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.'