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Published by Phil Bennion for the Liberal Democrat European Group, Haunton Manor Farm, Haunton, Tamworth, Staffordshire. Design, sub-editing and typesetting by Ben JephcottNews from LDEG ldeg.org Editor: Phil Bennion No 9 July 2011

Liberal News from ldeg.org

INSIDE:Chris Davies and top

chef sniff victory in fishdiscard fight

Schengen: can border-free Europe survive?

Watson interview onglobal governance

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Ludford bid to banexport of execution drugs

Eurofile goes to press justafter the Greek Parliamentvoted by a narrow majority toback the drastic austerity andprivatisation required by theEU and IMF for the latest

rescue package.Across the capital city of Athens, ageneral strike and daily huge demon-strations were met by a blanket of tear gas from riot police. From TV pictures,total collapse of Greek democracy didnot seem too fanciful a prospect.But even though key decisions appear to have been taken and calm at leasttemporarily restored, the questions thathave been raised in the media, inpolitical debates and in bars and cafesacross Europe will not go away.

Whether the Euro can survive ismerely the biggest and most important.I would suggest that the likely answer

is Yes, a view clearly taken by themarkets, as the Euro is holding up wellagainst rival currencies like the dollar,which has its own serious problems.Will Greece default in any case? If shedoes, will there be an inevitabledomino of destruction dwarfing the

Lehmann Brothers collapse as somefear? Or will it unleash a rapidrebalancing of Europes economies asother commentators suggest? Thereare clearly grave dangers of possiblefall-out from a potential Greek default.Many writers, such as the FTsWolfgang Munchau, believe that arejection of the austerity package anda subsequent default would be theleast damaging path. It is not entirelyobvious that such thinking is wrong.Financial journalists have been

speculating since the EU first steppedin, that the country may be effectivelyinsolvent and that its debts unpayable.

What if Greece defaults?If this scenario were allowed to playout, what would be the outcome? Sup-porters of the EU/IMF package claimthat the crisis would spread to Portu-gal, Ireland and Spain and that thelosses incurred by commercial banks

could precipitate another crisis in the

Eurofileeditor PHILBENNION

exploresthenightmarescenario.

A Greek debt default might besurvivable,but is it desirable?

Can the Eurosurvive ?

Pic: Pascal Rossignol, REUTERS


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All year round LibDem ACTION in Europe

Greece forces Euro-zone into crisis:contd from Page 1

by Phil Bennion

banking sector, with governments hav-ing to step in to bail it out yet again.Both of these threats present real risks,but if contagion were avoided, the fall-out would probably be manageable, asthe Greek economy only represents a

little over 1% of that of the EU. Howev-er, critics of the bail-out package do notbelieve that it will prevent a Greek de-fault, only delay it and suggest the ulti-mate damage to the European andworld economy will be far worse as aresult.My own view is that contagion from aGreek default would be far from inevita-ble. In Ireland, the underlying colossalover-exposure to a banking crisis wasrealised when their property bubbleburst and their new government is nowtackling the issues. As Sharon BowlesMEP said recently, Ireland has the rec-ipe to respond to the economic andbanking crisis but is being treatedharshly by its EU partners. Ireland hasa reasonably competitive and flexibleeconomy, but a sudden though seriousdebt problem. Spain and Portugal re-quire urgent reforms to improve thecompetitiveness of their economies, butdebt and deficit levels are probablymanageable. Only Greece has theworst combination of an uncompetitiveeconomy, very high debt and a deficit

out of control.Can a Greek default be avoided?It would still be better for all concernedif a default can be avoided. The lastthing that European governments neednow is a new liability inherited from ail-ing banks. A default will occur withinweeks if the Greeks do not get the loanpackage. However it would be unwisefor the EU and IMF to soften the condi-tions too much. Greece needs help inimproving its Revenue Service, whichseems incapable of clamping down on

endemic tax evasion. Early retirementon good pensions seems to be thenorm in the over-dominant public sec-tor, which still carries out functions longprivatised in the rest of Europe.But the critics may still be right. Thedebt levels could still be simply too highfor the Greeks to service them. If that isthe case, the debate might turn towhether EU governments should payoff creditors in a third round of the bail-out, in order to prevent a second bank-ing crisis even worse than the first.The bright spots are the potential theGreeks have for raising revenues fromhuge privatisation and the potential for

improvement in tax collection. The dan-ger is that privatisation will take placetoo slowly, such that the revenues arefrittered on servicing debt rather thanpaying it down. On balance I would sup-port the EU/IMF package as long as the

Greek government enacts the reformsand privatisations swiftly. Even if ahaircut is subsequently required,some of the fundamentals will havebeen put right.How do we stop it happening again?Mario Monti wrote last week that theproblem stems back to a failure to exactpunishments when member statesbroke the conditions of the Stability andGrowth Pact. He also said that the bigcountries set the worst example throughmutual back-scratching when voting in

Council, thereby avoiding punishment.The current Commissioner, Olli Rehn,has proposed reversing the voting proc-ess in Council when such decisions aremade. Currently, a Qualified Majority isrequired to enact sanctions. He is sug-gesting that the sanctions should beautomatic unless a Qualified Majoritycan be found to waive them.This, combined with additional scrutinypowers for the Commission over mem-ber state budgets, would be a big stepforward and is being vigorously support-ed by the ALDE group.The Pact allowed for a maximum 3%deficit, meant to be used as a counter cyclical measure in a downturn. Mem-ber states connived to allow large defi-cits to go unpunished even during yearsof economic growth. Similarly the debtlimit of 60% of GDP was systematicallyignored. These measures were sup-posed to guarantee stability of the Euro.Whether Greece remains in the Euro-zone in the long term remains to beseen. It is also fairly likely in my viewthat the current package will not be thefinal act in this drama. However, I willbe astounded if the Euro fails to sur-vive. The markets clearly believe that itsgovernance will be improved and thatits position as a reserve currency is notunder threat.This crisis should not prove the end of the Euro-zone, but it will force all thekey players within it to face up to keyeconomic realities.

