EU: FEMM Committee chair expects Dalli to uphold European principles, values – does that include abortion?

Ex-Minister for Equality Helena Dalli won the two-thirds majority she required from MEPs to be approved as European Commissioner for Equality last week, making her the first to hold the wide-ranging portfolio.

The FEMM Committee, which focuses on women’s rights and gender equality, took centre stage during her three-hour grilling at the European Parliament, which was moderated by the aforementioned committee’s chairperson.

Following what was (probably) one of the least confrontational grillings of all the commissioners, Evelyn Regner, an Austrian member of the Socialists & Democrats, said that “it was a great success for the FEMM Committee” and that Dalli showed a profound knowledge of her portfolio.

Perhaps the areas where Dalli seemed most reluctant to precisely state her positions were on issues that would have put her at odds with her country of origin – with questions on sexual and reproductive health rights (which conservatives have considered to be codeword for abortion), and the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia being the two that stood out the most.

Dalli did not specifically state that she would further abortion itself, although she did give a guarantee on furthering sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) “without exception”, that she believed that rights were being backpedalled in some Member States, and that she would do everything possible to protect SRHR.

Speaking to this newspaper, committee chair Regner said that Dalli was the one being nominated because she’s experienced with the European institutions and with the equality issue – and that they were looking for a commissioner who was tough, fit, strong and committed because most issues related to the Equality Commissioner are not only found in her portfolio.

This included insisting on the discussions of issues such as gender budgeting and energy poverty with the commissioners of the respective portfolios, she explained.