The European Parliament had a busy day on Thursday, as it’s working on the legal framework allowing it to support Ukraine and the International Criminal Court to bring to justice those responsible for the war crimes in Ukraine. The European Parliament therefore proposed to extend the remit of the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) allowing it to fight impunity by storing and analyzing evidence related to war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. At the same time, Eurojust might also exchange data with the International Criminal Court and other international bodies, as well as with authorities in EU Member States.
At the same time, MEPs are busy expanding the autonomy of the EU amidst numerous related issues emerged in recent months as a result of the war in Ukraine, as well as considering the disquieting prospects in the energy and food sectors. In another resolution passed on Thursday, Parliament asked for additional funding to help Member States cope with the effects of the war in Ukraine through own community resources and the integrated use of the shared budget. MEPs want a temporary EU package on social resilience and a new fund for strategic autonomy whereby the EU can fund development projects, including in the fields of cross-border energy infrastructure, the production of sustainable energy and energy efficiency. The fund can come as an extension of the Re-Energize Europe program, based on which Russian gas exports to Europe can be fully replaced with a mix between lowering demand, increasing domestic production of biogas, hydrogen and other renewable sources, as well as expanding infrastructure.
The European Parliament also recommends that, considering the high energy prices, Member States should increase their social welfare benefits, while any increase in salaries should take into account long-term inflation. Other recommendations include increasing productivity in order to maintain the purchase power of households. MEPs also want a temporary European package of social resilience, with measures and provisions to strengthen social welfare systems across the EU. The European Parliament argues that existing mechanisms, such as the Recovery Mechanism used to provide temporary assistance to lower the risks of unemployment, or the system of flexibility in the EU budget, are not enough to keep the economic fallout from the war in check. Therefore, Parliament is asking for a temporary tax on high profits reported by energy enterprises and seizing Russian oligarchs’ assets.
Roxana Vasile, Radio Romania International
