Genome editing in agriculture

A Greens/EFA perspective

Biodiversity and ecosystems are under extreme threat, with around one million species facing extinction. In order to respond to these unprecedented and closely interlinked crises, our food and agricultural systems need to be rapidly transformed. High input, industrial farming based on monocultures and factory farming must be replaced by high biodiversity, locally adapted food production systems, ones which produce healthy food while respecting animal welfare and the environment.

The Crucial Role of Third-Country Migrant Workers in the European Union

A Greens/EFA Position Paper

The Greens/EFA Group and the European Parliament have consistently called for a more holistic approach covering all pillars of the European Union's asylum and migration system. This is becoming even more important in times of COVID-19 pandemic crisis, showing that migrant workers are an integral part of European societies.

Greens/EFA group opposes any Israeli annexation and reaffirms the need for a two-state solution

Position paper

Over many years, the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians has come to a standstill. This is due to the ongoing Israeli occupation, serious shortcomings on the side of the Palestinian leadership but also the attitudes of the international community and in particular the US, the EU and the Arab League. Developments on the ground have seen growth of Israeli settlements in the West Bank continuing unabated. Those are major impediments to the peace process.

The Eastern Partnership

Future Made to Measure

As the EaP turned 10 last year, the EU and several stakeholders are trying to formulate the priorities for the future or at least the coming 10 years of the EaP. The EU-EaP Summit on 19 June 2020 will give a major impulse to this debate. Thus, the EP is working on a Recommendation to the other EU institutions in the run-up to the summit. Read the Greens/EFA WG AFET position and vision

Protecting Schengen

Why internal border controls in Europe should be lifted immediately

Border controls in the European Schengen area jeopardise one of the most tangible achievements of an integrated Europe: the possibility to travel and live together in a common area without internal border controls. Internal border controls divide families and friends, they re-establish boundaries between long integrated regions and neighbourhoods and undermine the process of developing new regional cooperation. They seriously restrict our freedom. The Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament stands up for the achievements of the Schengen area.

For a fair and efficient asylum system in Europe

Greens/EFA proposal

This paper lays out the GREENS/EFA vision for the future of the common European asylum system. Its scope is limited to the most contested elements of the upcoming European Commission proposal on the new Pact on Migration and Asylum: the creation of an external border procedure and a revision of the Dublin Regulation.

A Green/EFA contribution to a future EU Recovery Fund

On the 23 April, EU Leaders tasked the Commission to work on a proposal to set up a Recovery Fund targeted towards the sectors and geographical parts of Europe most affected by the pandemic crisis. In this perspective, the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament aims to contribute to this key debate, by proposing to integrate a democratically controlled grant-based recovery fund in the MFF, which would issue common bonds to fund the economic recovery post COVID-19.

The fisheries sector and the Coronavirus pandemic

Solving the crisis, thinking about tomorrow's fisheries

The crisis linked to the Coronavirus epidemic has had a major impact on the European fisheries sector. It has been marked by containment measures that have prevented some fishers from carrying out their activity, but even more by a crisis in demand. Greens/EFA MEPs are defending measures which must ensure both the good state of the marine environment and the sustainability of fisheries

The GREENS/EFA Financial Recovery Plan

Ahead of the final stage of the negotiations on the forthcoming long-term EU budget, we would like to present our proposal for an EU plan to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak from a budgetary point of view. This paper complements the Greens/EFA group’s proposal for a EU coronavirus fund.

The Greens/EFA’s proposal for an EU coronavirus fund

Ahead of the Eurogroup meeting on 7th of April 2020, the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament unveils a proposal for an EU coronavirus fund to tackle the economic consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak. Europe is in a critical situation and we need European solidarity now more than ever.

European response to COVID-19 crisis

We must leave no one behind and face this together with open hearts

In response to the Corona crisis, the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament and the European Green Party are calling for European solidarity and cooperation in a new paper setting out policy responses to the crisis.

We need a European response to fight against the consequences of the COVID-19

Open letter to the Eurogroup

Green Members of the European Parliament call on the Ministers for Finance of the Eurozone to quickly adopt the following urgent initiatives

Analysis of the agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur

Greens/EFA Study

The study offers a comprehensive review of the disciplines and mechanisms covered in the hundreds of pages of text which make up the agreement, and of their potential effects. It covers all chapters published so far, addressing changes to trade flows in goods and services, rules, standard-making and non-tariff barriers to trade. The study is based on a textual analysis of the agreement itself, while also integrating secondary literature, impact assessments, and the perspectives and analyses of stakeholders on the agreement.

The abuse of European Patent law must stop!

This Thursday, 19 September, the European Parliament will vote on a resolution on the issue of the patentability of biological plants and animals, aka plants and animals that could be found in nature or bred by farmers.

GREENS/EFA Proposals on Media Freedom in the EU

Media freedom, pluralism and independence across Europe are being undermined in many ways. Although the European Union institutions may claim to have limited competence to defend media freedom and pluralism across the region, the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament is convinced that more can, and should be done.

Greens/EFA demands for a Social Union

Greens/EFA are convinced that we urgently need clear steps towards the sustainable transformation of our economy and the creation of quality, long-term jobs. Europe needs a plan to face the challenges of climate change and a just transition roadmap that fairly distributes the benefits as well as the effort required to get to a resource-efficient future economy.

10 priority measures to protect our climate

If the climate were a bank, the governments would have saved it long ago. The Greens/EFA group stands for bold actions against climate change that are in line with the Paris Agreement. We want to reduce CO2 emissions of 65% by 2030 and go carbon neutral by 2050 at the latest by shifting to 100% renewables...

Fund farms, not factories

10 Priorities for the cap reform and beyond

What kind of agriculture do we want? What kind of animal agriculture should the European Union promote through its various policies, including of course its Common Agricultural Policy?

Every Farm Counts

Why we need to keep as many farms on the land as we can

A quarter of all farms disappeared in the EU between 2005 and 2016. And corporate power still pushes farmers to go big or go out of business. But there are alternatives! Many small to medium-sized farms provide better income and more jobs and are more resilient than big farms. The key to their success is the adoption of agroecological and organic practices.

Eating well for a fuller future

Eating is not just a physiological act by an individual, it is also an action that carries great social and environmental weight. Today, our protein-rich diet, which is sustained by animals fed within an intensive, low-cost meat and fish industry, has significant impacts on the planet, our health, other countries and animal welfare.