In this edition, we head to Strasbourg to rate Spain's six-month presidency of the Council of the EU and break down the landmark deal reached on the rights of platform workers.
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00:00 Hello and welcome to Brussels My Love, Euronews' weekly talk show that takes a look at the
00:17 main stories across Europe and check what's at stake for you and for the continent. I'm
00:22 Maeve McMahon, thanks for joining us for this edition broadcast from the European Parliament
00:27 here in Strasbourg, where MEPs met for their very last session of 2023. Coming up this
00:33 week, time is up Spain, Madrid spent the last six months in the EU spotlight, trying to
00:39 finalise a chunk of legislative files, whilst juggling choppy political waters. Freshly
00:46 ordained Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was here in Strasbourg Wednesday, reassuring MEPs
00:51 that he got the job done. We take a closer look and check what's left for the Belgian
00:56 presidency to pick up in January. And after months of talks, the EU Platform Workers Directive
01:03 jumped one of its final hurdles this week here in Strasbourg. Lawmakers locked heads
01:08 late into Tuesday night and sealed a deal on the fate of over 28 million workers across
01:15 the EU that rely on digital platforms to earn a dime. The crux of the talks was how to classify
01:21 this work and who should pay for it. A warm welcome to our panel this week, Irish Fine
01:27 Gael MEP Sean Kelly from the European People's Party. Hungarian MEP Katrin Tse from Renew
01:34 Europe and Polish MEP Robert Biedron from the Socialists. So lovely to see you all,
01:40 thank you so much for joining us. But before we bring you in, let's just remind our viewers
01:44 why Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish Prime Minister, was in Strasbourg this week.
01:53 After six intense months, Spain's time in the EU spotlight is up. Known as a rotating
01:58 presidency, Madrid steered the ship, all whilst holding general elections and forming a government.
02:05 Beyond helping front EU responses to major events like COP28 or the Israel-Hamas war,
02:12 Spain had to advance files like artificial intelligence, reform of the electricity market
02:16 and sanctions against Russian diamonds. Marking the presidency though, the controversial amnesty
02:24 law that helped Pedro Sanchez get back into office. With a long list of items still left
02:28 undone, from fiscal rules to a migration pact, all eyes are now on the incoming Belgian presidency
02:34 in January to finish the job, before the five-year mandate ends and EU elections take place in
02:39 June.
02:43 So it's been a pretty busy period for Spanish diplomats, they'll really deserve a break
02:47 after all that. But what has been the word here in the Parliament? Have they got the
02:51 job done, Robert?
02:53 Well I believe Spanish delivered. There's still much job to do, we are still negotiating
02:59 around 160 acts, so it's a lot.
03:02 160 acts?
03:03 160 different documents are being negotiated so far. I was participating yesterday at the
03:10 committee of the committee chairs and we were informed about state of play, so much work
03:15 to deliver. We never ever had so many negotiations going on in this house. But having in regard
03:21 these very difficult times where we have so many crises, not only war in Ukraine but the
03:27 conflict in the Middle East.
03:30 Our viewers are well aware, I mean we've been reporting on all these...
03:32 They delivered, they delivered on so many areas.
03:35 Let's hear from Sean Kelly, have they delivered? What's the take from the European People's
03:38 Party?
03:39 We're in election mode, so the debate in the Parliament was more about the new government,
03:45 the rule of law, the amnesty. But the title of the debate was a review of the Spanish
03:51 presidency. And having been involved in the Irish presidency, particularly at the end
03:57 of a mandate, how the presidency deals with the files is of crucial importance. And I
04:05 must give credit particularly to the ambassador, Rolf Wainters I think, he did massive work
04:14 in several files. I was involved in the energy performance of buildings, we had one trial
04:20 which went from half four in the evening to four o'clock the following morning. He showed
04:26 great knowledge, great patience and great diplomacy and I think he deserves credit for
04:31 that.
04:32 Let's see if Catalenta agrees with this take?
04:33 Well I think it's very hard to separate the politics and the policies in this presidency
04:38 because on the one hand we really achieved a lot. So for instance the EU is the first
04:43 community ever to have like this massive regulation on AI, which is an absolute breakthrough.
