online diary of Richard Corbett MEP

December 2004

Wednesday 1 December

Peter Patze arrives. He is the young German (from the former East Germany) who has come to our office in Leeds to do two months work experience whilst improving his English. Now, he is to spend a week in our Brussels office, having found an unbelievably cheap route to get from Leeds-Bradford to Brussels by taking budget airlines, first to Dublin (which he was able to visit for a day) and then to Charleroi in Belgium and then by bus to Brussels! He joins after I speak to a visiting group from Bradford University and go to the Socialist Group meeting debating today' parliamentary business.

Three more visitors groups in the course of the day: journalism students from Sheffield University, secondary school pupils and teachers from Sweden and the "New Europe" organisation from Denmark, who will be active in the Yes campaign during the Danish referendum.

Also a lot of interviews today: FR3 French television (on today's vote in the French Socialist Party), some written press journalists and BBC World Service radio for their programme "Europe Today".

In between in the chamber for the debate on the situation in Ukraine. Almost all Members are wearing orange scarves, symbolising their support for opposition Presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, who appears to have been denied victory through ballot stuffing. One member on the communist benches is wearing a Ukrainian flag, presumably in support of Viktor Yanukovych . Nonetheless, there is a very broad majority in favour of re-running the second round of the election with international observers to ensure fairness.

Nigel Farage (UKIP), obviously thinks the Ukraine is less important than trying to re-run the vote of confidence on the Commission last week as he proposes to change the agenda to that effect. Only his group and Daniel Hannan of the Conservatives support him, as far as I can see.

Evening meeting with Caroline Flint MP for Doncaster and Minister for Drugs and Crime (or rather Minister to combat drugs and crime!). She is very responsive to ideas and suggestions from the MEPs.

Thursday 2 December

Spend much of the morning doing interviews with all the French TV channels, BBC, Le Monde and the Guardian on the result on the internal referendum of the French Socialist Party on the Constitution. This has produced a clear majority in favour of the Constitution, despite the efforts of Mr Fabius.

I have been all over the French press in the last week on this issue, to the delight of the majority and the horror of a minority of my French Socialist colleagues. The French press has quoted extensively a letter I wrote to the French Socialist MEPs opposed to the Constitution who had tabled amendments to my report in which I respond to the points they made in their amendments and in the debate in the Socialist Group. As my response was quite vigorous, it awakened wider interest in the press.

I had in particular, complained at the attacks on the Constitution by some of them on the ground that it was "too British". I found this unacceptable. Criticise specific points and specific wording, yes, but attacking a text simply because it was proposed by Britain seemed to me to be quasi-racist. It was also an attack on a government of a sister socialist party.

I had also ridiculed one of their leaflets which depicted Chirac, Giscard and Sarkozy, saying that they support the Constitution, so French Socialist should (automatically!) be against it. On this logic, they should also favour the restoration of the French monarchy on the grounds that Chirac, Giscard and Sarkozy are Republican!

After a meeting in the Economic and Social Committee, votes in the plenary of the House and a quick lunch, I rush off to the airport to fly back to Yorkshire in time to do an evening meeting in Leeds. It's a presentation in Leeds Town Hall of a pamphlet by Michael Berry on how to enhance public visibility of MEPs. I am due to comment on his presentation. His pamphlet and presentation are very positive about MEPs and disparaging about the lack of media coverage of them. He suggests that media coverage will only be enhanced when more people write in to newspapers asking for it (fine by me!), that MEPs should be called upon to contribute to Westminster proceedings, notably in committees (which has been growing, but is limited for practical timetabling reasons) that there should be a different election system (which one? a return to first past the post is now impossible for European elections) and an end to the "gravy train" image (which he had the grace to admit was more media fiction than reality, with the House of Commons, which has a very similar system, now victim of the same media attacks). This is followed by a good discussion with lots of ideas bounced around.

Friday 3 December

Catch up with case work in the office. Delighted to hear that a longstanding legal case I have helped with, a constituent seeking compensation for an accident in Italy, has been resolved in his favour after many years.

