Sir, – The upcoming European Parliament elections are taking place in an extremely challenging global context of climate change, protracted conflict, economic shocks and other disasters, with escalating humanitarian needs. As democracy worldwide is in decline, with diminishing rights and freedoms, inequality, division and populism are growing.
The European Union’s values of human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights have never been more important. In this next European Parliament, Ireland’s MEPs will have a critical role in upholding these values in Europe and beyond, in an increasingly polarised multilateral system.
We in Trócaire are concerned at the potential erosion of these values in the next European Parliament.
We can see the threat to progressive policies emerging already, with a leaked draft of the European Council’s forthcoming five-year strategic agenda favouring security and defence over the climate crisis, with no mention of the Green Deal.
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We are calling on Irish MEPs to stand for global justice in the next European Parliament. We want to see a Europe that is ambitious in tackling the global inequity of the climate crisis, that regulates corporations and promotes equality, that respects the rights and dignity of all people, including those who are driven to seek refuge, and a Europe that we can look to as a champion and protector of democracy, freedom and human rights, both at home and abroad.
Trócaire is calling on Irish MEPs to push for adoption of net zero and at least 92 per cent gross emission reductions by 2040; to call on the European Council to adopt an ambitious EU mandate for negotiations on the UN treaty to regulate transnational corporations; to support calls to the European Council to increase the EU’s annual humanitarian budget to ¤2.6 billion; and to call for a suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
We look forward to engaging with all of Ireland’s MEPs on these issues going forward. – Yours, etc,
CAOIMHE de BARRA,
CEO,
Trócaire,
Maynooth,
Co Kildare.