04:49 Or to regulate political advertising or also to reform the anti-corruption rules, for instance
04:56 the financial regulation that I was personally working on. But also we cannot disregard the
05:01 fact that this presidency was also marred with very serious political disputes about
05:05 the rule of law in Spain. And this was an ongoing topic and I have to say that my group
05:10 is very worried about the amnesty law and how the coalition formation happens.
05:14 We'll come back to that, Catherine Cheb, but Pedro Sánchez is not here around the
05:17 table but we did just want to show a clip of his speech a little bit earlier this week
05:21 here in the parliament to see how he thought he did. Take a listen.
05:27 It has been a successful presidency. I would say that we've had 43 files approved, for
05:32 instance more than average. We've achieved significant progress in terms of legislation
05:37 and policies for the future of Europe. The time has come to look to the future with more
05:42 ambition and with more optimism because the EU is facing a challenge now which is not
05:47 about avoiding decline. It's not about the development of other regions around the world.
05:52 We need to be at the forefront of a new era of global prosperity.
05:59 So a very positive take there from Pedro Sánchez, pretty much confident that him and his team
06:04 he was able to get the job done. But as you said there, the presidency was marked as well
06:09 by the whole amnesty. We've seen a lot of controversy as well inside the European Parliament,
06:13 a lot of divisions. But you must understand that Spanish faced
06:20 the national elections and they delivered also a lot of hopes for Europe. I come myself
06:24 from Poland and the victory of Pedro Sánchez for Polish people and combating radical right
06:32 wing populism in Spain brought a lot of hopes for Europe and that we can combat the radical
06:39 right wings. So we should regard it also from this angle. Imagine that in Spain we would
06:45 have now radical right wing populist in government. That would be another troublemaker besides
06:52 Orbán. I'm sorry Kathleen, but this is the European reality today. So we should look
06:58 at it also from this perspective. Imagine there is no Pedro Sánchez anymore and you
07:03 need to deal with other troublemakers. What would happen for Europe?
07:06 Well it was a shock I guess for your political group that Pedro Sánchez is actually in power
07:11 because Fejo would have been your man. Absolutely. It was a pity we didn't have
07:15 kind of two debates. One, the review of the Spanish presidency, which in terms of the
07:20 files etc. they did a great job. Then the other, in terms of what's happening in Spain
07:25 now and my group and particularly my Spanish colleagues and many more are very concerned
07:30 about how Sánchez is putting his government together and particularly the rule of law
07:36 and the amnesty. And they feel that it's power at any price and that's not a good
07:43 thing for democracy. So we'll just have to see how it pans out. But there were real strong
07:50 feelings right throughout my group, DPP, in relation to this and they articulated them
07:55 in Parliament today, particularly by our chairman Anthony Weber.
08:00 Well look, you mentioned Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister of Hungary. I mean his name
08:04 came up a lot this week, Catherine Che, of course because the Commission took that decision
08:09 to unlock those much discussed 10 billion euros in funds for Hungary in return for the
08:15 Hungarian government signing up to major issues like unlocking funding for Ukraine and also
08:21 triggering the membership talks. What is your take on all this, Catherine Che, your groups?
08:28 Well Pedro Sánchez is actually very right in the segment that he's shown that we have
08:33 to combat new challenges also and I would consider democratic backsliding here and Hungary
08:39 is unfortunately leading the way but it's not the only country. And the fact that the
08:43 European Commission has decided to unlock money to Hungary without the proper completion
08:49 of the necessary requirements, it is extremely worrying, particularly because I feel that
08:55 they gave in to the blackmail of Viktor Orbán who basically threatened to block any action
09:00 on Ukraine or on the budget, basically acting as the Trojan horse at the EU's negotiating
09:06 tables. And this is why it is disturbing to see also other bad signs in Europe. So for
09:11 instance the Slovak election, and I have to add unfortunately a little bit the Spanish
09:16 amnesty law here also, because of course I'm very happy that the extreme right is not in
09:21 government in Spain, but the fact that you make a deal with a party for forming a government
09:28 and in return providing a sweeping amnesty to...
09:31 Well let's just go back to Viktor Orbán because as this funding was being unlocked, Sean Kelly,
09:37 there's posters with the face of Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President,
09:43 all across Budapest saying that we will not dance this dance. So anti-EU posters that
09:48 have been put up with Hungarian money, perhaps also EU money, and yet the Commission has
09:53 unlocked that funding saying that they have to abide by the rules.
