On Saturday, French MEP Pierre Larrouturou ended the hunger strike he began 18 days earlier to obtain a greater commitment to the climate in the EU’s budget through an ambitious tax on financial transactions.
Announcing the end of the strike on his Twitter account, Larrouturou said he would now launch a collective campaign that will continue through to the European summit on 10-11 December.
The socialist legislator, who said he lost 10 kg, explained that he ended his hunger strike at the insistence of the European Parliament’s doctors.
However, he has no plans of giving up his fight for health, climate and jobs despite the agreement worked out on Tuesday between the European Parliament and Member States on the EU’s 2021-2027 budget, which, he said, “opens up small breaches.”
After 18 days, doctors have asked me to stop my hunger strike. I have decided to follow their advice and to stop it today. But the fight continues. Together, with new action modes, we will push our leaders to be bold until the 11th of December.https://t.co/A3S4NFzt0F pic.twitter.com/WTDiWdD9gJ
— Pierre Larrouturou (@larrouturou) November 14, 2020
Tuesday’s agreement includes an additional €16 billion for flagship programmes such as education and sets a timetable for examining new sources of income for the EU. However, these commitments are not enough, said Larrouturou.
The only solution, he said, was to impose a tax on financial transactions with the broad base defined in a 2011 European Commission proposal, which would bring in up to 57 billion euros a year, enough to support the climate and Europe’s Green Deal.
The Euro-parliamentarian will launch the collective campaign on Tuesday with an online press conference at 5:00 PM Belgian time, together with parliamentarians, union heads, and leaders of associations, including ecological activist Adelaïde Charlier, co-founder of Youth for Climate Belgium.
The Brussels Times
