Monthly Archives: June 2013

14 June 2013 Headlines ALDE NewsProfiles of MEPs in the News Networking ALDE News EU should show leadership in ensuring press freedom in the world Marietje Schaake, MEP (D66, Netherlands) has called for a strategy for press and media freedom to be implemented by the EU in her report on media freedom in the world which was adopted by the European Parliament during the June plenary session in Strasbourg. Read More To fight youth unemployment the EU needs better economic governance To effectively tackle the urgent problem of youth unemployment, structural solutions to improve the overall economic governance of the EU are needed. During the June plenary session the group of Liberals and Democrats in the European Parliament (ALDE) again stressed that market reforms such as the strengthening of the internal market for services, trade agreements and incentives to support self-employment for young people by cutting red-tape are key to getting the economy back on track and creating jobs. Beyond special measures focussed on youth the key challenge is to ensure that the EU relies on a strong, competitive and modern economy. Read More Verhofstadt criticizes weak attitude of Europe against state violence in Turkey During an exchange of views with the EU High Representative Catherine Ashton during the June plenary session in Strasbourg, ALDE Leader Guy Verhofstadt said he was disappointed that the Union has again chosen to be ambivalent in the face of a clear violation of fundamental rights by a state that is candidate for accession to the EU and added that Turkey must not turn its back on European principles and values. Read More Verhofstadt: “No, Mr. Hollande. The eurocrisis is not behind us.” Addressing a debate in Parliament on June 12 with the European Commission and Council representatives on preparation for the forthcoming EU summit at the end of June, Guy Verhofstadt lamented the lack of progress in all the key areas that will help end the economic and financial crisis. Read More Asylum package: A step towards increased solidarity and responsibility The European Parliament on June 12 adopted several pieces of legislation which will mark a step towards completing and improving the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) – due to have been completed by 2012 following the Stockholm programme – which establishes harmonised minimum standards for member states’ asylum systems. Read More Transparent accounting for mining and logging sectors Large oil, gas, diamond and logging companies will now be obliged to disclose full information about every single project whose payments to the governmental authorities exceed the threshold of 100.000 Euros, following the adoption by the parliament on June 12 of a first reading agreement with Council on transparency of non-financial reporting by large EU companies operating in the extracting business in third countries. Read More New Fund for the EU’s poorest citizens For the last two years the number of people facing extreme poverty has increased due to the financial crisis. In the EU, one in ten citizens is finding it hard to get enough to eat. 18 million people now have to rely on food aid. More than 25 million children are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. To help Member States break the vicious circle of poverty and deprivation the European Commission proposed a new programme, the Fund for European Aid to the most deprived (FEAD). Read More Improved Schengen supervision will preserve citizens’ freedom of movement The European Parliament on June 12 confirmed its agreement with the Council – after almost a year of negotiations – on a new Schengen governance system. This will strengthen the Schengen supervision by finally putting an end to the current strictly intergovernmental system and creating a more European Schengen Evaluation Mechanism, and set clearer rules and checks for situations of last resort to avoid any abuse or misuse of the exceptional reintroduction of controls at Schengen’s internal borders. Read More Prism: US data mining programme must be challenged by the EU Following ALDE’s request, the European Parliament on June 11 held a first debate on the US Internet surveillance programme (PRISM). “The Commission must clarify in detail to what extent EU citizens data has been misused and abused by the US authorities. The ALDE group expects the President of the European Commission to report back fully to the Parliament on the outcome of the discussion with the US administration and what measures the Commission intends to take” said ALDE President Guy Verhofstadt who proposes to hold another debate with the Commission in the July plenary session. Read More EP sheds light on scale of organised crime in EU The European Parliament on June 11 adopted the first interim report of the Special Committee on Organised crime, corruption and money laundering, which recommends the need for an EU strategy and stronger instruments to be taken both at international, European and national levels. Read More New customs rules for product piracy EU customs authorities will be able to take more effective action against product piracy. On June 11 the European Parliament adopted by unanimity the revision of the relevant regulation. As the Council had approved the trilogue negotiations’ result already in March, the rules will enter into force EU-wide by 1st January 2014. Read More Stricter rules on food for vulnerable consumers After 20 months of work and debate, the European Parliament during the June Strasbourg plenary session has given the green light to new rules governing specific foods. Those concerned are infants, young children, hospitalized patients and the obese. For Frédérique Ries (MR, Belgium), rapporteur of the European Parliament, it was urgent to revise the old 1977 directive which only broadly covered diet foods. Read More Verhofstadt & Cohn-Bendit awarded European Leader of the Year Award At a June 6 awards ceremony in Brussels at an