09:56 I must say, I think it's shocking in many respects that one Prime Minister can basically
10:04 hold the rest of the European Union to ransom. And it's going to lead to a huge rethink in
10:11 regard to unanimity voting and the veto. Now that's a controversial issue, but if there's
10:17 any example of why we have to change some of the rules, Viktor Orbán is the example.
10:23 Because as you said, if you were to get two or three more Prime Ministers like that, the
10:28 European Union would become dysfunctional. And I think it would have been better if the
10:34 Commission held the line and showed all of Europe that one individual, obnoxious and
10:40 selfish as he is, can get away with it and then go back to his own country and say how
10:46 great he is and start criticising not the European Union institutions he called it Brussels.
10:52 Now Brussels is a city, not the European institutions.
10:56 Yeah, Brussels should not play the dirty games with Orbán, definitely. And I say it coming
11:01 from Poland, we were facing also very radical populist government and the only hope we had
11:09 sometimes was European Union, that European Union will not cross this line to feed the
11:16 authoritarian regime. And at the end of the day, I cannot imagine the taxpayers in Ireland
11:22 or in France would agree of feeding Orbán's government. I cannot imagine that people will
11:31 be agreeing on this procedure which will be not transparent for the taxpayers to give
11:39 the public funds for a guy who is not respecting the fundamental rights.
11:44 A lot of our viewers are concerned as well because I think four parties here in the Parliament
11:48 sent a letter as well saying they do not agree with that funding being locked. We've seen
11:53 a number of NGOs from Transparency as well International saying that it's disgraceful,
11:57 it's catastrophic. But here we are in December 2023 with the Commission still bowing perhaps
12:03 to Viktor Orbán. But look, let's get back to the Spanish presidency because we were
12:08 also curious to see beyond the EU institutions and beyond politics how actual Spaniards felt
12:14 about being in the limelight of the European Union for the last six months. So we asked
12:19 Jaime Velasquez, that's our correspondent over in mid Madrid, to send us an update.
12:24 The government of President Pedro Sánchez had been preparing for months to take over
12:28 the presidency of the Council of the European Union. It was supposed to be the crowning
12:33 moment of his term, but an inconclusive snap election in June and four subsequent months
12:38 of political stalemate have overshadowed Pedro Sánchez's European semester. While the Spanish
12:44 caretaker government was trying to forge an agreement on the European Union migration
12:50 policy or the reform of the electricity market, Spaniards were simply too busy with their
12:55 own problems to take care about what was going on in Brussels. The negotiations to form a
12:59 new government under controversial amnesty law for those involved in the Catalan independence
13:05 bid in 2017 have led the European presidency to go virtually unnoticed in Spain.
13:11 Jaime Velasquez there reporting for us from Madrid. Robert, you were laughing there, I
13:16 don't know if you were crying, because this is clearly a missed opportunity for Spain
13:20 as well.
13:21 Yeah, I was crying because we're still not able to deliver all those important things
13:25 we are working on. During the Spanish presidency so much happened, and Kathleen was mentioning
13:31 some of that. We really delivered a lot of practical things for Europeans, and still
13:41 people are not able to see that it's our common failure.
13:46 A common failure that needs to be addressed soon, because it's also worth pointing out
13:51 there's just six months left of this five year mandate, and then it is election time.
13:57 Then people will go and vote and decide who they want to see in this European Parliament.
14:01 Absolutely, it is our job I think to show to the people what we were working on, that
14:07 we could deliver on the crucial issues that were very important to the voters on the Green
14:14 Deal, on individual rights, on women's rights, on the reform of the European Union. I have
14:20 to say I'm very proud of this Parliament and how well we reacted on the many crises that
14:25 came and I really hope that also the Conservatives realise that in the coming months sustaining
14:30 the ambition of the Green Deal is very important because we did so much together in the first
14:35 half and I don't know what happened in the EPP maybe, Sean you can tell me, but in the
14:39 last months it feels like you are just blowing up the whole thing and putting everything
14:43 into jeopardy.
