Baile Josianne CUTAJAR

While voting in favour of the rest of the Migration and Asylum Pact, I abstained on the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation, alongside the Asylum Procedure Regulation. A comprehensive and effective reform is crucial to ensure a balance between the fair sharing of responsibility among Member States and effective solidarity towards the frontline Member States, whilst safeguarding human rights. The reason why I abstained on two of the files pertains to the fact that I believe that a better balance could have been achieved, including when it comes to the fair and effective sharing of responsibility.

While voting in favour of the rest of the Migration and Asylum Pact, I abstained on the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation, alongside the Asylum Procedure Regulation. A comprehensive and effective reform is crucial to ensure a balance between the fair sharing of responsibility among Member States and effective solidarity towards the frontline Member States, whilst safeguarding human rights. The reason why I abstained on two of the files pertains to the fact that I believe that a better balance could have been achieved, including when it comes to the fair and effective sharing of responsibility.

I supported this report, which aims to harmonize minimum requirements for equality bodies across the EU and to strengthen their capabilities. Gender equality is a fundamental right that must be rigorously enforced. The enhanced competence of these equality bodies, which include increased powers to conduct inquiries, mandated consultation by public institutions on discrimination-related matters, provision of adequate human, technical, and financial resources, as well as better protection against external influences, is key to achieve this.