In the evening, drive down to the West Midlands to speak against Roger Godsiff MP in a debate organised by Amicus in West Bromwich on the Constitution. Unfortunately, I was given the wrong venue, and although I arrived punctually, by the time I found the real venue, I had missed his introductory speech, so I'm not sure exactly what arguments he found from a Labour perspective against the Constitution. A few comments he did make in the debate certainly sounded more like UKIP than Labour! In any event, I got the impression, as with all the trade union debates I have done on this subject, that a majority of participants are in favour of the Constitution.

Saturday 4 December

Following a tip-off, I look at the website of Godfrey Bloom, the UKIP MEP. Among the (few) things on his website, is an astonishing personal attack on me, containing items that are totally untrue. For instance, he claims that I previously worked for a communist MEP and that I stood as a Labour candidate in the 1980s (when Labour was anti-Europe) and that I voted for MEPs to have a pay-rise, none of which are true. I must say, I had wondered what UKIP MEPs spent their time doing. But they should at least try and get their research right first!

Of course, I have attacked UKIP as a party on my website. But I have always been careful to quote my sources. Indeed, most of my quotes are from prominent UKIP members themselves. Mr Bloom prefers to use unsubstantiated innuendo to attack me personally (as opposed to my ideas or my party). Never mind - it is more of a reflection on him than me!

Monday 6 December

Work my way through the numerous emails sent in the last few days to my office. New technology makes it so much easier for people to contact their elected representatives, that one consequence is the huge increase in correspondence that we all have to deal with.

I make a point of replying personally to any serious emails addressed to me (rather than being a mass mailing), as long as it is not abusive. However, if they are part of a mass mailing, where I get several hundred near identical letters from different people, they will get a standardised reply. Individual mailings will normally get an individualised reply.

Some people with views that are clearly very different to mine make a habit of writing in regularly. Although some colleagues say they are deliberately trying to waste my time, I nonetheless make a point of replying if they are raising valid points (rather than hurling abuse at me) - though they do fall somewhat down the priority list when there are a lot of other letters. One habit I dislike is when people have been in correspondence with you then lift a sentence out of context and place it on a website or in an article in a misleading way, but not much can be done about it!

In the evening I take part in an hour and a half debate on French television on the EU constitution and French attitudes to Europe as compared to other Member States. Frankly, I could do with and an hour and a half on British TV rather than French!

Tuesday 7 December

Fascinating briefing over lunch on clean coal technology. Coal still accounts for a third of electricity production in the EU and is, of course, an indigenous source of energy not subject to the potential strategic problems of reliance on gas or oil. The problem is its emissions, notably of CO2.

Yet we may be on the verge of a breakthrough in clean coal technology with new types of power stations being developed. Sadly, the EU's research programme in the energy sector, while rightly devoting money to renewables and fusion, somehow managed to leave out research into clean coal. But a new programme has to be agreed next year and I shall be pressing for this emission to be rectified.

Wednesday 8 December

Socialist Group meeting, all day, notable to prepare the Parliamentary debate on the membership application of Turkey (see blog of 6th October for a flavour of the debate). All four English teams qualify for the knock-out stages of the European Cup.

Thursday 9 December

In a meeting on how to inform the public on the Constitution, someone suggests setting up a system for "combating inaccuracies and distortions concerning the Constitution" which has already been given an acronym: CIDC. I propose to refer this to the COPA (Committee to Oppose the Proliferation of Acronyms).

Pop in briefly to a conference being held by UNICE, the Europe-wide CBI. Interesting that while the CBI is hesitating to fully endorse the European constitution (though Digby Jones did say this week "Who says we don't support it?"), its counterparts across the rest of Europe are strongly in favour. It is, after all, highly desirable from a business point of view to avoid gridlock when it comes to decision-taking in the enlarged EU. Single market rules - and especially their modernisation, reform and updating - need to be adopted speedily rather than being drawn out over several years - and proper account must be taken of their impact on SMEs and on the different situations in different countries. All this will be rendered easier by the Constitution.

Fly back to Yorkshire and go to give Achievement Awards at Tong School in Bradford to pupils who have achieved high standards in particular subjects. I was very impressed by the high standards they had achieved, the dedication of the staff, the atmosphere in the school. Gerry Sutcliffe MP, who is the Chair of Governors, attended also.

