​​​​​​ Commissioner Schmit and CoR team up to support skills development and jobs at local level

The EU and its Member States must empower their cities and regions to protect employment and social rights: this is the call of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) to counter the devastating social effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The assembly of EU’s local and regional representatives also asks to strengthen the skills base for recovery and to support regional and local authorities in managing the green and digital transitions.

The CoR’s Regional and Local Barometer 2020 highlights that the Covid-19 crisis particularly affects the income of self-employed, persons hired on fixed-term contracts and part-time workers, among them many young people, migrants and other vulnerable groups. The impact on employment risks being especially negative in regions that rely heavily on tourism, where up to 40% of jobs could be at risk. The Barometer also shows that 43% of Europeans would like local and regional authorities to have more influence on the employment and social policies.

President of the European Committee of the Regions Apostolos Tzitzikostas said: “During the Covid-19 pandemic regions and cities across Europe have acted swiftly and decisively to help those in need. Now Europe must place the fight against poverty and unemployment, and in particular against rising youth unemployment, at the heart of its efforts. This is essential for a strong Social Europe that leaves no people and no places behind.”

To support skills and jobs matching and the local economies with concrete actions, President Tzitzikostas announced that the Committee would work together with European Commission’s DG Employment to launch online “Local Jobs” fairs with regions and cities.

Speaking at the CoR plenary session on 14 October, Commissioner for Social Rights and Jobs Nicolas Schmit said: “We need to recover from an unprecedented crisis, and for that we need the regions. Our measures for the youth and for skills development must bear fruit on the ground. The European Pillar of Social Rights has been and will be our guiding line to ensure a better future for our citizens. This is why I have announced with the CoR President that we will reinforce the cooperation between my services and the European Committee of the Regions. This cooperation provides an opportunity to show citizens that we are fully mobilised and listening to them.”

This week’s plenary session also saw the adoption of an opinion on A Strong Social Europe for Just Transitions , paving the way for an Action Plan to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights . Rapporteur and SEDEC Commission chair Anne Karjalainen (FI/PES), Member of Kerava City Council, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgent need to eradicate the existing digital divide and to address its substantial impact upon social rights, since lack of access to new technologies and the information society creates new forms of social exclusion. Digital cohesion is part and parcel of just transitions and a cornerstone of territorial and social cohesion. At the same time, recovery measures must address the social dimension of the ecological and digital transitions. We need a fair labour market in the carbon-neutral economy of the future, based on decent jobs, strong social protection, and job opportunities where people live”.

Referring to the European Commission’s communication published in January, the CoR opinion points out that the Just Transition Fund – EU’s fund to support green transition in most vulnerable regions – should be in line with the EU’s social pillar. At the same time, it reiterates its call for better coordination of economic and social policies between European and national government levels in the context of the European semester, and calls to guarantee local and regional authority involvement in this coordination through shared management based on the subsidiarity principle.

The CoR also underlines the key role of social partners in the current context of ever-growing digitalisation of work patterns. To this effect it calls for an update of European rules governing working conditions and working time, including provisions to establish the right to disconnect.

Contact:

Lauri Ouvinen

Tel. +32 473536887

lauri.ouvinen@cor.europa.eu

• EIB signs €40 million loan agreement with Swedish biotech company Oncopeptides to support their long-term research and expansion.
• Financing will support R&D, product development and commercialisation of Oncopeptides’ drug candidates for treatment of rare haematological cancers.
• The EIB loan is backed by the Investment Plan for Europe of the European Commission, which allows the EIB to support innovative projects.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a €40 million (SEK 416m) loan agreement with Swedish biotech company Oncopeptides AB. The financing will support research, including phase 3 clinical studies of the lead candidate melflufen, and the expansion of the company. The EU bank’s loan is backed by a guarantee from the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe under which the EIB and the European Commission are working together as strategic partners, with the EIB’s financing operations boosting the competitiveness of the European economy.

Each year, approximately 3 in every 10,000 people are diagnosed with multiple myeloma, for which there is no cure. Therefore, a key focus of treatment is extending and improving the quality of life for patients. Oncopeptides’ Melflufen is a first in class peptide-drug conjugate (PDC) that targets aminopeptidases and rapidly releases alkylating agents into tumor cells. Melflufen is rapidly taken up by myeloma cells due to its high lipophilicity and is immediately hydrolyzed by peptidases to release an entrapped hydrophilic alkylator payload. A New Drug Application of Melfufen has been granted priority review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, for treatment of patients with multiple myeloma. A target date for the review is set to February 28, 2021. Oncopeptides is currently conducting one clinical phase 3 study and six clinical phase 2 studies.

EIB Vice-President Thomas Östros, noted: “This is the kind of project that the Investment Plan for Europe was set up to support. There is still a market gap when it comes to what is called “non-dilutive growth capital”, allowing innovative, fast growing EU-based SMEs to grow without giving up ownership of their ideas or company. This quasi-equity instrument allows us to support EU in-house knowledge and expertise to flourish, we’re very happy to get behind yet another innovative Swedish company that has ground-breaking plans for the future.”

“As the company is approaching a potential commercialization of its lead product melflufen, several new financing options become available. The EIB facility is a flexible solution that can be drawn upon with limited dilution for the shareholders, which is highly valuable to the company in this transition phase. We are grateful for the support from the EIB and look forward to working together through the continued expansion of Oncopeptides”, says Anders Martin-Löf, CFO of Oncopeptides.

European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, said: “Investment in research and innovation is crucial towards achieving our goal to beat cancer, contributing to the development of effective health and care tools for the prevention, early diagnosis and successful treatment of the disease. This is why we are setting up a mission to fight cancer as part of the future Horizon Europe programme. By joining efforts across Europe, we will ensure that more people will live without cancer in the future, while increasing quality of life for those affected.”

