Newham Borough Liberal Democrats

Sarah's bulletin: 18 September 2009

It's been a busy week… MEPs re-elected José Manuel Barroso as President of the European Commission for a second term, and my Liberal Democrat colleagues and I are all preparing to go down to Bournemouth this weekend for the Liberal Democrat party conference.

Barroso re-elected as President of the European Commission

On Wednesday the European Parliament officially re-elected Barroso as president of the Commission for a second term. He received 382 votes in total, giving him an absolute majority of all MEPs and a strong mandate for the next five years. The vote differed to previous elections of the president in that the parliament was divided on highly political, as opposed to national, lines. Though secret, it is believed that the centre-right European People's Party and the majority of the Liberal (ALDE) group backed him, while most on the left voted against. Labour MEPs, torn between their group's opposition to Barroso and Gordon Brown's command to support him, decided - very bravely - to abstain! Brown seems to be losing his sway with his MEPs… another sign that his lame duck premiership needs to come to an end?

I backed Barroso because he pledges to resist protectionism and defend the single market, and because in these difficult times stability is worthwhile. But he is not perfect by anyone's standards. I was highly disappointed that in his first term he was utterly subservient to big governments and showed no real instinct for human rights. We should have expected as much given that during his time as Portuguese prime minister when he supported the Bush and Blair illegal Iraq war and permitted CIA rendition flights en route to Guantanamo. Hopefully during his second term he will display more backbone. You can read my press release on this subject here.

Immigration and Asylum quotas?

This week the Daily Express and the Daily Telegraph scaremongered that the future Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, which Mr Barroso has accepted at the proposal of the ALDE Group, will force the UK to accept more asylum-seekers from across Europe. The newspapers were assisted in these conclusions by our own Nigel Farage MEP, the leader of the UK Independence Party.

This is simply not true. Solidarity on asylum - while necessary - entails only voluntary measures within the EU and the proposed scheme to resettle refugees directly from outside Europe would also be non-compulsory. The goal is to make sure that no country is overwhelmed. No element of EU policy has ever involved quotas or compulsion of national acceptance of migrants.

A future Fundamental Rights Commissioner must make a contribution to stopping migrants meeting their death in the Mediterranean: we cannot have people in frail boats pushed back out to sea and never assessed for protection. Boat people must not drown due to EU disarray. Youy can read my speech and press release here.

Visa liberalisation for ex-Yugoslavia

This week I spoke in parliament on the proposal for visa-free travel (for short visits, not settlement) for citizens of Western Balkan countries, for which I am the shadow draftsman. I wholeheartedly support EU accession of all Western Balkan counties and freedom of travel is a vital part of preparation for this. However, the Commission's decision to cover Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia but keep Bosnia and Albania out of the visa liberalisation scheme - and the exclusion of Kosovo for legal reasons - is a mistake. This will be very detrimental to regional stability, as it means that Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats who have dual nationality will be able to travel freely to the border-free area whereas other Bosnians will not.

Lightening the visa burden on these countries is an important part of improving their business links with the EU and widening the horizons of young people wanting to discover the rest of Europe - the vast majority of people who want to come to the EU are tourists or businessmen. Relaxing visa requirements and encouraging trade, cultural and student exchanges is essential.

Thames tunnel triumph

It was recently announced that Thames Water are hoping to soon get the green light on the long overdue project to build a 'super-sewer' tunnel. The tunnel will ease the pressure on London's Victorian sewer system which has led to Thames Water dumping enough untreated sewage to fill the O2 arena 15 times over into the Thames every year.

I have long campaigned on the issue of sewage being dumped into the Thames, and would like to think that one of the reasons why the government is finally taking action is the petition I presented to the European Parliament back in 2005. There is no reason why Londoners should have to tolerate the 'big stink' that often wafts off the Thames. I will be following the progress of this tunnel very carefully to make sure that it does get implemented even though a number of London Tory councilors are already voicing their opposition on cost and planning grounds.

EU-US deal is a 'giveaway' of European bank details

MEPs heavily criticized member states this week for negotiating a bad deal to continue the transfer of European citizens' bank details to the US Treasury. Not only is the agreement unfair, but they did so behind closed doors without any meaningful parliamentary input. European citizens need to be able to trust EU data protection standards, and this kind of "giveaway" to a third country does not create that kind of confidence.

Nabucco and DESERTEC

The Parliament also debated the proposed Nabucco gas pipeline that will run from central Asia to Austria, and attempt to insulate the EU from further Russian gas crises. Diversifying and securing our energy supply is an essential part of the EU's to-do list. The Russian gas crisis of January 2009 showed just how dependent we are on Russia-Ukraine gas, and the Nabucco pipeline is a good initiative to secure the EU's energy supplies.

But in order to meet our 20% (or 30% if there is agreement in Copenhagen) greenhouse gas savings and 20% renewable energy target by 2020 we desperately need to move away from fossil fuels and towards renewable sources of energy. The DESERTEC initiative is an exciting opportunity for both Africa and Europe to use the massive amounts of solar energy that falls on the Sahara every year. It has been shown that an area of only 150km by 150km of the Sahara could generate as much electricity as generated by the entire European Union put together, and that less than 1% of the world's deserts, if covered with solar thermal power plants, could produce as much electricity as the world currently consumes.

EU consumer benefit: bank payments

You will all probably be getting mysterious missives from your banks about changes your 'Customer Relationship Agreement' or whatever they call it. The bottom line - although they are coy about telling you - is that they are obliged by an EU Directive, implemented via the UK Payment Services Regulations 2009, to credit your account in no more than three working days and by 2012 by the end of the next working day. No more hanging on to your money and earning themselves the interest on it, thanks to us in Brussels!

Looking forward to party conference…

As we all prepare to make our way on a Lib Dem style 'Hogwarts Express' down to Bournemouth, I hope that whether you are attending conference yourself or watching the keynote speeches on TV, you all have an enjoyable party conference week. This is our last chance before the general election to debate our major policies, and I for one hope that we can fully integrate the European dimension into all our policy papers. See you in Bournemouth!

Kind regards,

Sarah Ludford