SOUTH
WEST FIRST
LETTER FROM STRASBOURG
December 2000
TRAVELLING IMPROVING?
Bearing in
mind all the problems we have been facing over transport in the South
West (thinking of my train travel and flooded roads), the less I say
about such matters on the way to Strasbourg the better, because I was
very lucky that everything went more or less to plan.
NOT
QUITE AHEAD
Which is
more than can be said about lots of things on the agenda.
I can hardly believe that having reached the Parliament in good
time on Monday, I actually felt I had a little time to spare and was on
top of everything. Foolish
fellow.
LETTERS
GALORE
The first
storm cloud to loom was to do with the Ebner Declaration on the
management of wild birds in Europe.
I have signed this (rather like an Early Day Motion in the House
of Commons, a written declaration is a political statement which has no
legislative status, but is intended to influence policy and make a
point) and the RSPB, that well-known and powerful lobby organisation the
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, has prodded a number of its
members in the South West, mostly in Devon, to write me letters urging
repentance and removal of my signature.
NO
CHANGING TACK
A clever
move which actually served to make me even more certain of my judgement
and disinclined to remove my signature after I had checked the text of
the declaration and reviewed my reasons.
I feel quite complimented to be the subject of such attentions as
resulted from a press release they put out condemning me.
Radio, television and press calls came in thick and fast as
evidence of how effective the RSPB can be at stirring up publicity.
How much actual preservation and conservation work they do in
comparison with campaigning activities is another story.
THE
ARGUMENT CONTINUES
This issue
rumbled on all through the week and I can't tell whether I am out of the
wood yet, though I sense the beaters thrashing around chasing after me!
The argument is whether Europe should set one closing date to
cover all species of wild bird hunting seasons in every country or
should each country be responsible for managing its own affairs, having
regard to scientific advice, species type and local conditions.
The pro one date brigade say that is the way to force all the
wicked hunters in the Southern Member States of Europe to behave better
and stop slaughtering every bird in sight.
BURDEN
OF RESPONSIBILITY
Knowing
what I do about the way they implement European Directives in said
southern states, I do not share this view and believe it is better to
place the burden of responsibility on individual countries.
This is also an argument about when is it good to interfere in
another country and when do we dislike them telling us what to do.
THE
POWERS OF PERSUASION
There are
two practical reasons for my view.
First that different closing dates make sense for different
species (one size does not fit all) and, second, the present one date
system has not prevented hunters blasting away.
The RSPB and company would do better applying their persuasive
powers to the shooting fraternities in the countries they are concerned
about, so as to change their attitudes and encourage home-grown
management systems that are sustainable, to use a current buzz word.
STORM
IN A TEACUP
The second
storm, possibly more of the tea cup variety, concerned the nuclear
powered submarine H.M.S. Tireless, which is currently stranded in
Gibralter undergoing repairs to a pipe in its reactor cooling system.
Something of an unholy alliance between the Greens and Spanish
socialists and communists has combined to make a meal out of this
situation. The Greens love
any excuse to attack anything to do with nuclear technology.
The Spanish are very content to have a stick to beat their
Government (which is Partido Popular, our centre right allies) over both
nuclear and Gibralter issues because an election is looming.
POLITICAL
SENSITIVITIES
So
questions have been put down to the Commission and a series of motions
for a resolution drafted as a prelude to an oral question and debate
procedure on Thursday afternoon of this week.
Recognising the political sensitivities of all this from a UK
perspective, our delegation chairman jointly drafted the EPP-ED
(European Peoples Party - European Democrats of which we are allied
members) motion with the leader of the Spanish delegation.
JOINT
NEGOTIATIONS
When I
arrive in the Group Meeting on Monday the question had just been raised
as to whom would join our Spanish colleague in the negotiations with the
other political groups to try to draft a compromise joint resolution
merging everyones points into one glorious hotch potch fudge.
Because nuclear safety is one of the competences (eurospeak for
responsibility) of the Industry Committee on which I am spokesman, I was
lumbered with this particular task with the meeting taking place 30
minutes after the formal opening of the session of the Parliament that
afternoon.