Dr Phil Bennion is editor of Eurofileand a member of the Liberal Demo-

crats Federal Policy Committee

But the critics may still be right. The debt could still be simply too high for theGreeks to service.

If that is the case,the debate might turnto whether the EU governments should

pay off creditors in athird round bail-out,in order to prevent asecond banking crisis even worsethan the first.


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Change that works for Europe & for you

Flexible w orking tim e is vital,factory bosses tell Com m issionerMIDLANDS aluminium bosseshave made it clear to EUEmployment Commissioner Lszl Andor that keeping theUKs Opt Out from EU workingtime rules is vital to their success.The stark warning came as theCommissioner toured BridgnorthAluminium in Shropshire in June at theinvitation of West Midlands region LibDem MEP Liz Lynne, who is First Vice

President of the EU Parliament'sEmployment and Social AffairsCommittee.

48 hour limit reviewThe Commissioner and Liz Lynnevisited the plant, Britain's top producer of lithographic aluminium strip anddiscussed current EU legislation withcompany bosses, especially the UK's opt-out of the 48 hour limit in the WorkingTime Directive, which is now beingreviewed.Liz Lynne said: "I'm delighted that theCommissioner took the time to visitShropshire and this thriving factory andfind out about how EU laws impact onthe factory floor."Both workers and the employers at theplant made it clear to us just how vital

the opt-out of the 48 hour working limitin the Working Time Directive is to their success.This is a message I have tried to pushin Brussels for many years. Workersare already protected by other Health andSafety laws such as the DangerousMachinery Directive."Commissioner Lszl Andor commented: "I have an excellent

working relationship with Liz Lynneand this has been an extremely usefulvisit. Flexibility has to be a centralconcept. It is important the WorkingTime Directive is fit for the 21st centuryand I will take the messages from thisfactory back to Brussels."The former Star Litho plant inBridgnorth employs 242 staff and is asubsidiary of Greek-owned Elval SA.

The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation hasrefused to officially register the People's FreedomParty (PARNAS). This decision, bringing the totalnumber of parties refused registration to eight, meansthat PARNAS will be unable to take part in theDecember elections to the State Duma.Guy Verhofstadt , leader of the Alliance of Liberals andDemocrats for Europe (ALDE) expressed his extremedisappointment at this decision and warned that the anti-democratic grip on Russia is tightening.He said: "I participated in the Congress of PARNAS inMoscow and I am saddened by the failure of the Russianauthorities to allow the party to register.The elections in December and the presidential electionsin 2012 will now be yet another exercise of stage-managed political campaigning between political forcesloyal to the leading duo inside the Kremlin.

I expect a clear and strong reaction from all EU officialsdealing with Russia, including Council President VanRompuy and the High Representative, Baroness Ashton.The continued failure of Russia to uphold basicdemocratic principles, a commitment for a member of theCouncil of Europe, must have implications for its relationswith the EU and the Member States", he said.Kristiina Ojuland (EstonianReform, Estonia) ALDEspokesperson on Russia said,"Putin's administration is afraid of open political competition. It alsogives a lie to PresidentMedvedev's claim that he isdemocratising the country. Thecitizens of Russia will be deniedan election based on principlesRussia has promised to uphold."

ALDE warns that anti-democratic grip on Russia is tightening

Liz Lynne and EU Commissioner Lszl Andor (right)

toured the production line with with Bridgnorth Aluminiums Managing Director Simon MacVicker.


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LibDem European Group ldeg.org

Moldova, Governance and the EuropeanNeighbourhood: Carol Weaver interviews Graham Watson MEP Can the EU project of spreading itsmodel of post-sovereign politicsthroughout the world continue or has the EU become too pragmaticnow?

The EU has had enlargement in itsDNA since the beginning. Its fair to saythat analysts agree that we go througha period of expansion, then a period of deepening, before thinking aboutwidening again. Last decade'senlargement from 15 to 27 countriessounds like a big jump but a lot of thenewer countries have very smallpopulations. We also have a queue of countries waiting to join. In this decadewe could see Iceland, Croatia andprobably Macedonia and Serbia join theUnion. There is still a big question markover Turkey although I think it is likelythat Turkey will join. So is there a limitto enlargement? Well by definition yes,but the challenges for the Union todayare of a global nature so a form of global governance of the type the EU isdeveloping is needed.

So how do you see that global

governance? For example, as a UNParliamentary Assembly or a worldof separate EU-model regions with aUnited Regions as the top layer of amulti-layered governance system?

Well the latter might work and I wouldnot exclude it. One of the maindevelopments in the Union is that itsraison dtre has changed. If you hadasked any of the heads of states whythey were in the EU in the past theywould have said because of peace or prosperity through the single market butnow they would talk about more globalchallenges such as climate change,dealing with terrorism, energy securityand population growth. These arechallenges that any democracy willface. The EU has become a kind of solidarity home for countries that sharecommon values such as marketeconomy, democracy, human rightsand the fight against discrimination or corruption. So yes we could end up witha number of Unions or just one. If thereis just one then it would no longer be aEuropean Union, helped by the fact thatEurope never had clearly definedboundaries to the east or south-east.

I am working on EU policy andregionalisation around the BlackSea, including the idea of a securitycommunity developing. Do you haveany thoughts on that given your work with Moldova?

