Tuesday

3rd Oct 2023

EP president threatens MEP with sanctions over a tweet

  • It does not make any sense that an MEP is sanctioned for supporting civil disobedience - but not for receiving money from fossil-fuel lobbies, Aubry said (Photo: Alexander Savin)

The president of the European parliament, David Sassoli, has threatened the co-chair of the leftist GUE/NGL group MEP Manon Aubry with sanctions over a tweet in which she encouraged the green activist group Extinction Rebellion to occupy the European parliament.

However, Aubry accused on Tuesday (5 November) Sassoli of undermining the freedom of expression of MEPs.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

In the video posted on Aubry's YouTube and Twitter accounts last month, the French MEP proposed that the activists of the Extinction Rebellion could occupy a part of the parliament.

The UK-founded group is known for its recent actions of civil disobedience in European capitals, such as blocking main roads in London or Paris.

"The whole aim was not to create controversy but to support to use civil disobedience as a way to call for urgent action on climate", she told EUobserver.

But right after Aubry published her video, Sassoli sent her a letter saying that her tweet was not in line with the internal rules of the institution and she may receive sanctions for her actions.

In response, she said that the possible sanctions would be "totally disproportionate" and they could set a precedent on questioning the freedom of expression of MEPs.

According to Aubry, her tweet did not break any rules of procedure of the European parliament since the video does not encourage the climate activists to compromise the running parliamentary proceedings, the security or the proper functioning of the institution.

Even if these activists came to sit peacefully in the European parliament, which did not happen, their action would not be likely to affect the functioning of the parliament, she wrote in the letter addressed to Sassoli.

French Green MEP Marie Toussant backed Aubry saying that "it is the lack of response to the environmental urgency what compromise the respect for the democratic rules".

Aubry, who had a career in the field of civil society, said that it does not make any sense that an MEP is sanctioned for supporting civil disobedience, but not for receiving money from fossil fuel lobbies.

New climate failure

Meanwhile on Tuesday, the EU reacted to Monday's news that the US has officially refused to commit to the Paris climate agreement - making America the only country in the world that will not participate in this pact.

At the Paris climate conference in December 2015, 195 countries adopted the first-ever universal, legally-binding global climate deal to keep the increase in global temperature well below 2°C and pursue efforts to keep it to 1.5°C.

The European Commission said it regretted the decision.

"The Paris agreement is here to stay, its door remains open and we hope the US will join it again one day," a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

Next month, the UN COP25 climate summit will take place in Madrid, following Chile's withdrawal due to the violent protests.

However, it is still unclear how the withdrawal of the US from the Paris agreement will affect the upcoming climate negotiations.

Interview

Climate won't go back to normal in our time

It will take hundreds, maybe thousands of years before the climate goes back to normal. Meanwhile we must work to stabilise it at the new level and adapt, Sweden's leading climate researcher says.

EU leaders spent just 12 minutes on climate

Climate change was part of the agenda of the EU leaders for Friday's summit. However, the council decided to finalise the EUʼs long-term strategy on climate change at its next meeting in December.

New report lays bare EU plastic crisis

A new report published on Wednesday reveals that 40 percent of plastic products are garbage after less than a month, and that the current recycling systems in Europe cannot cope with such volumes of waste.

Analysis

Is the ECB sabotaging Europe's Green Deal?

The European Central Bank (ECB) recently raised interest rates to the highest point in the currency's 21-year existence — but the effects of its policies on renewables are badly understood.

Opinion

How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?

The EU Commission's new magic formula for avoiding scrutiny is simple. You declare the documents in question to be "short-lived correspondence for a preliminary exchange of views" and thus exempt them from being logged in the official inventory.

Latest News

  1. EU demands 'full clarity' from Warsaw on visa-scandal
  2. EU reveals 10 'critical tech' in bid to de-risk from China
  3. EU Commission at a loss over latest snub from Tunisia
  4. Northern Europe — the new Nato/Russia frontline
  5. The EU-Kenya free trade deal shows a waning 'Brussels effect'
  6. Hoekstra pledges to phase-out fossil fuel subsidies
  7. 10 years on from the Lampedusa shipwreck — what's changed?
  8. EU ministers go to Kyiv to downplay fears on US, Slovak aid

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  2. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations
  2. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  3. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  4. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us