David Martin, MEP

Strasbourg Round-up July 2010

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

Labour MEPs meet Catherine Ashton, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

This week I met, alongside my Labour MEP colleagues, with Catherine Ashton to discuss the European External Action Service (EEAS)- the new EU foreign service designed to make the EU more coherent and powerful on the world stage. The EEAS will benefit EU citizens on a practical level as it will make it easier to obtain consular services while abroad. I know Cathie well from her time as the EU's Trade Commissioner and as former leader of the Labour group in the House of Lords.

I am pleased that Cathie has taken a decision to appoint a desk officer for human rights in every mission of the EEAS. I asked her in our meeting how the desk officers would feed their first hand knowledge into the policy process. Cathie responded by setting out an ambitious agenda for her plans for the EEAS to improve human rights and she highlighted in particular a global moratorium on the death penalty as a central goal. My second question to Cathie related to the recent work I have been doing as a member of the Human Rights Sub Committee and the Korea parliamentary delegation. I made an appeal to Cathie that the EU should appoint an envoy for North Korea as I feel this is a region where the EU could make a positive contribution and which therefore warrants additional EU diplomatic resources.

Meeting with delegation from Scottish National Union of Students

I had the rewarding opportunity to meet this week with a group of equality officers from the Scottish National Union of Students and their sister organisations across the EU. The group was coincidentally in Strasbourg for training this week while the plenary session took place. We had a broad and wide ranging discussion regarding inter alia the European External Action Service - the group had followed the plenary debate that afternoon with Cathie Ashton. I explained the issues I am currently working on in my Committees (Trade, Human Rights and Constitutional Affairs) and delegations (Korea and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries) and how they interlink. In response to a question from one member of the group regarding how the EU is linked to the Council of Europe (an international body which promotes human rights, democracy and the rule of law), I explained that the EU under the Lisbon Treaty is able to sign and ratify the European Convention on Human Rights (an international treaty drafted by the Council of Europe). Before the EU can ratify the Convention, Parliament must first give its approval. I am working on a report in the Human Rights Sub Committee on the Convention which will feed into the recommendation for Parliament to give its approval.

Bus, coach and ferry passenger rights

Parliament adopted a report giving greater rights to passengers on bus, coach and ferry services. As the recent airline chaos resulting from the volcanic ash cloud demonstrated, it is vital passenger have comprehensive rights when travelling throughout Europe. In particular this report calls for greater provisions for the liability of carriers, the rights of passengers in instances of delay or cancellation, and for the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility for access to transport and information. At a time when we should be promoting public transport as an efficient and environmentally friendly option, these new provisions for passengers will encourage public transport use and give passengers the rights they deserve as consumers.

Promoting youth access to the labour market

This is a hugely important report, encouraging Member States to give particular attention to youth employment. The financial crisis has had a significant effect on youth unemployment, which is now as high as 40% in some Member States. Identifying the barriers which young people face - such as earning a living wage and having access to childcare for young parents - is crucial in helping them back into work. I support the Parliament's calls for a European Youth Guarantee to provide training, apprenticeships and jobs for Europe's young people. We cannot overestimated the huge effect youth unemployment has on a generation and on society as a whole, and all young people should be able to leave school or university and find jobs and training.

Novel Foods

This is an issue of great concern to constituents throughout Europe, and I heard the concern of many of you in Scotland. I completely agree that food from cloned animals should not enter the food chain and that we need rigorous safety assessments on food from nanotechnology before we can consider placing it on the market. As with the recent vote on food labelling, I fully support clear labelling of meat, and in particular that meat from animals fed GM feed is explicitly marked. I am very disappointed that the amendment on GM labelling of foods did not get the votes required due in part to the lack of support from British Conservative MEPs, but like the rest of my Labour colleagues I will continue to push for clear labelling on foods. As consumers we should always have the right to know what is in our food.

Illegally logged timber

I am very pleased this report was adopted in Parliament. As the largest consumer of timber products in the world, the EU has an obligation to import such products responsibly, and this requirement will now have a positive effect on the environment, human rights and consumer protection. Illegally logged timber is now just that - illegal in the European market. All wood which is sold further down the supply chain will have to be traceable, and risk assessments will be carried out to look into armed conflicts in the region. This means as consumers you now know that timber products come from legally logged sources, that it is not contributing to bloody conflicts or to climate change through deforestation.

SWIFT

The Swift agreement - on the sharing of bank transfer messaging information between the EU and the US - was rejected by the Parliament in February. I and my colleagues had concerns over fundamental rights and data protection, and we voted to send the agreement back for further negotiations. Labour MEPs and our sister parties across Europe led this rejection, as we shared the concerns of constituents over the terms of the agreement.

Following negotiations, a revised agreement was reached, with a significantly better balance between security and respect for citizens' rights. We have helped secure guarantees on the prohibition of random searches, the direct oversight of the programme by an EU official and annual assessments of data retention periods. The continued monitoring of this agreement will be crucial, however, to ensure the terms remain acceptable to this Parliament and European citizens.

North Korea

The Parliament adopted a Resolution on the current human rights situation in North Korea. As a member of the Delegation for Relations with the Korean Peninsula, I am particularly concerned about the horrific human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. During the plenary debate on North Korea I highlighted some issues I believe are key. We must continue to send food aid to the country to help the thousands of people who are suffering due to the huge food shortages, and ensure this aid gets to the people who need it. We must also continue to support NGOs and civil society organisations which work continuously to get information into the isolated country. Illegal radio communications are often the only contact the population has with the outside world and such information is invaluable. I also believe the EU should appoint a special envoy - such as the US Envoy and UN Special Rapporteur - to represent the EU in human rights promotion in the country.