EP News, the electronic newsletter from www.europarl.org.uk

European Parliament session 10-11 October 2007

Highlights of the European Parliament session in Brussels (10-11 October) include:

Future distribution of seats in the European Parliament
EU Reform Treaty - preparing the Lisbon EU Summit
CAP beneficiaries
Cigarette-smuggling

European Parliament - How many seats for UK MEPs?

Under existing EU treaties, the number of UK MEPs is set to fall from 78 to 72 out of a total of 736 MEPs in 2009 due EU enlargement to 27 Member States. The proposed Reform Treaty, currently under discussion, would see a European Parliament made up of 750 MEPs. A report due to be discussed on Wednesday afternoon suggests how the extra 14 seats should be distributed, with the UK set to regain one seat. If agreed, this would leave the UK with 73 MEPs from 2009. (For a table of which other countries are to gain one or more seats, click here). The Electoral Commission in the UK recently made its recommendation to the Secretary of State for Justice on which regions of the UK would be affected by the reduction in UK MEPs. The results of the Electoral Commission consultation can be seen on the Electoral Commission website here or here.

The distribution of seats by EU Member State will be determined by the 27 Member States, on the basis of the European Parliament's proposal, and must be agreed unanimously. The UK authorities will then make a recommendation to the UK Parliament on the distribution of seats among the UK regions. The Electoral Commission may need to adjust its recommendations in the light of the final decision on the number of MEPs from the UK in 2009.

EU Reform Treaty

Gordon Brown will be meeting the 26 other EU Heads of State and Government in Lisbon on 18-19 October at the next EU Summit. The Portuguese Presidency of the EU is hopeful that agreement can be reached on the text of the new EU Reform Treaty. MEPs will discuss latest developments on Wednesday afternoon.

Eastern Region Liberal Democrat Andrew Duff is one of three MEPs who have taken part in the work of the Inter-Governmental Conference, set up to draft the proposed treaty on the basis of the agreement reached at the June 2007 EU Summit. Andrew Duff MEP also gave evidence on Tuesday this week to the House of Lords European Union Select Committee.

If agreement can be reached on a text, and subject to its being ratified in all 27 Member States, the new Reform Treaty could come into effect in time for the next European Parliament elections in June 2009.

CAP beneficiaries

For some years already, UK recipients of Common Agricultural Policy subsidies have been publicly listed through the Rural Payments Agency in England and its counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This is not the case across all of the 27 EU Member States, however. To date, 14 Member States have published the lists of CAP funding recipients via their national funding body and through the European Commission's website:http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/funding/index_en.htm

A proposal set for endorsement by the European Parliament this week would extend this to all 27 Member States. MEPs in the Agriculture Committee have proposed several amendments concerning the national farm payment bodies and potential penalties for non-compliance with the new rules. The final say on legislation in the field of agriculture lies with the Council of Ministers.

Cigarette-smuggling

Cigarette-smuggling is the subject of a report and resolution due for debate on Wednesday (vote Thursday). Among the recommendations in the report adopted by the Budgetary Control Committee is that all transit movements be computerised to assist in the prevention of fraud. The House of Lords' EU Committee report on so-called carousel fraud (published in May 2007) is referred to extensively and many of its recommendations are specifically endorsed. In particular, Budgetary Control Committee's report urges other EU Member States to co-operate with the UK in order finally to make the European Community Transit System fraud-proof. As regards the agreement between EU Member States and Philip Morris, whereby the company agreed to pay $1.25bn over 12 years to help combat fraud, the report calls on the UK Government to join this agreement with Philip Morris and urges the House of Lords to request the same.

Other issues

Death penalty: The President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, will open Wednesday's session with a statement on the proposed World/European Day against the Death Penalty on 10 October. A resolution adopted by the full Parliament in September regretted 'the lack of unanimity in the Council on this issue and calls on the future Polish Government to fully support this initiative that reflects the basic values of the European Union'. Link to texts adopted
Freed Bulgarian nurses: The five Bulgarian nurses, who had been imprisoned in Libya on charges of infecting Libyan children with HIV/Aids, will be present in Brussels during the plenary session. Eastern Region Conservative MEP Geoffrey Van Orden, the parliamentary rapporteur on Bulgaria, had been at the forefront of European Parliament calls for a fair trial and against the death sentences on the nurses.
Airport capacity: Airport capacity is the subject of Thursday morning's debate. With the current growth in air traffic, an increasing number of airports across the EU will be unable to handle demand at peak times. Planning of new airport infrastructure remains a matter for national governments, but the Transport Committee report calls for a 'master plan' from the European Commission to deal with expected needs and to co-ordinate better any future cross-border initiatives. Although UK airports will not immediately be affected by the report, the current debate at national level may well be raised in the European Parliament this week.
EU-US aviation agreement: Thursday morning sees a debate on the proposed EU-US Open Skies agreement, with a majority of MEPs set to give the green light for the agreement to apply from 30 March 2008. The agreement deals with landing rights, routes between EU airports and the US, ownership and investment rights for US and EU airlines. Two UK MEPs expressed misgivings about the agreement when the European Parliament discussed it on 13 March 2007: North West Labour MEP Brian Simpson, and Conservative MEP Timothy Kirkhope (Yorks & Humber).
Maritime policy: The European Commission will make a statement on its new maritime policy for the EU, which it is due to launch on Wednesday. When MEPs debated this subject in July 2007, the following UK MEPs spoke: Struan Stevenson (Cons, Scotland); Ian Hudghton (SNP, Scotland); Jim Allister ( Ind., Northern Ireland); Richard Howitt (Lab, Eastern).
Gaza : The humanitarian situation in Gaza will be discussed on Wednesday evening, following the visit to the Gaza Strip recently by a delegation of MEPs from the Parliament's Development Committee.