be able to turn on their electricity at the end of the month. We will then wait accordingly for such an implementation.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Group Co-President - The Left, Second, there should be maximum dynamic gas prices. In extreme cases, we don't really know exactly what's behind it so far. We know that this should be based on TTF wholesale prices. But that leaves so much room that it is not clear whether this is a gas price cap that was announced or not. Obviously rather no at this point.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Group Co-President - The Left, The Commission seems to be saying goodbye to the idea because there is too much resistance in some Member States, including Germany. However, we are sticking to our political demands to make life easier for people, to secure industrial production, to give small and medium-sized enterprises a perspective and to give the baker and also the hairdresser a perspective in the craft sector. A gas price cap is now needed for private households but also for purchasing in order to support and maintain industrial production and the industrial base in the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Group Co-President - The Left, And thirdly, there should be state aid for companies that reduce their electricity requirements. That sounds good at first. The open question at this point would also be large industrial companies, which can of course save electricity much more easily in their production processes than others, for example, which are already very economical anyway, must benefit from this in the small and medium-sized sector of the craft sector.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Group Co-President - The Left, So does that mean that the big industrial giants are rewarded for saving electricity at this point, which make profits anyway? We considered this to be a socially unfair, unbalanced path and therefore also a mistake. State aid for small and medium-sized enterprises, of course, for essential industry, which is also in an existential crisis because it produces energy-intensive production, but not for energy companies or for large companies, which are making maximum profits anyway.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Group Co-President - The Left, As far as energy programmes are concerned, what has become known and the last point Frontex, once again thanks to your colleagues, the OLAF report has now also become known to us, i.e. it has become known to the public as a result of a leak. I find it worth supporting time and again that whistleblowers and journalists are supported in their investigative work. You are aware of our demands, which have been around for a long time, that we advocate a complete clarification of the allegations that were in the room and we see these allegations backed up.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Group Co-President - The Left, The report makes it clear that the agency, the border protection agency Frontex, was actively involved in human rights violations and push backs. And we, as a group, will therefore not agree to the discharge, i.e. the budget discharge, of the EU Agency at this point. We will not give the green light to any agency that has been actively involved in the deaths of people in the Mediterranean. Instead, we are calling for civil sea rescue, which must be supported by the European Union, and we are calling for a humane EU migration policy geared to asylum and human rights. Thank you so much!

Press conference by Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Group Co-President - The Left briefing

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