Well the European NeighbourhoodPolicy is really about twoneighbourhoods the South and theEast. They are very different. Thecountries in the immediate South havebeen until very recently non-democracies but now there is Moroccowhich is becoming more democraticand Tunisia, one hopes, is headingdown the path to democracy and Egypttoo. There have been problems but theyare also on the other side of theMediterranean Sea. So the sorts of issues we discuss with them aredifferent from the issues we discusswith Belarus, Ukraine or Moldova wherewe share a land border. Also, there ismore differentiation between countriesin the East because some countries likeBelarus are autocratic whilst others likeUkraine are more democratic. One bigdifference between the South and the

East is that in the East there is oneoverwhelmingly powerful neighbour which has its own view of how thingsshould be developed. One of the mostinteresting aspects of the relationshipwith Russia is how we deal with theconflicts of the region, in Nagorno-Karabakh, Georgia and Transnistria.

One aspect of cooperation around theBlack Sea which is given insufficientprominence but could be hugelyimportant is the one of environmentalstewardship issues such as dischargesinto the sea, crime, borders, fishingstock, marine life. This could take up alot more policy making time in future.This issue could help to bring us alltogether. The Danube Delta, for example is one project being worked onwith Romania and some of itsneighbours.

On regionalisation, I do not see thearea coming together as a politicalentity because the two sides (Russiaand the magnet of the EU) are toostrong but we could develop enhancedmechanisms for cooperation. Imcurrently working as EU rapporteur for

Moldova. Wehave beenremarkablysuccessful there,or perhaps lucky,with the decisionof Moldovaspeople to put thecoalition backinto office. Thishas allowedsome progresson Transnistria.Given longenough we mighteven resolve it by creating conditions inthe rest of Moldova which are soattractive that the Transnistrians decidethats the best option for them. Thereare some indications that the Russiansmight allow this to happen.

Its interesting that Ukraine has beenvery helpful with regard to Transnistria!It is acting to some extent as a go-between for Brussels and Moscow andhas been very helpful. I think thatmaybe if we could resolve one conflictthen it might help with the others. It

would mean that we could establish arelationship of trust with Russia. Withregard to Transnistria everyone isrealising that there is no point to theconflict. Its remarkable though howquickly the EU acted over SouthOssetia even before the External ActionService (EAS) was set up.

You mentioned the EAS. Do youthink that a lot of problems latelyhave been due to the change over from Solana to Ashton?

I think it is true that the requirement inthe Lisbon Treaty of having to create anEAS, even though I think it will behelpful in the longer term, has absorbeda huge amount of energy of those whoare meant to be carrying out theForeign Policy. I think that it wasinevitable and there has been an impacton the ability to respond to events inNorth Africa. Baroness Ashton wasgiven a very rough ride in Parliamentover Tunisia. However one thing shehas intelligently avoided, unlike Solana,is getting over-involved in Palestine.Hopefully Baroness Ashton will not fallinto the same trap!


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The end for Europesopen borders? Olle Schmidt considersthe growing threat tothe Schengen treaty.

As everything else, crime is global. Thehuman slave trade, drug and organtrafficking alongside with terrorism, areexamples of international criminalactivities conducted with mafiamethods. Child pornography andmoney laundering are other seriouscrimes where national borders cannotstop the criminal organisations.

Worrisome survey results show thatserious organised crime has benefitedfrom the financial crisis. Humantrafficking is likely to have increasedand in Sweden it is reported thatcompanies hire illegal workers fromemployment agencies controlled bycriminals. There is a serious risk thatthe criminal structures built during thefinancial crisis will become permanentas the profits are high, while risks andpenalties are relatively low. Thisdevelopment is frightening andabsolutely unacceptable. It threatens tooverturn the very core of the rule of lawand poses an increasing threat to theopen society that we must protect.

We should not ignore the problems of organised international crime, but it isimperative that we do not in panicrespond to this threat with ineffectiveand unnecessary political measures.Instead, we must increase cooperationbetween EU member states to fight anddestroy this transnational organisedcrime. It is not national initiatives thatwe need but joint, comprehensiveapproaches and a major Europeaninitiative to tackle the problem at itscore.

Recently, the Danish Governmentmade a pact with the xenophobic andpopulist Dansk Folkparti, where theGovernment agreed to increase customcontrols in exchange for a pensionreform. The purpose, they say, is tocombat organised crime. However, theEuropean Commission is concernedthat this development stands directlycontrary to the idea of free mobility.We do not want to sacrifice freedom of movement, one of the greatestsuccesses of European integration,allowing people within the Schengenarea to cross borders without beingstopped at time-consuming passportcontrols. But when the open and freeEurope is being exposed to seriouspressure, many political leaders find ithard to resist. Several EU Member States seemingly want to underminethis cornerstone of integration.

When North African people seek their freedom, Europe hesitates. When over-crowded refugee boats perish on theMediterranean and desperately fleeingmen and women drown, the Europeanresponse is shamefully slow andlimited: Too little, too late.

Silvio Berlusconi and Nicolas Sarkozyin true drama cry for help to share theburden. Involuntarily paraphrasingKipling, that is how leading Europeansdescribe the men, women and childrenseeking a new future on our shores.More seldom do we talk about truesolidarity and shared responsibility tohelp and protect. Yes, open borders arebeing abused for human trafficking,

drug smuggling and other branches of organized international crime. But whenthe villains work across borders, somust we. Our best response is that we,too, cooperate with our neighbours creating a European FBI, if you will - tostop them.

Nationalism and increasingprotectionism spread across our continent, as apparent in many recentEuropean election outcomes. We mustask ourselves: Is this just a temporarytrend or a seriously worrying long-termchange of mindsets?

We must remember that the peacefulEuropean cooperation is still only ananomaly of Europes bloody, war-filledhistory. We can't be so nave as tobelieve that citizens of Europe todaymight be immune to extremism andnationalism. Those leaders of Europewho respond to the movement of peoples across borders with simplifiedrhetoric, fear-inducing propaganda andscape-goat accusations againstrefugees, minorities or foreigners woulddo well to sign up for some classes inEuropean modern history.

