First, a message to recipients of this newsletter. We have not yet been able to catch up with all the changes consequent upon the local elections. Due to pressures of work in my office we have not yet included all the many new Conservative Councillors nor have we amended the titles of those who ceased to be Councillors and I apologise to any of the latter who may feel it is salt in the wound to be reminded. Please help us by letting us know if you wish a change made or your name removed from the list (though I hope you won’t want that to happen) or even if you have any suggestions of possible additions.

Next, the May Strasbourg session was a busy time for me. On the Monday evening we voted in Committee (Industry, Research and Energy) to adopt the compromise text for the mobile roaming charges regulation which we had negotiated with the Council.

For some time I have campaigned to remedy the market failure to achieve full competition in this particular sector of the mobile telecoms market. I organised several hearings in the European Parliament in my capacity as Chairman of the Committee (until January this year) which culminated in the European Commission making a proposal to cap prices and require mobile operators to explain their roaming charges to their customers.

Because competition has not been working the operators have been able to charge their customers far too much for the privilege of making and receiving international roaming calls. The typical instance is holiday makers from the South West on the continent either making a call home or, worse, receiving one from home while blissfully unaware of the costs until a nasty surprise shows up in their bill a couple of months later.

Probably this occurs once a year so people feel cross but don’t complain when it doesn’t recur the next month. MEPs, businessmen/women and journalists are well aware of the size of these charges on a more regular basis which has helped to focus our minds on the problem. Telecom regulators told us they were aware of the issue but lacked the powers to address it where charges arose outside their national areas of responsibility. Consumer groups led by BEUC, the European umbrella consumers organisation, also pressed for action. The operators unsurprisingly were in no hurry to change what has been a good thing from their perspective.

So the outcome is a regulation capping what they can charge at 49 eurocents (33p in real money) per minute for making a call and 24 eurocents (16p) per minute for receiving a call. These caps will be reduced in the second year and again in the third year at the end of which the regulation ends under a sunset clause. The average charge for a roaming call was €1.15 (78p) at the most recent market survey so the saving should be around 58%.

Why am I going on about this? Well it’s because it is something practical for the innocent consumer that has been delivered by the EU and I had a hand in it. My guess is that with enforced competition through the cap, the operators will rediscover the old truth of reduce prices and sell more so it should be a win win all round.
 

I also attended the inaugural or constitutive meeting of the Temporary Committee on Climate Change.  It is too early to say whether it will come up with a constructive report full of practical policy options, as I would hope, or a whole lot of wishful thinking, as I fear.  Watch this space. 

During this meeting I heard a snippet from an Irish colleague that I can’t resist sharing with you.  It seems that one of the planks of the Sinn Fein manifesto for the recent Irish elections was an interesting variation on the long-standing Irish obsession with Sellafield, our nuclear waste reprocessing plant.  Apparently Sinn Fain is deeply concerned about the implication for Ireland of a terrorist attack on Sellafield! Ironic or what? 

During the week the UK Government, you know the one with two Prime Ministers and many bungles, published a White Paper on energy.  About time too.  At last a recognition that we need to set about replacing our ageing fleet of nuclear power stations.  Given how long it takes to go through the processes of planning, public consultation, design licensing and construction (10 to 15 years) a decision and action is urgent. 

It also clears the way for another look at the Severn Barrage tidal power project.  The most recent study puts the cost estimate at £14 billion but you can bet your bottom dollar it would come out at much more.  It is a very attractive proposition to build a renewable energy plant with approximately 10% of the UK electricity capacity but, of course, it is not quite so simple and there are a few difficulties.  For example it can only generate less than 12 hours a day on the ebb as it needs to build up a head of water and it would be necessary to reinforce the banks upstream.  And we would have to kiss the Severn bore goodbye. 

Another announcement from the Labour Government was the apparent climb-down over HIPs, their bossy, interfering, superfluous bright idea for stopping gazumping (stopping the property market in its tracks more like!) called Home Information Packs.  Rumour has it some people thought HIPs were some sort of STD or what is euphemistically called a socially transmitted disease.  More like a socialist transmitted disease if you ask me!

I was also favoured with a visit by members of the Number 10 policy unit.  We discussed roaming, unbundling, Galileo, and the EIT (ie mobile roaming charges, unbundling electricity utilities, satellite navigation and the European Institute of Technology proposal).  Moving on swiftly from my alarm at broadly agreeing with each other on most points, I reflected that they probably had time on their hands during the Two Prime Ministers interregnum so why not do the rounds in Strasbourg. 

Finally, for something completely different, please click here for photos of a day at the Devon County Show.  It has a slogan saying Devon is a way of life.  Aren’t those of us living in the South West Lucky!