annual event on the State of the European Union, ALDE group leader, Guy Verhofstadt and his Green group counterpart, Daniel Cohn-Bendit were awarded this year’s European leadership award. The organising forum brings together Europe’s senior executives from the European Executive Council, Business schools, consultancy firms and PR companies. Read More Labour migration: not a matter of security but an instrument for growth On June 5th ALDE Members Cecilia Wikström (Folkpartiet, Sweden), Jan Mulder (VVD, the Netherlands) and Nadja Hirsch (FDP, Germany) held a seminar on labour migration, “Facing the paradox: ensuring skills and talents for European economic growth”. Faced with long and complicated procedures to hire employees in the EU, companies decide not to establish themselves in Europe and re-direct their development strategy towards other economies (US, Australia, Brazil, India, China, etc.) leaving Europe ironically struggling to find the right skilled labour. Read More Europe must not remain silent as Putin turns Russia’s back on democracy Speaking at a seminar on Russian political prisoners organised by the ALDE Group in the European Parliament coinciding with the 50th birthday of former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, ALDE spokesperson on Human Rights, Leonidas Donskis (Liberal Movement, Lithuania), said: “Political prisoners, fake elections, a silenced press and an increasing number of citizens fleeing their own country, show the real face of Putin’s Russia. Europe must not watch silently as the Putin regime openly turns its back on democracy.” Read More MEPs should back up Council of Europe and sanction Hungary over breach of EU values As Parliament’s Civil Liberties committee begins examining amendments to the Tavares report tomorrow on standards and practices in Hungary with respect to EU Fundamental Rights, ALDE members will be urging colleagues on the committee to state clearly what is already the case – that there already a risk of a breach of fundamental rights in Hungary and the Treaty foresees action in such circumstances. Read More MFF: ALDE warns the Council against any denial of democracy Liberals and Democrats are concerned about the progress of discussions within the trialogue between Parliament, Council and the Commission on the next Multiannual Financial Framework. The Irish Presidency obviously lacks the necessary leeway to meet the Parliament’s demands: mandatory review clause, flexibility between years and chapters both in payments and commitments, system of own resources, and a modern and innovative budget. This intransigence is all the more surprising as the two institutions are not disputing the figures. The Council not only denies Parliament of its fair exercise of budgetary powers, but also challenges its democratic legitimacy since it refuses the principle of a mandatory review of the financial framework at the next legislature of Parliament, denying the newly elected MEPs in 2014 to have any input into the MFF which will cover the entire duration of the next legislature. Read More Outrageous: NGO workers in Egypt jailed On June 4th an Egyptian criminal court sentenced 43 people to between one and five years in prison for working for unregistered NGOs in Egypt. Twenty-seven defendants, all of whom were tried in absentia, received five-year jail sentences. Of the defendants who attended the trial, 11 received one-year suspended sentences, and five received two-year sentences. Read More ALDE backs call to end roaming charges Liberals and Democrats in the European Parliament are delighted by the strong proposal of Commissioner Neelie Kroes to abandon mobile roaming by Easter 2014. By then, Kroes said, the EU could deliver a full, final legislative package to end roaming charges. Read More Fisheries reform a big step forward The European Parliament reached a political agreement with the Irish Presidency on the Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. The agreement was brokered at 3.30am (CET) on May 30th in the European Parliament in Brussels. Pat the Cope Gallagher (FF, Ireland) and ALDE sopkesman on Fisheries stated “I welcome this reform as it includes significant changes such as a strong request urging Member States to endeavour to provide additional quotas to vessels that fish in an environmentally sustainable manner, such as small scale vessels, recognition that existing biological sensitive areas should be maintained and extended and the establishment of greater regionalisation and bottom up decision making especially for technical and conservation measures.” Read More EU lifts arms embargo but highlights disunity Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE Leader has sharply criticised the failure of the EU foreign ministers to find a common EU position on the Syria arms embargo after high level discussions in Brussels May 27 but welcomed the fact that the Free Syrian Army may finally get necessary arms to protect themselves if the peace process fails. Read More Clear vehicle registration raises safety standards The European Parliament’s Transport committee on May 30 voted on three pieces of legislation – also known as “Roadworthiness Package” – enforcing new rules on standards on safety checks for all vehicles to improve both road safety and environmental protection. Read More Networking EURONEST MPs visit ALDE Party HQ MPs from the EU’s eastern neighbourhood visited Brussels on 27-29 May for discussions with MEPs within the framework of the EURONEST joint parliamentary assembly. Three MPs from Georgia, Tinatin Khidasheli, David Onoprishvili and Viktor Dolidze and one from Armenia, Hrant Bagratyan, visited the ALDE Party HQ for a meeting with Party President Sir Graham Watson and ALDE MEP Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy Vice-Chair of the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly.Liberals on the Assembly later successfully fought off EPP attempts to derail the process of bringing Georgia and the Ukraine closer