We need a more united Europe. Let usnot build border barriers; let us insteadtear them down. Let ordinary peoplework and meet across borders. OpenEurope, working together and united indiversity is our best bet to remainprosperous, safe and in peace.

Olle Schmidt MEP, Liberal Party of Sweden

During the weekend of 27-28 May, a newliberal party was born in Greece.The Democratic Alliance under the leadershipof former Greek Foreign Minister and Mayor of Athens Dora Bakoyannis was launched in theOlympic Cycling Stadium in Athens.Mrs Bakoyannis left the conservative party NeaDemokratia last year due to differences over which economic and budgetary reforms arenecessary to address the current crisis.

ELDR Party President Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck addressed the delegates of theParty Congress together with inter alia LiberalGroup leader of the European Parliament GuyVerhofstadt.European Liberals strongly welcome theemergence of a strong credible liberal politicalforce in a country where politics has been

dominated for too long by a bipolar partysystem: Nea Demokratia and PASOK.

New Liberal force enters Greek politics


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Bearder: Clear labels,not our forests

Egyptian liberal parties unite under umbrella of Democratic Front

Five Egyptian liberal parties andmovements have announced thatthey will be integrated into theDemocratic Front Party as part of anew liberal coalition.

'This is an important day in the historyof modern political development aswe witness the birth of a strongpolitical entity that will participate inre-drawing the Egyptian political mapin the upcoming period,' said OsamaGhazali Harb , leader of the DFP.

The coalition of parties has together launched a project which promotesthe civil state and aims at turning

Egypt into a developed country by2025.

'These parties and movements sharethe same principles of the DemocraticFront Party and the integration willhelp the party expand, as well asunite liberal forces,' Harb said.

Wael Nawara , Chairman of theNetwork of Arab Liberals ,commented: 'At a time where there istoo much focus on differences, theDemocratic Front Party is presentinga model on how to unite efforts toachieve the dream of Egyptians in ademocratic state.'

A coalition of conservation groups has launched a

campaign for mandatory labelling of palm oil on food packaging in Europe.

Rapid expansion of the palm oilindustry is having disastrouseffects on critically endangeredspecies including the orangutan,Asian elephant, rhino and tiger.

If introduced, mandatory labelling of palm oil on food packaging willultimately lead to better forestprotection in Southeast Asia and Africa.

Palm oil is a hidden ingredient found inup to half of packaged food productsacross Europe, including chocolate,biscuits, cereals, margarine, soup,crisps and ice cream.

Usually listed simply as 'vegetable oil',consumers are currently unable tomake informed decisions about theproducts they purchase not only onhealth grounds (due to its high

saturated fat content) butalso based on the palmoil industry's well-documented negativeenvironmental and socialimpacts.

Catherine Bearder MEP ,a member of theEuropean Parliament'sCommittee onInternational Trade, said:"Consumers must be

given the choice of whether to buy productswith palm oil or to avoid

them. Consumers may have moralobjections to palm oil plantations and,without realising, they are funding themthrough the food they buy."

A new directive on the Provision of food information to consumers is currentlyunder review in the EuropeanParliament. An amendment calling for mandatory labelling of palm oil on foodpackaging in Europe has been tabled. If it is passed, companies will have up tothree years to comply with the newlegislation - ample time to sourcecertified sustainable palm oil.

Editors note: At LI Congress in Manila,

a spokesman for the governing party inIndonesia promised a 20 year moratorium on forest clearance.


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LibDem European Group ldeg.orgGraham Watson MEP

MEPs back limit on phosphorusin household detergents

The European ParliamentEnvironment Committee hasvoted to limit the amount of phosphorus permitted inhousehold laundry detergents.The decision was uncontroversial -from the point of view not only of theEuropean Parliament, but also theCouncil and Commission.

However, ALDE Rapporteur BillNewton Dunn (Lib Dem, UK)proposed to go further, to extendthe limitation to detergents for household automatic dishwashers.

The Lib Dem MEP for the EastMidlands said: "The Commissionwas not ambitious enough in itsproposals.

Phosphorus leaked into Europeanlakes streams and rivers can lead toeutrophication - the overgrowth of

algae which can starve fish and

other plant life of oxygen.This is particularly a problem in themany EU member states coveringthe Baltic and Danube regions, so itmakes sense to take EU-levelaction to tackle its causes.

However, it is true that we need toensure small andmedium sizedenterprises have timeto adapt to these

requirements withoutexcess burden.

Nonetheless,phosphate-freeformulas are availableon the market already,and manufacturers areinnovating all the time.It is therefore

reasonable to expect that in the next

four years until my proposed bancomes into effect, the vast majority,if not all, will have been able tomake the switch and to offer products that meet the expectationsof consumers in terms of cleaningperformance.

Syria's sanctions list needs to be urgentlyextended amid humanitarian crisis

The current EU sanctionsseem to have little or noeffect in deterring Al-Assadfrom continuing his violentcrack-down on innocentSyrians, says ALDE.

Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE Leader said: "Theviolence in Syria is continuing and the death toll isrising, it is time to face the fact that the sanctionsintroduced so far are not working.More comprehensive sanctions must now beintroduced, hitting the regime where it really hurts -their pocket. Syria's most powerful economic figureswho fund this regime must also be targeted in theEU sanctions lists, this will increase the pressure onthose that support Al-Assad financially and send amessage that their support will be very costly."

Marietje Schaake, (D66,Netherlands) commendedthe efforts by Turkey in sheltering the refugees andsaid the EU should also contribute by supportingthe UNHCR mission in Turkey in taking care of thegrowing number of refugees, including desertingsoldiers.

She added: The capacity of the UN refugee body isunder great pressure while capacity for a rapidresponse is urgently needed. Food and water shortages and a real humanitarian crisis arelooming.We need to explore all options for providing a safe haven for Syrianrefugees, including the possibilityof an internationally protectedsafe zone. The internationalcommunity must act together toend the assault on civilians by theSyrian authorities."


