The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, sees Europe facing major challenges one year before the elections. "The corruption scandal involving some people in Parliament has hit us hard," said the EPP politician during a visit to the political editorial office of the F.A.Z. She had already taken "drastic measures" to prevent such incidents in the future, she asserted; some of this should have been done "decades ago". Sometimes she has to contend with considerable resistance, but she does not want to let that stop her.

Franca Wittenbrink

Editor in politics.

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If the EU Parliament is not to remain anchored in people's minds as "the institution with the corruption scandal", everything must now be done to regain the trust of the citizens. She hopes "that in 2024 we will be judged on how we have reacted as an institution and what results we have achieved in terms of legislation," Metsola said.

In the future, the Maltese also wants to inspire the younger generation more strongly for Europe. "In four European countries (Austria, Belgium, Greece, Malta), the population will be able to vote from the age of 16 next year," she stressed. These people must be better reached through positive, tangible EU programmes. "Otherwise, they either don't go to the polls at all, or they choose the extremes. We have to prevent that."

Metsola also sees a need for reform in the area of migration. It considers the negotiation of new readmission agreements with third countries to be urgently needed. In the past, this was mainly driven by Great Britain. "Since the UK's withdrawal from the EU, this has become much more difficult," said the President of the Parliament. This can also be seen in the fact that far fewer people are being repatriated today than in previous years.

However, Metsola also warned against polarizing too much in the debate: "One side only talks about the issue of asylum and would like to open everything, the other side only talks about security and wants to close everything. In the end, none of these positions will get us anywhere."