The Activities of Elly

The Committee on Development (DEVE) plays a key role in defining European policies on development cooperation as well as in deciding on the endowment of European funds to encourage development. This Committee has the the power to scrutinize the use of these funds by the European Commission, the European External Action Service and all the parties who rely on these funds to foster the development of the EU. In this Committee, Elly, acting as her own party’s rapporteur, mostly deals with the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Moreover, Elly handles issues such as the fight against tax evasion and tax elusion in developing countries.

The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) is responsible for the great majority of legislation concerning policies on justice and home affairs, including policies on immigration and asylum and democratic scrutiny. This Committee enhances the safeguard of fundamental rights and the European Convention on Human Rights within the EU and works towards strengthening EU citizenship. In compliance with its responsibilities, the Committee performs its work interacting on a daily basis with the European Commission, which represents the interests of the EU and the EU Council, formed by the governments of the Member States. The Committee also cooperates with national parliaments. Elly engages in policies on immigration and asylum, and, as rapporteur, she is in charge of the reform proposal of the Dublin Regulation presented by the Commission in May 2016.

The Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) is devoted to integrating and including gender in all aspects of EU policies, focusing mostly on reducing the income gap between genders and achieving women’s economic independence. This is done by combating female poverty and the underrepresentation of women in decision-making processes, as well as promoting the implementation of rights relating to sexual health and reproduction, and encouraging the fight against human trafficking and any form of violence against women and young girls.

The Delegation to the Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee EU-Albania (D-AL) was formed in 2014 with the renewal of the European Parliament’s legislature. In 2009, after the entry into force of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), relations with Albania, initially only involving informal inter-parliamentary meetings, have been improved to achieve greater dialogue. The SAA together with the EU forms the legal basis for a political dialogue at parliamentary level and for the creation of the Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee. Members of the European Parliament and Albanian representatives meet twice a year (once in Tirana and once in the European Parliament) within the framework of the SAPC to discuss, debate and review the progress made on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement.

Intergroups can be made up of members from several political groups and parliamentary committees to enable the exchange of opinions and joint action on specific issues, and to promote communication between members of the European Parliament and civil society.

Elly is Co-President of the Intergroup on Integrity, Transparency, Corruption and Organized Crime (ITCO) alongside Dennis De Long from the Netherlands (member of the GUE/NGL).

The ITCO Intergroup was formed on the initiative of some MEPs from different political parties who, during their electoral campaigns, signed several petitions promoted by Libera, Restarting the Future, Transparency International and Alter-EU on transparency, the fight against corruption and organized crime. The Intergroup’s main objective is, one the one hand, to enhance and promote the debate with the other European institutions and with NGOs to deepen the knowledge on these issues; on the other, it’s aim is to develop concrete proposals to develop the necessary tools to oppose these phenomena which have become of European and transnational nature (e.g. the protection of whistleblowers).

For more information and to view the ITCO’s agenda see www.itcointergroup.eu.

The Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion (PANA) was established by the European Parliament after the Panama Papers scandal. The Committee’s role is to investigate potential violations of EU norms on behalf of the Commission or the Member States involving money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion. The Committee has 12 months to present a final report addressing this issue. For Elly, this is a valuable opportunity to give continuity to her work as rapporteur on the fight against tax evasion and tax avoidance in developing countries.