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The 2010 Conservativemanifesto threatened referendaon future transfers of powersfrom Westminster to Brussels.This was carried directly into thecoalition agreement withoutsignificant modification.

People who look for consistency inpolicy will note there is nocorresponding provision in Tory policyor the government programme for areferendum lock on transfers of power to Westminster from localcouncils, devolved assemblies or frominternational institutions. Tory choicesabout where they want referendumlocks and where they do not,demonstrate that the Bill comes notfrom a commitment to localism butfrom a particular self-interestedfetishism for Westminster. Like mosteuro-scepticism, it resembles anattempt to artificially protect nationalpolitics when life is becoming ever more international.

The EU Bill completed its ThirdReading in both the Commons andLords and at the time of writing theoutstanding issue is whether thegovernment will accept a number of Lords amendments

What the Bill doesPart 1 of the Bill creates a requirementfor UK agreement to an amendment of the Treaty on European Union or theTreaty of the Functioning of theEuropean Union to be subjected to areferendum. This would mean that if achange to Europes constitutionalframework were proposed thattransferred competence then theconsidered judgement of theGovernment and UK parliament wouldnot be enough without a referendum.Even if the Government and all partiessupported it and even if there washardly any dissent by members of thepublic the country would have to suffer the expensive ritual of a referendum.The Bill requires a government sayingyes to change to have a referendum

but does not allow for a referendum tochallenge a government saying no toa proposed Treaty change.

The inherent weaknesses of referendaare well known. They require mostpeople to vote on a specific questionabout which they know relatively littleinstead of elected representatives (or another small group of citizens drawntogether for the task, a citizensconvention) who have time andresources to study the merits closely.The ability of a referendum voter toreach a balanced informed decision isat the mercy of lobbyists, campaignfinanciers and newspaper owners. Tomake a legal analogy, a referendum islike getting a verdict from a few peopleon the street who read somethingabout it in a newspaper rather thanfrom the jury who have followed thewhole case and seen all the evidence.

Referenda on QMVIn the Bill, a referendum would berequired if it were proposed to move,in certain policy areas in the Council of Ministers, from unanimity to qualifiedmajority or simple majority voting.These policy areas are listed in theBill. The British people would berequired to go to the polls if it wasproposed that QMV instead of unanimity should resolve points as:

The appointments of judges to theEuropean Court of Justice,Whether another state should be

allowed to the join the Union, or The identification of the Unionsstrategic objectives.

To be clear, when the question ariseswhether person X or person Y shouldbe the next ECJ judge or whether Croatia should join the EU the Britishpeople will have a referendum. But thereferendum will not even be on thesubstantive question but on whether the Councils position should bedecided unanimously or by QMV.

Does anyone really think this willreconnect the public to Europe?

The Bill would also require areferendum on an amendment to theTreaties that amounted to the statesconferring on the Union newcompetence or extended existingcompetences in economic policy,foreign and security policy and other areas.

There are at least 56 situations inwhich the UK Government and Parliament might want to agree to a

proposal, which under this Bill would require a referendum.

The coalition government says that itdoes not envisage the Bill being usedat all before the next General Election.There will be no treaty changesrequiring referenda under the Bill untilat least then. So, preciousParliamentary time is being given tosomething that will, for this Parliament,be a mere decoration.

The fight against the BillObjections to the Bill have been wellmade in the House of Lords frommembers of all three parties and theCross Benches. The Lords passedamendments to reduce the excessiveand disproportionate number or occasions on which referenda wouldbe required. Peers recognise that thereferendum lock will so restrictBritains negotiating position that werisk becoming one of the leastinfluential states at the negotiatingtable.

Andrew Duff MEP, who leads for theLiberal Democrat MEPs onconstitutional issues, has urged NickClegg that the government shouldaccept the Lords amendments. In anopen letter to Nick on 19 June,Andrew wrote, The normalconstitutional requirement laid down inthe EU treaties for the ratification of changes in EU primary law is adecision of national parliaments. Inthe Lisbon treaty we even inserted

The European Un io n Bill: athrea t to de m o crac y by Antony Hook

contd on p10


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new guarantees that national parliaments wouldneed to vote on passerelle clauses, theflexibility arrangements designed to allow thegradual evolution of the EU system. Experiencesuggests that whenever the parliamentary normis discarded in favour of referendums, the EUrisks being badly destabilised for a considerablelength of time.

Repealing the BillElsewhere, Andrew Duff has sensiblysuggested that the way Treaty changes aremade should be reformed to require four-fifthsof the states rather than every last one of themto agree on an amendment. Indeed, theAmerican Constitution can be amended byagreement of only three quarters of the statesand a states approval must be by its legislatureor a constitutional convention. Referenda onconstitutional changes are in factconstitutionally unlawful in America.

Interestingly, Andrews proposal was mostangrily denounced in the Commons by theLabour front bench on grounds it would takeaway Britains chance to veto the majority. Itseemed to escape the Labour spokesman (aformer MEP) that Britain is, and will be, often inthe majority that is frustrated by a unilateralveto. We could get One Seat for the EuropeanParliament tomorrow if one lone member statewas not able to veto this change.

The No campaign in the recent AV referendumhad a lot to say about the financial cost of referenda. Such costs are likely to beunpopular long after the current recession. Thecomfort for those who support EU reform andthe concept of representative democracy is thatanti-European and supporters of government byreferendum have overplayed their hand byrequiring, in this Bill, referenda in so manysituations.

There will doubtless come a time when a UKgovernment and Parliament will want to agreeto some modest Treaty change about which theEuropean Union Act 2011 (as it will be) shallrequire a referendum. It should be possible for a politically capable government to point out thecost of the referendum and with generalsupport, to repeal the Act.