COMMON
TEXT
Having
looked at the five motions from different groups, it was pretty clear
there was no chance of agreeing a common text, so I suggested we saved
ourselves some time by trying for two joint texts, one from the Greens
and Communists, and the other from ourselves, the Socialists and the UEN
(Union for a Europe of Nations), the Liberals having nothing to say on
this subject being characteristically split.
In the event the Spanish socialists were unwilling to put their
signature to a a document signed by our Spanish members (domestic policy
reasons as above), even though our texts were really quite similar.
NON
INTERFERENCE
Come the
debate on Thursday it falls to Commissioner Patten to reply because
Commissioner Wallstrom (Swedish Green) claimed to be too busy in
Brussels preparing for a conference on greenhouse gases.
He did an excellent job, much to the irritation of the serried
ranks of Spanish Socialists, in explaining that there was no legal basis
under the Euratom Treaty for the Commission to interfere in a defence
matter, beyond asking for information.
The Spanish crowd indulged in a spot of government bashing,
before demanding that the submarine be moved "when weather
conditions improve", for repair elsewhere. I should point out that the alternatives to repair in sites
at Gibralter are all deemed to be a greater risk, including a 1000 mile
tow across the Bay of Biscay.
IRONIC
SITUATION
I pointed
out that repairs were already under way so it hardly made any sense to
stop and delay matters by trying for something else.
While emphasising the point that defence and nuclear matters are
a national responsibility not a European competence, I couldn't resist
posing the question as to whether the UK Government has exercised its
responsibilities properly to keep our defences up to scratch.
This defeat has led to virtually all our hunter killer nuclear
powered submarines being taken out of service for checks.
Evidently at one time our shores were being defended by a sole
German U-boat. The Spanish
were completely indifferent to the irony of this situation.
CAN'T
PLEASE EVERYONE
Talking of
irony leads me to the big topic of discussion of the week, namely the
outcome of the Nice Summit. In
the group meeting at the beginning of the week, I was rather bemused to
hear most of our continental colleagues waxing indignant at the outcome
or the apparent outcome, I should say.
For them the result fell far short of expectation and hopes of
measures to further integration and make changes in the institutions to
clear the way for enlargement. By common consent the French had not run things well and
virtually every Member State had held out on issues of particular
importance to themselves. This
sounded good to me, I must say.
EUROFUDGE
PACKAGE
The
problem is that it is very difficult to decide what to think of the
outcome until the text is published in English and the legal eagles have
gone through it for contradictions and clarifications. However, it seems
to me that this is yet another instance of treaty creep and eurofudge.
Treaty creep means to me a series of smallish measures which seem
relatively harmless in isolation, but when put together amount to
significant moves towards closer integration.
Eurofudge means a whole series of compromises to give everyone
something without arriving at a clear and coherent package.
And, of course, it is all so complicated as to confuse everyone
and lull them into a sense of security by avoiding any alarming
language.
SURRENDERING
THE VETO
The UK
Government claims a success for our national interest by having retained
the veto on tax matters and contradicted the French statement that the
European Army (whoops Rapid Reaction Force) will have a command
structure and administration entirely separate from NATO.
Yet Downing Street admits to having surrendered the veto on 34
(yes thirty-four) areas of decision making.
REDUCTION
OF OUR MEPs
They
failed to reach a sensible agreement on the number and composition of
the Commission which looks set to grow like topsy and turvy.
Apparently, they have agreed to let the membership of the
European Parliament to break through the ceiling of 700 previously set
in stone, while our own number of MEPs will be reduced.
Perhaps the increase in weighting in qualified votes in the
Council will make up for this reduction in our representation, but we
can't say for sure until we see the detail of the new arrangement.
THREAT
TO JOBS
What else
happened in this last session of the year ( and century and millennium
by the way)? The Budget for 2001 was adopted at second reading.
Expenditure commitments totalled 96.2 billion euro or £57.775
billion, of which half is agriculture and a third is regional aid.
UK public spending is approximately £375 billion by way of
comparison. The Second reading of the Tobacco Directive was adopted.
