Engin Eroglu was the most important among the six Hessian MEPs on Tuesday. The chairman of the regional association of Free Voters voted in the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee for Frankfurt to become the headquarters of the European Union's anti-money laundering authority AMLA. The various candidates were heard in the committee before representatives of the EU states and the European Parliament voted in favor of Frankfurt in two separate votes almost four weeks ago.
The joy over the decision continues not only among the elected officials, but also in the Brussels state representation. The three-day visit by 22 journalists from the state press conference served as a further opportunity for the Hessian actors in the European capital to show that the cities and municipalities at home definitely benefited from their work in the European institutions.
The work in the committees determines the everyday parliamentary life of the elected officials. The meeting of the Agriculture Committee, which was scheduled at short notice, prevented Martin Häusling (The Greens) from taking part in the meeting with the journalists. The sixty-two-year-old, who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2009, is currently playing a special role as agricultural policy spokesman for his group of 72 MEPs.
Investments in eliminating the causes of flight
The same applies to Michael Gahler. The Frankfurt Union politician entered the EU Parliament for the first time in 1999. As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, he is rapporteur for Ukraine. He describes the fact that the EU states “stayed together” after the Russian attack as a success. In his view, this also applies to the common stance during the pandemic. Germany in particular has shown international solidarity in dealing with the vaccines, said Gahler. In the past few days he has been preoccupied with the declaration of a strategic partnership signed by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Egypt's President al-Sisi.
Egypt is supposed to curb irregular migration towards Europe and will receive financial aid from the European Union worth around 7.4 billion euros until the end of 2027. Concerns about increasing numbers of refugees in Europe have recently increased because more and more migrants of Egyptian origin are arriving, especially in Greece. They are using a new refugee route from Crete.
Signing such a contract with such a state is “not nice,” says Gahler. He sees the precarious human rights situation. But in view of the acute developments, limiting irregular migration “cannot wait until Egypt is a democracy”. The Social Democrat Hans Udo Bullmann fundamentally warns against “alliances with the dictators of North Africa,” which cost billions. His ideal vision is to invest in eliminating the causes of flight.
Like Gahler, Bullmann has also been a member of parliament for a quarter of a century. He has been at the head of the subcommittee on human rights since last year. The fifth Hessian MEP is Sven Simon. The law professor is at the end of his first term, as is Christine Anderson. However, the AfD MP stayed away from the conversation with members of the state press conference without giving any reasons.
European election campaign begins at the end of April
Like the other elected officials, she is running again in the European elections on June 9th. After the last week of the legislative session in Strasbourg, the election campaign begins at the end of April. The candidates emphasize in unison that this is by no means the only phase in which they can be found in their constituencies. According to their own statements, they regularly spend their weekends at home.
Only two German MPs are said to have lived at the seat of parliament. It has a total of 705 members. “We really have a very strong presence on site,” emphasized Bullmann. This is essential because you have to be nominated as a candidate by the party, explains Simon. The fact that their presence is not so clearly perceived is due to their relatively small number. For example, the six Hessian European Parliament members are opposed by 133 members of the state parliament.