Latest News

• EU electricity markets: MEPs vote for more competition and enhanced consumer rights (18 June 2008)
• Waste: MEPs tackle Europe's growing mountain (17 June 2008)
• European Parliament calendar of part-sessions 2009 (21 May 2008)
• UK project wins 2nd prize at European Parliament Charlemagne Youth Prize (12 May 2008)
• New European Prize for Journalism (18 March 2008)
• European Parliament plenary session, Strasbourg 10-14 March 2008
  
• Further information

18 June 2008

EU electricity markets: MEPs vote for more competition and enhanced consumer rights

The European Parliament has this week backed the complete separation of electricity production and distribution across the EU. In adopting full ownership 'unbundling' as the only option for electricity companies, MEPs have challenged an agreement reached earlier this month by the Council of Ministers to allow for alternative models. Negotiations are now likely to continue between the two EU institutions.

A series of votes on Wednesday and Thursday has also led to proposals for:

• A stronger decision-making role for the European agency set up to deal with co-operation between national energy regulators;
• Significantly improved consumer rights, making it simpler to switch suppliers, easier to access information on their bills, and giving a right to compensation if service quality levels are not met; MEPs have also called for EU Member States to define 'energy poverty';
• Energy efficiency measures, allowing priority to be given to combined heat & power or renewable energy sources, and seeing a roll-out of Smart-meters within 10 years.

Intense negotiations will now follow between the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. This is the codecision procedure where Parliament and Council have equal powers to decide the final text of any new legislation. If the Council endorses its informal agreement reached on 6 June, the proposals will return for a 2nd reading in the European Parliament. If the Council agrees to all the amendments passed this week, the whole package can come into effect without further readings in Parliament; if agreement between the two institutions can be reached on a compromise position, this would have to return for endorsement in Parliament.

For further details, see: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/documents_presse_par_theme_page/909/default_en.htm

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17 June 2008

Waste: MEPs tackle Europe's growing mountain

Today's vote followed a series of negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers (representing the EU's 27 Member State governments), given that both Parliament and Council have to agree the new rules before they can come into effect. Among the main aspects of the new rules, as voted today:

• A target of 50% re-use or recycling by 2020 of waste materials such as paper, metal or glass from households;
• A target of 70% re-use or recycling for non-hazardous construction and demolition waste, also by 2020;
• An obligation on EU Member States to set up waste management plans and waste prevention programmes;
• A setting-up in law of a five-category hierarchy for dealing with waste. In order of preference: prevention; re-use; recycling; recovery; safe and environmentally-sound disposal.

A majority of MEPs also backed a definition of incineration as a 'recovery' operation, provided it meets certain energy efficiency standards.
This was the 2nd reading in the European Parliament where each amendment adopted needed at least 392 votes (50% + 1). The text now passes to the Council of Ministers, which is expected to confirm today's vote at one its next meetings.

For further details, see: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/064-31746-168-06-25-911-20080616IPR31745-16-06-2008-2008-true/default_en.htm

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21 May 2008

European Parliament calendar of part-sessions 2009 (adopted on 21 May 2008)

The calendar is available for download (PDF file).

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12 May 2008

UK project wins 2nd prize at European Parliament Charlemagne Youth Prize

The London Festival of Europe took second prize at the end of last month in the brand new European Parliament Charlemagne Youth Prize.

Awarded in Aachen, Germany on 29 April by the President of the European Parliament, Hans Gert Pöttering MEP, 1st prize went to Hungary for the "Students without Boundaries" project. Third prize went to Greece and the Byron School of Athens.

Heats in all 27 EU Member States, organised along the lines of the Eurovision Song Contest, sent national winners through to the grand finale.

The UK winner, the London Festival of Europe, is the brainchild of Niccolo Milanese (Welsh) and Lorenzo Marsili (Italian) and a team of young Europeans living in London. The second London Festival of Europe took place in March this year, with a third Festival planned for March 2009.

On receiving the second prize of 3000 euros Niccolo Milanese said:

"When we set up the London Festival of Europe in 2007 it was to try and bring together Europeans in London and Britain and create a genuinely pan European event which reflects both a mobility of the imagination and the nomadic way many young people live now. The most rewarding thing about receiving this prize is meeting other young people from all the 27 Member States and talking to them about setting up collaborations across the Continent. Working across borders is what the future of Europe will be all about. The Charlemagne Youth Prize is all about our Utopianism and Energy and sometimes we can be a little impatient and somewhat frustrated at how slowly things seem to move in European politics :) !"

The Charlemagne Youth Prize is for people aged between 16 and 30 who have been involved with projects helping to promote understanding between different European countries. Judges were looking for projects that would serve as role models for young people living in Europe. They wanted to see practical examples of Europeans living together, whether through the organisation of youth events, youth exchanges or internet projects with a European dimension.

The Third London Festival of Europe will take place in March 2009 http://www.euroalter.com/londonfestival.html

To contact Niccolo: +33 (0) 6 28 46 92 10
Email: n.milanese@euroalter.com

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18 March 2008

New European Prize for Journalism

The first European Parliament Prize for Journalism will be awarded in 2008. It will be given to journalists who have dealt with major issues at a European level or have promoted a better understanding of the EU institutions and/or EU policies.

There will be four different categories for the prize: written press, radio, TV and internet. The winner in each section will receive €5 000.

