Oct. 19, 2017
Episode 18 of POLITICO's EU Confidential podcast features an interview with European Commissioner Vĕra Jourová, who leads the EU's work on data protection among her many responsibilities as commissioner for justice, consumer rights and gender equality.
We also remember Daphne Caruana Galizia: Controversial and crusading, Malta's most famous journalist Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb Monday afternoon. EU Confidential speaks with Paul Dallison and Harry Cooper, two POLITICO journalist who knew her, about her approach and Malta's often toxic political environment. Caruana Galizia was selected for the 2017 POLITICO28, a list of people shaping Europe.
From jail to justice commissioner: Barely 10 years ago, Vĕra Jourová was falsely accused of EU-related fraud and subject to pre-trial detention in the Czech Republic. The experience inspired her to retrain as a lawyer to learn about the system that wrongly imprisoned her: today she is the justice commissioner of the European Union and oversaw an EU directive guaranteeing the presumption of innocence.
Jourová says #MeToo: In a wide-ranging interview, Jourová reveals she had her own experience of sexual violence, calling on other victims to report the perpetrators and speak out to change prevailing cultures. "A lot of people in Europe think that beating women is a normal, kind of accepted, thing," she says. "We have to change the perception of society that this is something normal."
Do you have a #MeToo story to share about an incident? Email [email protected] in confidence so there can be a better understanding of sexual harassment and assault in Brussels.
Jourová also talks about Catalonia, Dieselgate, a plan to deliver a "New Deal for Consumers" and her efforts to take on multinational companies selling sub-standard food in Eastern Europe.
EU WTF moments of the week: First up, Theresa May's dine and dash Monday night in Brussels. Our panelists Lina Aburous and Ailbhe Finn discuss how we got to the point where May asked Jean-Claude Juncker for Brexit help. And of course, the Austrian election: Sebastian Kurz, 31, is set to become the EU's youngest leader, on the back of a populist campaign.
Catalan quandary: In our Dear POLITICO advice session, we hear from an MEP's assistant with a dilemma — how should he deal with a difference of opinion with his boss on Catalonia?
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