2021 will only be about jobs, jobs, jobs

09.12.2020 11:35

2021 will only be about jobs, jobs, jobs

Young people working together

Don’t waste this crisis: young MEPs and MPs call for action

"The cliché goes that a crisis is an opportunity for reform. But, the current situation requires both an economic and a social transformation. The truth is that in 2021, many businesses will not re-open and millions of people will lose their jobs. The good news is that, as a Group, we have a plan for this economic recovery”, declared Eva Maydell MEP, Chairwoman of the EPP Group’s Young Members’ Network (YMN) at the 13th annual meeting of the network, which took place on Tuesday evening.

The YMN consists of Members of national parliaments from the EPP political family and EPP Group MEPs, up to the age of forty at the time of their election. They met this week to discuss how the EU can give a solid future to Europeans despite the major setback of the pandemic.

“When you look at the last 15 years, it has been one crisis after another. We need to put aside the reactive approach and adopt a forward-looking, proactive approach instead”, Chairman Manfred Weber said during the meeting. “It is in this spirit that the EPP Group will continue to reach out to national parliaments and take part in the debate for a strong and ambitious Europe. In this globalised world, even the biggest countries are too small to deal with the key challenges alone; we need to work together if we want to remain a leading power in the world", he declared.

Eva Maydell MEP delved deeper into the Group’s forward-looking approach. “We need innovative entrepreneurial projects and ideas as well as strengthening the competitiveness of our industry. Our job on EU and national levels is to facilitate the emergence of new ventures and sustainable businesses which rely on the latest technology and provide added value to the economy."

The Vice-Chairman of the EPP Group responsible for budgetary issues, Siegfried Mureşan MEP, stated: “The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our habits, our way of life and there is no going back. Now we must use the EU budget to modernise our economies and invest in better protecting the environment, supporting researchers, digitalisation and innovation. We, the European Parliament, are ready to finalise negotiations before the end of 2020 so that farmers, researchers, students and every EU citizen affected by the pandemic can be helped.”

Over 350 members from national parliaments and 29 MEPs in the EPP Group make up the Young Members’ Network.

Note to editors

The EPP Group is the largest political group in the European Parliament with 187 Members from all EU Member States

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