Work Programme
Commission proposals fall short of what is needed
The European Parliament will today debate the Commission’s Work Programme for 2017.
Speaking ahead of the debate, the co-president of the Greens/EFA group Philippe Lamberts said:
"While the Commission is focusing on many of the right things, the measures proposed fall far short of what is needed. So while it is good to see progress on creating a European Pillar of social rights, climate objectives in line with the Paris Agreement, and commitments on improving corporate taxation, the detail of the proposals leaves much to be desired. It is particularly disappointing that, despite the recent major twists on CETA and TTIP, the Commission has not moved one inch on EU trade policy. Similarly, there are no concrete proposals to address the problems revealed by the Barroso and Kroes scandals, only declarations of intent. This is not good enough."
Greens/EFA spokesperson on the work programme Bas Eickhout added:
"While the EU has ratified the Paris Agreement and reiterated its commitment to fighting climate change, the European Commission is considering limiting the scope of the ecodesign directive by removing equipment such as toasters and hair dryers. This would be completely at odds with our environmental commitments and would be absolutely unacceptable."
