Graham's blog entry 6th October 2006

Published on Fri 6th Oct 2006

People might imagine that a Group leader in the European Parliament would spend most, if not all, of her/his time dealing with the business of government at EU level. Some weeks this is far from the case. This week, for example, I have had some meetings and phone conversations with European Commissioners, MEPs and civil servants - and have commented on policy developments in media interviews - but rather more of my time has been occupied with other matters.

Menzies Campbell's first official visit to Brussels since his election as Leader of the UK Liberal Democrats was my priority on Monday and Tuesday. My colleagues and I wined and dined him on Monday night: on Tuesday morning I took him to meet Belgian (Liberal) Prime Minister Guy Verofstadt; at lunchtime Diana Wallis MEP and I accompanied him to the UK's permanent representation in Brussels to meet our EU ambassador John Grant and a selection of senior British officials from the European Commission. Despite his huge experience in foreign affairs, Ming is not intimately acquainted with the workings of the EU (which these days is more domestic than foreign policy) and I think he found it useful. I was impressed by his sharp analytical questioning and his readiness to refrain from comment before having examined an issue carefully. He knows that many of his Westminster MPs are lukewarm about greater EU integration, but I believe he will give the case a fair hearing.

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Among the more unusual visitors I have received in Parliament was a delegation of representatives of the Sami people, an indigenous people found in the far north of EU member states Finland and Sweden and also in Russia and Norway. They dress in brightly coloured garb, wear pointed soft leather shoes and speak a language of the Finno-Ugric family. Naturally, they want their concerns to be taken into account when policy is set; in national matters in the Nordic countries they have achieved this. But how to go about it at EU level? I wonder if one day the EU will have the courage to do what the Liberal Government did in Canada in 1999 with the Inuit people and recognise a new territory within its boundaries?

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Today I fly to Amsterdam to address the annual conference of one of our Dutch sister parties, Democracy '66. They have performed rather poorly of late and may have trouble retaining any representation at all in Parliament in the general election due shortly. But they have been the most consistently pro-EU and the most consistent civil liberties campaigners on the Netherlands' political scene. They deserve our support.

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Two Councils of Ministers met this week: the Council of Defence Ministers at the start of the week and the Council of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers, still meeting as I write. At this time of year they meet in Luxembourg, so it's not just Parliament which meets in different locations. Were the UK's ministers present? I do not yet know, but of late our Cabinet Ministers have a poor record of attendance at Council meetings, often sending junior ministers or simply our Ambassador to the EU.

The defence ministers met on 3 October as the Steering Board of the European Defence Agency and discussed a 25 page report setting out a three year budget and a set of priorities in defence co-operation. They will meet again next month to reach final agreement.

The JHA ministers are discussing how to reinforce the EU's southern maritime borders and how to establish a rapid response unit for civilian emergencies (natural disasters, terrorist attacks, etc). They will also debate a proposal from the Commission on the transfer of prisoners from other EU countries back to their country of origin and whether or not to agree to the latest US proposal on transfer of data on airline passengers crossing the Atlantic.

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Meanwhile the European Commission agreed proposals on how to make Europe competitive within a global economy, while at the same time the member states' permanent representatives decided to raise import tariffs on shoe imports from China and Vietnam. If there appears to be some inconsistency here, there is. The southern European 'protectionist' states reversed an earlier decision to allow shoppers to benefit from cheaper footwear prices. Companies like Clark's shoes in Somerset will be penalized for having had the foresight to shift production to these lower-cost countries, though only one in ten pairs of shoes sold in the EU will be affected.

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Finally, my constituents in Gibraltar were again hit by Spanish obstruction. The executive committee of footballing watchdog UEFA was set to permit Gibraltar's soccer team to play in EU and other international tournaments, as recommended by their disputes panel. Under Spanish pressure they postponed the decision. Pity. Gibraltar might have met Brazil in the final.