The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities within the EU and abroad. Throughout the crisis, a great transfer of wealth towards the 1% has been observed – with billionaires like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos’ net worth nearly doubling in 2020 and reaching $188 billion. Meanwhile, unemployment is rising, and austerity measures have weakened many sectors including the educational, healthcare, sports, hospitality, tourism and cultural sectors.
It is more necessary than ever to guarantee that inequality between different parts of Europe does not grow further with the crisis. Every employee has the right to enjoy fair working conditions, regardless of the type and duration of their contract. Through the pandemic, we have seen people reconceptualising the idea of work and its relationship with life, as well as interesting experiments with the 4-day work week and emergency basic income as well as other forms of Universal Basic Income (UBI).
How do we ensure a just recovery and work towards a truly social Europe, that cares for all people? And how do we ensure that no one is left behind in a post-Pandemic Europe?
As the Greens, we are working on ensuring that the social impacts of this crisis are reduced to a minimum. In addition to the financial stimulus, we have been demanding that the EU and its Member States guarantee further social policies to protect their citizens, in particular younger workers, whose rights were already weakened by austerity policies and the 2008 financial crisis. We also advocate for national experiments on Universal Basic Income and call for working-time reduction schemes and a 32-hour work week to be promoted in order to redistribute work among more people.
Film: Children of Chance
22nd September at 00:00 CEST – 23rd September at 23:59 CEST
In the small local school of Cheratte, a former mining town, 11-year-old students with an immigrant background are coming to the end of their primary school education with Brigitte. She is a dynamic teacher whose particular pedagogical approach aims to give these pupils a firm foundation to build on in this constantly changing world. Throughout the school year, the film follows these children. They are the grandchildren of miners who are mainly from Turkey, and also mainly Muslim. While some of their elders opt for identity closure, this film evokes the challenge awaiting these children to integrate into current society, in the face of terrorist attacks and harassment via social media.
Director: Pascal Colson and Thierry Michel
Country: Belgium
Duration: 100′
Access: Due to distribution rights regulation, this screening will exclusively be available for all the European countries.
Debate: Children deserve equal opportunities! How education can make a difference in communities
23rd September at 19:00 CEST
Following the screening of “Children of Chance”, we are hosting a debate on Thursday 23 September at 19:00 CEST. This month is dedicated to fighting inequalities through stronger social policies in Europe. Education is among the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic and one of the most underfunded public sectors in several countries in Europe. But education has a great potential to change communities. We will discuss education as a tool of empowerment and equal opportunity for all citizens, and the difference ambitious educational programs can make in the lives of children today.
Moderator: Dr Sam Murray, a member of the EGP amendments committee
Artistic spot
Visual artist and scenographer Pablo Ponce is creating a puppet theater with children in the Katwijk refugee camp located in the Netherlands.
About the Green Screen
Through a series of online film screenings, the Green Screen project invites you to engage with contemporary debates on the future of Europe, post-COVID recovery and making our societies more resilient and sustainable. Created by the European Greens, it will explore topics such as the climate crisis, environmental and social justice, and democracy.
Each month, the Green Screen is dedicated to a key theme to build a better future for Europe. On the third week of each month, a film screening will be made available for free on our platform for 48 hours, on Wednesday and Thursday. Then, you can follow a live debate on an issue inspired by the film, which will take place on Thursdays at 19:00 CEST.
👀 Learn more about our Coronavirus Recovery: Let’s build a better tomorrow! – Adopted during the 31st Council June 2020
📨 Sign up for email updates on the website of the Green Screen
Upcoming events
Make history. Come together. Build something better. Join the next European Ideas Lab on Climate and biodiversity, live in Milan, Italy and streamed online.
Past events
As the COVID19 vaccination campaign picks up steam across Europe, and the continent begins to overcome the health crisis, new challenges lie ahead of us. How do we collectively build back better, fairer and greener?
