The brand new head of the liberal Renew Europe group, French MEP Valérie Hayer, has distanced herself from French president Emmanuel Macron and France’s place within the Council on an EU directive to fight violence in opposition to girls.
The directive was first proposed on 8 March 2022 and — after 4 trilogues — it has been stalled at Council stage.
About 15 member states (together with Italy, Spain, Poland and Sweden) are at the moment in favour of together with rape as an offence within the ultimate textual content, stated lead MEP Frances Fitzgerald, of the centre-right European Folks’s Celebration, throughout a parliament committee on Wednesday (24 January).
However with two massive international locations, France and Germany opposed, this isn’t sufficient to safe a certified majority — that means the important thing parliamentary demand has failed.
”It is a massive disgrace,” co-rapporteur Evin Incir (Socialists & Democrats) informed fellow MEPs within the committee, the place each rapporteurs confirmed that member states won’t conform to the inclusion of rape within the ultimate textual content.
France has been one of many international locations against a consent-based rape laws [ie, only ’yes’ means yes], citing authorized considerations in regards to the EU’s powers in prison regulation.
Requested in regards to the directive, Hayer (wearing purple, the color representing the struggle for gender equality) and member of Macron’s personal Renaissance celebration, stated it was a troublesome query for her, including that each the Renew and French positions have been clear. ”We [the Renew Europe group in the parliament] are in favour of this directive,” she informed EUobserver in an interview.
Nonetheless, on the choice to exclude rape from the ultimate textual content, she merely stated: ”We do not have the identical place [as the French in the Council]”.
The directive continues to be anticipated to be negotiated and adopted in a ultimate trilogue, the place main MEPs are eager to incorporate a evaluate clause in order that the choice of together with rape as an offence might be additional explored sooner or later.
”The path we should always transfer on is making what we’ve as sturdy as we probably can,” Fitzgerald stated.
”This isn’t a white paper, there are successes, however not as many because the parliament would have needed,” the socialist MEP added.
Solely second-ever feminine chief
Earlier on Thursday, the French MEP’s nomination was absolutely endorsed by all members of Renew Europe, making Hayer, 37, their youngest chief ever and solely the second girl to guide the liberal group.
Hayer’s appointment comes simply two weeks after her predecessor, Stéphane Séjourné, was sworn in as France’s new international minister — but in addition as opinion polls are predicting dwinding assist for the celebration within the upcoming June European elections.
In accordance with a latest research, Renew is anticipated to lose 15 seats (86), which might make it the fourth-largest power in parliament, after the far-right Id and Democracy (ID) group, and carefully adopted by the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group on 85 seats.
Nonetheless, the newly-elected president says she’s assured.
”I am positive our outcomes will likely be extra necessary than the polls are saying now,” Hayer informed EUobserver. ”We are going to struggle in opposition to populism (…), and we’ll have new colleagues from different international locations”.
As the present third power within the parliament, Renew determined to ship a message of continuity by appointing Hayer, but in addition considered one of ”hope”, she informed EUobserver in an interview.
”I feel I am proof which you can come from the countryside, be younger, be a girl and arrive on the prime positions,” the Hayer stated.
The final time the group was led by a girl was within the late Nineteen Eighties by Simone Veil, a French lawyer and politician who was additionally the primary girl to be president of the European parliament, again in 1979.
”It is a vital message for all younger girls and younger individuals in Europe which you can have accountability, even when you assume you do not have all the possibilities initially,” she added, after nearly 5 years as an MEP for Macron’s Renaissance celebration.
A daughter of farmers, Hayer was an area councillor in her house area of France earlier than becoming a member of the European parliament.
Right now, the MEP is finest recognized for her work on the EU price range and the negotiations on the Multiannual Monetary Framework (MFF), however she has additionally been lively in mobilising civil society in France, defending the rule of regulation and LGBT rights.
The article has been up to date