People care about what the EU can do tosave the environment, provide economicopportunities and curtail crime. The EU Billis a threat to our ability to do all those thingsand more in the coming years.

Antony Hook is Vice Chair of the Liberal Democrat European Group

European Union Bill: contd Ending uncertainty inforeign property purchasesBuying property in another European country can gohorribly wrong for manypeople caught out bydifferences in legal systemsand different concepts of property rights.

The ALDE group recently held aseminar on "Property Rights andWrongs in the EU" to find a wayto overcome legal uncertaintieswhen buying land abroad.

Speaking after the event, Yorkshire MEP Diana Wallissaid: "Property laws across theEU are very different and

complex and fall mainly outsideEU competencies.

However, we must urgently finda system that will guaranteelegal certainty to people buyingland abroad. The seminar hasshown clearly that the EU has arole to play in helping to facilitateproperty deals across bordersand at the very least provide aframework of legal certainty."

Fellow ALDE MEP RamonTremosa, who comes from a

region in Spain that has hit theheadlines many times because

of land expropriation problemsadded: "Without property rightsthere is no freedom, and withoutfreedom there's no economicdevelopment. The EuropeanUnion needs to make a stepforward and defend propertyrights all over the continent."

McMillan-Scott: EU must backreformist Arab governments

On his third visit in as manymonths to Cairo, EdwardMcMillan-Scott MEP(LibDem, UK), EuropeanParliament Vice-President for democracy and human rights,backed William Hague's callthat without support from theEU the fragile democraticmovements across the Arabworld risked collapsing.McMillan-Scott, who initiallytravelled to Egypt the weekendafter Mubarak was oustedfrom power and again daysbefore the interim regime's firstreferendum, has called on EUgovernments to help thereformists as they transition to

democracy by providing fundsand resources. He said: "TheEU has the means to help. Wemust give it the will. EUgovernments can put upbillions to stabilise their economies. They should findthe resources to support thehuge economic and politicalchallenges the countries in our neighbourhood face.We mustreinforce the reformists fromLibya to Syria to Yemen or they will lose their revolutions.All types of democracy arebetter than despotism.Democracy is also a moresecure basis for economicstability and development."


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Lib Dem European justice andhuman rights spokeswomanSarah Ludford has launched,together with colleagues fromother countries and politicalgroups, a European-levelcampaign to ban the exportfrom the EU of drugs used for executions.EU law prohibits EU companies fromexporting products intended to be usedin executions or torture. But no exportcheck is done on 'dual-use' drugs suchas sodium thiopental and pentobarbital.

These have a legitimate medicinal use,but they have also been used to numbor even kill a person subject to thedeath penalty.

Sarah Ludford has tabled a EuropeanParliament 'written declaration'- similar to a Westminster Early Day Motion - tomake such exports subject to controls.The declaration will be co-sponsored bya senior MEP from each of the EPP,European Socialists and the Greens.

Shameful collusionSarah Ludford MEP said: "The EUleads the global effort to abolish thedeath penalty, but this loopholeshamefully permits European collusionin executions that we condemn.

It's time for some joined up Euro-government. Organisations likeReprieve and Amnesty have done greatwork in raising this issue.

I'm delighted that the UK's LibDem-Tory coalition government has alreadytaken action and banned

exports to the US of 4 lethalinjection drugs.

Now the EU as a wholeneeds to do the same. Wewant a resounding majorityof MEPs to sign thisdeclaration, so that theEuropean Commission isobliged to tell us how it willclamp down on the scandalof EU companies sellingdrugs to executioners."

Clive Stafford Smith , founder and

Director of human rights NGOReprieve, said: "We need to make surethat the shameful sight of drugs fromthe UK - or any other European country- being used to kill prisoners is never seen again. The EU as a whole needsto followBritain's lead inbanning theexport of drugsfor use inexecutions."

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Ludford campaign to ban exportof death penalty drugs

Bearder seminar on social and environmentalstandards in trade agreements

Catherine Bearder MEP has led a seminar of international experts in looking at the role of social and environmental standards ininternational trade agreements.

Clauses concerning environmental, human rights, socialand Corporate Social Responsibility standardsincreasingly play a role in the negotiations of the tradeagreements which the EU conducts on both a bilateraland multilateral level.

The South East Lib Dem Euro MP said: "I stronglybelieve that freedom, fairness, and sustainability must becentral to the EU's trade agenda.

Globally the EU's social and environmental record in trade diplomacy is already way ahead of other major trade players, such as the USA and China.

Despite this, the EU remains a major market for some of the world's most corrupt and least democratic countries."

Catherine organised the seminar to ask the question of how we can weigh and advance the sometimescontradictory aims of efficiency, equity and

sustainability? In assessing free, fair, and sustainabletrade, is it possible to have Liberal trade objectives?


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Lib Dem MEP Hall warns againstlightweight nuclear stress tests

Rubber-stamping lightweightsecurity tests of nuclear plantscould be a danger, says NorthEast Lib Dem Euro MP FionaHall.Speaking in the EuropeanParliament, Fiona warned the UKGovernment against using their own recent checks toavoid stricter procedures agreedacross Europe.Fiona called for assurances thatnuclear power plants, will besubjected to the rigorous stresstests agreed by Europe-wideregulators.

Comprehensive tests needed

Fiona Hall said, "The UK jumpedthe gun with its own safety tests,publishing interim results before

the stress test criteria had evenbeen agreed.For public reassurance, theGovernment needs to makeclear that the morecomprehensive tests will be fullycarried out as part of theinvestigations by UK regulator Dr Mike Weightman."What's more, it would be

irresponsible to green light thenext generation of plants withoutfirst carrying out comprehensivesafety checks.I am concerned that theGovernment is gearing up to givethe go ahead very soon to newnuclear plants, but the stress testprocess will not be complete untilJune 2012.