14:44 And that is what's making the headlines here Sean Kelly. I mean not the policies but actually
14:48 the politics and the name calling and the theatre that we're seeing in the European
14:52 Parliament especially by your group and your leader, the German man Manfred Weber, what's
14:56 going on?
14:57 Well they had reservations about some of the legislation but I took a different view I
15:03 have to say.
15:04 So some just tell our viewers like the Nature Restoration Law?
15:07 The Nature Restoration Law was something that they wanted to finish and kill.
15:11 Pesticides?
15:12 My group, my delegation, we didn't agree with that and we defied our group and others
15:19 came with us and as a result of that the Nature Restoration Law was passed.
15:23 Now I think though as a result of the negotiations under the Spanish Presidency that we now have
15:29 got a compromise which I would hope that my group would be able to support as well and
15:34 I think that would be very important.
15:36 But if I and my delegation didn't stand up for what we thought was right it would have
15:42 been defeated in Parliament which unfortunately my group wanted to do.
15:46 And what happens when you stand up for your view?
15:48 How does Manfred Weber treat you?
15:51 You get a little bit of hassle and some people get very angry with you.
15:55 I got some abuse in the corridors from individuals but I just told them I wasn't taking any notice
16:00 of that.
16:01 I always do what I think is right.
16:03 My group, my delegation did what was right and I think we were probably proven right
16:07 in the end and as a result the Nature Restoration Law which would have been killed will now
16:12 become law and that's very important.
16:14 But meanwhile...
16:15 For the energy performance of buildings directive the majority didn't support that in my group
16:21 but we got it over the line and now as a result of the negotiations under the Spanish Presidency
16:27 we have EPPD which I think my group will be able to support and the Parliament and that
16:32 will be good for the Green Deal.
16:33 And I have a feeling that when we talk this way people don't understand what we deliver
16:38 because the Nature Restoration Law is about protecting the globe and people against the
16:45 climate catastrophe we are facing.
16:48 People should have it delivered, they are asking for that and when we are going into
16:53 these political disputes, debates, the show...
16:57 Especially people from the same political group, the same political family when they're
17:00 not getting on and they're killing each other verbally.
17:05 That's the image that stays really in people's minds of the European Parliament.
17:08 Because we are really doing great things for people.
17:11 We are trying to protect them against all catastrophes we might face including the climate
17:18 catastrophe.
17:19 But that's not really how people feel right on the ground.
17:22 We saw the Spaniards didn't notice their Presidency, the Belgians perhaps might notice
17:26 a bit more because of course they're the home to the EU institutions but the reality is
17:30 Presidencies come and go and people don't really notice, they don't feel them.
17:34 Well I hope that at least they feel the results of the work that we are doing because let's
17:38 face it, right now, at this very moment, I think the European Union is world leader in
17:44 terms of the fight against climate change and of course we should be doing much more
17:48 but I think we delivered a lot and for our group, for the Liberal group, this has been
17:52 a core issue from the beginning and I'm very glad to hear that Sean did not think that
17:57 what the Nature Restoration Law wants to kill Santa Claus or what was put on the socials
18:02 because this is really a common fight for the future of the planet, for the future of
18:06 our kids and this is like so obvious, so basic.
18:08 We all suffer because of it.
18:10 So it's our common goal to fight against this catastrophe.
18:14 And we don't have a lot of time but just on the EU fiscal rules, I know this is something
18:19 of big importance for our viewers and we saw thousands of people take to the streets earlier
18:23 this week in Belgium calling for no austerity and fair rules.
18:28 Last week, Sean Kelly, there was like 12 hours of talks I think with finance ministers, they
18:32 didn't manage to get a deal.
18:34 Obviously we're seeing a lot of divisions between the hooks, you know, countries like
18:38 Germany, countries like the Netherlands versus countries like France and Italy who want to
18:41 see more flexibility.
18:43 Where do you stand on this?
18:44 This is the nature of politics and everything in the European Union, first of all because
18:49 of the size of it and the way we vote, which we mentioned a while ago there, is slow.
18:54 But at the end of the day, we usually get it right.
18:57 That has been the case in relation to COVID.
18:59 It has been the case in relation to the re-power EU in Ukraine.
19:06 And I think the same will happen here.
19:09 And by and large, we do get the budgets that we need, but it always takes time.
19:16 But until we look at how we actually do business more efficiently, this is going to continue
19:21 into the future.
