Six topics Helena Dalli was grilled about during her hearing

Former Equality Minister Helena Dalli faced a tough three-hour hearing at the European Parliament in the hopes of becoming the first European Commissioner for Equality. Denise Grech was in Brussels to report on the six main topics the Maltese nominee was grilled about.

1. Rule of law

Dr Dalli was asked about Malta’s track record on the rule of law, particularly following the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia and revelations in the Panama Papers. The first question jumped right into questioning about the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. She was asked “are you comfortable with the investigation into the assassination?”

On the Panama Papers and Konrad Mizzi’s lack of resignation, Dr Dalli was quick to say: “I would have done things differently”.

Daphne Caruana Galizia’s death, she said, was a femicide. “We wanted to have the involvement of European institutions. There has been significant progress. I will do all my power to guarantee a free press free from harassment or discrimination,” she said.

2. Abortion

She was also asked whether she would guarantee “family-planning” and sexual and reproductive rights for everyone.

On this, Dr Dalli said she was “a committed feminist and you have my word that I will do everything possible to protect sexual and reproductive health rights”.

3. Gender pay gap

Asked what she will do to diminish the gender pay gap, and committed to work on a proposal for pay transparency in the first months of her legislature.

Sometimes women, even if they start work with an equally qualified and equally experienced man, because of reduced hours or because they need to take part-time end up earning less than their colleagues, she said.

Not only that, but even your pension will be affected because they paid less contributions, she added.

4. Disability

She was also asked about what she will do to promote the rights of those with disabilities.

“I shall be working hard to unblock the equal treatment directive and continue with implementation of UN convention on rights of people with disability. We have the instruments and we can work with the instruments we have,” she insisted.

5. Gender identity

MEPs also asked what the former Equality Minister will do to ensure that other European Member States will be open to accepting those with a different gender identity than their birth markers.

How will she promote transgender rights, especially given Malta’s progressive track record, MEPs asked.

“I will explain that sexual orientation is not a choice,” she said. “In some member states, there’s less than 50 per cent of people who believe that LGBTI people should have equal rights to heterosexuals. This is the environment we are working with. There’s a lot of work going on, so we will now have to evaluate the outcome of the current list of actions and then propose strong measures,” she said.

6. Glass ceiling

Dr Dalli was also questioned on what she will do to destroy what has been termed as the ‘glass ceiling’ – a barrier in society that stops women from having the same success as men.

“I am a firm believer that we should eliminate stereotypes and have more women in STEM,” Dr Dalli said. “We must really address stereotypes,” she added, noting that IT cannot remain a man’s domain.

Denise Grech CiConsulta from Brussels

UPDATE: Helena Dalli has secured the two-thirds of votes necessary to confirm her nomination as equality commissioner.