David Martin, MEP

Strasbourg Round-up September 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.

Barroso's State of the Union address

The President of the Commission, José Manuel Barroso, delivered the first annual State of the Union address to the Parliament on Tuesday. While Barroso focused on unemployment in the European Union, I was disappointed that he did not properly address the deeper issues that unemployment is causing throughout the Union. We need a serious effort to tackle the poverty and social exclusion which the financial crisis is making worse. The inequalities between rich and poor in the Union is shocking, and it is disappointing that the President did not use this historic occasion to set an ambitious agenda for change in Europe. The much needed financial transaction tax which would be a huge help in reducing inequalities was not mentioned, and the outrageous recent deportation of the Roma in France was similarly ignored by Barroso. I hope in the future the State of the Union address will be used to properly address and tackle the concerns of European citizens.

Floods in Pakistan

An important debate was held on the role of the EU in the aftermath of the floods in Pakistan. As the world's largest aid donor the EU has a vital role to play in coordinating aid to the region. Member State governments in Europe must also fulfil their responsibilities and provide high levels of aid for such a devastating disaster. I am pleased that the immediate coordination efforts of the European Commission in responding to the crisis have been timely and effective, and I hope governments continue to match their public statements of sympathy with real aid.

Expulsion of Roma

Parliament adopted a resolution co-authored by the Socialist and Democrat group of which I am a member, denouncing the recent expulsion of the Roma people by the French government. To deport an ethnic group without assessing individual cases breaches EU citizens' rights to free movement, gives credibility to racist statements and is simply illegal. The expulsion of Roma in France and elsewhere should be halted immediately, and a full investigation into the legality of such a move should be launched by the European Commission. It is disgraceful that any European country can target an ethnic group in such a way and I am pleased that the European Parliament sent a clear message to the Commission and the French government over the outrage this has caused.

Animal Testing

I was disappointed that a revision of the current animal testing regulations did not go nearly far enough in protecting the rights of animals. While a report adopted this week in Parliament will somewhat improve the outdated legislation on scientific experiments on animals, it falls vastly short of the robust legislation needed to protect animals from pain and prolonged suffering. What we need to move towards are clear restrictions on the use of non-human primates, a ban on the use of wild-caught animals, an unequivocal obligation to use non-animal alternative methods when scientifically available and a ban on experiments which involve severe and prolonged suffering.

Colombian Free Trade Agreement

I once again spoke to representatives from the human rights group Justice For Colombia, to hear the latest developments in the human rights situation in the country. Unfortunately as the most dangerous country in the world to be a trade unionist, I still have serious concerns over the Free Trade Agreement currently being concluded between the EU and Colombia. I do not believe further trade agreement should be made until the appalling murder rate of trade unionists is properly addressed, and those guilty are brought to justice.

Cariforum

This week I was elected Chair of the Cariforum - EC Parliamentary committee. In 2008 an Economic Partnership Agreement was signed between the European Union and 15 Caribbean island states (collectively referred to as Cariforum). This Economic Partnership Agreement is a bilateral trade agreement which is designed to promote development in these Caribbean countries which suffer heavily from the effects of climate change and migration. One of the provisions of the Agreement is the creation of a Cariforum - EC Parliamentary committee to monitor its implementation. The committee will be made up of MEPs and parliamentarians from national parliaments in the Caribbean states. I am honoured to have been elected Chair of the committee and I am looking forward to working closely with colleagues in the Caribbean to help tackle the serious problems they are facing.