Monthly Archives: July 2013

5 July 2013 Headlines ALDE NewsNetworking Opening of the Lithuanian Presidency of the European UnionProfiles of MEPs in the News ALDE News EU must give support to genuine democracy in Egypt Reacting to the tense and dangerous situation in Egypt this afternoon, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE President has called on the EU to support the calls for genuine democracy in Egypt. Recognising that millions of people have taken to the streets over the past few days to protest against the government under President Morsi, Guy Verhofstadt said: “In a democracy it is impossible to ignore the fact that many millions of citizens take to the streets. They demand freedom and democracy, just as they did in the revolution in 2011.Read More MFF: All EP conditions must be fulfilled prior to giving our final assent On adoption of the political resolution on the Multi-annual Financial Framework during the July Strasbourg plenary session, Guy Verhofstadt, president of the ALDE Group said, “The ALDE Group supported the MFF resolution voted today in the Parliament. However, the ALDE Group believes that all the conditions laid out in resolution must be fulfilled prior to giving our final assent.” Read More Parliament prepares the way for a truly pan-European election in 2014 Welcoming the adoption (507 for, 120 against, and 18 abstentions) of his report on improving the organization of the 2014 European elections by the July plenary session of the European Parliament meeting in Strasbourg, Andrew DUFF (LibDem, UK) believes that next year’s election will be decisive for the future of Europe. This is why the report calls on European political parties to nominate their candidate for the presidency of the Commission early enough to enable them to mount an effective campaign on a European scale and focused on European issues. He also insists that political debates between the candidates be organized in the Member States. Read More Hungary: If the EP is serious about fundamental rights, it must apply Article 7(1) TEU Ahead of the July 3rd vote on a report on the situation of fundamental rights in Hungary, Parliament held a debate in the presence of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Read More OLAF must conduct own initiative investigations to better fight corruption “The EU’s anti-fraud office OLAF must conduct investigations on its own initiative as part of its future activities. Instead of limiting its investigations only to cases brought to OLAF by whistle-blowers or other sources, OLAF should pro-actively investigate in areas where we know there is corruption and which are currently left untouched”, says Theodoros Skylakakis (Drassi, Greece), ALDE spokesperson on the Protection of the EU’s financial interests. Read More Safety standards raised on vehicles and their trailers On July 2nd the European Parliament adopted three pieces of legislation – also known as “Roadworthiness Package” – aiming at enforcing new rules on standards on safety checks for all vehicles to improve both road safety and environmental protection. Read More Expert Group on EU redemption fund established During the European Parliament’s July 2nd debate on the outcome of last European Council meeting, the President of the Commission formally launched the setting up of an Expert Group that will analyse the feasibility to mutually issue part of euro-zone national debts in the form of a redemption fund and eurobills. Read More Verhofstadt angry over NSA revelations Speaking in Parliament’s July plenary debate on the results of the June EU summit, Guy VERHOFSTADT, President of the ALDE group, focused especially on the MFF deal reached the preceeding week which will be the subject of a political resolution but only formally voted in September, once remaining EP concerns have been clarified. Read More EU roaming fees cut again but should be scrapped altogether Whilst welcoming the entry into force (on July 1st) of the new EU caps on mobile phone roaming fees which will reduce the cost of data roaming by over a third and further reduce the cost of making calls and sending messages when visiting another EU country, Liberals and Democrats are now campaigning to end roaming charges altogether by this time next year. Read More Fair public procurement deal for SMEs The Liberal and Democrat Group in the European Parliament welcomes the agreement reached between national ministers and MEPs on the Public Procurement, Utilities and Concessions Directives as a fair deal for small and medium-sized entreprises (SMEs). Read More Improved “Connecting Europe Facility” The Liberal and Democrat (ALDE) Group in the European Parliament welcomes the breakthrough on the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) as a deal that will enable targeted infrastructure investment in transport, energy and telecommunications at European level and boost competitiveness and economic growth. Read More Breakthrough deal on CAP After a breakthrough was achieved on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, ALDE MEPs welcomed the deal as a big step in the right direction, but stressed that the Liberal and Democrat Group would have liked to go further in the area of market liberalisation. The ALDE Group also expressed disappointment that MEPs were not given the chance to discuss issues that formed part of the Multi Annual Financial Framework (MFF) that was negotiated by national governments behind closed doors in spring. Read More Italian Organised crime a threat to EU Following the explicit request made by the European Parliament when it adopted ALDE MEP Sonia Alfano’s (Italy) report on “An EU strategy to fight transnational organised crime” in October 2011, Europol published on June 24 its threat assessment on the Italian mafia-style organisations within the EU. Read More Next generation Erasmus programme “The June 26 agreement on Erasmus+ is very good news for Europe in general and exceptionally good news for European students, trainees, teachers, trainers and youth workers” says Morten Løkkegaard (Venstre, Denmark), ALDE vice-president of the Culture Committee of the European Parliament. Read More Boost SMEs with new EU