19:23 And especially if we're talking about enlargement, the rules we have now, how will that be fit
19:29 for purpose if you have 30, 36 member states?
19:31 Well, that's a whole other topic we will come back to.
19:34 And indeed this week was also that Western Balkans summit.
19:36 But for now, I'm afraid we'll have to take a little break.
19:39 But we'll have more on the Belgian priorities in January.
19:42 But for now, stay with us, because after the break, we'll be telling you about a massive
19:46 breakthrough here in Strasbourg this week for gig workers' rights.
19:50 See you soon here on Euronews.
19:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]
20:00 Welcome back to Brussels My Love, Euronews' weekly talk show, where we're taking a look
20:04 at the big news headlines out of Strasbourg this week.
20:08 And one of them was a late night deal to give more rights to gig workers.
20:12 Known as the Platform Workers Directive, it would mean millions of Uber drivers, delivery
20:17 riders, could be seen as employees and have the right to pension, paid sick leave, and
20:22 workplace accident insurance.
20:24 Once official, the directive would be written into national law of all EU countries, replacing
20:29 the patchwork of laws in place today.
20:31 MEPs working on the law for the past three years called the deal this week historic,
20:36 the first ever act, in fact, that deals with the labor market of the future.
20:41 So what was your reaction here to this?
20:43 I'm very happy.
20:44 It's historic, but also a first in the world agreement on this important issue, because
20:51 we are dealing in European Union itself with 30 million people.
20:57 It's like population altogether of Greece, Portugal, and Sweden.
21:04 And we will be dealing soon with the population of, like, in Spain.
21:08 So it's important that online workers, we have the same protection as the offline workers.
21:15 And gig workers, Robert, are set to, of course, increase as well in the future.
21:20 This has been hailed as well historic and welcomed by the trade unions.
21:24 They say it might put an end to this wild, wild west, quote, of labor, lack of labor
21:29 rights for workers in this gig economy.
21:32 Catherine, share your reaction.
21:34 Well, of course, it's amazing.
21:36 But also, I think this is the basic minimum we should be providing to workers in Europe.
21:41 These are European values to have a right for social protection, to a fair wage, to
21:47 be treated fairly.
21:48 This is why I am so proud to be European.
21:51 And I'm very glad that we managed to achieve this breakthrough for so many people.
21:55 And I am really, really proud of the negotiating team, because they did an amazing job.
21:59 And we really helped.
22:00 And they didn't get much sleep, did they?
22:02 This week, they were up, I think it was 12 hours of negotiations.
22:05 But of course, this still has to get ratified by EU member states and get the official seal.
22:09 And then it will take perhaps two years to come into force.
22:11 Sean Kelly, your reaction?
22:12 Yeah, I think this is an example, again, of things that happen here in Europe that people
22:17 aren't aware of until they're actually done.
22:19 And as you said, it took three years.
22:20 It had to be initiated.
22:22 And it's establishing fair play and also responding to the new age.
22:28 We were also the first to bring in the GDPR, General Data Protection Regulation.
22:32 It became the global standard.
22:34 The same here.
22:35 A lot of workers, 30 million, as has been said, hadn't rights.
22:39 They were often treated as self-implied.
22:40 Now, we have said at European level, this is not good enough.
22:44 We're going to change it.
22:45 And we've done it.
22:46 And while we saw there a lot of people mightn't be aware of what's happening in Europe, when
22:50 they see this and other examples of it, they can see that it's probably the only vehicle
22:56 by which changes of this nature can be made.
22:59 And then they can be applied not just within the member states, but probably eventually
23:03 apply worldwide.
23:04 OK, well, look, to hear another perspective from someone who's been following this file
23:08 closely, we checked in with the employment lawyer, Colin Leckie.
23:12 He's a partner at Lewis Silken, and he actually represents a number of gig economy clients
23:16 over in Silicon Valley.
23:18 Fundamentally, the dial will shift from an employment rights perspective towards those
23:23 individuals working through platforms who will be more likely to be classified as employees
23:28 as a result.
23:29 I am concerned that this is sort of overregulation.
23:32 And there is a danger here that the EU could to some degree throw the baby out with the
23:37 bathwater if they end up in a position where operating in that very flexible way that we
23:42 associate with a platform economy becomes so difficult.
