In a CoR plenary debate on the Union of Equality ECR member Matteo Bianchi addressed participants by saying that the best way to ensure that tolerance prevails in our societies is through "investing in the education of our children and having resilient criminal systems". The tools to do so are, and rightly so, "in the hands of our 27 Member States", he said.

Mr Bianchi, also serving as Councillor in Morazzone, Italy, praised the EU for its efforts in searching for ways to assist European countries – however, he expressed a much less favourable judgement of the methods describing them as "threats with sanctions" and the "creation of more EU agencies and new EU posts".

For the ECR member such an approach will not bring the expected results because "the primary goal of the EU in ensuring equality should be through serving as a platform to exchange good practice and data, not duplicating structures that exist at the country level". Matteo Bianchi called on the EU to lead by example if it wants to be successful in this field.

With regards to the protection of vulnerable groups Mr Bianchi called for better protection of Jewish people living in Europe and urged Member States to tackle the growing antisemitism, which must include "remembrance, education and legislation at country level" he said. The ECR member concluded by requesting that national authorities be given support in this respect.