research and innovation programme Horizon 2020 On June 25 MEPs and national ministers reached a deal on the EU’s seven year research and innovation programme called “Horizon 2020”. The ALDE group substantially improved the original proposals by simplifying the way funds can be accessed, putting more emphasis on innovation, and by improving the synergies between Horizon 2020 and structural funds. Read More Posted workers: Liberals oppose protectionism To clarify how rules on posted workers in Europe’s Internal Market should be better applied in practice the European Commission has proposed an Enforcement Directive. In 2011, one million workers were temporarily posted to another EU member state, of which 25 % for activities in the construction sector. Read More Better targeted protection for unaccompanied children entering EU Unaccompanied children entering the EU should be exempted from accelerated immigration procedures given their age and vulnerability according to a committee of MEPs. The European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee adopted on June 19 the report by ALDE MEP Nathalie Griesbeck (Modem, France) on “the situation of unaccompanied minors in the European Union”. Read More Opening of the Lithuanian Presidency of the European Union Dalia Grybauskaitė officially launched Lithuania’s EU Presidency in Strasbourg At the July plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, President Dalia Grybauskaitė outlined Lithuania’s EU Presidency priorities and key tasks and answered questions from members of the parliament. According to the President, the Lithuanian Presidency agenda is ambitious and very important for all European citizens. Over the next six months, Lithuania will have to negotiate more than 300 EU legislative acts that are critical to promoting the EU’s long-term economic growth, reducing youth unemployment and energy prices, and ensuring more secure neighborhood.”After suffering five years of economic hardship, people are justifiably impatient for results. Which leave us with a lot of decisions to take in a short period of time and new opportunities to open up for our citizens. To this end, strong political will and coordinated action by all – EU institutions and national governments – are needed. Lithuania is ready to put all its effort into building a European consensus for a better, stronger, more united future together,” the President said.Speaking about the importance of urgent decisions, the President highlighted the unity of the Lithuanian people: “I represent a country who knows all too well the heavy price paid for making hard choices, but also one who understands the advantages that come from taking those difficult decisions when they need to be. The resolve shared by people right across my country now makes Lithuania’s economy the fastest growing in Europe. I speak as representative of a country that draws its strength from unity,” the President noted.The President underlined the importance of reaching agreement among the EU member states in order the funds earmarked in the EU budget could get to the EU member states and the most problematic areas as soon as possible – at the beginning of 2014. After reaching political agreement on the EU’s multiannual budget, Lithuania will work to coordinate around 70 documents crucial for implementation of the budget.According to the President, the single market is the major economic success of the European Union. Therefore it is necessary to effectively exploit its potential and deliver well-functioning internal markets in energy, services and digital economy.As the President pointed out, an integrated EU internal energy market alone could substantially reduce prices for energy resources and improve the EU’s competitiveness. It is estimated that if the EU becomes a fully integrated market in 2015, it could save as much as 35 billion euros a year in electricity costs.”Today, our citizens and businesses pay far too much for their energy. That makes our economy less competitive, and leaves consumers with less purchasing power. The lack of an internal market in energy opens up an energy security vacuum. We agreed that the internal energy market must be completed by 2014, and that no EU member state should remain isolated from European gas and electricity networks after 2015,” the President emphasized speaking about the energy agenda.On November 4 – 5, Vilnius will host the conference on completing the EU internal energy market where decisions will be made on key European energy projects.The President also underscored the significance of the digitization the EU economy. Two events will be dedicated to the digital market issues and IT development during Lithuanian EU Presidency – the European Council summit in October and the European research and innovation event (ICT 2013) to be held in early November in Vilnius.Open Europe is Lithuania’s third priority. During Lithuanian’s EU Presidency talks on free trade agreements will be held with the Unites States and Japan, also seeking closer rapprochement between the EU and its Eastern partners. According to the President, those partners who have made their European choice must know that they too are welcome, when they are ready, to join our family. There are high expectations that the Vilnius Summit in November will see the signing of an association agreement with Ukraine as well as the conclusion of negotiations and initialing of relevant agreements with Moldova, Georgia and Armenia. Read More ALDE Response to Lithuanian Presidency Lithuania needs to use its EU presidency to improve the rights of minoritiesThe Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe welcomes the accession of Lithuania to the European Union’s presidency and welcomes the focus on the internal energy market and the Eastern Partnership programme. Liberals and Democrats also wish that Vilnius will take advantage of this period to improve the rights of minorities.Cecilia WIKSTRÖM (Folkpartiet liberalerna, Sweden) said. “Europe is primarily a Union of values, common universal values, one of which is the principle of anti-discrimination. Europe was not created to protect states but individuals. Therefore we regret