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MaltaToday 15 December 2021 MIDWEEK

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15 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 15 DECEMBER 2021 NEWS These articles are part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-newsroom initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. These articles reflect only the authors' view. The European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. Left wants unity candidate against 'anti-abortion' Metsola for presidency MATTHEW VELLA THE European Parliament's socialist group has not yet taken a decision to put forward a candidate for the presidency of the EP, as talks continue between major blocs on whether to support the cen- tre-right's Roberta Metsola for president. A guarded response came from S&D president Iratxe García Pérez, who said any decision by the socialists would be a "collective and transparent one", but that the group also had its own "ambitious ob- jectives" to achieve. The EPP expects the S&D to respect a rotational deal to have the five-year presidency split equally between the cen- tre-left and the centre-right. But the so- cialists disagree in principle. While refusing to give anything away, García Pérez said the S&D was seeking "political balance and good leadership of the institution.... the first people to tell you what we've decided will be the MEPs, so as far as that meeting is concerned I don't want to go into any detail yet re- garding our group's position." Asked whether it would be a failure for the S&D to achieve a majority backing for a potential candidate, especially with the centre-left's victory in German elections and the alliance with the Greens in the new Scholz administration, García Pérez shrugged off the suggestions. "The EP should operate in autonomy, it shouldn't be buffeted by the political storms at regional level, so we think that the traf- fic-light coalition is fantastic news for Germany and for Europe. but the Euro- pean institutions have no responsibility to reflect the makeup of any national gov- ernments." She also said she did not want to see things in terms of victories and defeats. "I think it's premature... we have a very clear idea of our priorities to pick up the gauntlet of the very many challenges fac- ing Europe." Left: feminist candidate In contrast, the European Left is propos- ing a feminist candidate which they insist marks a break from 'system candidates'. With neither the S&D nor the Greens having made a clear choice to push forward a candidate for EP president, co-president Martin Schirdewan said Spanish MEP Sira Rego could unit both the centre-left and eco-socialists groups in the EP. "They both have not made a choice so far, saying they were currently seeking concessions before deciding on a can- didate that units the left and centre-left bloc in the EP," Schirdewan said. Co-president Manon Aubry added that Rego was a feminist candidate "marking a clear break from the system candidates 40 years on from the presidency of Simone Veil... now we have a candidate who is in favour of abortion." Aubry said Rego would be standing "against a candidate who is anti-abor- tion", referring to Roberta Metsola. Renew MEP brings up abortion problem According to Agence Europe, Roberta Metsola was questioned about her an- ti-abortion stance by several MEPs from the Renew Europe group, notably from France. It was Bernard Guetta (brother to the world-famous DJ...) who was said to have "set the scene" during an internal meet- ing with centrist MEPs from the Renew Group, by announcing that he would not vote for Metsola, which he said could be interpreted as a regression of women's rights. "Some recalled that one of the two women who chaired the European Parliament, the French Simone Veil, had fought for the legalisation of abortion in her country despite her party's position," Agence Europe said. Metsola was reported to have said that as representative of the Parliament, her speech would be unambiguous on the is- sue, and that she said it was possible to separate the European view, and overtly anti-abortion position in Malta, and de- fend the majority positions of the EP in inter-institutional relations. Metsola was reported to have convinced MEPs on the defence of rule of law, im- plementing the European Green Deal, and fundamental rights. Metsola is proposing the creation of a European network of young women leaders, which would be responsible to put forward ideas on how to help women reach leadership positions in their coun- tries. "The overall impression left by Ms Met- sola seems to be rather positive, as she is appreciated for her experience and abili- ty to shape transparent compromises, as was the case for the Parliament's report on SLAPP proceedings against journal- ists," Agence Europe said. EPP leader: Metsola will respect majori- ty opinions The European People's Party president Manfred Weber said Metsola would re- spect the majority opinions of the House. "She is not just an EPP member... it would not be wise to start with a party-political conflict at European level. Let's keep this constructive, pro-European progressive majority in the EP together... socialists, Renew and the EPP, because only togeth- er can we achieve things up until 2024. This is our offer: don't split this majority, let's work together." Greens: Lambert calls out 'bullshit' The Greens' co-president Ska Keller said her group wants a candidate who could represent a feminist and diverse EP. "We should have a woman at the head of the European Parliament, it's high time," Keller said. But when asked whether Metsola fulfils these preconditions, Keller said: "Rober- ta Metsola is certainly a woman, so that's hitting the mark; on the other issues we're also very happy to enter into talks with her and see what her proposals would be on that, so we're treating everyone equally and fairly and we're just looking for who we have the most convergence with, who will offer the most progress on issues..." The Greens discounted however the chances of representing a similar 'traf- fic-light' coalition to mimick the new- ly-installed German administration. "We are completely free. Do we rule out voting for Metsola? I think Ska is very clear that we do not; we do not rule out voting for the S&D either... first they need a candidate and tear up the pact," co-president Philip Lambert said. But he lambasted press reports of a Greens-EPP agreement as "bullshit". "It's a lie, it is a completely made-up sto- ry that was never cross-checked... in any case it is a sign of shitty journalism." The right-wing ECR will nominate Pol- ish conservative Kosma Złotowski. Roberta Metsola (left) and Left candidate Sira Rego

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