Garden gnomes, marzipan mice and revolting French taxi drivers were highlights of this month's trip to Strasbourg. As ever serious issues lay behind these lobbying slogans (apart from the French taxi drivers who really were revolting - against German taxi drivers who come to the Parliament and take local business).
Voting on REACH - a proposal to register chemicals in the EU - was the main event of the week. With over 1,000 amendments it is the most complicated piece of legislation to ever go through the Parliament. Hideously confusing in its detail, it aims to improve public safety through registering and testing chemicals. The Parliament has also strengthened rules which will reduce the amount of testing on animals. While the compromise agreement is not perfect and will need further work, it is yet another example of the European Parliament helping to improve environmental legislation.
Preparations continue for next month's World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting in Hong Kong. I met with Peter McGuaran, the Australian Agriculture Minister. He said he was thrilled with the proposed reform of the sugar regime (which must be bad news for British beet producers). Peter Mandelson came to meet MEPs who will be going to Hong Kong and gave an update on negotiations. Like REACH these negotiations are complicated, but both REACH and WTO will have a real effect on our region, and the rest of the world. We must increase Africa's, and other Least Developed Countries', share of world trade to help lift millions out of extreme poverty. While this is difficult it will only happen if pressure is maintained on Governments. This pressure comes from the public telling their politicians that these are issues they really care about.
Lobbying is one way to do this but quite what a marzipan mouse has to do with chemical testing is beyond me. Twenty minutes after eating mine shooting pains led to a nasty moment when I feared the mouse had been spiked with some of the deadly chemicals REACH aims to phase out. Am still here so just hope it isn't a slow working poison