"Like many people, I amopposed to nuclear power. Buteven those in favour of nuclear must surely be keen to adhereto the safety procedures agreedby all EU countries."

EU must back Egypts plan to easeGaza blockade

The plan by the provisional Egyptian government toopen the Rafah crossing into Gaza will savecountless lives and could transform the peaceprocess says Lib Dem Euro MP Liz Lynne.

Euro MPs from all main parties have been strongly criticalof the invasion and subsequent blockade of the territoryby Israel and the weak response by the EU's ExternalAction Service.

Liz Lynne said: "This bold step by Egypt should end ahumanitarian nightmare which helps no-one's security.This is the clearest sign yet that the Arab spring has

changed the rules of thegame. The EU muststrongly back this initiativeand use it as a catalyst tore-launch a peace processbetween Israel and the

Palestinians, includingHamas.

"The continued injustice in Israel and the plight of thePalestinians is a touchstone issue across the world. It isused by international terrorists as an excuse for their crimes. This is an opportunity EU governments and KathyAshton must not duck. We should now be encouragingBarack Obama to take a stronger line on Israel and pushthem to the negotiating table. Israel has a right not tohave rockets fired on civilians but its disproportionateresponse has undermined her own security."

Liz Lynne, a member of the Delegation for Relations withthe Palestinian Legislative Council in the EuropeanParliament, has been a strong supporter of resolutionspassed by the Parliament in the last two years urgingstronger EU action in the Middle East.

The almost total blockade of Gaza has caused massunemployment and near starvation to the Gaza strip's 1.3million civilians, with a ban on cement imports preventing

repairs to ruined buildings.


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ALDEs budge t s tra tegy: Am bition and aus terity


The 2012 draft budget justpresented by the EuropeanCommission for a 4.9%increase in paymentappropriations, is alreadycontested by the largestcontributing member states,including Britain.The ALDE group recommendsfreezing expenditures in real terms,limiting any increase only toinflation.

As the EU must meet numerousobligations already budgeted for,and in 2012 will have to finance itsEU 2020 economic strategy as wellas support new Arab democracies,liberals and democrats recommendthat the EU break with the previouspractice of giving back unused

funds from the previous budget tomember states.

If this is done up to 4.5 billion eurosfrom 2011 could be returned to theEU's general budget for 2012.

ALDE president Guy VerhofstadtMEP said: "National parliaments willcertainly question this as they counton this return each year to balancetheir own national budgets.

We think that they will however

appreciate the compensation that we are proposing with a real termfreeze on spending.

We believe that this evolutionshould give opportunity to a trueinter-parliamentary dialogue on theEU budget. This is why, in theperspective of the openingnegotiations on the next Post-2013

Multiannual Financial Framework,we recommend holding aconference which includesrepresentatives from the EuropeanParliament, national parliaments,the Commission, and from the 27governments.

Sharon Bowles backs Super Mario Draghifor European Central Bank PresidentThe Chair of the EuropeanParliaments Economic andMonetary Affairs Committee, LibDem MEP Sharon Bowles, hasgiven her backing to Mario Draghi,the man who will succeed Jean-Claude Trichet as President of theEuropean Central Bank.

Draghi, a respected economist andGovernor of the Bank of Italy, wasquestioned at a special hearing of theEconomic and Monetary AffairsCommittee last week and has receivedthe support of MEPs with a vote in theEuropean Parliament.

Commenting, Sharon Bowles MEPsaid: Mario Draghi is the right choiceto succeed Jean-Claude Trichet asPresident of the European CentralBank. As a former Executive Director

of the World Bank and Director General of the Italian Treasury during adifficult period in Italys economy, he iswell placed to meet the challenges nowfaced by the Eurozone.

I was impressed by the answers hegave to my committee drawing on hispast experience, not just repeatingECB lines. On Greece of course he didfollow the ECB no credit event, nohaircuts line but was fulsome inexplaining the effect such an eventwould have on banks. Many other answers were also interesting andthought provoking.

He has the respect of the committeeand of Parliament, the vision to make asignificant contribution, and I lookforward to our monetary dialogues inthe future.


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LibDem European Group ldeg.org

We need a more activeEuropean Union

We are falling behind therest of the world. Theanswer is More Europe,writes Bill Newton Dunn .

Why is our corner of the planet, Europe,suffering from decline, relative to theUSA, China, India, and the developingworld? All European countries haveageing populations, manufacturing jobsleaving for the east, our once-imperialmuscle and influence small, and much

more. What can we do to improve our position in the world?

Each European country is now toosmall on its own to have much influenceon a world scale. But if we all worktogether, with one voice instead of 27separate voices, with one combinedeffort instead of 27separate nationalefforts, our united strength and efficacycould be greatly improved.

Examples where we should work moreclosely together? Defence (British

aircraft-carriers have too few aircraft).Space research (but sadly Europe'ssuccessful rocket, Ariane, has no Britishinvolvement). One currency across allof Europe, instead of today's one bigone (the euro) and ten small nationalones. EU Embassies : there are still 27

expensive, national embassies in mostcapital cities of the world although anEU citizen can already seek assistancefrom any other EU state embassy, (or even evacuation as in the case of Libyawhen HMS Cumberland rescued 207people and carried them to Malta butonly 71 were UK citizens).

Fighting international criminal gangswhich smuggle drugs, illegalimmigrants, and fakes of every possiblekind, so destroying genuine jobs anddepriving our governments of taxes.Gangs based in China, Russia, Nigeria,and Europe, feed off us: they operateacross borders with impunity, but allEurope's police forces are national andcannot cross any boundaries: we couldfight the gangs much better by creatinga European FBI.

Air traffic control: planes in Europeanairspace could save fuel and emissionsby a straight flight-path instead of zigzagging according to 27 nationalcontrols. Grids for electricity, gas and oil

could be connected across Europe.Development Aid should be coordinatedrather than the present duplication of 27separate aid programs.