to the EU. “The forces of moderation won the day”, said Sir Graham “with the EPP’s protest – based on the treatment of EPP sister party leaders in each country – being shown up as an attempt to play party politics.” ALDE Summer Academy June 5 – 6th The annual ALDE Summer Academy took place in Brussels on the 5 & 6 June with more than 100 hundred young liberals and democrats from all over Europe coming together to discuss this year’s theme: ‘One Year Ahead of the European Elections: The Voice of the Youth’ . Hans Van Baalen, President of Liberal International opened the event, and in addition to contributions from Guy Verhofstadt, President of the ALDE Group, and Graham Watson – President of the ALDE Party, Jasna Gabric, the Deputy Mayor of Trbovlje Slovenia, gave a very interesting personal perspective of how a young person can make a difference in their own regional politics. The young participants entered into a lively debate with the speakers on how to reach out to the voting citizens of Europe, and what role the youth can play in the forthcoming European elections. ALDE Group – Harvard University Exchange Programme begins The Exchange Programme between ALDE Group and the Minda de Gunzburg Centre for European Studies of the Harvard University was officially initiated on May 20 with the arrival of two Harvard trainees. Beatrice Walton and Karen Zhou arrived during the May Strasbourg session and were immediately introduced to the legislative work of the European Parliament. Beatrice and Karen will follow the work of Committees and will support ALDE staff members with their research expertise. We wish them all the best during their stay with ALDE. ALDE MEP Theodoros Skylakakis elected President of Drassi On May 25, ALDE Member Theodoros Skylakakis was elected President of Drassi by the steering committee of the party. Drassi (Greek: Δράση; English: Action) was founded in 2009 by former finance minister Stefanos Manos. The party has a political agenda of extensive liberal reforms for the Greek economy and the public sector. Drassi is in favour of a small and flexible government through the decrease of unnecessary public expenses and privatization of public assets. In the double elections of May/June 2012, Drassi received 1.8% and 1.5% respectively. ALDE Group Leader Guy Verhofstadt was present in the party congress of Drassi on May 11, in Athens, having officially presented his recent book to the Greek public the day before. Profiles of MEPs in the News Cecilia Wikström (Folkpartiet Liberalerna, Sweden) Cecilia Wikström was born in 1965 and raised in Kalix, but has lived in Uppsala since the 1980′s. She holds a bachelor degree in theology from the University of Uppsala, and has been a practising priest in the Swedish Church since 1994.Cecilia Wikström has been an active and dedicated Member of the European Parliament since 2009, where she represents the Swedish liberal party Folkpartiet Liberalerna. Before joining the European Parliament she was a member of the Swedish Parliament. In the European Parliament Cecilia is a full member of the Committee of Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) and the Committee of Legal Affairs (JURI), where she also is the coordinator of the ALDE group. In 2012, she was appointed to the Advisory Committee of the European Parliament, a consultative ethics committee consisting of five senior MEPs who act as advisors to other colleagues on ethical issues. Cecilia is also vice-chair of the Parliament’s intergroup for disabled people.During her first mandate in the European Parliament Cecilia Wikström has been the rapporteur for the new Dublin regulation, one of five dossiers forming the European common asylum system that has just been adopted. She also played an active part in forming the common European patent rules and is presently the rapporteur of two key reports on how to attract students and researchers to the EU, and the new trademarks package. Cecilia has studied theatre extensively and has proven repeatedly her commitment to culture during her time in the European Parliament. In December 2010, she staged the play ‘Seven’ in Brussels. ‘Seven’ portrays seven female human rights activists’ life stories from different parts of the world. Cecilia played Mu Sochua, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her fight against trafficking in Cambodia. In March 2011, Cecilia Wikström performed the Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler, in front of 500 spectators in the European Parliament in Brussels. Both plays were performed by MEPs from different countries and different groups in the European Parliament. For more information, please contact:ALDE Press Service and Inter-institutional relations unitneil.corlett@europarl.europa.euwillem.vandenbroucke@europarl.europa.euALDEJoin ALDE on FacebookFollow ALDE on TwitterEventsConnecting Europe through General Aviation. Towards a better regulatory environment2013-06-19 Videos Sharon Bowles 11 June 2013 plenary speech on Lack of progress in Council and Commission’s delay of financial reforms Fiona Hall 11 Jun 2013 plenary speech on Financial statements Celia Wikström 11 June 2013 plenary speech on Asylum Marian Harkin 11 June 2013 plenary speech on Fund for European aid to the most deprived Frederique Ries 10 June 2013 plenary speech on Food intended for infants, young children and the severely ill Sophia in t Veld 11 June 2013 plenary speech on Commission statement on US internet surveillance Sonia Alfano 10 June 2013 plenary speech on Organised crime, corruption and money laundering Verhofstadt Guy 12 June plenary speech on Preparations for the June European Council Renate Weber 11 June 2013 plenary speech on SchengenLinksAlliance for Liberals and Democrats for Europe – ALDE Alliance for Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party – ALDE Party European Democratic Party – EDP Liberal International Friedrich Naumann Stiftung LYMEC European Parliament

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