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Corporate sustainability due diligence directive
Debate: Tuesday
Vote: Aucun
Will Member States chose to tackle forced labor, child labor and other corporate crimes, or will they chose to protect the dirty profi ts of multinationals? I have fought for the past 5 years for a corporate due diligence directive that requires companies to prevent, cease and redress human right violations and environmental damage in their value chains. We had a deal with Member States, until MEDEF and other corporate lobbies called France, Germany and Italy to change their position. Now is the time, right before the elections, to answer the big question: will these governments keep their promises and protect human rights, or will they betray and support corporate criminals?
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Artificial Intelligence Act
Debate: Tuesday
Vote: Wednesday
The EU regulation on AI would have been a real opportunity to set global standards for dealing with artifi cial intelligence. The EU plays a pioneering role here globally. In some points, the regulation can be viewed positively: explicit provisions are laid down to ensure greater protection for employees when AI is used in the workplace. But Parliament was unable to push through essential elements in the negotiations. Parliament’s ban on real-time facial recognition in public spaces was effectively overturned by a long list of exceptions. The AI regulation will also allow emotion recognition, i.e. mumbo jumbo like polygraphs and predictive policing. Although these systems are considered high-risk, they are not banned by the regulation. This is a missed opportunity.
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Safety of toys
Debate: Aucun
Vote: Wednesday
It’s intolerable that children are exposed to toys containing carcinogenic substances, posing a threat to their health. There is no economic justification for endangering them. Ambitious regulation is imperative to safeguard children, especially during their vulnerable stages of health and safety. From the ENVI Committee, we aim to enhance the text and garner full Parliament support for these child protection measures.
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Weights and dimensions of certain road vehicles
Debate: Aucun
Vote: Tuesday
The original stated intention of the revision was to create a level playing field in road cargo transport. The right-wing groups however successfully managed to push through a text completely circumventing this goal by allowing trucks powered by fossil fuels to be heavier under certain conditions, without any regard for effect on multimodal transport, safety and road damage.
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Type-approval of motor vehicles and engines with respect to their emissions and battery durability
Debate: Wednesday
Vote: Thursday
Road transport is a major contributor to urban air pollution, causing 70,000 premature deaths annually in the EU. While regulations aim to limit harmful emissions like NOx and particles, recent scandals reveal cars emit more than claimed. The original Commission proposal for stricter emission limits and updated testing regimes for light and heavy duty vehicles faced opposition from the center-right majority in the EP and a blocking minority in the Council. Renew and EPP, together with the far right, have cozied up with the car industry. Profits of car manufacturers have doubled since 2019 - when they say they don’t have enough money to build cleaner cars it’s a blatant lie. We will vote against the report.
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Industrial Emissions Directive
Debate: Aucun
Vote: Tuesday
The IED is one of the few pieces of legislation that takes an integrated approach to environmental protection as a whole and regulates all kinds of emissions with an aim to prevent pollution at source. I am profoundly disappointed with the outcome of the trilogues. The final agreement is much weaker than the Commission’s original proposal, especially concerning livestock regulations. While it represents a slight improvement over the current Directive, the agricultural lobby is pushing for further amendments in plenary. I am frustrated with this weakened deal but am cautious not to inadvertently aid conservative forces opposing even modest revisions.
Plenary focus
March 2024
PRESS BRIEFING
European Parliament, Daphne Caruana Galizia room – LOW N-1/201
TUE 12 MAR | 11:30 CET
Journalists are welcome to question the Co-presidents of The Left in the European Parliament on issues they are covering. Physical & remote participation possible.
See @Left_EU on Twitter for more details.
with Manon Aubry (France Insoumise, France) & Martin Schirdewan (Die Linke, Germany)
March 2024
PDF · 08 / 03 / 2024