Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ, (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader speaks to the press.

Strasbourg

press conference

GARCÍA PÉREZ, Iratxe (S&D, ES)

2024 Commissioners' hearings (T)

Press briefing by Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ, (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader

SOUNDBITE (Original), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader, Good morning. Good morning to all of you. This is the first time we're meeting together after the summer break. So I do hope that you have had a good rest over the summer weeks and you're raring to go for the new start of the parliamentary term. I'd like to start off the press conference with a message, a message of solidarity to all the people who have been affected by the very serious floodings that have happened over the past few days in Central and Eastern Europe.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader, So I would like to express my full solidarity with all of these people. And condolences to those families that have been victims of the floodings in Central and Eastern Europe and also the forest fires in Portugal. And tomorrow there is going to be a debate on this issue. And I think without a doubt, this is a clear example, a clear signal of the work that we're going to have to do to ensure that this is not the new normal here in Europe and that we can do something to prevent the impact of climate change through our European policy.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader, We've just heard the proposal from Mrs. von der Leyen when it comes to the New College of Commissioners. And if you were to ask me, no doubt you will. If you were to ask me what our position is when it comes to this proposal, then I think I can be very clear on that. This is a proposal which has some clear aspects, some rather dark sides to it. Over the past few weeks of intense negotiation and work, we've managed to push forward certain issues which were absolutely essential for our political family.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader, There are certain elements in the proposal which do not correspond to what we as the Social Democrat group would have wanted. As of this moment, our political group is going to be working with responsibility and in a calm way, in order to move forward with our tasks in the European Parliament. We want to ensure that we have an open and transparent procedure and obviously we want to make sure that the hearings which are organised are there to get a clear idea of the commitments of the commissioners designate for each of the portfolios.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader, And they will also serve for us to set out our political priorities. When it comes to the balance, the political balance in this new College of Commissioners. Then I think we would have to say that we have two vice presidents, executive vice presidents from our political group, the Social Democrats. And that does correspond to our desire that there be this political balance between the political families.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader, We have been working a lot over the past few years and over the past few months in order to make sure that we form part of a pro-European alliance. And I think that compromise can be seen in the fact that we now have two executive vice president portfolios and we have executive vice presidents are going to be dealing with climate, a just and green transition. So these portfolios are in the hands of our political family together with competition, which is one of the major European policies.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader, And obviously we can do a lot to achieve our climate and social targets. And the executive vice president who is going to be responsible for the social pillar and employment. We have seen that that is also in the hands of the social Democratic family. The actual title of that executive vice presidency does not necessarily correspond to what our priority is, but nevertheless, we're going to be working in this whole hearings process and looking at the individual portfolios just to make sure that the executive vice president is to place the social pillar, employment workers rights right at the top of the European agenda.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader, And then, of course, there are this these have been the priorities of our political family. And this taken together with the Commissioner for Energy and Housing, which was the other claim that we had. And we have actually managed to achieve that this be part of the European competences and it's going to be in the hands of the Social Democrats. And that's also good news.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader, And there's another element that we have been drawing attention to for quite some time now, and this concerns the future of the European Union. Obviously, it's in the hands of everybody. But essentially, youth obviously is very important because the future is in their hands. So the youngest commissioner is now going to be responsible for youth together with intergenerational fairness. And we feel that this is essential. And over this past year, we in our political family have been aiming to place the youth at the heart of our policies.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader, And I feel that if we have a commissioner who is responsible for youth, amongst other things, then I think it is going to be important for us to ensure that the youth is at the heart of defining future, the future of the European Union and then of course has everything to do with gender. This is important for us as well. And right at the start of the whole process, there was a proposal on the table for the College of Commissioners, and there were very few women, about 20%, so now we have a 60 - 40% ratio and I think this does very much fall in line with the work that we have been doing as the Social Democrats to put pressure on President von der Leyen to have a more balanced commission.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader, Obviously we would have preferred a 50/50 balance. This is what we're going to be doing. We're going to work to try and change the rules, the standards to ensure that there's no obligation on the part of the member states when they do make proposals, i.e. that they put forward the name of a man and a woman. But having said that, if 60/40% break with four executive vice presidents in the staff plan, we feel that this does represent a step forward. But there is still a lot to do. And I think this is going to continue to be a priority for our political family over the coming years.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader, And when it comes to other issues, there are two elements which we feel are negative as far as we're concerned, and that is that Nicolas Schmidt, our candidate, is not in the proposal for the College of Commissioners. Obviously, this is a decision that is in the hands of the member state. And we did a lot of work to ensure that he would be the candidate. So obviously, this is one of the things that we like least about the proposal of the College of Commissioners.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader, Another element where we already expressed our opinion and which has been an element under discussion during negotiations with Mrs. von der Leyen over the past few weeks. And that is that there is a an executive vice president in the hands of the ECR. This is not something that is in line with the views of our political family. The ECR is not part of the platform political groups that pushed for Mrs. von der Leyen during her nomination. So that is something that we don't like at all.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader, And to go back to my initial analysis, obviously we are very much looking forward to the letter's other aspects as well. We are looking forward to seeing the details. And we will be doing our job. So our job obviously is to organise the hearings where the commissioners designate have to prove that they do have the skills and competencies and the commitment to the European Union. So over the next few weeks we're going to be doing this work.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader, And when it comes to taking the final decision, we are going to have to obviously carry out an overall analysis and then finalise the position of the Socialists and Democrats. There are a couple of other issues which are on the agenda for plenary. When it comes to the debate on extreme weather events and disasters. I think we do have to come up with an emergency response to this tragedy. And we do have to provide and provide support from the European Union, especially in terms of political support, but also budgetary support for all the regions across the European Union that have been affected either by floods or by forest fires.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader, But the response cannot only be a targeted response to what has happened over the past few days. I think we have to make sure that we have a European policy which is an instrument to make sure that this is not the new normal. And then, of course, there's going to be the debate on the Draghi report. And we're very much looking forward to discussing certain important elements together with Mr. Draghi. Our political family is in favour of competitiveness. It's essential, of course, as is the economy, sustainable development and the green pact.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader, Europe has to be competitive. Europe has to grow economically, but it has to do so in such a way that it maintains the ambition of our green agenda and our social agenda. And economic growth is only going to be possible if we guarantee the future of the European Union, if this means there is more equality, fairer distribution and people live better. And that is what we have to try and push.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES), S&D Group Leader, And in order to conclude, before we get on to the round of questions, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jaume Duch. Up until a week ago, he was the director general for communications. I'd like to thank him for his dedication and service to this House, and I would like to wish him all the best in the excellent job and work that he is going to be doing now. And when it comes to communication in the European Parliament, then we'll continue to work from within the Socialists and Democrats and hope to cooperate fully with all of you. Thank you very much.