Justice and citizenship

Ukraine should stand by the principles of the rule of law and democracy if it wants to join the EU at some point, MEPs said in a debate on the treatment of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko. However, views differed on whether it was a good idea for leading EU politicians to boycott the Euro 2012 football games in Ukraine over this. The parliamentary debate was also attended by Ms Tymoshenko's daughter, Yevgenia.

"How is it possible that after having legislation on equal pay for over 50 years it doesn't work and we still have a 16%-17% gender pay gap in the EU?" asks Slovakian Christian Democrat Edit Bauer. Mrs Bauer is the author of a report on equal pay for male and female workers for equal work or work of equal value, which the EP debates and votes on Thursday 24 May.

May 17 is the International day against homophobia, an area in which the European Parliament is very active. This year's theme is "fighting homophobia and transphobia in and through education". So where do EU countries stand? Which countries protect their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens against hate crimes and afford them the same rights as other citizens? Find out in our infographic.

Migration should not be used as a reason to reintroduce internal border checks in the Schengen area, according to the civil liberties committee (LIBE). Members voted on 25 April in favour of a report stating that internal border controls should be used as a last resort only. The report by Romanian Liberal-Democrat Renate Weber also calls on member states to consult with the Commission and other member states before taking any action. We asked Ms Weber to tell us more about it.

The high number of falsified documents in Europe casts doubt on whether biometric passports, with personal data such as fingerprints, really do help to prevent fraud and tampering. After reported problems with biometric passports in France and the Netherlands, MEPs in Strasbourg are set on Thursday 19 April to question the Commission about the security of biometric passports and how to improve it.

There is evidence that the CIA set up secret detention sites for terrorism suspects in some of the EU member states. The European Parliament believes that the countries involved should be held accountable but its efforts to investigate the allegations are said to be hindered by US and EU governments. The EP's human rights subcommittee held a public hearing on secret rendition and detention practices on 12 April 2012 focussing on how to protect human rights while countering terrorism.

Freedom of movement might be among the EU's most cherished achievements, but member states still fail to always fully respect EU citizens' rights concerning this. A quarter of all petitions received by the Parliament in 2010 is about problems with free movement. To remedy them, Romanian Liberal MEP Adina-Ioana Vălean has proposed several measures in a report that was adopted by the European Parliament.

The European Citizen’s initiative, in force since last Sunday, is an unprecedented opportunity for European people to unite in order to influence the flow of European politics. EP Vice President Georgios Papastamkos, who agreed to answer questions on the Initiative submitted by followers of the Parliament's Facebook page, believes it could be the beginning of something bigger, a true "Citizens' Europe".

The European Citizens' Initiative is set to become a reality from 1 April 2012, enabling citizens for the first time to ask for EU legislation on specific issues provided they gather one million signatures in support. In the words of Parliament president Martin Schulz, it is "a wonderful thing", but also a very serious act of direct participatory democracy that comes after a decade-long gestation.

"It is a great day for real participatory democracy," EP president Martin Schulz said at a press conference to introduce the Citizens' Initiative. On April 1 2012, the initiative comes into force almost a decade after it was first proposed, enabling citizens to ask for EU legislation on specific issues provided they gather one million signatures in support. The press conference was also attended by Commission VP Maroš Šefčovič and Danish European affairs minister Nicolaï Wammen.