SOUTH WEST FIRST
LETTER FROM STRASBOURG
April 2003
GOOD START GOOD FINISH
The week began on an exciting, positive note. Oxford won a thrilling Boat Race by the closest of margins when Cambridge, with a heavier crew and the Surrey bend, should have won. Very satisfactory (so you can guess where I went!).
NE'ER CAST A CLOUT
My mother always reckoned winter wasn't over until Easter was past. The very chilly weather awaiting us in Strasbourg made me pleased I remembered her wise words and brought a coat. I even had to watch out for icy patches on the pavement when I walked into the Parliament on Tuesday morning.
STOOD UP BY THE DTI
Tuesdays are usually my busiest day of the session. First thing was a scheduled meeting with visitors from the DTI (Dept of Trade and Industry) to discuss current legislation going through but I never found out for sure because they lived up to their nickname, Ditherers of Trepidation and Indecision, by not showing up.
NORDIC TAKEOVER FIGHT
Next was a meeting with the Rapporteur and other Draughtsmen of Opinions (like myself), as well as Shadows, on the Draft Takeovers Directive. The bit of the meeting I was able to join was taken up discussing the Scandinavian MEPs' great concern to preserve the multiple voting rights and differing categories of shareholders presently entrenched in their national legislation. Methinks they protesteth over-much, but it makes a change to hear nationalities other than we Brits doggedly fighting some piece of EU legislation.
THIS AND THAT
After that we had early votes followed by a break for what is called a Session Solemnelle (Formal Session to us) for a visiting dignitary to make a speech before resuming the vote half an hour or so later. Then I had to attend the UK Delegation of Conservative MEPs (within the EPP-ED - European People's Party-European Democrats) Bureau where we discussed management and, in my case as Treasurer, financial matters. Then off to the regular meeting of EPP-ED members of the Industry, Trade, Research and Energy Committee where I presided (as co-ordinator) over discussions about current business and future work.
GERMAN WRATH INCURRED….
I am given something of a hard time by one of my German colleagues because I am giving a Report on the Commission's Green Paper on Space to an Italian colleague and not to one of his German colleagues who is very keen to do it. The fact that the Italian has been a Minister dealing with space issues in the past, and is a full member of the Committee, whereas the German is a substitute member, cuts no ice and I remain persona non grata.
……TWICE
The situation is compounded when another vexed issue arose over a report covering standards of quality and safety for the donation, procurement, testing, processing, storage and distribution of human tissue and cells. It appears our committee had failed to make an opinion on this matter in the belief it did not stray into our research competency or responsibility. The Rapporteur, another German substitute member of our Committee, from the Environment Committee, turned up right at the end and was cross when I closed the meeting without letting him speak because we were out of time.
SHORT CHANGED
Thoroughly warmed up by all these vigorous exchanges, I went off to present the audited accounts of our UK delegation funds to the formal Annual General Meeting held for that purpose. My innocent offer to go through it all line by line in great detail was not received with the enthusiasm it deserved (except from one colleague with a long list of questions) and I was granted discharge in fairly quick order; which is more than we Conservatives did for the Commission when it came to the formal vote on the 2001 Budget discharge. Refusing to vote for the discharge is our protest at poor progress on accounting reforms within the Commission.
VOTE FOR ENLARGEMENT
The most important votes of the week were on the ten Reports recommending approval of the application of ten candidate countries to join the EU. For the record they are the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia and we Conservatives were part of the large majority voting in favour because of our long-standing support for bringing these countries back to the European family of nations (and because of our hope they will be a force for change within the EU for the better, as have been the Scandinavians).
ONE SESSION SHORT - QUELLE DOMAGE
Another important vote, symbolically, was on the Parliament's calendar of meetings for 2004. This included a proposal for two sessions in April on successive weeks, with the second one running Wednesday to Saturday because Saturday 1st May will be the Accession Day and Enlargement formally comes into effect. The cynics would say this is because the President of the Parliament wants to do a bit of grandstanding on the day (and about as close to the next European election campaign as you can get) and who am I to disagree with them. We voted for an amendment deleting that week, which leaves the Bureau with a nice problem since it would put us in breach of the Treaty by having one session too few and the French would march us off to the Court - pronto.
FUN AND GAMES
It's all a bit silly really, but it is great fun to tweak the French tail on this issue, especially at the moment with the discomfiture and semi-isolation of Jacques Chirac over Iraq.
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