After the June elections, new and returning MEPs have taken office in the European Parliament for its 10th legislature. While the first “warm-up” Plenary session took place in July, the EuropeOn team decided to wait for September to make the trip to Strasbourg, where the Plenary takes place every month, to be able to already discuss some of the new proposals that have been put forward by the Commission President this summer.

This includes the Clean Industrial Deal, the European Affordable Housing Plan, but also the Electrification Action Plan, for which we have campaigned and which was announced during the September Plenary (read more here).

Over the Plenary week, the EuropeOn team also joined forces with colleagues from the Electrification Alliance for two events.

First, the Alliance was invited to shape the first dinner debate of this new season for the European Energy Forum (EEF). The EEF is a network of MEPs from all political groups, with companies and associations as associated members. The theme for the evening was the benefits and challenges of electrification, and attracted over 120 participants. The speakers included MEP Tsvetelina Penkova, Catherine Vandenborre, CEO of Elia, Armando Martínez Martínez, CEO of Iberdrola, Greg Jackson, Founder and CEO of Octopus Energy, Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe, and Ditte Juul Jørgensen, Director General at DG ENER. All speakers highlighted the benefits of electrification for the attainment of our climate and energy targets, for the efficiency of the energy system and for consumers and their energy bills.

Second, the members of the Electrification Alliance came together for a working lunch hosted by MEP Niels Fuglsang, who was the Parliament’s lead negotiator during the revision of the Energy Efficiency Directive. This was the opportunity for us to commonly discuss our vision for the content of the EU’s new Electrification Action Plan with the MEPs in attendance, including MEP Nicolas Gonzalez Casares, MEP Elena Sancho Murillo, MEP Sigrid Friis, MEP Eero Heinäluoma, MEP Anna Stürgkh, and MEP Benedetta Scuderi.

Our trip to Strasbourg also provided us with the opportunity to meet with other MEPs and discuss our vision for the new legislature, as set out in our Manifesto. We were also able to touch on the new announcements of the Commission such as on the Clean Industrial Deal. It was important for us to highlight the need to ensure that this Deal not only caters to the needs of the upstream segments of the clean industry value chain but also to the other end, by making sure the labour and skills aspects of its ambitions is duly addressed.