Graham's blog entry, Friday 24 October 2008

Published on Fri 24th Oct 2008

The roof of our debating chamber having been repaired, the European Parliament was back in Strasbourg this week (as the law says we must be) for four days of formal debates and votes. We voted (at first reading) the EU's draft budget for 2009, which means we agreed what we think should be the spending priorities and how much money we think should be allocated to each budget heading. There will be now be a month of negotiations with the Budget Council (27 finance ministers) before a final vote in December. Though the European Parliament cannot increase the budget, the Member States have to get our agreement to how it is spent.

The theatrical highlight of our week was the appearance of Nicolas Sarkozy at a debate on Tuesday about the outcome of last week's EU summit. He and Barroso spoke for rather too long in making their statements to the House, but we indulged them. In the ensuing debate I attacked Sarkozy for the absence of any mention of the European Parliament in the section of the final communique which dealt with climate change: some Member States (esp. Italy) are trying to squeeze the EP out of the decision-making process. He gave me an answer which half apologized, while with other Group leaders he was robust in his dismissal of criticism. Like Blair, he is a brilliant parliamentarian, knocking his opponents this way and that until they are left reeling: he demonstrated it on Socialist leader Martin Schulz, who came off much the worse for wear. The debate, like all our debates, can be viewed on the EP's website www.europarl.europa.eu .

Sadly, Sarkozy's success in sorting out the financial crisis has gone to his head and by Tuesday afternoon he was allowing his friends to tout him to continue as (self-styled) head of the Eurozone's economy beyond the end of the French Presidency. When asked by a newswire journalist what I thought of this I suggested that Sarkozy had taken too much too heart the line of the poet Emerson which reads 'There is no history: only biography'.

Timeshare touts and body scanners were among the other themes of our week. We amended current laws on timeshare sales to insist on better information to purchasers, a longer 'cooling off' period during which they can change their minds and the existence of a contract in the customer's mother tongue. We also told the EU Transport Ministers to think again about allowing the introduction of body scanners at airports (which are the equivalent of a strip search, showing the passenger's naked body beneath their clothes and things like breast implants or colostomy bags) without first putting in place laws covering the use and storage of the images and the rights of passengers to alternative body searches. The EU cannot stop member states introducing the scanners, but we can insist on laws to safeguard some degree of privacy and human dignity.

Parliament also asked the Council of Ministers to simplify the divorce laws for the 170,000 divorces each year between citizens of different member states. Our view is that the couple should be allowed to choose which law they divorce under: it could be that of the country of origin of one of the partners, that of the country in which they married or that of the country in which they live. We do not yet enjoy powers of co-legislation with the member states in this area, but they find it increasingly difficult to ignore our views.

On Monday night I attended the hearing of the UK's new Commissioner-designate, Baroness Ashton, before the EP's international trade committee. She put in an honest and assured performance and was approved by Parliament almost nem con.

The next country to join the EU might well be Iceland. 70% of Icelanders now want a referendum on joining the EU and half definitely want to join, with one quarter undecided. After the drubbing their country received in the financial maelstrom of recent weeks they seem to recognise the benefit of being part of a larger unit.

Today I will be in Exeter for the raising of the UN Flag and later in Bristol I will meet students involved in the 'Full House Project' are making a film on migration in partnership with young people from Hannover and Poznan. Tomorrow I start a week's holiday with my family, grateful that this year our parliamentary recess coincides with the Somerset schools' half term holiday.