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Busy Agenda The February Strasbourg session
was busy for me. Energy, research and Lisbon Agenda items all pushed
their way up the agenda. The services directive took most attention
with a large “manifestation” (French for a demonstration) outside the
Parliament and much media interest in socialist MEPs inside. And in the
background, a debate about the nuclear ambitions of Iran reflected
mounting concern.
That Monday morning feeling The week
started rather poorly for me. I managed to go back to sleep after my
alarm went off, losing precious minutes. Then I banged my head on the
letterbox while picking up the paper from the floor (it is a larger than
average box with a sharp corner). I knew there had to be a third and,
sure enough, the Jubilee line was suffering “severe delays” so I had to
use a more roundabout route to London City Airport involving four tube
changes.
Emphasis on Energy Energy is definitely
high on the agenda these days what with rocketing prices at home and
interruptions of supply on the continent. Monday evening I had a
meeting with Mrs Kroes, the Competition Commissioner, in advance of the
publication of her study of the functioning (or not) of the gas and
electricity markets in Europe. I am more hopeful that some of the
distortions and flaws in the market will really be tackled but there is
plenty to be done. Mrs Kroes will appear before my committee at the
earliest opportunity to discuss her findings and plans for action.
Energy
directives
Tuesday morning
I chaired an informal meeting of my committee (informal means no
interpretation) with Mr Piebalgs, the Energy Commissioner, to hear his
response to our concerns about poor levels of implementation by member
states of energy directives. The information which struck me most
forcibly was the fact that there are 42 energy directives in force
(well, adopted shall we say) and of these 22 concern renewable
energy. From which I draw two conclusions. First is who says
there is
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no legal base for energy policy at European level
and why do we need proposals for a Common European Energy Policy in
addition? Second is the more we legislate for renewables out of all
proportion to their potential contribution, let alone their actual out-
put, to European energy needs, the more we must seem to be disconnected
from the real world and the real energy mix.
Lisbon Agenda Tuesday afternoon I chaired
another informal committee meeting with Commissioner Verheugen, Industry
Commissioner, covering a whole range of items under the overall heading
of the Lisbon Agenda (to make Europe the most competitive, dynamic,
knowledge based economy in the world by 2010). I am not optimistic.
Not so much because Mr Verheugen is not saying and trying to do the
right things but because the forces pushing in the opposite direction
are too strong, diverse and numerous. The European social model and
environmental protection agenda to name but two.
Meeting with the President Later that
evening I am invited for a face to face with President of the Commission
Barroso, no less, on energy matters. Well, not exclusively, because the
topic of David Cameron’s wish to take Conservative MEPs away from the
centre right of European parliamentary politics also came up.
FP7 My fifth encounter with a Commissioner
came on Wednesday afternoon when Mr Potocnik, Research Commissioner, Mr
Busek, the Rapporteur, and myself met to discuss the likely budget,
timetable and procedure for the 7th Framework Programme (FP7)
of European Research. It now looks like €47.86 bn for 2007–2013 if the
Parliament and Council can agree on the Financial Perspective or overall
budget for the same period and if we can complete our legislative work
in time for FP7 to get started January 2007. |
COMMENT Early Day Motions
In the House of Commons, MPs put down Early Day
Motions as a means of drawing attention to an issue and invite their
colleagues to sign in support to show how many share their view and
how much weight should be attached to it.
Written Declarations
In the European Parliament, the equivalent is a
called a Written Declaration. The objective is to achieve more than
50% of MEPs signing so that the Declaration goes to the Commission
with the weight of an absolute majority behind it as a call for
action. Once deposited a written declaration stays in the Register
open for signature for three months.
Current topics covered
So I thought I would share a sample (not enough
space to list all) of the topics covered with you to give a flavour of
the concerns of individual MEPs. At the beginning of this session
there were thirty on the register.
Excessive roaming charges in the EU; the
conditions of detention of Mr Tariq Aziz; the ethnic rioting occurring
in France and elsewhere in Europe; lack of democracy and equal
treatment of political parties in Bulgaria; new information
technologies and their impact on children; tackling racism in
football; the need for social and environmental clauses to be
introduced in the context of the WTO negotiations in Hong Kong; the
need to apply a VAT rate for building, renovation and conversion work.
A Europe-wide
initiative to increase the birth rate; the weeks of rioting in France;
free movement of the labour force; recent executions of minors by the
Iran authorities; the illegal trade in tiger and leopard skins;
religious freedom in China; threats to the freedom of European
newspapers following publication of the cartoons satirising Mohammed
and Islam; the reactions in the Islamic world to the cartoons
published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
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