The chairs of the political groups in the European Parliament have decided on the establishment of so-called intergroups for the new EU legislative period – and supported both intergroup proposals with involvement of CESI.

Upon CESI’s co-proposal and under the leadership of French liberal MEP Grégory Allione, an intergroup on ‘Resilience, Disaster Management and Civil Protection’ will be formed. In addition, another intergroup on will be established on ‘The Future of Education and Skills for a Competitive Europe’, spearheaded by the European Federation of Education Employers (EFEE), Schuman Associates, and the Lifelong Learning Platform (LLP), in cooperation with CESI as the representative of teachers across Europe. It will be sponsored by MEPs Nela Riehl, Victor Negrescu, Brigitte Van Den Berg and Eleonora Meleti.

Intergroups are forums for informal exchanges of opinions and ideas on specific topics between different political groups, as well as for contact between Members of Parliament and civil society. Each intergroup consists of members from at least three different parliamentary groups and evolves from initiatives by interest groups and/or individual Members of Parliament. Intergroups are established at the beginning of each legislative period through an agreement among the leaders of the political groups.

For CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger, the establishment of these intergroups marks a first tangible lobbying success in the new year: “Since the summer, Members of Parliament and interest groups from a wide variety of sectors have floated dozens of intergroup poposals in the European Parliament, but there were only 28 free spots. That we were able to lobby successfully here is a promising start to our advocacy in the new legislative period and a great success for CESI. We emphasise that the intergroup on Resilience, Disaster Management and Civil Protection would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of MEP Grégory Allione. He was instrumental to push through a positive decision.”

The primary aim of the intergroup on resilience, disaster management, and disaster protection will be to foster a collaborative exchange with interested MEPs and civil society representatives, particularly from the fields of public order, economy, and the environment. The goal is to discuss holistic strategies that better prepare Europe for future crises, including improved mechanisms for cross-border cooperation and resilience-building in climate protection.

Similarly, the intergroup on the future of education aims to further help to make education a strategic priority for Europe. The intergroup will focus on topics such as the digital and green transitions, the promotion of STEM subjects (alongside social sciences), the recognition of vocational qualifications, and the advancement of equitable educational opportunities. Close collaboration with formal and informal education stakeholders and civil society will be sought to foster innovative learning pathways and solutions.

For CESI, the intergroups will play an important role alongside the existing social dialogue in representing the interests of public service personnel and administrations to EU institutions, particularly the European Parliament. Klaus Heeger emphasised: “Emergency services and firefighters are increasingly overwhelmed by the challenges of disaster management – not only during the annual wildfires in southern Europe during the summer months. In the context of climate change, floods and emergencies caused by extreme weather hazards are becoming a real threat in almost all regions of the EU. We hope that with an intergroup, we can contribute to further strengthening and optimising European cooperation in disaster protection. And the future of education, which is increasingly being debated on a European level, cannot be discussed without the voice of teachers.”