Vice-President of the European Parliament Marc Angel has revealed to our colleagues from RTL.lu that he is looking forward to the new year and the upcoming European elections in June 2024 and has a long list of priorities.
One of Angel’s top priorities is to improve equality within the Union. He is working on a project to create a card for people with disabilities that would be valid throughout Europe. The card would not only allow for cheaper access to public transport and museums but would also give people with disabilities a legal status. Angel believes that new technologies, such as QR codes, could be used to make the card more practical and informative, for instance by differentiating between different types of disabilities.
Angel is also active in the Commission on the Internal Market, where he is working to ensure that products that are manufactured can be repaired if they no longer function. He is also calling for a ban on the manufacture of products that are built to break after a certain time.
As a member of the Petitions Commission, Angel is mostly responsible for relations with the European Ombudsman and then there are also his responsibilities as Vice-President.
As one of 14 Vice-Presidents, Angel regularly represents the President of the European Parliament. For example, he is also in charge of a task force dealing with digitalisation.
In addition to his work on these specific issues, Angel is also committed to reforming the European rules. He believes that the unanimity principle, which requires all 27 EU member states to agree on important votes, should be abolished. Angel argues that this would allow the EU to make more progress.
“If we want to develop Europe further, we have to give ourselves other rules,” Angel said, adding that “we have to make sure that we need a qualified majority in the votes, because otherwise we won’t get anywhere.” According to Angel, “we need milestones again, like the single market 30 years ago, like the euro, like Schengen – and we can only do that if we abolish unanimity.”
For Angel, one of the major challenges facing Europe is the migration issue. He stresses that the migration pact must be concluded before the next elections to dissuade voters from thinking that the EU has “lost control.” Regarding migration, Angel argues that “we have to find ways to get people to Europe through safe channels.”
Angel also believes that it is important to continue working on a social Europe. He says that the Green Deal, the EU’s strategy for achieving climate neutrality by 2050, needs “a red heart.” Angel is committed to these goals and plans to continue working on them after the European elections in June 2024, if voters agree.