Individuals or teams up to 5 people are eligible to contribute with articles or reports, whether one-off or part of a series. The contributions must be published or broadcast between 1 May 2007 and 30 April 2008 in one of the official languages of the European Union. All entrants must be nationals of an EU Member State or resident in the EU and a registered journalist.

Entries will be accepted until 15 May 2008 inclusive. The prize will be awarded in October 2008.

A jury will be set up to select winners in each category in the UK, with an overall jury, led by a European Parliament Vice-President, selecting the four winners EU-wide.

Application forms and the full rules of the Prize are available on the European Parliament's UK Office website at: www.europarl.org.uk or at our special website dedicated to this new prize: www.eppj.eu

The deadline for submissions is 15 May 2008.

For further information, contact Simon Duffin, Head of Press,
European Parliament UK Office, simon.duffin@europarl.europa.eu

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14 March 2008

European Parliament plenary session, Strasbourg 10-14 March 2008

Among the key events in Strasbourg this week:

Flood relief

The European Parliament formally approved the granting of €162.4 million from the EU Solidarity Fund to the UK to help offset part of the costs of the flood damage in 2007. This is the first application from the UK for financial assistance after a major natural disaster. The report approving the funding from the EU Solidarity Fund was adopted with 613 votes in favour, 11 against and 17 abstentions. It is for the UK authorities to decide how to distribute the funds. The following UK MEPs spoke in Monday's debate: Richard Ashworth (Conservative, South East); Linda McAvan (Labour, Yorks & Humber); Diana Wallis (Lib Dem, Yorks & Humber); John Whittaker (UKIP, North West).

Further Info on www.europarl.europa.eu

Using technology to help older people

Helping older people to stay healthier and to live independently for longer is the aim of a new research programme on "Ambient Assisted Living" (AAL). West Midlands Labour MEP Neena Gill was the rapporteur and the only UK MEP to speak in Wednesday night's debate. The programme will develop new information and communication technology to enable more elderly people to access public services more easily, but these services must nonetheless respect their privacy and dignity, say MEPs. The European Parliament approved a first-reading deal with Council of Ministers by 431 votes to 10 with 8 abstentions. Speaking in Wednesday's debate Neena Gill said: "This will assist the European industry and research institutes in the development of new, cutting-edge ICT services, products and solutions to enhance the quality of life for the older persons... I am pleased that the Council has agreed to a €0.2m minimum contribution from each participating country." For the UK, a technology platform under the auspices of the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform will be set up.

Further Info on www.europarl.europa.eu

CAP reform

Parliament adopted a report on the Commission's proposals for further reform of the CAP, known as the "CAP health check". The European Parliament recommends broad approval of the proposals, although it has reservations about certain points, including the amount of funds to be switched from market support rural development, as well as the capping of direct aid. The resolution adopted this week constitutes Parliament's initial response to the Commission's general ideas on further CAP reform. The Commission will next submit draft legislation, on which Parliament will have to be consulted.
The following UK MEPs spoke in Tuesday's debate: Neil Parish (Conservative, South West); Alyn Smith (SNP, Scotland); Bairbre de Brún (Sinn Fein); Derek Clark (UKIP, East Midlands); Jim Allister (Ind. Northern Ireland); Struan Stevenson (Conservative, Scotland); Jim Nicholson (UUP, Northern Ireland).

Further Info on www.europarl.europa.eu

50 years of the European Parliament

To celebrate the European Parliament's 50th anniversary, the presidents of the Parliament, the Council and the Commission each addressed the House in a special sitting in Strasbourg this week. In his opening address, European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering welcomed former presidents of the European Parliament, including Lord Plumb from the UK. Mr Pöttering stressed that "step by step, the European Parliament has fought to secure more and more rights and has become ever more aware of its responsibility and of what it can do; and today it does credit to its name". "Today, we are 785 Members from 27 European nations; we represent seven political groups and more than 150 national political parties; we are both a legislative and a budgetary authority, on an equal footing with the Council of Ministers; we exercise oversight over the European Commission and elect its President; we are the representatives of close to 500 million Union citizens; we reflect all political tendencies in the European Union; we have become self-assured and a major player in European politics", he said.

Further Info on www.europarl.europa.eu

The European Parliament's audio-visual services have prepared audio and video files of highlights from the last 50 years. Among those which may be of interest to readers in the UK:

June 1979: 1st European elections
December 1981: Margaret Thatcher to the European Parliament
May 1985: Ronald Reagan to the EP
October 1988: Pope John-Paul II to the EP
June 1990: Nelson Mandela receives the Sakharov Prize (for 1988)
May 1992: HRH Queen Elizabeth II addresses the European Parliament
July1996 Visit to UK by BSE Committee of Inquiry
October 1996: Dalai Lama addresses MEPs
May 1998: Gordon Brown attends EP as Chancellor during UK Presidency
January 2003: Dockers protest outside the EP

Other highlights: Visits of Presidents Sadat (1981); Yeltsin (1993); Karzai (2005); PM Rabin (1993); Yasser Arafat (1993).

You can download the video kit in professional quality, from this FTP link:
ftp://epavvideoget:mo12ssb@ftpeps01.europarl.eu.int/epavvideo/archives/50ansPE

The audio kit will be accessible on EP LIVE:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/eplive/public/default_en.htm