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Happy New Year! 2009 is with us and
it is just over five months until the European elections. So what
will 2009 mean for the European Parliament?
Firstly, we can expect changes. The
2009 European elections will be closely monitored and hotly
contested. It will amount to the largest single European Union-wide
exercise in legislative democracy in its history. Over 4 - 7 June
2009, 500 million people in 27 countries will have their chance to
shape the future of the EU. The results will be announced on Monday
8th June, reflecting the views of the voting
public.
However, European elections are
problematic. They are rarely fought on European matters. Instead
they are fought on the local issues that concern voters most. How
can we make Europe local? How can we connect in a different way?
The new statute for members aims to make MEP finance more
transparent and hopefully will put the buffers on the gravy train
tag. However, the seat of the Parliament should be settled in
Brussels once and for all. I hope that MEP colleagues will not miss
the historic opportunity to support Written Declaration 75 calling
for one seat in Brussels and a final end to the Strasbourg
shuttle.
Secondly, the period before the
European elections will span the Czech Presidency of the
EU. The Czech
Presidency was always going to be controversial given the
Euro-sceptic stance of the present government. On a positive note,
I have been pleasantly surprised by the web-standard of the
Presidency. They even have a section entitled fun. Did you know
that the Czechs invented the sugar cube? However, we need to see
more substance. The controversy over secure gas supplies will
dominate not just this Presidency but future EU Presidencies, and
the Czechs have been active on this point. However, the French
initiatives on the conflict in Gaza left some thinking that the
French Presidency was still in place. The EU Presidency should have
been clearly leading calls for a ceasefire. We cannot stand by and
see the deaths and injuries of innocent children who have no means
of escape from the besieged enclave. Ultimately, there has to be a
two state solution and we must find a way to assist both the
Israelis and Palestinians to come to terms with each other's
existence and rights. Unfortunately, the conflict does not look
likely to be resolved any time soon. Finally, there is the elephant
in the EU room - the Lisbon Treaty. The Czech presidency has a key
role in resolving the fate of the Lisbon Treaty yet the Czech
Senate recently voted to take no decision over the treaty. This may
not be surprising but it makes reform difficult.
Thirdly, the EU-USA relations will
be vital. President Obama is set to visit NATO in April - will he
make a speech to the EU institutions? What does the new President
really think about the EU? There are a number of issues which
require cooperation. Obama's hope to close Guantanamo means that
the EU must play its part in receiving former prisoners although
very few countries have so far agreed to do so. How will the
EU-American relationship play out in other crucial policy areas
such as Afghanistan which faces a deteriorating security situation
against a debate on whether more US or European troops on the
ground would actually bring peace to that troubled
region?
There are cross-cutting issues,
such as the environment and climate change. This is another thorny
issue for the Czech Presidency but we may have an opportunity to
change the world with the co-operation of the Americans. Obama's
Green revolution and the potential for job creation through
environmental sustainability could herald a new beginning for
environment-focussed politics. The handling of these global
negotiations will set the mood for the European Parliament's
environmental agenda.
Finally, and most importantly, the
economy, will dominate everything that we do in 2009. Recession has
already hit several European Union member states and there are
emergency bailout packages in place. The people most affected will
be the poorest and most vulnerable in our societies. Jobs are the
key to lifting people out of poverty and with the new green
revolution we have an opportunity as we face tough times to think
differently and to create jobs whilst delivering on climate change.
This may be too simplistic but it is important that by 2010, that
we have done all that we can to make Europe the most dynamic
knowledge-based economy in the world. We must not retreat from this
admirable ambition, and like the Scots national bard, Robert Burns,
born 250 years ago on 25 January 1759, I too hope for the triumph
of sense and worth in 2009:
'Then let us
pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a'
that,)
That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the
earth,
Shall bear the gree, an' a'
that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
It's coming yet for a'
that,
That Man to Man, the world
o'er,
Shall brothers be for
a' that.'
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Editorial - January 2009
