8. zakonodajno obdobje Eleni THEOCHAROUS

. ‒ Half a million women in the EU and as many as 200 million worldwide are living with the consequences of female genital mutilation (FGM), one of the most harmful violations of women´s human rights. FGM prevention measures must be included in all policy areas, including health, social work, education and justice. Also, cross-sectoral cooperation and bridge building between organisations working with communities are essential in working towards guaranteeing and safeguarding women’s human rights. There can be no tolerance of violence against women and practices such as FGM.

The differences which currently exist between the Member States’ laws for tackling and prosecuting fraud against the EUEs financial interests encourage potential criminals to seek out and take advantage of the most lenient judicial systems. Adoption of this Directive means that we have a strong instrument at hand to combat fraud to the EU budget and to return the defrauded funds to the legal economy. This is the first step towards the harmonisation of criminal law in Europe when crimes are committed against the EU budget and it is extremely important.

The European Union is dedicated to promoting peace, stability and the well-being of all people. However, current destabilisation and several crises around the world make it essential to find new ways of approaching diplomacy.
Therefore the European Union, whose strength is to be united in its diversity, needs to find innovative ways to engage by creating a space of dialogue and awareness. Culture is an integral part of fundamental human rights as it helps to create individual and collective fulfilment in societies and it is therefore essential for the achievement of the SDGs. The promotion in a positive manner of international cultural relations as a soft-power tool is vital. International cultural relations can contribute to enhancing European values in the rest of the world and raising awareness of other cultures among European citizens and our capacity to learn from them.