Presidency discusses with the European Parliament migration, gender, organised crime and lawyer surveillance issues
As the Representative of the Presidency in the Council of the European Union, the Parliamentary State Secretary for EU Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Ms. Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica participated in the first plenary session of the European Parliament in 2015 to discuss migration, gender, organised crime and lawyer surveillance issues.
On the so called issue of "ghost ships" Ms. Z. Kalniņa-Lukaševica stated that "measures should be taken against traffickers to combat criminal networks exploiting migrants exposing them to the risks of hazardous journeys across the Mediterranean." Ms. Z. Kalniņa-Lukaševica also noted that recent events clearly demonstrate a need to step up and further reinforce common action. It in this regard that Ms. Kalniņa-Lukaševica informed the European Parliament of the EU Council's eagerness to consider as a matter of priority the proposals to be put forward by the Commission to tackle the new challenges in the fight against smuggling of migrants.
Discussing the issue of women on company boards the Parliamentary State Secretary for EU Affairs stressed that "there is no reason, in the twenty-first century, why businesses, banks and the economy as a whole should be mainly run by men." She further reiterated that the procedure for selecting board members should be fair, merit-based and transparent. Ms. Kalniņa-Lukaševica assured the European Parliament on behalf of the Council that work will be taken forward to agree on the respective Directive.
Introducing the debate on organised crime Ms. Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica said "It is our obligation to guarantee to our citizens a genuine area of justice, freedom and security by preventing and combating serious and organised crime as well as corruption." The Parliamentary State Secretary for EU Affairs informed the European Parliament on the Council's continued engagement in initiatives targeting organised crime and corruption treating them as a matter of the highest political priority. She also noted that the renewed Internal Security Strategy should identify the main common threats and challenges for the coming years.
In response to a question presented by a Member of the European Parliament on the alleged surveillance of lawyers, Ms. Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica pointed out that the Presidency is not in a position to comment about allegations of actions carried out by secret services. The Parliamentary State Secretary for EU Affairs stressed that under the Lisbon Treaty the safeguarding of internal security is the responsibility of the Member States.