How so many decisions can be made under one roof!

Some people want to visit the European Parliament just because it is a good opportunity to get into Brussels or because they want to see where decisions about the life of 27 EU member states are being made, some want to understand more about the institution or meet their MEPs. However some go there not to take, but to give: they want to put across their views.

Nicola Chegwidden, Helen Reeve, Katherine Sealy and Milly Wastie? Who are these girls? Where are they from? Why did they go to the European Parliament?

They are members of the Young Farmers Club who are seriously concerned about the coming CAP reform. The Young Farmers Club is one of the largest rural youth organisations in the UK. YFC members travelled from different regions of England to explore the European political system in general with slight differences in interest areas.

Katherine Sealy (wearing blue scarf next to the lady in red), Helen Reeve, Milly Wastie

Some of them do not just want to "experience what it was like and to see where major decisions are made", but also crave knowledge "about how to lobby to ensure MEP’s understand what is happening at a grassroots level," explains Milly Wastie, East Midlands Officer for the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, "as I work for the national farming charity, I see the harder side of the industry".

Helen Reeve, the county chairman for Norfolk YFC, for example, wanted "to see where the major legislation and policies that affect UK agriculture and politics are made".

Katherine Sealy, who works as agricultural & rural adviser in Dorset, meant "to get a better understanding of how it works and whether members of the general public can represent themselves and influence the decision making process".

Milly only came up with the idea to go to the European Parliament after a visit to The Houses of Parliament in London (she visits lots of industry-led conferences), "I thought it would be interesting to see how the European Parliament fits into the system and how decisions on topics such as CAP reform feed back into the UK".

Like most visitors, YFC members were impressed by "the vast spaces and buildings", and, says Katherine, "the sheer scale of the buildings gave an idea as to the power of the European Parliament". Helen reveals, "I expected to see where our tax payers' money is going and now I understand where it is spent! The size of the buildings themselves was vast and quite mind-blowing".

But that was not all. They were lucky to visit the Agriculture Committee voting on an animal welfare report. Milly says, "It was a real eye opener going into the Parliament building and putting on the headphones to hear how decisions were being made. It was so fast!" Helen also noticed the "speed in which decisions are passed through the committees"... Although Nicola Chegwidden, Vice Chairman of the South West Area of YFC, was not so impressed: "Lots of decisions to be made, sometimes made without thinking their decisions through thoroughly because there is so much to decide on which affects a lot of people". 

That is why Richard Ashworth and Robert Sturdy MEPs "gave us insight into the workings of the Parliament and how important it is – if we have a view – to represent ourselves", objects Katherine, "The voting went very fast! Therefore at the stage of the voting it's too late to represent our opinions, but I was struck by the number of lobbyists in Brussels – everyone has their say and we have a chance to make ourselves heard".

Members of YFC with Robert Sturdy MEP

The YFC visitors came from different UK regions. That's why it was impossible to arrange meetings with all their local MEPs, so they decided to meet with MEP Robert Sturdy and MEP Richard Ashworth, both from the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee.

"We discussed the issues that will face my generation of farmers with the plans in place for CAP reform", remembers Helen. "I was interested to hear from the MEPs how we are going to achieve a doubling of food production and how other EU countries interpret the legislation that comes out of the European parliament", adds Milly.

Katherine continues, "We went on the trip, so we as young farmers could understand more the workings of the European Parliament and whether we as individuals could contribute to its workings and decisions. We came away realising that our MEPs do want to hear our views and how the legislation is affecting us, as they are the ones who are representing us". "We actually met one of them in a pub out in Brussels when we were having a bit of a sightseeing tour!" Milly jokes...

"Whether we like it or not we are part of the EU. Whilst we may not like the policies in place that will affect UK farming, we have to vote in MEPs who will fight our case for us rather than sitting back and letting others decide what decisions are made", reflects Helen.

All of them came up with some kind of further steps after this visit and shared their experience with other YFC members. Milly would like to come again in a few years to build her knowledge, "I’ll also pay more attention to the Europe sections in the Farmers Weekly and Farmers Guardian magazines. I will be looking up who my local MEPs are". Helen would like to meet more MEPs from the East Anglian region and possibly arrange another trip for fellow Norfolk YFC members.

The overall impressions of the trip were as varied as the characters of our speakers. Nicola said that overall it was enlightening. Helen found it really factual with superb facilities, "I have always wanted to visit so I can tick it off my 'to do' list now!" And Milly was surprised "how so many decisions can be made under one roof!"

Kristina Moskalenko