23:45 But, you know, these sort of newer, flexible job opportunities just become less available
23:50 to EU workers than they are at present because of where the directive ultimately lands.
23:54 So a different perspective there from that employment lawyer, Colin Leckie.
23:58 He's worried about overregulation.
23:59 I mean, Uber, of course, has expressed their dislike as well of this directive.
24:04 They say that it will lose the flexibility of these workers and they might have to move
24:07 out of small towns.
24:09 Of course, Uber will complain because Uber wants to profit.
24:14 I just remind you that in the last four quarters of the last year, Uber in one billion dollar.
24:22 They earn one billion dollar.
24:24 Can they provide the proper protection of their employees?
24:28 Of course, they can, but they don't want because if they don't deliver that, they just simply
24:34 earning more.
24:35 So we should find the ways and we did find the ways to marry the new economy with the
24:42 proper protection of employees because those people are employees.
24:47 It's about the dignity and the fair social treatment.
24:50 This is what we did in the house.
24:52 And my colleagues negotiating this act, they were saying constantly that they face very
24:57 aggressive lobbying from the side.
24:59 Because the companies are concerned.
25:01 I mean, at the end of the day, they will have to cough up more.
25:03 They will have to provide more rights.
25:06 They can afford they can afford it.
25:08 Well, look, Nicholas Schmidt as well, the European Commissioner for Jobs.
25:11 He was in Strasbourg this week.
25:12 He was one of the men who was up very late here on Tuesday night.
25:16 He's been speaking to the Financial Times.
25:17 Actually, he gave them an interview and he said that, look, the price of our Uber is
25:22 will go up by perhaps 40 percent and that people are actually ready to bear that cost.
25:27 In his opinion, that you cannot rely on goodwill and tipping, that there's a real cost that
25:32 needs to be paid.
25:33 I think any business model that is not able to accommodate normal, fair wages for people
25:39 who were eight, nine, 10 hours, normal social protection, then these are not good business
25:45 models probably.
25:46 And I think for us, this is a basic foundation of our European values to treat people fairly.
25:53 So yes, of course, I'm happy to pay more.
25:56 And every single change in labor laws which gave people more freedom and a healthier working
26:02 environment.
26:03 Yes, maybe it has costs, but this is why I'm proud to be European, that we can do that.
26:06 So Kathleen is proud to be European and happy to pay more.
26:10 We wanted to know if your news viewers would be happy to pay more as well.
26:13 So we asked them on social media.
26:14 And in fact, if you look at our poll there, the majority said absolutely we would pay
26:19 more for our Uber Eats.
26:20 We would pay more for our Uber driver if in return they got better rights.
26:25 But they also added in brackets that they also think the companies should bear the costs.
26:29 I mean, Sean Kelly, how would this go down in a country like Ireland, which is very pro-business
26:34 and also the home of a lot of these big tech companies?
26:38 I think everybody respects that workers have rights.
26:44 And when they were being classified as self-employed and they weren't, and they didn't have rights,
26:49 suspension rights, etc., when that is explained to people, they'll understand it.
26:53 There may be a price to be paid for it in terms of having to pay a bit more.
26:57 But also I think that needs to be monitored so that the Ubers of this world, etc., don't
27:03 pass on all the costs to the consumer.
27:07 And in relation to regulation, I think the American attitude, they had the exact same
27:12 for the data protection regulation.
27:14 I was a rapporteur for that.
27:16 But how did it pan out?
27:17 It has panned out overall quite well.
27:19 OK.
27:20 And I think the same here in this regard.
27:21 OK.
27:22 Thank you so much for your perspective.
27:24 Thanks as well to Kathleen Shea and to Robert Biedron.
27:26 And thank you so much for watching.
27:28 We'll have more on that directive for you as it gets sealed and gets ratified in all
27:33 the EU member states.
27:34 But for now, thank you so much again to our panellists.
27:36 And thank you so much for watching.
27:37 Stay with us here on Euronews.
27:47 Welcome back to Brussels, my love, Euronews' weekend talk show.
27:51 I'm Maeve McMahon.
27:52 And this weekend, we're coming to you from the European Parliament in Strasbourg, where
27:56 MEPs awarded the prestigious Sakharov Human Rights Prize to Massa Amini and the Woman
28:02 Life Freedom Movement of Iran.
