Luxembourg's MEP Tilly Metz: "Motivated to continue in the European Parliament"

As part of a new series by our Luxembourgish colleagues, RTL sits down with Members of the European Parliament (MEP). In this first article, journalist Dany Rasqué speaks to Tilly Metz about her priorities for the next months.

Mobility and health are top priorities

The first plenary session takes place on 11 September, but the agenda is quickly filling up already.

Tilly Metz of the Greens will specifically be focusing on trains. She has the status of rapporteur on rail traffic, including both freight and passenger transport. She advocates for better coordination on a European level to make it easier for trains to travel across borders, something that is often still hampered by technical requirements in individual countries.

This includes regular trains and a multimodal approach: "Not that I arrive somewhere and then I miss the next connection by bus or train by just a few minutes," says Metz. "We need a more coordinated and harmonised approach." Another priority of the MEP concerns reforming legislation on medicines: "The pharmaceutical package is really about creating a better power relationship balance between the pharmaceutical industry and the authorities," she explains.

"It is very important that if you support something with public funds, the research or the development of medicines or vaccines is bound to conditions."

Animal welfare is a further priority for Metz in the coming months, with various animal protection laws that she says must be taken more seriously.

Motivated to continue her job

There are various files that most certainly cannot be completed before the European elections in June 2024, but Metz can very well imagine continuing her job if voters agree to it.

"I am very motivated to continue being in the European Parliament, which means I will certainly continue to run for office," she says to RTL.

According to Metz, one of the biggest challenges for politics at the European level is climate change, something that became very clear again in the past weeks with high temperatures and southern Europe.

"Then we still have the war, the invasion of Ukraine. These are certainly two subjects we must continue to focus on. We need a clear position as the European Union and maintain our goals."