Briefing by Manon AUBRY (The Left,FR) and Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left,DE), Co-Presidents of The Left

Strasbourg

plenary session

press conference

SCHIRDEWAN, Martin (The Left, DE)

AUBRY, Manon (The Left, FR)

Press conference by Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR) and Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), The Left Group Leader - Briefing of the Left Group

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Thank you, David. Good morning to you all. It is wonderful to see such a large turnout. A couple of points. Firstly, the earthquake in Syria, then the Inflation Reduction Act, European response, and finally the debate around doing away with internal combustion engines. Firstly, the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. The earthquakes have devastated the region. Thousands of deaths, thousands of people missing in the rubble of collapsed buildings. The hopes of finding people alive dwindle by the hour.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), I welcome the fact that the European Union has triggered the disaster mechanism to provide assistance in the region. We need to act as swiftly as possible, send in as much humanitarian aid as possible to the region. We know that there are some Kurdish regions hard hit. We need to support them in the face of the winter conditions. We need food, tents, medical supplies, clothes, water supplies, all that must be sent to the region.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), I am concerned, though, that there have been reports that the Turkish government continues to fly attack aircraft against the Kurdish self-governing region in the north, that is unacceptable. Erdogan is using this tragedy to pursue his political goals and punish the Kurds. That also endangers supplies of humanitarian aid from Turkey to Syria. And so we need to express tough criticism of Erdogan's regime, and I would expect the commission to do that.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), If the disaster mechanism has been triggered, then we need to ensure that all supplies reach the people that urgently need it. One final point. We would express our condolences and sympathies to those affected by the earthquake to all families and all those who have lost loved ones. Our thoughts are with our friends in Turkey and Syria at this difficult time.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Second point, the commission's work in response to the Inflation Reduction Act introduced by Joe Biden's regime. Now, the inflation reduction is a nightmare for the trans-Atlantic advocates in Europe. This policy is seen as tax dumping for Europe. Biden has brought this about and we have seen the conservatives and liberals in this House saying that we need more free trade. Now, that is absurd, that is what brought us to this current difficult situation.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), We've seen how that has threatened our jobs and our manufacturing base. I believe that we need an industrial policy that protects the 99% an industrial policy in Europe that triggers massive investment for the future for sustainability. We need sustainable transition of our manufacturing base. We also need to ensure social cohesion. That means we need decent jobs, more apprenticeships, trade unions being strengthened. That's what is provided for in the Inflation Reduction Act introduced by Joe Biden.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Now, we see that the commission has come up with its Green Deal and I would like to talk about the lack of a social dimension to the European response. Joe Biden is taxing and looking to plug the tax loopholes for the super wealthy, ensure that multinationals pay their bit to ensure sustainable industrial growth in the US. Whereas the Commission is not doing that. It's just shifting funds around from one budget line to another, but seeing continued inequality. So the right approach would be proper redistribution from top to bottom and a proper investment in a sustainable future.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), One brief final remark on debate on the ban on internal combustion engines, we will be talking about that this week. Here we see a classic conflict of interest, and that's never really properly discussed in European politics. Now we all want to see a more sustainable approach to the future of manufacturing. We want to move away from CO2 heavy transport policy. We want to move away from individual private cars. But when such legislation is adopted, of course, the commission needs to create the right framework conditions to underpin the manufacturing base to secure those jobs.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Ensure that workers in those industries can be taken along into the future, not left behind. So we need a new transport policy, a sustainable transport policy. And in that regard we of course need to prioritise how jobs can be created to replace environmentally harmful businesses. So we're not talking about that and I believe that that is a strategic mistake. And that will continue to weaken our manufacturing and industrial base. We need to look at that in the EU just Transition Fund. We need to bolster resources and we need to look at the Green Deal industrial plan and use it to bring about this transformation.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), And another point, something that really annoys me when talking about doing away with the internal combustion engine. I believe, but we should not allow exceptions for the super wealthy. For example, the wealthy can continue to play with the polluting toys. Those toys and the like that pump out CO2 into the atmosphere. And why are they allowed to do it?

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), Because lobbyists are lobbying the commission. And that's, you know, is terrible. We shouldn't have special law governing Ferrari's in the European Parliament. We need a proper approach here. But I think the the commission's policy is failing here, and I think that's completely unacceptable. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), Thank you, David. Good morning, everybody. Just very briefly to add to what was said about the EU and IRA, the European Commission has adopted something new, which is free trade protectionism. Quite an invention, after all these years, they finally recognise that there are good side to protectionism as well. But at the same time they are speeding up the signature process for free trade agreements with pretty much everyone else in the world, which I think is pretty symptomatic and revealing.

SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), So I'd like to come back to the question I want to focus on this morning, which to say the whole question of ethics in politics. You might say, I've devoted lots of press conferences talking about this, but we still haven't exhausted the question. This is why this week we have called for a vote on a resolution and another debate, last December, when the Qatar gate scandal, which perhaps should be renamed Morocco Gate, first emerged.

SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), Pretty much everybody in the European Parliament came along hand on heart to say this is an attack on our democracy and it's quite unacceptable. Soon afterwards, however, in particular, in the in-camera meetings of the Conference of Presidents, the various different measures, which were adopted collectively through our Parliament were buried. So after saying that our democracy was in danger, the first thing they did was to simply disregard a Democratic resolution 141 votes for out of 146.

SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), Why do I say this? Roberta Metsola's action plan only picks up on four of the 15 points which the Parliament adopted back in December. We've drawn up a table here, which I'd be delighted to send you. In which you find a list of those measures which were adopted in December and those which have been included or not in Metsola's action plan. So I don't have time to go through all of these in detail. You find, for example, a mandatory transparency register that's been binned, ethical body that's been banned as well, I'll come back to that.

SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), Legislative record, in other words, the ability to publish source of amendments, binned compulsory financial interest statements, binned. At the same time, we've got people sweeping the dirt under the carpet and they think that business as usual is far better. This time round we don't agree. Businesses, you can't win the day. Why do we have our culture undermined by opacity and impunity? Why is this so prevalent in the European Parliament? As you know, those who are corrupt are like vampires. They hate the light of day.

SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), This is why our job is to open up the shutters, to bring in the winds and light of change. We have to ensure that. Just last week, for example, in the Conference of Presidents last Wednesday, the various different political parties were all slapping themselves on the back, saying that Roberta Metsola's plan is fantastic, despite the fact it simply binned the majority of the proposals we adopted. This is why we've called for another resolution this week.

SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), However, I request was turned down by the Conference of Presidents. But yesterday, at the beginning of the plenary session it was adopted. That demonstrates that transparency in debate is key to democracy. Proposals refused by the Conference of Presidents behind closed doors can be adopted in open settings when voters are accountable to their voters rather than third countries or private lobby groups. As we've seen so often in the past in the European Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), So the time has come for bring these this malpractice to an end. It's absolutely unbearable for us to see the extent to which political parties close ranks when it comes to protecting their interests or to divert attention, as the EPP have been doing. The EPP is trying to blame NGOs. You know, there's an expression, when a wise man points to the moon, an idiot looks at his finger. The President of the EPP, Manfred Weber, has been getting more than €20,000 per month from his party for sharing it. That's the kind of thing we should be talking about.

SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), So to divert attention from that, the EPP has been drawing attention to NGOs or indeed other groups have been using the privacy of in-camera meetings of the Conference of Presidents to bury these measures. This is what we denounce in the resolution which we put to the vote this week. We are coordinating the vote on that resolution. So I'd be delighted to tell you once again about what happens in these closed meetings, and they will continue until Wednesday that midday, that's the deadline for amendments.

SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), So once again, a whole series of issues will be refused behind closed doors, but we will bring them back via amendments. And that shows just how important transparency independence is. When it comes to an independent ethics body, I would like to remind you that this was a proposal which we made back in 2019, the beginning of this Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), Back then we were talking about conflicts of interest amongst commissioners. We highlighted the fact that there were highlights of interest because members were judged in party members of the Parliament. So the position adopted by the President of the European Commission has simply been shoved to the back of a drawer now. It was in a programme it seems to have disappeared.

SOUNDBITE (French), Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR), So we would call on the Commission to implement as quickly as possible a proposal to start negotiations on it. The European Parliament has to accept its responsibilities and to have the courage to adopt its own framework with an independent ethical body, if the other institutions refuse to do that. Thank you.

Q&A Question regarding the ethics within the Left Group. Also particullary concerning Mick Wallace and his ownership of three wine bars in Dublin.

Q&A Question regarding the Istanbul convention and violence against women.

Press conference by Manon AUBRY (The Left, FR) and Martin SCHIRDEWAN (The Left, DE), The Left Group Leader - Briefing of the Left Group

Info

Beskrivning

People

Tags