28:04 Massa Amini was the 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who died last September in the hands
28:10 of Iran's religious police for breaching the strict dress code for women.
28:15 Her death sparked outrage across Iranian civil society and Iranian diaspora across the world
28:20 and initiated that movement.
28:22 So this is a pretty symbolic gesture here.
28:25 But I guess everyone's asking as well, what more can the EU do to help the Iranians, Kathleen?
28:30 I have to say that it was truly an honour and pleasure and really fantastic for me to
28:35 see these brave women, these brave people in the house of European democracy.
28:40 And when I had the opportunity to talk to them, to attend a reception, of course, I
28:45 was really eager to hear what they can say, what we can do more.
28:50 And honestly, they told us that it is very nice.
28:53 They really appreciate it.
28:55 But we should do more.
28:56 And they asked me the question, why cannot the EU sanction the IRGC?
29:01 That what we have been calling for in Parliament.
29:03 And honestly, I didn't have an answer.
29:05 I have no idea why Joseph Borrell didn't make this move, why we cannot sanction those who
29:10 are really responsible for all this violence, brutality and killings.
29:16 This is the task we have to do as soon as possible.
29:18 Let's just meet one of the women that was here actually this week to pick up that award,
29:21 because of course the family of Massa Amini could not come.
29:24 They were banned by the Iranian authorities.
29:26 So it was collected by Afsoun Najavi.
29:29 She's the sister actually of a victim of the Iranian regime.
29:31 And Euronews had the chance to ask her what more she wanted from Europe.
29:36 The other value is a number of requests, but I'll deal with the most important one.
29:41 The first one is that the families of the people in government and those who are responsible
29:47 in the high positions in Iran, their children are allowed to come and educate themselves
29:53 outside Iran, providing them visas and kind of an environment to come and further their
29:58 lives.
29:59 Whereas that embargo, that kind of a sanction should be put on them.
30:05 Exactly the limitations and the lack of freedom that is put for the Iranian people and Europe
30:10 does not deal with them the way the Iranian authorities deal with the Iranian people.
30:15 The same treatment should be given to them.
30:18 The words of Afsoun Najavi there.
30:20 Sean Kelly, do MEPs have any sort of clout here?
30:22 I think we do.
30:23 And it was interesting that what she said, because firstly, I think Afghanistan and Iran
30:32 must be the two worst countries in the world to be a woman.
30:36 Some of the delegation came to our group and they mentioned words like brutal, evil, horrible,
30:42 etc.
30:43 But one of the points they made in relation to sanctions, and I think she reiterated that
30:48 as well, it's not financial sanctions.
30:52 She said the financial sanctions were actually hurting the people.
30:56 But it's actually targeting the regime who are responsible for this brutal treatment
31:02 of women in this day and age.
31:03 I mean, killing some girl because she didn't wear a headscarf to suit it.
31:08 It's just outlandish.
31:09 Robert?
31:10 Who, if not us, Europe and European Union should take global leadership in protecting
31:16 human rights, fighting for human rights.
31:19 And we should also be very strong on standardization of human rights.
31:26 Every girl, every woman, wherever she lives globally, she's protected against violence,
31:31 protected against any harassment.
31:33 And we should lead also by example.
31:36 Again, I come from Poland, and you know, we had the de facto ban on abortion, where women
31:41 were dying, where there were so-called pregnancy lease, where prosecutor and police was investigating.
31:47 So it's also up to us that we do not lose our credibility, that we maintain our values,
31:53 and we remember that this struggle is continuous.
31:58 I'm going to have to stop you there, Robert Bia, I'm afraid we are out of time.
32:02 But thank you so much for being with us here.
32:04 Thank you so much as well to Kathleen Cheah and to Sean Kelly as well.
32:07 Really appreciate it.
32:08 And thank you so much to you for tuning in.
32:10 For more details on anything you heard here or on the outcomes of the EU summit, do take
32:14 a look at Euronews.com and get in touch with us if you want.
32:18 You can drop a line to brusselsmylove@euronews.com with any of your comments or stories that you'd
32:23 like us to look into.
32:25 But for now, take care and see you soon here on Euronews.
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