that the Lithuanian Parliament has rejected legislation recognizing gay rights, and that the Gay Pride parade is still prohibited in Vilnius this summer. “Sophie in’t Veld (D66, Netherlands) said: “I urge the Lithuanian presidency to lift the ban on Gay Pride which is scheduled for July 27th. This would give Vilnius the image of a colorful city open to all. I will go to Vilnius myself to celebrate diversity. “Leonidas DONSKIS (Liberal Movement, Lithuania), concluded: “We are the first country in the former Soviet Union to assume the presidency of the EU. This is a new historic role for my country which was one of the main challenges for Russia. But in this postmodern world, tyranny remains. Armed with experience, Lithuania must fight for the Eastern Partnership countries aspiring to democracy. ” Read More Networking ALDEPA Working Lunch – 17 JUNE 2013 (during 25th session of the ACP-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY in Brussels) The ALDEPAC lunch was honoured with the presence of Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister, Didier Reynders and the intervention of H.E. Cina LAWSON, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications of Togo. In addition to the numerous African delegates, many Brussels-based African Ambassadors from BENIN, BURUNDI, DJIBOUTI, ETHIOPIA, IVORY COAST, MALAWI, NIGERIA, TOGO, RWANDA and UGANDA were present. The lunch was co-chaired by ALDEPAC Co-President; Niccolò RINALDI and Louis MICHEL; Co-President of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. Members of ALDE Group; Olle Schmidt, Marielle De Sarnez, Catherine Bearder and Fiona Hall also participated. ALDELAT dinner On June 18th 2013 ALDE Members, Renate Weber and Izaskun Bilbao had the opportunity to meet a delegation of Latin American liberals invited to Brussels by the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung. The Latin-American delegation was composed by experts on environmental issue and chaired by Ricardo Lopez Murphy, President of RELIAL. During the dinner issues such as the ongoing EU-Mercosur negotiations and Energy and environmental policies in the EU and Latin America were discussed. Profiles of MEPs in the News Niccolò Rinaldi (Italia dei Valori’, Italy) Niccolò Rinaldi was born in Florence in 1962. A graduate in political science, he wrote his dissertation, entitled “Dakar Road Economy”, after his field experience in Senegal. Drawing from his experience of life in Peshawar in Pakistan, as well as Kabul and other regions of Afghanistan, he has been responsible for providing information in support of United Nations campaigns. The period spent in Afghanistan was a difficult but exciting experience, adding to his sense of ‘life training’. During this period he published a number of books; the most notable titles include:• “Islam, guerra e dintorni”, published by L’Harmattan in 1997, foreword written by Mr Jas Gawronski, later translated into French under the title of “Dieu, guerre and autres paysages” with a foreword by Mr Daniel Cohn-Bendit;• “Droga di Dio”, published by L’Ancora;• and the tale “Firenze, Herat e la forza di Kabul”, published in “Imago Mundi: Piazza di Guerra”, edizioni Festina Lente.In 1991 he left the United Nations and began a career with the European Parliament as a political adviser. He oversaw a series of projects implementing multimedia installations in Florence for collective memory regarding issues of city blockades (“Piazza di guerra”, 2003), genocide in Rwanda (“Silenzio per il Rwanda”, 2004), and the Holocaust (“Anatomia di un genocidio” 2009, published by Giuntina).In 2000 he was appointed Deputy Secretary General of the Liberal group in the European Parliament. In 2009 he was elected Member of the European Parliament, representing the Italian political party ‘Italia dei Valori’ (IdV). He is currently Head of Delegation of IdV as well as vice-president of the political group ‘Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe’ (ALDE). A member of the Committees for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, and promoter of a number of parliamentary programmes in attempts to defend the rights of the less fortunate; Mr Rinaldi pursues many initiatives, including those regarding issues of federalism, culture, education and euro-planning.As a member of the Committee on International Trade (INTA), he has been rapporteur for the FTA with Malasia, the EU-India FTA (safeguard clause), for the special conditions for trade with those areas of Cyprus in which its government does not exercise effective control and for the exercise of the Union’s rights for the application and enforcement of international trade rules. He also was responsible for steering the ALDE group line in opposing the controversial ACTA agreement that was eventually rejected by the European Parliament last year.Elsewhere, he is very concerned about the every-day problems of vulnerable people who are often less protected by the social system, such as immigrants, the disabled, and Roma people. He promotes voluntary work, and often helps out with disabled people himself. In his spare time he has a passion for mountains and is a member of the Tuscan sky rescue service and of the Italian Alpine Club. He is also co-founder and member of the board of the fair trade cooperative Equoland.Niccolò Rinaldi is also a member of the Italian Journalists Association.Read More 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 TwitterEventsProtecting the EU’s financial interests: Towards a European Public Prosecutor2013-07-11 Videos Marietje Schaake plenary speech on Situation in Egypt Sophia in ‘t Veld plenary speech on US NSA surveillance programme Theodoros Skylakakis plenary speech on Closure of Greek national broadcasting company Rinaldi Niccolò plenary speech on negotiations on a plurilateral agreement on services Verhofstadt blames Viktor Orban for defending his own interests, not the Hungarian ones Phil Bennion plenary speech on vehicles Anne Jensen plenary speech on financial transaction tax Cecilia Wikström plenary speech on Lithuanian Presidency LinksAlliance 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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