SEJOURNÉ NEW RENEW LEADER: The Renew Europe group on Tuesday Share on Twitter Share elected French MEP Stéphane Séjourné — a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron — as leader of its group in the European Parliament. Séjourné wants a “firm response” to rule-of-law breaches by countries such as Poland, he told Les Echos in an interview.
Presidential question:
Séjourné pushed against the idea that the new balance of power in Europe after the German election meant the Parliament presidency should remain with the Socialists and Democrats. “National elections do not change the political configuration in the telegram number database Parliament. The number of MEPs in each group remains the same,” he said. He reiterated his group’s proposal that the presidents of Renew, the EPP and S&D should negotiate an EU “coalition contract, which will not only be about positions but above all about [policy] priorities.” More here from our colleague Maïa de la Baume.
VACCINE DONATION CONUNDRUM:
Senior officials are warning the EU will fall far short of its promised coronavirus vaccine donations to poorer countries, risking both the spread of new deadly variants and a loss of geopolitical clout, our colleagues Hans von der Burchard and Ashleigh Furlong hong kong data report. With the end of the year approaching fast, the EU has so far only delivered around 56 million doses, far less than the 250 million it promised for 2021.
Germany intervenes: In a letter to the Commission this week, the German health ministry warned of a “global allocation emergency” — and blamed vaccine manufacturers, who “tend to dictate conditions to [EU] member states and recipient countries types of linkedin ads that make a quick response to international requests for help almost impossible.” Berlin urged the Commission to “increase the pressure on the manufacturers to show more flexibility regarding donation and resale.
