EU elections: What are the biggest issues at stake?

euronews (in English)

Our journalists provide insights into the stakes of the upcoming European elections, covering issues ranging from defence to the green deal and migration pact.

Transcript

00:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]

00:10 The rising cost of living is gonna be one of the big issues people care about

00:17 when they go to the ballot in June.

00:19 We did a poll of people across Europe and two thirds of them said

00:23 that tackling rising prices needs to be a priority for the EU.

00:27 You've got energy prices rising by 40%.

00:31 One in three Europeans have said they wouldn't be able to pay for

00:34 an unexpected bill.

00:35 They're really feeling the pinch.

00:37 So when the EU thinks about its energy policy, its climate change policy,

00:41 they're really gonna have to think about how that's going to

00:44 impact on people's pockets.

00:45 [BLANK_AUDIO]

00:50 >> Migration has been a massive topic for

00:53 the past decade, ever since the Lampedusa tragedy of 2013.

00:57 Now we finally do have a migration pact.

00:59 It took years to get to this starting point.

01:03 It's perfectly imperfect.

01:04 Nobody likes it.

01:05 For the left, it's too right.

01:07 For the right, it's too left.

01:08 But it's a starting point.

01:09 And of course, the next mandate will be very much occupied by looking into how

01:13 member states transpose that into law and how it works then on the ground.

01:18 We need migration.

01:19 We need managed migration.

01:21 Europe is getting very old, very fast.

01:24 And many would point out to the Ukrainian case that we can very much manage

01:29 asylum seekers, those who are in need of protection.

01:31 [BLANK_AUDIO]

01:36 >> Well, defense will be certainly one of those issues that will be front and

01:39 center of the mandate of the next commission and the next European parliament,

01:42 not least because of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

01:45 There's a realization this war will continue for the foreseeable future,

01:49 because for the last few months, Ukraine has been on the back foot militarily.

01:53 And of course, for the first time in many years,

01:55 there is a war on the European continent.

01:57 But there's also an acknowledgement that Ukraine may not be the only conflict the

02:01 world will be facing in the coming years.

02:03 And the EU and Europe feel that it needs to stand on its own two feet when it comes

02:07 to its defense and security and not always rely on the United States.

02:11 [BLANK_AUDIO]

02:15 >> They've set a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by the end

02:19 of this decade, which basically means it's got to be done during the mandate of

02:22 the incoming commission and parliament.

02:24 It's an enormous task, and

02:26 it's going to be made even bigger when they adopt a new climate target.

02:29 Going into the election, we have right-wing parties who are basically going on

02:33 a platform of supporting the farmers, putting a halt to all this Green Deal.

02:36 So yes, the momentum is definitely there.

02:40 Whether it continues after the election is another question.

02:43 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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