Friday 10 December

Morning to the Marie Curie Cancer Care Shop in Bradford to highlight a new fundraising initiative which turns old mobile phones and printer cartridges into essential funding for Cancer Care services. The scheme - run in coordination between Eurosource, the recycling company, and Marie Curie - will see all 180 Marie Curie Cancer Care shops stocked with freepost bags. These bags can be used to send unused mobiles and empty printer cartridges for recycling, with the proceeds going to the charity.

A project such as this not only helps those in need of care, but also helps protect our environment. Moves are also underway in the European Union at the moment on an environmental scheme to promote the recycling of waste electrical goods - including company mobile phones. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (aka the WEEE Directive) aims to improve the recycling potential of waste arising from electronic equipment.

Lunch is a quick sandwich between meetings in the constituency office.

Afternoon to Wakefield for the meeting of Yorkshire Labour leaders (where I give the European Report) followed by a goodbye reception for Betty Hood, who has worked at Regional Office for the better part of two decades

Evening to Pontefract & Castleford CLP's Christmas dinner, with John Prescott. This is Yvette Cooper's constituency and Ed Balls is selling the raffle tickets. For those interested in such matters (to paraphrase the chancellor), he accepted euros.

Saturday 11 December

Fundraising dinner for Amnesty International that I go to with my wife and our two girls. Yet another opportunity to see the importance of the hard work done by voluntary organizations and the dedication with which their members work. Society across Europe owes them a lot.

Monday 13 December

Off to Strasbourg, which this time involves catching the early morning train from Brussels to Strasbourg. When I arrive at the station a sign says 1 hour delay. There is also consequently an enormous queue at the station buffet for coffee. Rather than join the queue, I leave my suitcase with another MEP - Jens-Peter Bonde - and pop up to my office in the Parliament building in Brussels to do half an hour's work before returning to the station - only to find that the train has gone, my suitcase has disappeared and there are a lot of irate people in the same situation as me: it turns out the delay was far less than one hour!

Fortunately I get a lift to Strasbourg with a Danish interpreter who had his car parked around the corner from the station and decided to drive to Strasbourg rather than wait five hours for the next train.

But what had happened to my suitcase? It transpired later that Mr Bonde had transported it for me to Strasbourg where he gave it to me. Now, Mr Bonde is the leader of the eurosceptic "Independence and Democracy" group in which the UKIP members sit (though his views are not as extreme as theirs). When I told him that my suitcase was, in fact, full of briefing packs on the Constitution, arguing for it, he was somewhat taken aback! But he did have the humour to say "so at least I've done my bit for the Constitution!"

In Strasbourg, the major debate today is on Turkey's application for membership. See my blog of 6th October for the arguments. We are to vote ahead of the summit meeting this week which will decide on whether or not to open membership negotiations. At this stage, the Parliament's vote is purely indicative, but as we will have to approve any accession treaty, Parliament's view has some clout.

A majority of the Christian Democrat group do not want Turkey to join under any circumstances on the grounds that it is not "European" (by which they mean Islamic). Instead they are pressing for "privileged partnership" - yet Turkey already has such with the European Union having an association agreement and being a full member of other European bodies.

In the evening discussion with LME MEPs. We look at the proposed referendum bill about to go to the Commons. We note that it makes no provision for ex-pat Brits living in other EU countries to vote - yet these people are arguably more directly affected than anyone else by the issue. I am mandated to raise this issue with the Prime Minister and through the LME MPs in London.

Tuesday 14 December

Slipping out of the morning debates I do an interview on French television before making my way to the Kangaroo Group lunch where I am the guest speaker. I address some eighty MEPs and industrialists on the merits of the new Constitution, and find them to be an overwhelmingly sympathetic audience. Industrialists who actually deal with the EU tend, of course, to know more about it and are inevitably more sympathetic to the reform proposals.

In the afternoon we learn who has been elected as the new leader of the Tory MEPs - they are changing yet again - and it is our very own Yorkshire MEP Tim Kirkhope. He is pro-European and fended off a challenge from Chris Heaton-Harris, a eurosceptic. But to get into the final ballot, after a tie with Giles Chichester MEP in the first ballot, he had to win a cut of a deck of cards in which he came up with the Ace! What a way to decide a leader!

Anyway, I wish him well when I bump into him, saying "This will keep you busy and out of mischief in Yorkshire!"

