• IRENA
    JOVEVA

Environment and health

I am an active substitute member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI), which deals with the issues that matter most in people’s lives. I was also a substitute member of the Special Committee on Beating Cancer, which concluded its work by adopting a European strategy to combat this insidious disease. I have also joined a number of parliamentary groupings working to improve the situation in these areas, such as the MEPs against Cancer Interest Group, the Disability Intergroup and the Intergroup on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development. Membership and support of intergroups are important stepping stones for action in the interest of the people of all European countries, as these fora promote active debate seeking to improve the status quo.

More specifically, in the MEPs Against Cancer Interest Group we are looking at possible solutions for faster medical progress to improve patients’ conditions, the possibility of using the data collected for cancer research purposes, and the sharing of the collected data between countries. And in the Intergroup on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, we follow the ambitious goals set by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Discussing the various options for reducing our carbon footprint, protecting biodiversity in all parts of the world and finding ways to develop sustainably without drastic environmental impacts are high on my priority list.

The European Green Deal. The EU has committed itself to making Europe a climate-neutral continent by 2050. To this end, we have also adopted the Fit for 55 legislative package, which pursues the objectives of the Green Deal: faster abolition of free emission allowances for industry and the inclusion of citizens in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme for road transport and buildings (ETS II), a larger and faster implementation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, a Social Climate Fund to fight energy and mobility poverty, and in the future we are set to pursue other Green Deal objectives.

Protecting the environment should not be a choice, but a given.

As a substitute member on behalf of Renew Europe I also take an active part in the Special Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and recommendations for the future. As the Special Committee prepares its final report, I will be able to draw on my active contribution to the report on the impact of COVID-19 closures of educational, cultural, youth and sports activities on children and young people in the EU, drafted by the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT).