2 trips to Strasbourg in the space of a month! My, my, aren't we the lucky ones? Fortunately, this week's agenda was jammed packed with an array of issues making the 300mile journey from Brussels slightly more tolerable. Energy, sugar, rail transport and the shocking situation in Burma were just some of the debates held this week.
The jingles haven't started but the fact is manufacturers, distributors, and shops are gearing up for the Christmas season set to plague our supermarkets and shopping centres. Please don't be confused, I am not auditioning for the part of Scrooge in the upcoming parliament pantomime. (They probably wouldn't allow such a blatant display of Britishness). My anxiety towards Christmas relates to the recent recalls of dangerous toys from China which last week saw Mattel recall Barbie Doll accessories said to contain dangerous lead paint. Speaking in the chamber this week, I made an impassioned plea to my European counterparts to ensure greater vigilance on the labelling and importation of all products into the European Union.
We live in a global market but this should not mean the products imported into Europe from outside should not have to meet the same high standards. I want to ensure the safety of my constituents – the children, the grandchildren of the people that have elected me – when they go to buy their Christmas toys that they feel confident that the products they buy are not dangerous and do not threaten their safety in any way. This issue is set to remain on the parliament's agenda for some time. Together with my Conservative colleagues, I called on the Commission to investigate how these products are entering our markets in the first place. Security needs to be implemented at the source not at the shelves when it could be too late.
MEPs yet again attempted to debate the restructuring of the sugar market this week. The scheme agreed by the Council under the Chairmanship of Margaret Beckett to reform the sugar regime was far from satisfactory and there was a serious and urgent need to revisit the dossier again now. To be honest, after the shambolic way in which she handled the Single Farm Payments scheme, you would have thought that lessons from the past would have been learnt. Fortunately, the report adopted by the parliament today is sufficiently UK-grower friendly. Following the closure of the factories in Alscott and York, the quota was simply transferred to other British sugar plants. This left the growers there with no compensation from the restructuring fund. On the other hand, growers in East Anglia will be eligible for considerable compensation, should they give up their quota. The amounts available would be even greater if the EP's position were to be adopted the Council. The work of the parliament has provided the best out of a bad situation. The interests and livelihoods of farmers as well as the impact common policy has on individual member states need to be given greater consideration- Otherwise this idealistic common approach to protecting agricultural industries will end up threatening our local communities. The deal has been sweetened but is it too late?
The new conservative MEPs website is now live.. It is a great way to see how we represent your interests in Europe. You can watch video recordings, read news updates, and place your vote on various polls, post comments or ask questions. I myself am not what you would call a natural when it comes to technology but this site is easy and accessible and I urge each of you to visit it today!!
