SD Times - Issue 13

This week

Ecocides vote

On March 21, we voted to make sure environmental damage is considered a serious and punishable criminal offence in the EU.?

In a vote in the legal affairs committee on the new directive, MEPs decided on new legal definitions for serious environmental crimes in the EU, which would include ecocide, as well as minimum standards for sanctions for breaking the law.

Evidence shows that CEOs in general survive environmental lawsuits when their companies are sued for environmental crimes. With this directive, we can end this injustice as the responsibility falls directly on the CEO.

Right to repair

Calling for it since 2004, we welcomed the Commission’s proposal on ‘the right to repair’, which will not only save citizens’ money but also help the environment.

The proposal encourages consumers to make more sustainable choices by providing incentives and effective tools to repair defective goods.

The initiative will also stimulate local jobs in the second-hand and repair service sector.

Vote on safe and legal migration

In a vote yesterday, we fully supported a revision of the Single Permit Directive that will help us deal with labour market shortages in the EU and that will help stop the illegal exploitation of migrant workers.

The new rules will ensure more safe, legal migration opportunities. In particular:

- there will be a faster, combined procedure for both residence and work, for non-EU workers

- there is a set of rights so that non-EU workers are treated equally to national workers.

Justyna Wydrzynska at the European Parliament

This week we also met Justyna Wydrzynska, a human rights activist from Aborcyjny Dream Team, who has been sentenced to 8 months of community service for providing abortion pills to a woman in need.

We expressed our full support to her and called, once again, on member states to help ensure the respect of the right to safe and legal abortion.

What’s coming up

We are gearing up for a European Parliament plenary session happening next week in Brussels (29 - 30 March).

Celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement

The first item on the agenda on Wednesday is the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. An achievement of historic significance, the agreement must be preserved. Recently, under our Group’s lead, the European Parliament welcomed – with a significant majority – the so-called Windsor Framework, a new joint understanding that allows more flexible and more effective implementation of the trading arrangements for goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain, so that both the EU’s Single Market and the Good Friday Agreement can be fully safeguarded.

Anti-money laundering package

On Tuesday, the European Parliament’s economic and justice committees will vote on an important anti-money laundering package, including the establishment of a new EU agency to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism. This new legislation is set to unify existing national rules that are too fragmented and badly coordinated, with the aim of strengthening our collective fight against money laundering.

Pay transparency

Also on Thursday, the European Parliament will vote on pay transparency rules to close the gender pay gap, which still remains too high. On average, women in the EU earn 14.1% less than men in comparable positions do. It is our long-standing demand to have strong, binding EU rules on pay transparency. Our negotiators, Evelyn Regner and Marc Angel, secured strong provisions on penalties and fines for non-compliance, which will be key in ensuring that companies actually take the new pay transparency rules seriously.

Pact on Migration and Asylum

The votes for four key legislative files in the Pact on Migration and Asylum will take place next Tuesday, 28 March, in the civil liberties, justice and home affairs committee. We have been negotiating for an agreement, based on solidarity, and where each member state takes its fair share of responsibility. You can follow updates on the vote next week on our social media channels and online.