A question for…Dennis Radtke MEP (EPP), member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs

What are your first impressions of the European Parliament’s new Employment and Social Affairs Committee, which will have more representatives from the far right?
It’s still too early to form an opinion because we’ve only met once so far, to elect the Chair and Vice-Chairs. We haven’t done any legislative work yet. I hope that we’ll be able to rekindle the excellent spirit that prevailed during the previous term. We were able to reach compromises on important texts such as the directives on adequate minimum wages, pay transparency and protection of platform workers. Although some key members, such as Agnes Jongerius, are no longer on the committee, which is a great loss for us, we’ll gradually witness the emergence of new personalities, with whom we can build relationships based on trust. It’s difficult to prejudge how the committee will function. During the previous term, no one would have put money on us being able to achieve a majority on the texts I mentioned. What’s more, in Li Andersson, we have a Chair who has already made a good impression. She’s young, but has experience of running a ministry in Finland, and we’ve had some intense and interesting discussions. So I’m optimistic about this new term.