This will lead directly to the loss of
well over a thousand British jobs supplying export markets.
A temporary committee on human genetics and other new
technologies in medicine was established.
This could threaten British jobs in a field of research where the
UK is by far the leading country in Europe.
UNWELCOME
TAKEOVERS
The
Directive on company law concerning takeover bids was adopted at second
reading. This lays down
rules making hostile takeovers much more difficult (it was just a
co-incidence that the Rapporteur was a German MEP known to harbour bad
feelings about the Vodafone takeover of Mannesman).
Even the UK Government didn't like this measure clearly designed
to protect continental companies from the unwelcome attentions of
British based multinationals.
MONOPOLY
THREATENED
An
important measure for improving the single market was given its second
reading, This was the
Ferber Report on a Commission proposal for a Directive on further
opening up of competition in Community postal services.
This is a matter on which we have been heavily lobbied on both
sides of the argument. At
present national postal services enjoy a monopoly for post up to a
weight limit of 350 grammes (12.1/3 ozs) as a quid pro quo
for maintaining universal service (deliveries and collections in
sparsely populated rural areas are much more expensive than in towns and
cities) and the Commission has proposed reducing this to 50 grammes
after a transition period.
W.I.
SUPPORT
The
Parliament divided on more or less north south lines on this issue but
the self interest of state owned monopoly proved to be the more
effective lobby and a so-called compromise of 150 grammes was adopted.
The Post Office in the UK has been very clever in enlisting the
support of all the sub post offices and the Womens Institute by
threatening widespread closure of the former if the lower limit for
opening to competition were to be adopted. If the Post Office were more efficient at delivering my
letters and packets, I might be more sympathetic to their case, but as
things are, I firmly believe that they and their trade unions badly need
a dose of competition.
UNIVERSAL
SERVICES
I am
unimpressed with the closure argument because most people know that sub
post offices are more at risk from the Government changes to the
delivery of pensions and benefits from cash to bank transfer.
I also believe that any postal operator would wish to take
advantage of the network of sub postmasters (who are not Post Office
employees but independent operators), because universal service will be
an obligation on any new supplier in the market.
INCREASING
COMPETITION
I
understand that the 50 gramme limit would still leave 70% of mail
subject to monopoly, which is another reason I am sceptical about Post
Office apocalyptic predictions. I remain of the view that if competition is not introduced
service levels will continue to decline (bad for all customers), until
people realise that faxes and e-mails are cheaper and quicker.
Then letters will become as rare as they were before the penny
black was introduced (how much would that be today, I wonder?)
TIGHTENNING
OF CONTROL
So much
for issues. During the week
I also went to a meeting of national delegation treasures to discuss new
financial regulations governing
the way we spend our information and political activities funds
following a Court of Auditors Report calling for a tightening of
control. I had a meeting
with the Director General of the French Employers Federation (equivalent
to the C.B.I.) in my capacity as EPP co-ordinator on the Industry
Committee. I met Stuart
White of Vodafone in my capacity as Conservative spokesman for Industry
to discuss the telecoms package of directives.
I spoke in a debate about a Report on World Ship building.
I chaired our regular luncheon meeting of Conservative Enterprise
Europe, the grouping of MEPs on committees which cover areas of
relevance to business and industry, where our guest was the director of
the CBI Brussels office, Andrew Moore.
SUCCESSFUL
RE-ELECTION
In
December we have our internal delegation elections and I survived a
determined challenge to be re-elected Hon Treasurer.
One place on the bureau (Management Committee) had to be resolved
by a toss of the coin after a tied vote (no hanging chads or re-counts
for us!).
CHRISTMAS
FESTIVITIES
Finally we
had the backbench committee Christmas dinner for members and their
assistants which I was allowed to attend (and pay for of course).
The evening was enlivened by entertainments, and the performance
by my colleague Daniel Hannan as Ali G stands out in my memory.
Puts him in quite a different light.
Anyway that was the week that was and no wonder it seemed to go
so fast.
THE
REAL NEW MILLENNIUM
Merry
Christmas and best wishes for the real new Millennium.
GILES
CHICHESTER MEP
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