WED 16 Sept 14:45
Style or substance? 6 key ideas missing from VDL’s State of the EU speech
Equality, climate action, respect for migrants, ensuring fundamental rights, are some of the topics that, beyond nice words, demand action from the European Commission. We heard a lot in President von der Leyen’s State of the Union speech this morning. But despite being over 1 hour long, a lot was left out. Read here
WED 16 Sept 14:00
Manon Aubry: CHANGE IT ALL…
GUE/NGL Co-president Manon Aubry, reacting to SOTEU2020 statement by Ursula von der Leyen, shows another level of ambition and determination: “To face the urgency of the moment, we must change everything: our compass must be the need to make an ecological and social break”
WED 16 Sept 12:30
Chris MacManus: SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE
Making his maiden speech in the European Plenary, Chris MacManus urges the EU to “protect the Withdrawal Agreement & from British full-frontal attack on the peace process. The British can not be trusted. They don’t care about the people of Ireland. They will continually misinterpret & ignore Good Friday Agreement to suit their own domestic political agenda. “
WED 16 Sept 12:25
José Gusmão: A EUROPE OF CONTRADICTIONS
“Ursula von der Leyen now says it’s important to invest in health, to promote collective bargaining & to defend minimum wage in Europe. Yet, you invited member states to take apart their collective bargaining systems & freeze the minimum wage!”
WED 16 Sept 12:00
Martin Schirdewan: ENOUGH EMPTY PROMISES
“After the promises made when she took office, more promises were made today. Ursula von der Leyen has not kept any so far. If she doesn’t want to become the world champion of announcements, she has to deliver. Ursula von der Leyen claims that Europe is united, but right now the EU is not even capable of allocating a few thousand refugees among its member states. She welcomes a decade of digitalisation but does not talk about employee rights, the low-wage sector and the smashing of monopolies.”
WED 16 Sept 11:45
Nikolaj Villumsen: WE WILL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS
“Do what is necessary on climate action now! The planet’s boiling hot, the ice is melting as the forests burn. Science tells us a 55% reduction by 2030 is not enough. We need at least a 65% reduction to live up to Paris Agreement.”
WED 16 Sept 11:30
VDL badly needs reality check over real state of Union
As millions of Europeans struggle to make ends meet, as we face climate chaos and humanitarian calamity at Europe’s borders – citizens deserve a bold executive that inspires with transformative alternatives to our broken system, the opposite of the current EU leadership.
Co-President Manon Aubry faced off Ms. von der Leyen in the plenary chamber: “We must be clear about the social crisis that has struck, hitting frontline workers, who became the first to be sacrificed by companies like Sanofi or Auchan in layoffs after profiting from the pandemic.”
Speaking in Brussels, Co-President Martin Schirdewan called for a return to our commitment to universal human rights.
WED 16 Sept 10:50
Manon Aubry: ALL ROSIE FROM THE BERLAYMONT…
“These crises, that you do not see, affect the lives of hundreds of millions of women and men who didn’t elect you but who have the right to expect concrete answers from you. […] You spoke here for more than one hour and twenty minutes, and at no point did you mention tax justice, the richest in the EU, nor the tax havens that erode tax systems in Europe. ”
WED 16 Sept 10:50
Manon Aubry: FACE THE CHALLENGES OF OUR TIMES
“En termes de valeurs et de morales, Il faut qu’elle [VDL] cesse de rester les bras croisés face aux dérives autoritaires de certains états membres et qu’elle fasse preuve d’humanité avec un plan d’accueil pour les exilés qui traversent la Méditerranée au péril de leurs vies.”
WED 16 Sept 10:50
WHEN WE FINALLY AGREE…
WED 16 Sept 10:20
Alexis Georgoulis: PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES…
WED 16 Sept 10:15
Leïla Chaibi: GROWTH DOGMA
WED 16 Sept 09:30
Manuel Bompard: IT’S THE MARKETS
WED 16 Sept 09:20
LIVE FROM BRUSSELS
Follow the State of the European Union debate, with Ursula von der Leyen on Live Streaming in European Parliament’s webpage
TUE 15 Sept 14:15
Manon Aubry: AMBITION NEEDED
TUE 15 Sept 11:20
Manon Aubry: BONUS TO THE PEOPLE
“There are people making money out of the crisis. Think about the supermarket chains. Think about Jeff Bezos and Amazon! A study from Oxfam last week showed that if Bezos had not increased his already huge fortune during the crisis, he could have paid thousands of euros to each single employee of Amazon. This sums up the level of the inequality in this crisis.”
Martin Schirdewan: SHAME ON EU
“There is something horrible going on in Lesbos and other Greek Islands. Beyond the recent disastrous fires in Moria, the EU’s migration system has shown itself as a complete failure. This is Europe’s shame. We always refer to human rights and the right to asylum, and yet those very principles are broken everyday at Europe’s borders.”
MON 14 Sept 14.00
Martin Schirdewan: CITIZENS FIRST
“The fire at Moria and the terrible situation facing refugees are symptomatic of the failure of EU policies. The EU is falling apart rather than acting in solidarity. Human rights are being violated at Europe’s external borders and democratic values are being trampled, even obliterated, by certain countries. In some cases, member states also appear to be closing their borders arbitrarily without consulting their neighbours. Ursula von der Leyen must therefore accept that she has failed in achieving any of her political aims: from the big announcements in the early days of her administration, to the expected billions in military budgets. If she wants to present genuine change and innovation at SOTEU every year, then the EU needs to have fundamentally different policies that will put citizens at the heart of efforts to tackle the challenges of today: digitalisation and climate protection with a social dimension.”
MON 14 Sept 12.30
Manon Aubry: MORE THAN WORDS
“Even though words are never followed by actual decisions, the Commission has been clever in pretending that it is pushing a ‘progressive’ agenda. We do not want to hear yet another self-satisfactory State of the Union speech. Ursula von der Leyen needs to take action in order to respond to the challenges we are facing. Will the Commission back climate targets that will actually comply with the Paris agreement? Will it propose a binding timetable for new own resources in order to pay for the Recovery plan, so that we can have room for EU budgets on cohesion, climate and agriculture? Will the Commission do something for the migrants in Greece after the fire in Moria camp? We demand answers!”
MON 14 Sept 12.00
PRESS BRIEFING with Manon Aubry and Martin Schirdewan
Journalists are welcome to question the GUE/NGL Co-presidents on issues they are covering.
Physical & remote participation possible. For remote questions call VOXBOXEP on Skype + write your name & media outlet in the chat box.
THU 10 Sept 18.00
Manon Aubry and Martin Schirdewan on Facebook Live
🔴 Next Tuesday, 15 Sep at 11.30 – Do not miss the REAL State of the EU in a LIVE debate with Manon Aubry and Martin Schirdewan, Tuesday at 11.30, LIVE on Facebook!
THU 10 Sep – 17.30
Make your voice heard
After a tumultuous debut at the head of the European Commission, President Ursula von der Leyen will next week deliver her ‘State of the EU’ speech.
Things probably look pretty cute from the President’s office, but we’re more interested in talking about the REAL State of the European Union.
What’s everyday life like for you these days? How do you feel about the economy? Jobs? The current health care situation? What about climate change? Gender equality?
Share your thoughts in our social media channels and we’ll bring them to von der Leyen.