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In this edition, we look at how Ursula von der Leyen gained approval for a second term in office by the narrowest of majorities, and dissect Hungary’s child protection act.
This week, we are joined by the Swedish MEP Tomas Tobe from the European People’s Party, Danish MEP Kira Peter-Hansen from the Greens and the Dutch-Spanish MEP Raquel García Hermida van der Walle from Renew Europe.The big news of the week in Strasbourg was Ursula von der Leyen’s team gaining a seal of approval from the European Parliament, allowing her new European Commission to start work within days.Raquel García Hermida van der Walle was pleased with the news. “I’m happy that we have a coalition agreement. That was one of the main points for Renew. I’m mostly happy that we can get to work, because we saw that Donald Trump was already packing his presumably golden-plated moving boxes to get into the White House, and we were still fighting here,” she said. President von der Leyen told MEPs that the first 100 days of this new Commission would be crucial.”I think for anyone looking at European policy, we had an election 5 months ago. I think citizens expect us to ‘get to work'”, said Tomas Tobe.Despite the fresh faces moving into the Berlaymont in Brussels, the same challenges prevail. This week, MEPs also debated the stigmatisation of LGTBQI communities in Hungary and beyond. In 2021, Hungary’s National Assembly enacted significant amendments to its child protection law, that the Commission and 16 member states say go against EU values. “They can win elections by targeting trans people, targeting gay people. It is a way for them to win elections and it’s really disgusting”, said Garcia Hermida van der Walle. Watch ‘Brussels, my love?’ on the player above.
