Graham's blog entry 23rd March 2007

Published on Fri 23rd Mar 2007

One cheer for the BBC! Though generally their EU coverage is weak - for example, the Radio Five Live talkshow I took part in yesterday afternoon had their international correspondent Alan Little making some very basic factual errors - their website nonetheless carried this week an item entitled "Ten things the EU has done for you" http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6455879.stm.

It sets out under ten headings a number of major benefits to UK citizens from EU membership. I will be interviewed again on BBC R5 at 0720 hrs tomorrow and will try to draw their listeners' attention to the rather better quality of the website.

By contrast, the German public service broadcaster is offering a series of imaginative programmes to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. I was in Mainz on Tuesday at the studios of ZDF, the equivalent of BBC2, to record a well researched programme on 50 years of EU achievements; it is one of many on offer to German viewers.

The agriculture ministers from the 27 member states met in Brussels this week. They signed off on the compromise reached in the EP last week to allow Britain and Portugal to divert CAP money away from direct payments to farmers and into environmental protection schemes. They also gave EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas a roasting about his plans for a framework directive on soil protection, arguing that it is unnecessary. Both are, in my view, bad outcomes for UK farming - drop me a line if you'd like me to explain why.

European Commission Vice President Siim Kallas (Lib, Estonia) published his proposals for a register of EU lobbyists on Wednesday. By this time next year there should be a register of the 15,000 or so lobbyists and interest groups seeking to influence the work of the EU and a common code of conduct, backed up by the threat of removal from the register if the code is violated. It is a move long overdue.

After last week's calls from Parliament to stop the shooting of wild birds in Malta and the import of seal products from culled seals I was interested to discover this week that Liberal philosopher Jeremy Bentham campaigned for respect for animal rights way back in the 18th century. He argued that the ability to suffer, not the ability to reason, should be the benchmark against which we decide how to treat other sentient creatures. In Rome yesterday to address a Liberal conference on 50 years of the EU, I was also invited at short notice to speak at the launch of an Italian book about Bentham. Looking back at his work I am struck by how rich are the seams of gold. His ideas deserve revisiting by Liberal Democrats.

The Euro-Med Parliamentary Assembly held its third meeting in Tunis on Sunday and Monday. It discussed the formation of the new Palestinian government and the need for inter-cultural dialogue, though stressing the latter should not be limited to a debate on religion. I am not a member of the Assembly but I am interested in a body which brings together North African lawmakers with those from the EU. And I'll be insisting that before they accept Egypt's offer to host a special session of the Assembly in Cairo in June the Egyptian authorities should release Liberal El Ghad party leader Ayman Nour from gaol. In Egypt, democracy is being stifled; Mubarak is currently ushering in new laws which Amnesty International claims will mean the greatest erosion of rights in Egypt in 26 years. Yet in some other countries in the region (eg Morocco, Qatar) our dialogue is coaxing them into democratic reforms.

I was in Brussels only one day this week, so had to cram many meetings into a short space of time. I fear my visitors from Somerset and Taunton Chambers of Commerce may have felt a little short-changed, but I was able to brief them over a quick lunch and give them a very short guided tour of parliament. I also met most of the European Commissioners from the Liberal family before their weekly Commission meeting and I advanced proposals for reform of Parliament in the working group on reform which is now meeting every fortnight.

Where was I the rest of the week? Well I know it sounds crazy, but Madrid on Monday, Mainz on Tuesday, Rome on Thursday, constituency today and tomorrow (CBI in Gloucester, Devon and Cornwall regional executive committee in Plymouth) and Berlin for the EU summit on Sunday. Fortunately I am currently served by an immensely able and devoted private office team who make it all feasible and bearable and a constituency office team who beaver away unstintingly during my absence.