Plenary focus - October I

It is unfortunate that the Commission has failed to comply with the requirements stated by the Parliament back in April 2014 to have a legislative proposal for a mandatory transparency register in place by the end of this year. They may have clubbed together the three key EU institutions in this proposal but it fails to tackle the heart of the issue. Lobbyists will still have access channels to officials so it’s ‘business as usual’ and nothing much will change.

Greece needs growth and a stable macroeconomic environment. It is therefore time to abandon neoliberal austerity measures and to elaborate proposals in favour of fair and sustainable development, growth and job creation policies. The dogmatic strategy by Germany’s Wolfgang Schäuble to persist with more unilateral austerity and the postponement of debt relief is unacceptable. Talks on Greece’s debt relief must also be completed by the end of this year.

Austerity has failed Greece and the eurozone. Growth is not possible if pensions and wages are cut and public assets stripped. Greece has to take out new loans to service old debts. This is not financial assistance but mafia-style blackmail. After years of austerity and depression, and with Deutsche Bank under fire, the euro will not survive another crisis.

The right to free, safe and legal abortion is a key factor to gender equality and must be guaranteed everywhere. It is therefore deeply concerning that the Polish government is now debating a complete ban on abortion. Such a ban would be a vicious attack on the right of women to decide over their own bodies.