Gracing the cover of our latest issue is Polish S&D deputy Sylwia Spurek. A staunch defender of human and animal rights, she is on a quest to safeguard the dignity of the voiceless and disenfranchised. She tells Lorna Hutchinson that when it comes to upholding rights there is no room for compromise.
As work at the European institutions resumes after the summer break, we bring you our special La Rentrée feature, where group leaders Iratxe García Pérez (ES, S&D), Dacian Cioloș (RO, RE), Marco Zanni (IT, ID) and Martin Schirdewan (DE, GUE/NGL) discuss how COVID-19 continues to shape EU policymaking.
We also take a look at two of the European Parliament’s newly-formed Special Committees. Sirpa Pietikäinen (FI, EPP) and Mohammed Chahim (NL, S&D) discuss the Special Committee on the Protection of Animals during Transport, while Maria da Graça Carvalho (PT, EPP) and Dan Nica (RO, S&D) focus on the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence.
Also inside: Petras Auštrevičius (LT, RE) reviews the EU’s Eastern Partnership, our senior reporter Martin Banks recaps the latest developments from the Alexei Navalny saga, and Eurocities’ Secretary General Anna Lisa Boni, Transport and Tourism Committee Chair Karima Delli (FR, Greens/EFA) and European Commission Director General for Mobility and Transport Henrik Hololei preview European Mobility Week 2020.
Tomislav Sokol (HR, EPP) calls for European pharmaceutical independence, while José Ramón Bauzá Díaz (ES, RE) and vice-chair of Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee István Ujhelyi (HU, S&D) urge policymakers to lend more support to Europe’s struggling tourism sector.
We also bring you coverage of our recent Dieselgate webinar, courtesy of our Managing Editor Brian Johnson and brought to you in partnership with PA International, and Deputy Editor Lorna Hutchinson speaks to MEPs Francisco Guerreiro (PT, Greens/EFA) and Tilly Metz (LU, Greens/EFA) about Europe’s growing vegan movement.
Finally, answering our five questions this issue is Portuguese S&D deputy Sara Cerdas.