In this edition, we look at how Ursula von der Leyen won approval for a second term by the narrowest of majority and dissect Hungary’s child protection law.
This week we are joined by Swedish MEP Tomas Tobe of the European People’s Party, the Danish MEP
Kira Peter-Hansen of the Greens and Dutch-Spanish MEP Raquel García Hermida van der Walle of Renew Europe.
The big news of the week in Strasbourg was the approval of the European Parliament by Ursula von der Leyen’s team, allowing her new European Commission to begin its work within a few days.
Raquel García Hermida van der Walle was delighted with the news.
“I’m happy that we have a coalition agreement. That was one of the main points of Renew. I’m especially happy that we can get to work, because we saw that Donald Trump was already packing her presumably golden moving boxes to get into the White House, and we were still fighting here,” she said.
President von der Leyen told MEPs that the first 100 days of this new Commission would be crucial.
“I think for anyone interested in European politics, we had elections five months ago. I think citizens expect us to get to work,” Tomas Tobe said.
Despite the arrival of new faces at the Berlaymont in Brussels, the same challenges persist. This week, MEPs also debated the stigmatization of LGTBQI communities in Hungary and beyond.
In 2021, the Hungarian National Assembly adopted significant amendments to its Child Protection Act, which the Commission and 16 member states say go against EU values.
“They can win elections by targeting trans people, gay people. This is a way for them to win elections and it’s really disgusting,” Garcia Hermida van der Walle said.
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