In the evening I go to the mince pie and drink offered by UKREP - the UK Embassy to the EU - to which all British MEPs and officials are invited. This is one of the few cross-party social occasions, though only one UKIP MEP turns up, and even then briefly.

Then to the Strasbourg Christmas market which goes on late in the evenings. It is a wonderfully lively and colourful market, albeit in the freezing cold as the snow comes down. Nonetheless it sells a wide variety of potential presents - not just Christmas decorations. I manage to find a few presents, but there is much Christmas shopping still to do.

Wednesday 15 December.

We today have the vote on Turkey. Astonishingly, a number of Christian Democrat and far-right MEPs have requested a secret ballot on key amendments in the resolution and on the final vote. Our rules of procedure state very clearly that Parliament "may" hold a secret ballot on the request of one fifth or more of its members. The President interprets "may" to be "shall" on the ground that such a request has never been refused in the past. But it has only once been requested in the past! It is, the view of many members, a democratic outrage that, on such an important issue, the public cannot see how their members have voted. Others comment on the hypocrisy of those who say one thing in public and vote a different way in secret.

In any case, the manouvre does not help them: Parliament votes by a comfortable majority (407 to 262) in favour of the resolution and in favour of opening membership negotiations with Turkey.

After a brief attendance at the EPLP meeting I go to address a forty-strong visitors group from Leeds who have come to visit the European Parliament. I can only spend an hour with them before having to go to another meeting which I am due to chair and I leave them in the hands of John Fordham from the Parliament's visitors service, who was actually at university with me. They seem a well informed group (some have been to Strasbourg before) and there is a good discussion. I later join them for part of their dinner in the evening.

The bulk of the evening however, is the EPLP's Annual Christmas Review. This has built up over the years to a great social occasion and a significant fundraising event for the charity - choosing a different worthy cause every year. This year it is Save the Children's special appeal for Darfur. We are joined by colleagues from other national delegations in the socialist group and non-politicos as well. This year I am not putting on an act, having done two the previous year, so I can enjoy the evening without worrying whether I am making a fool of myself!

Star of the evening is Michael Cashman whose singing and acting win a standing ovation.

Friday 17 December

While the European Council (the "summit " of heads of government) gets to grips with the issue of Turkey's application to join, the office gets down to the more mundane task of stuffing thousands of envelopes to send out my quarterly report. If there is anyone reading this who would like to receive it by Email, just drop us a line. Back copies are anyway available on the website.

Saturday 18 December

Catch up with reading - including this week's Parliament magazine which has a truly hideous cartoon of me and Mendez de Vigo!

Monday 20 December

Day in the office where I plough through the correspondence and have a meeting crucial to deciding whether we can stay in the same office for the next five years. Having lost David Bowe, we (i.e. Hilary Benn MP and myself) need to find some way of plugging the gap.

Then to the office Christmas dinner! This year, Lol, Toby and I are joined by my Brussels staff, who happen to be in England anyway. This includes Kay, our stagiaire, Arielle (whose first visit to Yorkshire this is), and an American, Jeff, whose university places students for a couple of months in the offices of MPs or MEPs. It's nice to relax together and it is, of course, a great opportunity to catch up on the gossip from both the constituency and Brussels, as well as what all the staff have been up to outside of work. We also have "Secret Santa" which was organised by Katie, a Leeds University student who volunteers three days a month in my parliament office.

After the meal, we are joined by a couple of friends. One bar we visit has BBC News on the screens, complete with verbatim subtitles, some of which are unintentionally amusing. At one point, the stenographer mishears Tony Blair's reference to "Bulgaria and Romania" and manages to come out with "Bulgaria Andrew-mania". Later, we are told that ID cards will "combat terrorism and benefit fraud". (Combating terrorism is all very well, but why on earth would anyone want to benefit fraud?)

Tuesday 21 December

Hangover not too bad - mine at least!

Always interesting to read local Yorkshire work related to Europe. I see that the University of Bradford's European Briefing Unit is studying the use of EU funding and is offering a workshop for people involved in the financial management of European Regional Development Fund projects in particular. Its introductory document points out that such European funding "requires more extensive record-keeping and financial management than any other form of project funding", that "Commission audits are extremely rigorous" and that "EU auditors not only require perfect financial records, but also investigate the quality and performance of projects". So much for europhobic stories about lax accounting and auditing - but watch out for a new batch of stories about excessive red tape!

