Graham's blog Friday 20 February 2009

Published on Fri 20th Feb 2009

A rare piece of political theatre was provided to MEPs this week when Czech President Vaclav Klaus addressed us on Thursday. He spoke as the head of state of the country presiding the EU, yet livened up what is often an uninteresting ritual by sharing with us his famously eurosceptic views. There were grains of truth in what he said, for example about how distant the Brussels bodies feel to many of our citizens and how honest criticism of them is regarded in some quarters as revisionist thought: but he lost many in his audience when it became clear that he or his soul-mates had brought a rent-a-crowd who held up banners and protested volubly from the visitors' gallery; and when he told us that the current economic woes started with 'central control of the economy' in Brussels. As he spoke, the Czech EU affairs minister watched nervously for audience reaction to a speech which he had seen barely an hour before it was delivered. Some of the Green MEPs walked out in protest (a rather pointless gesture, in my view). The Socialists refused to applaud at the end. Liberal Democrats gave him polite but restrained applause and the right wing a standing ovation, with the UK Tories and other anti Europeans cheering loudly and stamping their feet. I was pleased that two 16 year old work experience students from Stroud, who were shadowing me this week, were able to be in the visitors gallery to watch the occasion.

The previous day we had debated the situation in Gaza with External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana. I told them that the failures of the past seven years signalled the failure of The Quartet and that the EU should define a peace strategy of its own if Obama will not come along with us in a fresh attempt at peace. (for my speech, see www.europarl.europa.eu.)

The excellent Paul Barltrop of the BBC West politics team was in Brussels this week to film a panel of SW MEPs discussing why it is important to vote in the EP election in June. I fear it will be broadcast only in their Sunday lunchtime slot, but at least they try to educate people.

There were three interesting developments this week in the other EU institutions. The energy ministers approved six infrastructure projects including an offshore wind generation network for the North Sea and an electricity interconnection between southern Europe and North Africa. The Commission proposed the establishment of a European Asylum Support Office to help member states where migratory pressure is high and expertise in dealing with it is thin on the ground. In Greece and Slovenia, for example, only one asylum application in 100 is successful while in Italy, Sweden or Belgium it is four. And Commissioner Almunia published a study showing how the EU enlargements of 2004 and 2007 have benefited the economies of 'old' and 'new' member states alike, improving economic competitiveness, creating 3 million jobs and adding 1.7% to economic growth in the twelve new member states.

My Group held a Public Hearing and a press conference on Afghanistan, led by my French colleague (and former army general) Philippe Morillon MEP. There was consensus that a political strategy is needed to complement the military effort to impose law and order, and that it must involve the neighbouring countries. The USA has recently recognised this and there is hope of more effective EU-US co-operation.

Should food aid to the poorest people in the EU now be paid for from the social affairs budget rather than the CAP? That was the question posed by a German Social Democrat MEP who pointed out that while such aid previously came from CAP food stockpiles it is now mainly bought on the open market since intervention stocks are largely a thing of the past. It may seem an unimportant question since the money comes in any case from the EU budget: but if there's a farming interest at stake it will never go unnoticed in Brussels!

I have engagements today in Bristol and Bournemouth (including a public meeting this evening at Bournemouth's adult education centre) and tomorrow in Cheltenham (canvassing in the morning, addressing local election candidates at lunchtime). On Monday I shall be in Cornwall, on Tuesday in London, on Wednesday in Dorset, on Thursday in Brussels and on Friday in Cornwall again. Catch me if you can! My schedule, as usual, is published on my website.