Shoes, bird flu and barometers have been on my agenda this week in Strasbourg.
On Tuesday I asked Peter Mandelson to explain why he felt it necessary to impose duties on footwear imports from China and Vietnam. As usual his answers sounded plausible at the time but don't seem to bear up to closer scrutiny. Both countries have been found guilty of illegally subsidising the costs of production, something the EU has not been ashamed to do in the past. While I support Commissioner Mandelson in saying that trade should be fair I am not convinced that introducing anti-dumping measures which might well make shoes on the High Street more expensive. The rapid development of Asia into the main producer of items like footwear is something that is here to stay. I am concerned that the Commission is supporting a small number of Mediterranean producers at the expense of British consumers and companies.
Wednesday saw me chairing a meeting on Bird Flu with Public Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou. This likeable little Cypriot is not very well known outside of Brussels but as the man in charge of preparing the EU for a possible pandemic he is pretty important.
There are a lot of people working very hard to make sure that everything possible is being done to prepare for Bird Flu. I have been criticised for calling for a total ban on imports of poultry. Apparently this is an over-reaction that is not appropriate to the actual threat. What worries me is that everyone is trying to predict the unpredictable. Six months ago I was confidently told by experts that migrating birds would die before they carried the dangerous strain of bird flu into Europe. It turns out that some birds, particularly swans and ducks, are pretty resilient when it comes to flying north with a runny beak. Then I was told that infected migrating birds wouldn't come as far west as France or Britain because of migratory patterns. However, due to an unusually severe winter these birds have flown to, and infected, poultry in France.
I don't blame experts for getting these things wrong, we are dealing with a complicated problem and there is no simple solution. Panic measures won't help but surely if there is even a chance that banning imports from infected countries might make us safer it is a chance worth taking?
On a cheerier note Conservative MEPs managed to get rid of a barmy proposal that would have made barometers illegal. We have produced these historic items in our region for hundreds of years and I am glad that the traditional skills involved in their manufacture and repair won't be lost.
