Last week, two plenary sessions of the European Parliament were held, first on 22-23 October and the second one on 26-27 October. MEPs mostly discussed economic issues.

As one of the most discussed topics, the MEPs condemned European Council’s lack of will to strive for stronger monetary union and the lack of progress on the banking union. The European Parliament also agreed to provide financial aid through EU Globalisation Adjustment Fund for almost 8,000 people in Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Germany and Denmark, who lost their jobs in recent years due to the global crisis.

MEPs also confirmed that the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought goes to Iranians Nasrin Sotoudeh, an imprisoned human rights defender and lawyer, and Jafar Panahi, a film director. MEPs also called for a better gender balance on corporate boards as they rejected the nomination of Yves Mersch for the European Central Bank's executive board.

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