David Martin MEPStrasbourg Roundup

Strasbourg Roundup - February 2008

Welcome to my Strasbourg Roundup. This is a very brief update to let you know what happens at the plenary meetings of the European Parliament.

This month's Strasbourg session was a busy one, dealing with several important issues. MEPs debated and / or voted on the following:

Lisbon Treaty - A substantial majority of MEPs voted for a report on the Lisbon Treaty, co drafted by my Labour colleague Richard Corbett. The European Parliament has, in adopting this report, made a clear statement that it welcomes the Lisbon Treaty. The Treaty is due to be ratified by all 27 Members States this year and it will come into force in 2009. The Lisbon Treaty will bring greater democracy and efficiency to the institutions of the European Union in a number of ways. First, the Treaty will extend the Presidency of the Council from 6 months to 30 months. Second, the Treaty will combine the posts of the External Relations Commissioner and the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy to present a coherent voice for Europe on its foreign affairs policy. These and other changes which the Treaty will bring, such as an increased role for national parliaments, will allow the European Union to work more effectively and coherently. While all Member State governments and the majority of Member State opposition parties recognise the benefits of the Lisbon Treaty, the UK Eurosceptic MEPS (UK Independence Party and some Conservative MEPs) protested in support of their claim that the Treaty will undermine British sovereignty. These protests only demonstrate how isolated their views have become in Europe.
Kosovan Independence - Following Kosovo's declaration of independence last weekend, the European Parliament debated how Europe can play a role in ensuring the future stability in the Balkans region. Myself and colleagues in the Socialist Group are committed to the Thessaloniki Agenda, agreed in 2003, which proposes steps to ensure the full integration of the Western Balkans region into the EU. The European Parliament recognises that the unilateral declaration of independence should not set a precedent for other regions which seek independence. It is clear to me that Scotland, for example, would have no support from the EU if it were to follow a similar course of action to Kosovo.
Trade Defence Instruments - I debated with the Commission, Council and colleagues the future of the EU's system of Trade Defence Instruments (TDI). This system allows Europe to impose tariffs and other trade sanctions on third countries who dump their products on the European market. During this debate, I argued that it is in the interests of European consumers for the European Commission to reform the TDI system. The benefit to the consumer would be in lower cost goods. I also argues that there are strong social and environmental arguments for reforming the system. Under the current rules, the Commission cannot take into consideration production factors of goods such as whether the goods were made with child labour or whether the products have an beneficial environmental impact.
Formal Address by the Swedish Prime Minister - Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt spoke in support of the Lisbon Treaty which he believed could make European cooperation more effective. Sweden, which is due to take on the EU Presidency next year, wants to focus its Presidency on issues ranging from climate change and energy to the Hague programme (on freedom, security and justice) and to the Baltic dimension.

Other matters that came up in Parliamentary business this week included:

As a Socialist member of the International Trade Committee, I met this week with the Commissioner for International Trade, Peter Mandelson, to discuss some of the issues relating to the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) which the EU is negotiating with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. These agreements have been criticised by the NGO and civil society community for allowing unfettered trade liberalisation. In particular many feel that Europe is pushing for unreasonable market access in ACP countries. I have worked closely with Oxfam in Scotland to ensure that their concerns are heard by the European Commission and I again put forward to Commissioner Mandelson the shared concerns which Oxfam and I have over the direction of the negotiations. Economic Partnership Agreements have the potential to benefit both trading partners if Europe can give ACP countries more flexibility to negotiate agreements with a strong development angle.
During Question Time, I had the opportunity to ask the Commission why some very worthwhile NGOs in Scotland are losing their European funding because they do not meet the 2008 criteria of a £200,000 minimum project budget. At the end of last year I met with a small Edinburgh based NGO who could not meet this new criteria and expected to lose their funding. The Commission expressed their support for any forthcoming requests from the Scottish Executive to lower the minimum limit. I hope that the Scottish Executive will reconsider their funding criteria.

The next Strasbourg Roundup will be published shortly after the next plenary session which takes place 10-13 March 2008.