Plenary focus - October I - 2020

Redundancies of workers have skyrocketed in the EU since the start of the pandemic. SMEs are struggling all over Europe and they need urgent help in order to cope with the impact of the crisis. But many big corporations, after receiving public money with zero conditions, are using the pandemic as a pretext to lay off thousands of employees in order to maximise profits for their shareholders. The tyre maker Bridgestone, for example, received millions of euros in national and European subsidies but has just announced the closure of its French factory, with the loss of 864 jobs in the coming weeks. This is unacceptable: no more public money for any company without firm and binding commitments to protect jobs!

The Wirecard scandal is the result of a litany of failures by Germany’s financial supervisors and auditors. But it is also a political scandal. Wirecard enjoyed access to the federal government at the highest level, and both Chancellor Angela Merkel and finance minister Olaf Scholz have serious questions to answer. There have been failures at the EU level too, and we need to ensure the supervisory authorities and legal framework are fit to respond to these challenges. It’s time for the EU to audit the auditors, and for the revision of the EU Audit Directive to end the cosy relationship between auditors and the companies they examine.

The vote on the EU Climate Law is a vote on the future of our planet. The world’s richest ten percent produces more than half of the world’s total emissions. Since the very beginning, our group has been calling for a 70% emission reduction target for 2030. We also need binding targets and concrete action to fight the climate crisis and climate injustice. A 55% emission reduction target for 2030 is not enough.

The FinCen files have revealed the role played by some of the most important financial institutions in enabling all kinds of criminal activities. However, the leaks also show the passive complicity of the authorities that should have been scrutinising such activities. What we need are capital controls, the end of bank secrecy and the full list of non-cooperative jurisdictions.

We cannot just sit and watch whilst leaders in Poland and Hungary are dismantling the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights. We need to be able to stop money from going into their pockets. This mechanism is an important step towards having a conditionality on rule of law in the EU budget.

The EU can no longer reward those who actively disrespect and trample on the principles of Article 2 in the EU Treaty! There can be no agreement on a new MFF unless there is also an agreement on a conditionality clause to prevent breaches of Rule of Law, democracy and fundamental rights. There must also be a comprehensive and impartial mechanism for monitoring and addressing such breaches. Those who systematically violate the EU treaties should not have the right to veto this.