Thumbs up for T5
Monday morning Strasbourg week. I set off early in some trepidation
for Heathrow Terminal Five. It is big! No sign of piles of lost
luggage, which is encouraging. Because I have caught up with
checking-in on-line I could go straight to security. Which is much
more efficient and better arranged than the other terminals so I was
through in reasonable time. To my surprise the flight was on time, all
went well and I reached my destination ahead of time. Wow, I thought,
some mistake surely!
The business of the week
Once in the Parliament building I have a whole series of meetings
about the business of the week and other work in hand for committee
(Industry, Research and Energy – ITRE) or delegation (Conservatives in
the European Parliament). There are three formal meetings of the Group
(European Peoples Party – European Democrats – EPP-ED) at 4pm, the
opening session in the hemicycle or chamber at 5pm and the committee (ITRE)
at 7pm.
The Third Package
In committee we vote on several dossiers, reports or opinions before
proceeding with a long discussion about the amendments to the
Electricity Directive. This is a key part of the so-called Third
Package of measures aimed at completing the liberalisation of gas and
electricity markets in Europe. The nub of the matter is something
called ownership unbundling or the separation of ownership of
transmission systems from the generators or producers and the
distribution system operators and retailers.
Reactionary resistance
We in the UK are on the side of the angels on this one having
separated these parts of the electricity and gas industries long ago.
But the proposals face a strong rearguard resistance from France,
Germany and a few other member states (MS) and they have adopted a
cunning strategy to thwart the European Commission and the majority of
MS by suggesting a third option or way called something like effective
energy unbundling – a description Aldous Huxley in Brave New World or
George Orwell in 1984 might well have admired as not being what it
says it is. Basically they just don’t want to change.
Hasta la vista, baby!
Tuesdays are always busy but this time I had an extra meeting to fit
into the schedule. This was the Bureau of the European Energy Forum.
Bureau always sound slightly sinister to me, perhaps because of
association with politbureau, but it really means something like a
finance and general purposes committee or a management committee. We
have to formally adopt annual accounts and the reports necessary to
meet the statutory obligations of the Forum’s |
legal entity which is an Association in France.
We also review the programme for the delegation of MEPs and industry
members going to California and Washington in May. Something like 17
MEPs have signed up to go which is an impressive number and may have
something to do with the possibility of a meeting with the Governor of
California, one Arnold Schwarzenegger. I’m not going, I have a reunion
outing of my 1963 school VIII that week, which has prior claim on my
loyalty.
The big three
Wednesday morning I have three meetings with lobbyists concerning the
three big legislative packages we have in committee this year, namely
energy, telecoms and climate (we are not in the lead on the climate
but have what is called enhanced co-operation status with the
Environment Committee). I see quite a few representatives from
industry and trade associations as a part of my work on these reports,
usually it helps by giving me some technical insight but occasionally
it amounts to a bit of special pleading for exemption or derogation.
My shelves are piled high with presentations.
The entire trumpet section
Wednesday afternoon we have a co-ordination meeting of EPP-ED members
of ITRE to attribute reports/opinions/ shadows and discuss up-coming
items in committee. Unsurprisingly we got into quite an animated
discussion on the Electricity Directive. There was a high attendance
rate of our German colleagues and at one time I thought it was
sounding like an all-German meeting. However, making the most noise
and speaking the longest is no guarantee of getting your way, quite
the contrary, in fact, if you end up alienating the quieter ones
present. This was one of those occasions where, as co-ordinator and in
the chair, I felt I was earning my keep (there is no extra pay for
being co-ordinator, I should point out).
Members Statute
Finally, on Thursday morning, we have an interesting meeting with
officials from the Foreign Office, HMRC and Cabinet Office for a
discussion about issues surrounding the introduction of the Members’
Statute after the next European Election in 2009. The Government has
to decide whether to exercise its option to exclude UK MEPs from the
statute so they continue to be paid the same as MPs or to make all new
MEPs go into the Statute, be paid in euros, be subject to European tax
rates and be put into a new pension scheme. Serving MEPs who succeed
in gaining re-election will have the option to choose, which could
create an interesting two tier situation. Another case of Gordon
dither perhaps?
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