Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ, (S&D, ES), Chair of S&D group in the Parliament, holds 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

plenary session

press conference

GARCÍA PÉREZ, Iratxe (S&D, ES)

Press briefing by Pedro MARQUES (S&D, PT), Vice-Chair of S&D

<p>(SOUNDBITE, English) Pedro MARQUES (S&amp;D,PT), Vice-Chair of S&amp;D, So, first of all, morning to you all once more. Indeed. A very important plenary session is now just occurring, but also important week for this group also. Last week we were in Madrid. I would like to recall your attention towards it. We were in Madrid in a very key moment for European and Spanish politics.</p>  <p></p>

(SOUNDBITE, English) Pedro MARQUES (S&amp;D,PT), Vice-Chair of S&amp;D, We were there also to symbolise our opposition to this new attempt of a coalition between right wing and far right parties, in this case PP and Vox, that once more we're trying to to flirt, to actually marry and create a new government in Spain, which finally did not occur.

(SOUNDBITE, English) Pedro MARQUES (S&D,PT), Vice-Chair of S&D, So the group was there to stand clearly against such possibility. Now, I would like to recall your attention for the very important commemoration remembrance today, ten years after the shipwreck in Lampedusa. It was a tragic moment. It was also a moment in which Europe looked strongly. And I would say from that on, the situation changed in terms of the attention of the Europeans regarding the situation in the Mediterranean.

(SOUNDBITE, English) Pedro MARQUES (S&D,PT), Vice-Chair of S&D, But unfortunately, after hundreds of death in that in that shipwreck, not enough change at European level regarding our migration and asylum policies. Ten years on the strategy, from the strategy, we still lack a permanent and effective European search and rescue operation, fully effective in the Mediterranean.

(SOUNDBITE, English) Pedro MARQUES (S&D,PT), Vice-Chair of S&D, We still need safe and legal pathways for migration. We still need the pact on migration. Finally, what we do not need is this kind of agreements with dictators without authoritarian regimes like the one that was attempted by the Commission in with Tunisia just recently.

(SOUNDBITE, English) Pedro MARQUES (S&D,PT), Vice-Chair of S&D, Mr. Weber was keen to to follow on this and to go even to Tunisia and commemorate this and say we need to expand it to this to other countries rapidly. Well, finally, this didn't solve anything. More people arrived to our shores, namely to Lampedusa, after this attempt to an agreement with Saied and I'll say it even refused.

(SOUNDBITE, English) Pedro MARQUES (S&D,PT), Vice-Chair of S&D, Turkey also refused admission from this Parliament to be there, by the way it was to be led by an EPP coordinator in AFET it well it is not for this kind of regimes and for Mr. Saied to have democratic scrutiny of this kind of agreements.

(SOUNDBITE, English) Pedro MARQUES (S&D,PT), Vice-Chair of S&D, We said from the beginning from our side this was not the way to go. By the way, we have a debate tomorrow on migration, a key debate on migration. We are happy to have a discussion tomorrow. The way to go is indeed to fully instate the right to asylum to manage our borders. Of course, we need to manage our border also through proper solidarity between the member States, also for a solidarity to the frontline countries. So that's the kind of discussion we will have tomorrow.

(SOUNDBITE, English) Pedro MARQUES (S&D,PT), Vice-Chair of S&D, We hope that finally the Council and blocks from their side, their positions are amended so that you can actually have the trial to continue on the pact on migration and particularly the position on the crisis regulation. We hope the Italians do not drag their feet now, do not create new problems. Italian government, you're after a government. It's clear to work. I hope that they are aware that their populist rhetoric will not do anything good for the situation in Mediterranean or for the arrivals in Italy. And it's very puzzling of Mr. Tajan, it's again the EPP, now attacks the the proposals at the table on the pact on migration instead of pushing for a full adoption of the mandate.

(SOUNDBITE, English) Pedro MARQUES (S&D,PT), Vice-Chair of S&D, And for the conclusion that's the kind of debate will certainly have tomorrow, it will be interesting to see what EPP say about the Pact of Migration. This version, the more moderate version, We we get some days or some weeks or will we have this new Tajani version about renegotiating again the pact on migration, which would be completely unacceptable.

(SOUNDBITE, English) Pedro MARQUES (S&D,PT), Vice-Chair of S&D, And then there's a topical debate tomorrow about housing. There was a debate yesterday about the social precariousness in Europe, but there's a debate tomorrow because we requested a debate on housing, because there's a huge cost of living crisis in Europe going on, and particularly the situation on housing is simply very dire for the for the European families, even for the middle class families, for the ones that are unemployed.

(SOUNDBITE, English) Pedro MARQUES (S&D,PT), Vice-Chair of S&D, And at this stage the situation is indeed dire. People are suffering for paying for their rents or for their mortgages. If somebody gets divorced, it suddenly becomes a huge housing and social problem for these families. Women are suffering even more because of debt. So what we will bring to the national strategies for housing, which means more pressure on the Member States to use every available funds for housing, which means changing eventually the state aid regulations so that we can have better support from the national government to any housing project that addresses this failure, this current market failure on housing, more regulation to avoid speculation on the housing market, and certainly more support even at European level towards tackling the homelessness crisis that is also being experienced in many Member States.

(SOUNDBITE, English) Pedro MARQUES (S&D,PT), Vice-Chair of S&D, We will also have a debate on the visa scandal in Poland and it's again a good opportunity to go back to the difference between the rhetorics of this far right, of these populists, and then their practices, these corrupted regimes and this corrupted practices by some authorities. They come to Europe, they brag about stopping the migrants, etc., and then they'll sell their visas for those migrants that come to their to their shores, to their borders. And this is a huge example of how this populist approach and this corrupt approach to democratic to democracy in Europe does not work.

(SOUNDBITE, English) Pedro MARQUES (S&D,PT), Vice-Chair of S&D, And this is something that we are sure that the Polish people already were expressing in the streets in Warsaw just a few days ago. And we are sure that they will also evaluate and express when they go to vote in a few days from now. So these are important debates we have in front of us this week. I also imagine that you have important and interesting questions to put to me in these next few minutes.

Q&A, focusing on the electoral outcomes of the Slovakian elections.

Q&A, focusing on the possible expulsion of Smer from the S&D coalition and the current political developement in Slovakia as a whole.

Q&A, followup question on the future of Smer within the S&D coalition.

Q&A, on series Smer and on how this new political actor might influence Slovakia's position on the global stage. of question