The chair of the Group of the Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, Iratxe García, will use the State of the European Union Debate to call for “a change of course”, as she revealed on Tuesday at the Fórum Europa in Brussels.
Speaking at this briefing organised by Nueva Economía Fórum in the EU capital, García stated that during the State of the EU Debate, which will take place on September 16th, she will call in her speech for “a change of direction” for the EU that goes “beyond mere announcements”.
García added that she will criticise the “deregulation and simplification” promoted by the European Commission in recent years. Instead, she will advocate for the implementation of real policies focused on “affordability, sovereignty, social rights and a Quality Job Act” to strengthen labour rights.
For the Socialist leader, “the next European budget will be a major test”. She therefore called for better cohesion policies and emphasised that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and social investment “cannot be the price we pay for new priorities”. “We will not accept cuts,” she warned, adding that “Europe cannot do more with less”.
She also stated that “what we cannot do is maintain the same policies of the past that drove major improvements in territorial and social cohesion, and supported our farmers through the Common Agricultural Policy, whilst at the same time taking on new challenges without the necessary resources; we cannot do all this with less”, she argued.
She defended that, in order to acquire our own resources, a common European debt is necessary to finance investment. “We cannot tackle the challenges of defence, clean energy and digital technology on our own. Europe must make a decision,” she asserted. This is not, she added, a debate “between north and south, nor between east and west, nor between security and freedom, but rather about a Europe that is in retreat or a Europe that takes action; between those who believe that the strongest should decide everything and those who believe that democracy, solidarity and the rule of law make us stronger”. “Autocrats offer fear and we offer something different,” she said.
García also criticised the proposed EU budget and the idea of "flexibility" if this involves pooling cohesion, agriculture and defence funds. In light of this, she called on Member States to provide "genuine new own resources" so as not to rely on national contributions, and warned that the European Parliament would have the final say.
Finally, the Socialist leader advocated the introduction of safeguards in trade agreements with the United States to protect European interests. With regard to China, she called for a “structural and frank dialogue” as the only way to defend European competitiveness and values in the global market.
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