Graham's blog entry 13th July 2007

Written by Graham Watson MEP on Fri 13th Jul 2007

Parliament met in Strasbourg this week for our final session before the summer recess. There was no shortage of legislation: we approved a directive banning sales of measuring devices containing mercury; we voted at first reading on ways of improving the authorisation of food additives, flavourings and enzymes; and to liberalise postal services by 2010; and we rejected (unwisely, in my view) a Directive which sought to increase minimum levels of excise duties on alcohol.

The low point of the week for me was when the House voted by 331 votes to 320 to reject a plan to hold regular plenary sessions on Wednesdays in Brussels. Lib Dems had championed this as a modernising measure, allowing us to hold the Commission and Council more immediately and more effectively to account. But the forces of stasis in any institution are strong and in this case were too strong. We must try again. My high point, for the same reason, was the barbecue that I host on the Wednesday night of every July session for our MEPs, staff and assistants. Despite the weather, the atmosphere was great. Though we do not achieve all our goals, our Group is stronger than we've ever been and our people feel it.

I hosted on Tuesday a reception to mark the twentieth anniversary of the lifting of martial law in Taiwan. Taiwan has become a thriving democracy and one of the free-est societies in Asia. The hypocrisy and pusillanimity of the western world in not recognising Taiwan (because of bullying from Communist China) never ceases to amaze me.

The Portuguese PM came to Parliament to present the programme of Portugal's six-month Presidency of the EU. (To read my speech in reply: http://www.alde.eu/index.php?id=42&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=8834 ).

Unfortunately my visitors from Worle Community School in Weston-super-Mare arrived a couple of hours too late to catch that debate.

On Monday the European Commission presented its annual report on combating fraud against the EU budget. Commissioner Kallas (former LibDem Prime Minister of Estonia), told us that member states had reported for 2006 cases of fraud equivalent to around one and a half percent of the EU budget. The anti-fraud office opened nearly 200 investigations. The cases of reported fraud and irregularities were worst in the following six countries, in descending order: Italy, Spain, Greece, the UK, the Netherlands, and Germany.

The strangest event of this week was French President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to attend the meeting of the finance ministers. Apart from relegating his own finance minister to the sidelines, he believed he would be able to change the rules governing the stability pact (the agreement which binds member countries to respecting commonly agreed broad economic guidelines). He failed, of course, and had to undertake to submit to the finance ministers his proposed changes to France's economic policy. France is currently pledged to have its budget in balance by 2010; Sarkozy had wanted a two-year extension.

This will be my last email newsletter before the summer since Parliament goes into recess next week. I will write again at the end of August. However, as you lie on the beach this summer and notice that your sun tan cream has better labelling than before, think of your MEPs. Though the scheme will not be fully in operation until next year, sun creams can no longer claim to offer 'total protection'. There will be a new UV logo, giving information about protection from UV-A (the cause of skin ageing) and UV-B (the cause of sunburn. It comes about as a result of voluntary agreement with manufacturers, who were told they would otherwise be subject to new legislation.

Tomorrow I attend the SW Regional Assembly meeting in Exeter. Then I visit Bristol Zoo at the invitation of the management. On Saturday I'll be at David Laws MP's garden party in his Yeovil constituency.