The Week ahead

Join us for the EPP Group Online Conference on the Future of Europe next Wednesday. German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Commission Vice-President Dubravka Šuica, EPP Group Chairman Manfred Weber and senior EPP Group MEPs will discuss their ideas on how to reshape the future of the European Union. Check out the full programme here.

Members of the Foreign Affairs Commitee will vote on Thursday morning on the European Commission's annual progress report on Turkey. Not surprisingly, the report underlines that EU and Turkey relations are at an historical low and there is regress in three main areas: rule of law and fundamental rights, institutional reform and foreign policy. Regardless of that, Turkey remains a strategic neighbour and ally with which the EU wishes to have the best possible relations.

On Thursday, Members of the Environment Committee in the European Parliament will question Commissioner Kyriakides on issues surrounding COVID-19 vaccines and their deliveries to Europe. "We must accelerate the pace of vaccination in the European Union and focus more on third countries as soon as the vaccination rates in Europe improve. The emergence of dangerous mutations can only be prevented if, globally, everyone is vaccinated", said the EPP Group's Spokesman for Health, Peter Liese MEP.

On Monday, Foreign Affairs Ministers are set to discuss the situation in Ukraine and the Russian military build-up around the country’s borders. In the EPP Group’s view, the military activity constitutes an escalation and a serious threat to European stability and security as well as to Ukrainian sovereignty. This is why “the European Union and the United States must clearly and explicitly communicate to Russia the price it will have to pay for its aggression. And this price must be high”, insists Sandra Kalniete MEP, EPP Group Vice-Chairwoman responsible for foreign affairs.

On Thursday, Parliament's committees on Social Affairs and Women's Rights will organise a hearing on the European Commission's proposal for a Pay Transparency Directive. Improving gender equality by 2050 would boost EU GDP with more than €1.95 trillion. The right to equal pay between women and men for equal work is a key European value and embedded in the Treaties. The effective implementation and enforcement however, remains a challenge for the EU. The lack of pay transparency remains one of the biggest obstacles as the gender pay gap in the EU is still around 14%.

As outlined in the European Social Rights, every European worker should earn a wage allowing for a decent living wherever they work. On Thursday in Parliament's Social Affairs Committee, Dennis Radtke MEP will present his Report on adequate minimum wages. The EPP Group is committed to ensuring that every worker in the EU receives a decent and fair wage.

On Monday, three of Parliament's Committees - Foreign Affairs, Development and Budgets - will assess the EU Trust Funds established in 2014 and the Facility for Refugees in Turkey at a joint meeting. The EPP Group agrees that the lessons learned from the Trust Funds will be of great value for the implementation of the new Neighbourhood, Development, and International Cooperation Instrument ('Global Europe'). The EPP Group insists that the EU Budget should finance external assistance in full form, but Parliament’s legislative, budgetary and control prerogatives must be respected.