Wednesday 22 December

I look at what EU fishing ministers agreed last night. They rejected the Commission's proposals to ban cod fishing entirely from certain parts of the North Sea and instead agreed on a reduction (by 2 days - down to 8 to 20 days per month, depending on net size) of the number of days allowed for fishing cod.

As ever, the real issue is whether the limits will be sufficient to allow stocks to recover. Every year, the Commission proposes significant reductions in fishing efforts, only for the Council (the ministers from each country who take the decision) to agree on less radical reductions. The following year, this is usually found to have been insufficient, further reductions are proposed, and the cycle continues.

However, this year, many fishermen are adamant that the previous measures have worked and that cod stocks are recovering. Let's hope they are right!

But either way, there is no alternative to agreeing on a common policy, as a fish have the unfortunate habit of swimming from one country's waters to another's. A reduction in fishing by one country's fishermen alone would do nothing to help, if others continued to catch as much or more than before. The common fishing policy is not easy to manage, but not having a common policy would be a disaster.

An intriguing new issue: are we losing out on regional aid because of North Sea oil revenues wrongly being counted? Yorkshire's GDP per head at a regional level is used to determine eligibility for EU funding. The accuracy and reliability of these statistics is therefore of great importance. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) identifies various incomes that cannot be satisfactorily assigned to any particular physical region. The main component of this is oil and gas extraction in the North Sea. Since they cannot rationally assign this expenditure to a region, ONS assigns them to a virtual region called "Extra-Regio".

With our extensive North Sea Oil and Gas operations, this extra component is quite substantial in the UK, accounting for over 2% of national GDP. This is a far higher proportion than in other EU countries. Indeed, the only other country that reports Extra-Regio activity to Eurostat is the Netherlands.

The problem comes when Eurostat calculate regional GDP from the UK data. Eurostat simply reallocate Extra-Regio GDP to regions on a pro-rata basis. The GDP of all UK regional and sub-regional areas will thus be inflated artificially by around 2%.

An issue to pursue in the new year!

Friday 24 December

Last minute preparations for Christmas

Saturday 25 December

Among my Christmas presents is a pedometer. I shall at last be able to see how far I walk around the Parliament building and on the streets of Yorkshire. During the European election, I reckoned that I had walked the equivalent of Yorkshire to Brussels - now I shall be able to see whether such guesses are accurate!

Sunday 26 December

The day everyone plays with/reads/tries out/whatever their Christmas presents. Pedometer seems to work.

Monday 27 December

The dreadful news comes in of the Indian Ocean Tsunami and the devastation it has caused. Words fail me to express the horror that we all feel, and if anything, it is likely to get worse as more news comes in.

Tuesday 28 December

Never have so many countries been simultaneously effected by a single earthquake. The whole world seems to have come together in responding to the Tsunami disaster. I find the website to make a donation and my children decide to donate all their recent pocket money. I am heartened by the tremendous public response, especially in Britain, but much more will be needed. Hilary Benn seems to be working tirelessly to co-ordinate Britain's aid effort.

Wednesday 29 December

Work on the next (6th) edition of the text-book I co-author with two friends on the Parliament, and get three chapters done. There is hope yet to catch up with our backlog by the end of January!

Thursday 30 December

More reading to catch up on, but much of it is interesting. Yorkshire Forward's report on Progress in the Region shows us as staying on track for the best economic performance for generations, improved levels of educational achievement in every local authority area, improved water purity and air quality, and so on. The one major shortcoming that will require much new investment is transport, where they conclude that under-investment is hindering the region's economic growth and increasing congestion and pollution. The number of people using buses has actually fallen by 7% since 1997/98!

It's also interesting to note that the share of Yorkshire's exports that go to the rest of Europe are even higher than the national average. We depend on the success of the EU more than most!

Friday 31 December 2004

Yet another year flown by! As I toast the new year at my parent's flat, I reflect on all that has happened in 2004. In terms of European affairs, it has seen two historic events: the accession of ten new countries to the Union and the agreement on a new constitution for the EU. In personal terms, it seen me re-elected to serve another term in the European Parliament. But today, all is overshadowed by the Tsunami.