Why are these improvements nothappening already? The Lisbon Treatymoved all Europeans a little towards

more effective decision-makingtogether, but it was not enough. We stillsuffer from a lack of central co-ordinated leadership in a world which ischanging fast and not in our favour.

The basic problem is that the 27national governments only agree on thelowest common denominator betweenthem. Even when the 27 nationalgovernments make commitments towork more closely together, they oftenfail to live up to their promises. There isa blinkered un-informed approach bytoo many MPs in their nationalparliaments. They do not like to face upto the current predicament of allEuropeans. And if national MPs don'tlike to understand the arguments, howcan it be sensible to give the right tovoters to decide such big questions in areferendum?

In the powerful European Parliament,Conservative MEPS are totallymarginalised and without any influencedue to Cameron's foolish mistake of leaving the alliance of centre-rightpolitical parties.

The problem is that Europe is fallingbehind the rest of the world. We couldcatch up - but only if we pool our effortsand put nationalism behind us. Thesooner the better.

Tar sands: Canada warned to back off by MEPA North West Lib Dem Euro MP has warned Canada to"back off" from demands to ignore the high carbonemissions from tar sands for oil production.Chris Davies MEP told the European Parliament thatCanadian politicians had been "doing the rounds" to lobbyagainst any sanctions, and were threatening the possibilityof a trade dispute.Tar sands are deposits of semi-solid crude oil foundmainly in Canada and Venezuela. They can be processedto produce synthetic crude oil but only by using largeamounts of energy and fresh water.Chris slammed Canadian business and politicians for pretending that extracting petrochemicals from tar sandscarries no extra environmental impact. He said: Canadaneeds to back off. Relations between Europe and Canadaare close, but it has broken its commitment to reduce

carbon emissions and cannot expect us to ignore theconsequences of its polluting activities.Oil from tar sands can only be made by using hugeamounts of natural resources and that needs to bereflected in official assessments of the damage tar sandmining causes to our environment.Canadas aggressive lobbying of Governments and MEPsshows how worried they are about competing with cleaner fuel sources but I am worried that thereare signs that the UK Government mayhave been fooled.The EU directive assigning a rating tofuel sources according to how energyintensive their production methods areis due to be finalised in July 2011.


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Doctors and Lib Dem MEP Liz Lynneare celebrating progress in a longbattle to exempt MRI hospitalscanners from being effectivelybanned by a proposed EU directive.The West Midlands MEP has welcomednews that the EU Commission has agreedto exclude magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) technology from the limit values withinthe Electromagnetic Fields Directive. Asfirst drafted, the Directive would havedrastically affected MRI scanners from2012.Exposure limits to guard against theoreticalsafety risks would have restricted the timeoperators were able to spend near MRImachines in use and prohibited new uses of MRI technology pioneered by UK hospitals,such as treatment monitoring.Liz Lynne, Shadow Rapporteur on thedirective for the ALDE group of MEPs, said:I am delighted that it looks as if we havefinally won a reprieve for MRI technology.Originally, the directive would haveeffectively banned MRI scanners, whichwould have been a disaster. The health of workers is already protected by existingsafety standards."When it previously went through theEmployment and Social Affairs Committee Ifought very hard to have MRI scanners

removed from the remit of the directive.I was unsuccessful at the time as all theother political groups didn't believe therewould be a problem. They pushed it throughwithout listening to the medical evidence.Fortunately the Commissioner listened tothe lobbying from myself and medicalprofessionals and decided to delay thelegislation until more evidence could belooked at.

LIFESAVERSThe recommendation from experts isoverwhelmingly against restricting the use of MRI scanners. These are vital machineswhich can save lives; limiting their usewould mean doctors resort to lesssuccessful, more dangerous procedures."The new text will now go to Parliament for

consideration.Commenting on the possible effect of proposals for exposure limits toelectromagnetic fields in industry, Lizadded: "We need to look at this carefully.Any limits on commonly used processesmust be proportionate and based on up-to-date scientific and medical evidence."

Liz Lynne discussing theoperation of an MRI scanner

with staff at Warwick Hospital

MRI sc an ner s loo k t o besafe un d er n ew la w

Liberal MEPs have welcomedSerbias arrest of war crimesuspect Ratko Mladic.

"It is extremely important thatSerbia found and arrested RatkoMladic on its own.

It took muchtoo long tohappen, but itis significantthat ithappened now.

This development heralds a newdynamism in the region and willcontribute to more positivepolitical perspectives for thefuture.

I commend the commitment of Serbia's President to arrestGoran Hadzic another war crimes criminal who remains atlarge." said Jelko Kacin , EPrapporteur for Serbia.

Mladic arrest is a turning point

Time to stoptesting of cosmeticson animals

Lib Dem Euro MPs areinsisting that all use of animals for testing cosmeticsmust end within two years.EU legislation to ban animal testingwas approved in 2003. It setdeadlines for the phasing out of thepractice. Most substances used incosmetic products like sun creams,deodorants and toothpaste nowgain approval without the use of animals, but manufacturers claimthat some requirements can not bemet by the final 2013 deadline.Chris Davies MEP, who helped tonegotiate the original legislationsays that there should be norelaxation of the ban."I accept that there are difficulties,but since we introduced the EU lawgreat progress has been made andmany non-animal tests have beendeveloped. We made a pledge toend the suffering of animals used tomake products intended mostly to

flatter human vanity. There is nogood reason why that pledge cannot be kept."Davies recently organised ameeting with European Commissionofficials and industry experts todiscuss how to make progress.Simon Duffy, Founder of BulldogNatural Skincare and a speaker atthe event, commented: As aleading natural skincare company,which has always been highlycommitted to not testing its products

or ingredients on animals, we callon the EU to honour its commitmentto introduce a full ban in 2013.


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