There are no official meetings in the European Parliament for the week beginning 4 February 2008. MEPs are either in their constituencies or on mission preparing future reports.
On 5-6 February 2008, a delegation of MEPs will be in Washington to meet World Bank President Robert Zoellick. Among the delegation will be UK MEPs Nirj Deva (Conservative, South East) and Saj Karim (Conservative, North West).
Among the votes at this week's plenary session in Brussells:
Postal services
MEPs adopted their 2nd reading of the directive liberalising Europe's postal services market. Among the main issues addressed in the Directive:
A deadline of 1 January 2011 for the opening up of the postal markets, with two years more for 11 specified countries which have had difficulty adapting their postal markets (either because they recently joined the EU, or because of the number of islands on their territory - Greece - or because of their small population - Luxembourg); Where a Member State has already opened up the market, it can refuse access to operators still protected by a national monopoly; A universal service is still guaranteed;
Member States should be able to include employment and social considerations when opening up the postal market.
Below are extracts from UK speakers in this week's debate:
Brian Simpson (Labour, North West) – A great deal of Parliament’s first-reading position has been accepted by the Council, and this will guarantee the universal service; it will guarantee the financing of that service; it will also recognise that social protection must be in place, and it delays the implementation by two years to the end of 2010 for all the old Member States and 2012 for the new ones. In my view this is a good deal. There are those who still fight the anti-liberalisation battle. But that battle was lost over 15 years ago when Parliament accepted – against my advice at the time – to liberalise the postal services sector.
Michael Nattrass (UKIP, West Midlands) – Madam President, I note the phrase ‘a fixed and irrevocable date’. One thing EU designer Jean Monnet hated about democracy was that nothing is irrevocable. No democratic government can bind its successor with the irrevocable. There is a democratic deficit in the EU because the ever-closer Union was designed as irrevocable. No openings for democracy. The people may only vote to support what the EU elite want. It is a one-way street.
Richard Howitt (Labour, Eastern Region) – We have heard Mr Orban say tonight, on behalf of Commissioner McCreevy, that our amendments do not bring added value to postal users. Mr Orban, are not blind people postal users? And is not the real added value you are talking about the actual added costs that blind people are going to have to be forced to pay?
In Italy, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Greece and Portugal, the post office, not the government, provides this free service. New and existing providers in a liberalised market will inevitably seek to cut costs; blind people must not be the victims. After liberalisation in New Zealand, blind people’s services were ended. We must not let it happen here.
Gerard Batten (UKIP, London) – This directive is the reason why post offices are closing and why postal workers will lose their jobs. Post offices play a vital role in the community, especially for the old, the poor, the immobile and the disabled. This is just one of a multitude of EU laws that have damaged, and will continue to damage, my country.
Energy efficiency
North East Liberal Democrat Fiona Hall MEP presented her report on energy efficiency, which was adopted by 592 votes to 26, with 30 abstentions. MEPs backed the European Commission's proposed Action Plan for Energy Efficiency. They say both the Commission and Member States need to improve their implementation of energy-efficiency legislation. MEPs urged the Commission to establish timetables for the withdrawal from the market of all the least energy-efficient items of equipment, appliances and other energy-using products, such as patio heaters.
Fiona Hall was the only UK MEP to speak in Wednesday's debate.
Full information in "The Briefing" at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/tous_les_briefing/default/default_en.htm