Oncopeptides AB is a listed pharmaceutical company focused on the development of targeted therapies for difficult-to-treat haematological diseases. The Company’s lead product candidate Melflufen (melphalan flufenamide) is a first-in-class anticancer peptide-drug conjugate that rapidly delivers a payload aiming at destroying the DNA of tumour cells. Oncopeptides’ most advanced pipeline programme is in late-stage clinical development and uses Melflufen as a potential treatment for patients with relapsed refractory multiple myeloma.

Oncopeptides’ Melflufen treatment is platform technology called the peptide-drug conjugate platform, which allows for concentration of a toxin in cancer cells by exploiting the difference in peptidase activity between cancer cells and normal cells. By doing this, the Company delivers enhanced and differentiated cytotoxic activity to the cancer cells whilst affording a level of protection to the healthy cells.

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EP President David Sassoli will hold a press conference at 15.30 tomorrow (15 October) following his address to heads of state or government at the EU summit. He will comment on the topics EU leaders will discuss during their meeting, like EU-UK relations, tackling COVID-19, climate change and relations between the EU and Africa.

President Sassoli will also reiterate Parliament’s position and expectations regarding the ongoing negotiations on the EU’s long-term budget (MFF) and on Own Resources.

Follow the press conference LIVE on Parliament’s webstreaming or EbS+.

Journalists are welcome to attend the press conference in person, respecting the precautionary measures in force (see below), or participate remotely and ask questions via Skype.

Parliament will be using an interactive virtual press environment (with interpretation) based on Skype TX, in conjunction with the traditional EbS and web-streaming services.

If you are unable to attend and wish to ask a question:

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Connect to VOXBOXEP and write your name and media organisation in the chat box.

Please use headphones and a microphone for better sound quality.

The system will be managed by Parliament’s media services and you will be placed in a queue (virtual waiting room) before being invited to ask your question(s).

If you have any trouble connecting, you can contact: +32 22834220 or use the Skype chat box.

After asking a question / listening to the reply (and any follow-up), you should then disconnect from Skype so that the next journalist in line can be connected to the press briefing room.

You only need to connect through Skype if you wish to ask a question.

REMINDER: working conditions in Parliament for journalists in light of Coronavirus

It is mandatory to wear a community mask that covers the mouth and nose at all times while in Parliament’s buildings. This is to continue to ensure Parliament’s operational capacity, while at the same time avoiding health risks for Members, staff and other persons working in and visiting the European Parliament. In addition, temperature controls are being carried out on all persons entering Parliament’s premises.

However, journalists may remove their mask for the duration of a recording (stand-ups, interviews, studio recordings) or when asking a question in the press room, if the social distancing measures are respected. The press room on the ground floor (Paul-Henri Spaak building) is also now open again for those who need to work from Parliament, though social distancing rules remain in force.

Please refrain from coming to EP premises if you present any symptoms of a respiratory infection, if you have knowingly been in contact with an infected person in the last 14 days or if you have been to regions with very high transmission rates.

Contradictory figures (up to an additional €90bn) have however been spread by the Council presidency in an attempt to undermine Parliament’s offer.

Johan van Overtveldt, Chairman of the Committee on Budgets reacts to the distorted information circulated by the Council presidency:

“This Wednesday morning we read in the press a misrepresentation of yesterday’s EP compromise offer. The EP has been fully transparent all along: in public resolutions, press statements and open letters. Our constructive inputs have either not been read, or are deliberately misrepresented.

39 billion euros for our flagship programmes

Let me set the record straight: Parliament’s compromise offer is 39 billion euros. 39 billion more to increase our flagship programmes: for delivering the Green Deal, supporting the digital transition, building up our common health capacities and our networks, supporting our youth and researchers, tackling together migration, security and external challenges, and defending our cultural creation and our values. It would only mark a minimal (2%) change to the 1.8 trillion July package, but it makes a huge difference for the citizens who benefit from our common policies – severely cut by the Council.

An overall Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) ceiling equal to 2014-2020

We also proposed a financing architecture with two key elements at its core: 13 billion euros would come from the space released by counting recovery debt and interest repayments over and above the ceilings (given that it is exceptional expenditure that should not compete with Union programmes); and a 9 billion net increase of the MFF ceilings. Let’s put figures in perspective: in real terms, the overall MFF ceiling for 7 years would be equal to the 2014-2020 period (1 083 billion euros).

This is a huge step from our initial position, made in a spirit of compromise in view of reaching an agreement. From the Council side, however, there is still no such sign of willingness of “going the extra mile”, as they proposed themselves in a recent letter. And just like a few weeks ago, an unnamed ‘diplomat’ inflates Parliament’s offer to portray us as an unrealistic and unreliable partner. Parliament-bashing is always a very attractive story to tell, but clearly not helping our cooperation in this delicate negotiation.

Recovery instrument should be launched and fully implemented

Our compromise offer is 39 billion euros. The rest is made up of pure flexibility mechanisms to address future needs in the uncertain environment we live in. The bulk of it is not additional money, but merely about making sure that, out of the agreed spending, not a single euro can be lost due to underexecution.

We are very concerned about how some, in the Council, come to the additional figure released in the press today. Could it be that they factor in a severe underimplementation of the Recovery instrument, that should not be tackled? We trust that Council will stay true to the Leaders’ promise of a 390 billion stimulus in grants. Support to the citizens and businesses is urgently needed, and the Council needs to greenlight the launch of the ratification process to ensure relief can quickly reach those most hit by the Covid-19 crisis. Parliament did its part on this short-term support, and will continue negotiating to improve the MFF to strengthen resilience on the longer-term.”