What Frances spoke about.

Mr President, Commissioner, thank you for your work. Almost 12 years ago to the day, 25 April 2012, the then ECB President stood in front of this House and called for the long overdue integration of European banking policy – in short, banking union. We are 12 years on and we have made great strides, but our banking union is missing its third pillar. This week we’re finalising our position on the u

Mr President, today is another stage in a long process and tomorrow is the vote. Many, many people have been involved in getting us to this point where we have a strong directive. It’s not an end, but it is a very strong beginning, and the women of Europe need it. There is absolutely no doubt about that. Many people have been involved. Let me say a very big thank you to the shadow rapporteurs and

Mr President, Commissioner, there can be no equality without the eradication of violence against women and domestic violence. That’s clear. This week, we have the opportunity to live up to one of our founding European ideals: equality between women and men. Equality across the European Union is floundering in some places: hateful LGBTQ zones created to bully people into conformity, brutal rollback

Madam President, Commissioner, Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid, Dublin: every EU city, town and village houses a victim of human trafficking. We may not know it or just may not want to notice it, but it is clear from the figures that victims of trafficking are everywhere in our Union. I would say denial is everywhere: trafficking takes place not just in the murky underworld, but before our very e

Madam President, Commissioners, colleagues, football champions of the world, what a joy and honour to have you here with us today. Strong women, empowered women, at the very top of your game, who got there through grit, determination, tenacity and hard work. Welcome to the European Parliament. We applaud your success. And it is you who will shape the next generation of European sportswomen, as we

Mr President, Vice-President, Commissioner, colleagues, violence against women can and does happen everywhere, as we know. Often we say that the most dangerous place for a woman to be, surprisingly, can be her own home. Yet her workplace can often be equally as dangerous, with, as my colleague said previously, numerous layers of violence – not just physical, but psychological, sexual and so on. At

Mr President, Commissioner and minister, the Digital Services Act has been crucial in making the digital transition one that respects the law and fundamental rights that we uphold in the non-digital world. This is all the more important in a time of increasing conflict around the globe and, indeed, as so many colleagues have said, with so many elections this year – at least 70 around the world. We

Mr President, good morning, colleagues. For the fifth time since we took our seats in 2019, we stand here to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which takes place on Saturday. Sadly, as we all know in this House, we have an epidemic of violence, and even increased numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic. I have to ask the question: is there another crime which is

Mr President, Commissioner – thank you for all you’ve outlined there – since Russia’s outrageous and illegal invasion of Ukraine, millions of refugees have come to Europe. Currently, there are 4.1 million people benefiting with protection and rights under the Temporary Protection Directive. A huge percentage of these are women and children, as we have heard. So many citizens, so many Member States

Mr President, the unregulated, unsupervised use of spyware is a threat to our democracies and to our way of life. Software that was originally developed for reasons of national security and law enforcement is falling into the hands of bad faith actors and governments that use it illegally to access people’s personal data. Spyware such as Pegasus and Predator can effectively turn your phone into a

Madam President, Commissioner, sanctions on Russia show us what we can do when we work together. EU money should not fund Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine. Europe is a trading superpower, and EU sanctions should show Putin the consequences of breaching international law. The figures lay out the extent of our actions: 11 sanction passages in under two years; 1 800 individuals and entities targeted, i

Madam President, the EU is a global trading superpower. The reason is access to the world’s largest single market, which this year is marking 30 years of success. Rules-based trade has the advantage of being mutually beneficial. It is not a zero-sum game. It has created thousands of jobs and transformed lives and indeed communities – across Ireland, across Europe – for the better. It recognises th

Madam President, no woman is safe from sexual harassment – not even a winner of the World Cup. What we witnessed this summer is a reflection of the widespread disrespect and misogyny faced by female athletes. I ask: if this can happen in public for the whole world to see, just imagine what happens in private and behind closed doors. The arrogance, the audacity, the collusion in full view of the wo

Mr President, I would like to say well done to MEP Maria Noichl and MEP Schneider and all those who have been involved in this report, which is most comprehensive, I have to say. Prostitution is destroying the lives of thousands of women in Europe. Human trafficking is at the centre of this issue, with 51 % of victims being trafficked for sexual exploitation. Women in prostitution find themselves

Madam President, the President of the Commission stressed the need to answer the call for history. This Parliament will do just that. The challenges are greater than ever, as we all know, and it was illustrated in the debate here this morning. That’s why Europe needs to be ambitious. That’s why I welcome your proposals on leading the world in artificial intelligence, wind energy, strengthening our

Mr President, High Representative, in 2022, twenty-four women were executed globally. Sixteen of them were in Iran – the highest level of female executions in any country. Last month, a dozen activists have reportedly been arrested arbitrarily, and this is probably an underestimate. A year has passed since the tragic and unlawful death of Mahsa Amini. Her name is remembered, as are all the women w

Madam President, we find ourselves at the halfway point in our journey towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We have so much more to do, so much unfinished work on the SDGs. Can we really say we are even close to halfway to gender equality? Have we truly promoted peace, justice and strong, inclusive institutions? Over the last three years, our progress was stalled by the COVID—19

Madam President, citizens across the world were appalled at the revelations contained in the Pandora Papers and similar exposures, I remember it all too well. Structures across the world that have the purpose of facilitating illegal practices, such as tax evasion and money laundering, undermine confidence in the benefits of a globally interconnected financial system for raising living standards gl

Madam President, when it comes to investment in Europe the figures tell an interesting story: only one EU country is ranked in the US News list of the best countries to invest in; foreign direct investment in Europe was up just 1% last year; while the number of jobs created by FDI dropped 16%, according to EY. But European private equity and venture capital fundraising was up 30% last year compare

Mr President, I want, of course, to begin by welcoming Jackie Fox to the European Parliament, as you did President, and thank you for that and Commissioner, for your comprehensive speech. Jackie is seated in the gallery for this important debate on cyberbullying. And as you now know, Jackie is the mother of the late Nicole Fox, known as Coco, from Ireland, who tragically took her own life in 2018

Madam President, colleagues, today is a monumental day. Today, for the first time, the EU makes a legally binding commitment to combat violence against women. And I say well done to the Swedish Presidency. It just shows what you can achieve when you are politically motivated to get the right results. The statistics, as we have heard from Arba and Łukasz, are absolutely horrifying right across Euro

Mr President, good morning and Happy Europe Day to all my colleagues and to the people of Ireland and Europe. It is appropriate that we are today discussing reform of a fundamental part of our European project – budgetary rules – to keep our economy and monetary union strong. It does require robust rules, but they must also be credible and credibly implemented. Our citizens must understand and fee

Mr President, Commissioner McGuinness, colleagues, the digital transformation of the financial sector creates new opportunities – challenges, but of course risks. In this landscape the digital euro endeavours to maintain the euro as a dependable and effective payment method. It can also boost innovation. Other places are moving on and we should not be left behind. A digital euro can serve as a mod

Mr President, China looks at Europe and sees division. We must show unity and strength. As President von der Leyen has cautioned, we must clearly set the terms of a healthy engagement. We must be honest and clear, and recognise that China certainly does not play by our rules. And yet China is a vital trading partner, but it seeks to dominate vital supply chains. Their acts are not in line with our

Mr President, Commissioner Dalli, colleagues, I’d like to thank all the MEPs who’ve worked so cooperatively on this file to ensure we’re at this moment in time here today. For the EPP, Maria Walsh and Sirpa Pietikäinen have put in a huge amount of work, as I know everybody has. This is a fundamental principle of our democracy: equal pay for equal work. This has been one of our guiding principles i