Graham's blog Friday 16 May

Published on Fri 16th May 2008

I am increasingly optimistic about the extent to which the EU spirit is seeping into public life. While opposition to UK membership of the EU has hardened among those who have always opposed it, the numbers feeling more positive about the EU continue to rise. I see it regularly; among school pupils, university students, freelance professionals, people in local government and the business community. Particularly young professionals; partly because we've put 1.7 million students through the Erasmus university exchange scheme (and hope to have reached 3 million by 2012) and partly, I think, because they have more contact with continentals than any previous generation. Attitudes to the power of individual states are changing too: if phase one of the European Union was consolidating peace and phase two has been building a strong economy, phase three must be using the EU to develop a common response to global challenges like population growth and migration, climate change and internationally organised crime.

On Monday I spoke to pupils at Lewannick primary school in Cornwall. Even in primary schools we are getting the message across.

My week in Brussels (from Tuesday) started with a phone call from the Slovenian prime minister (Slovenia currently holds the EU Presidency) about Sunday's general election outcome in Serbia. The Serbian Liberal Party won 14 seats and will be key to forming a pro-European government there. I congratulated its leader, Cedomir Jovanovic, and promised him the solidarity and support of EU Liberals.

Our leader on both Gloucester City Council and Gloucestershire County Council, Jeremy Hilton, joined me this week for meetings with European Commission and UK government officials in Brussels about the flood money which has been allocated by the EU to help areas hit by last year's floods. Last week the government said that of the 110 million pounds allocated, only 30.6 million would go to communities affected: the chancellor of the exchequer will top-slice 79 million quid to pay for emergency aid last year and to replenish the treasury's coffers for the amount the government will lose from the British rebate, a scheme which has consistently disadvantaged Britain's communities to the benefit of the treasury. What Jeremy and I discovered, however, was incompetence bordering on farce: despite repeated requests from the European Commission the UK has not yet even provided bank account details for the payment to be made!

My three days in Brussels this week have kept me busy chairing meetings of my Group, hosting a conference of Liberal Democrat Mayors from across the EU and speaking at a range of events: I made nine public speeches in three days. The most interesting event I attended was a conference hosted by my Group in conjunction with the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples' Organisation. I'll put my speech up on my website asap.

Would you buy chicken which has been disinfected in chlorinated water? The EU has been under American pressure for ten years now to lift its ban on such poultry. We may do so, but only if the animals are rinsed in drinking water after disinfection and the meat then clearly labelled to inform shoppers.

Finance ministers from the 27 member states met this week. They discussed the taxation of savings held abroad: expect to see more exchange of information between tax authorities in future. And whether to tax more heavily what Luxembourg's finance minister (and Euro-group chair) called 'scandalously high' salaries and golden handshakes in private industry.

Despite a badly delayed flight I arrived home last night to deal with my constituency casework and left again early this morning for Belfast for the annual conference of the Liberal International. Why Belfast? It is the tenth anniversary of the peace agreement and LI President John Alderdice (also former speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly) had the brilliant idea of bringing Liberals from around the world, often from countries wracked by conflict, to see what was achieved in the Province. The star guest will be Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.