Plenary focus - November

With its recently acquired mission in the area of banking supervision, the ECB is strengthening its position as the most powerful non-democratic and non-accountable entity in the democratic world. The conflicts of interests involved are immense and the idea that the internal firewall will be sufficient to avoid them is naive, at best. We will continue to oppose this institutional setting that created a peculiar dictator, with ever-growing power, and an apparently endless mandate.

With this Oral Question the European Parliament sends yet another strong signal that we want to see an EU legal instrument against violence against women and girls. I hope that the urgency of this issue will push the Commission to finally address this basic human rights issue in a more coherent way and that all the member states rapidly ratify the Istanbul Convention.

The situation in the Mediterranean has been deteriorating for years, with migrants drowning at our borders on an almost daily basis. The EU and its member states have been turning a blind eye for much too long. What we need urgently is a holistic approach to the various problems, in particular one that is not only focused on border security but on human rights and migrants’ dignity.