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ALDE Newsletter March 2014


14 March 2014 Headlines ALDE News Profiles of MEPs in the News Networking ALDE News NSA scandal: EP proposes clear plan against mass surveillance of EU citizens “I am very proud that this Parliament is the only Parliament, and the only institution in Europe that has raised this issue and I regret that no Parliament, nor EU Member State has seriously addressed this unprecedented massive violation of our citizens’ rights “, said Sophie in ‘t Veld (D66, Netherlands) in welcoming the March 12 adoption of the final report, following six months of inquiry into the massive surveillance of EU citizens by the US National Security Agency and by Member States secret services. Read More MEPs vote to strengthen rights of holiday makers European travellers who book their holiday package online will enjoy more rights when they arrange their package following today’s adoption by the European Parliament of an update of the 1990 package travel directive. Taking account of the growth of independent online bookings a consumer booking a flight, a hotel or a hire car via a link on the airline’s website will have additional safeguards in the event that the company goes bankrupt before completion of the holiday. Earlier rules had been drawn up in an era when most people made arrangements through professional travel agencies. Read More ALDE calls for an end to secrecy of public documents “This is the moment to make EU institutions more transparent, to give citizens more trust. Trust of citizens hinges on openness and accountability of the politicians who represent them. Europe is becoming a political union, discretion and confidentiality must make room for transparency and open government” says ALDE MEP and rapporteur Sophie in’t Veld (D66, Netherlands). Read More MEPS look to cut plastic bags use Members of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee approved during the March Strasbourg plenary session a report on reducing the consumption of plastic bags. Read More Data protection package strengthens citizens’ rights The European Parliament on March 12 agreed on a common position on proposals for a new EU Data Protection Regulation and a Directive on data processing in law enforcement. This update comes with the need to face the rapid technological changes and threats since the widespread use of Internet. Read More Verhofstadt: “Europe lacks the courage of its convictions” In a March 12 debate in the European Parliament ahead of next week’s European Council, Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE group President) pointed out that this will be the last formal summit before the European elections yet crucial issues remain unresolved. Read More Guy Verhofstadt confirmed as European Democratic Party candidate for the presidency of the European Commission The European Democratic Party, meeting on Wednesday March 12, 2014 in Strasbourg, has chosen Guy Verhofstadt, former Belgian Prime Minister and current leader of the ALDE group in the European Parliament, as its candidate for the European Commission Presidency. Read More European Arrest Warrant reform will strengthen human rights and improve efficiency The European Parliament on 27 February overwhelmingly backed a report by ALDE MEP Sarah Ludford (Lib Dem, UK) calling for major reforms to the European Arrest Warrant, including a human rights safeguard clause to help avoid miscarriages of justice and a proportionality check to prevent it being used for minor offences. Read More Joint statement by Guy Verhofstadt, President of ALDE Group in the European Parliament and Mikhail Kasyanov, Co-Leader of People’s Freedom Party (PARNAS) on the escalation of the situation in Crimea Putin has recklessly taken a step that put Russia on the brink of war with a friendly country Ukraine. Russia dropped the pretence of being a good neighbour and became a military agressor. Read More Human Rights in the EU: there is still much work The European Parliament meeting in the February II Strasbourg plenary session adopted by majority Louis Michel’s (MR , Belgium) report on the situation of fundamental rights in the EU for 2012. Read More SOLVIT: Stronger focus on businesses The European Parliament on 27 February adopteds an own-initiative report that will further improve SOLVIT, the EU help desk for citizens and companies with legal problems in the EU. Read More Ukraine: This is Europe’s hour to prove its ambitions for a common foreign policy Ahead of the March 6 emergency EU summit to discuss the EU response to Russian military occupation of Crimea and the urgent need to provide assistance to the new government of Ukraine, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE group leader, said: “The European Union must act quickly and increase the pressure on Russia to return its forces to their bases and de-escalate the tension on the Crimean peninsula.” Read More The ‘New Narrative for Europe’ gets backing of Merkel in Berlin At an event in Berlin the previous weekend, Germany’s Chancellor Merkel and Commission President José Manuel Barroso officially received a copy of a cultural charter for a New Narrative for Europe. The project was launched last year by Danish liberal MEP Morten Løkkegaard (Venstre, Denmark). Read More Democratic Venezuela: Political opposition vital During a February 27 debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg ALDE strongly condemned the recent acts of violence in Venezuela that have left 13 people dead, more than 70 injured and hundreds detained. Read More eCall system save lives but undermines privacy The European Parliament on 26 February adopted the introduction of an eCall system for all new passenger cars from 1 October 2015. In case of a serious accident the system would automatically be activated and send an emergency 112 call, enabling emergency services to locate and arrive at the scene more quickly. Read More 4th Railway Package: one step forward, two steps back During the February II penary session the majority of the European Parliament adopted the fourth Railway Package composed of six amending legislative proposals which aim to improve low passenger satisfaction levels, increase efficiency and competitiveness, remove barriers to free circulation of rail transport services and create a real single railway market across the EU. ALDE regrets that some of the Commission’s proposals were unfortunately watered down due to vested interests and inertia. Read More EU sales law – improved consumer rights After years of discussions, the proposal for a Common European Sales Law (CESL), adopted 26 February by the European Parliament lays down optional EU-wide rules for purchases from other member states, particularly relevant given the sale of purchases nowadays made online. Read More Jobless youth should not be left behind In early 2013, the EU member states endorsed a plan to establish Youth Guarantees at national level, one of many EU measures to tackle the massive youth unemployment problem. The Youth Guarantee focuses on measures that aim to ease young people’s school-to-work transition and their sustainable inclusion in the labour market. Young people up to the age of 25 should receive either an offer of employment , further education or work-focused training at the latest four months after leaving education or after becoming unemployed. For regions where youth unemployment exceeds 25 % EU funding from the Youth Employment Initiative is available. Read More Continuous repressions in Russia must stop Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Liberal Group in the European Parliament issued the following statement following the arrests of political activists in Russia. “I condemn the sentences handed down by a Moscow court in the cases of eight individuals arrested after the Bolotnaya Square protests in Moscow in May 2012.” Read More EU should be united in fighting violence against women The European Parliament on February 25 gave support to Antonyia Parvanova’s (NMSP,Bulgaria) call for a European action plan aimed at combating all forms of Violence against Women, including trafficking against women. Every year 3.000 women in the EU die of the consequences of violence. It is estimated that between 20-25% of women in the EU have suffered physical violence at least once in their lives . Over 10 % have suffered sexual violence. Read More Modernised European trade mark protection A proposal to obtain trademark protection for goods will be made easier and quicker with new rules that were discussed during the European Parliament’s February II plenary session. Read More European Semester: Continue reforming to open prospects to future generations The European Parliament on 25 Februaru adopted three reports in the framework of the fourth European Semester launched by the Commission for next year, setting as priority: “strengthening the recovery”. Read More EU food aid programme continues The European Parliament on 25 February approved an agreement to continue a € 3.5 billion programme that delivers food aid to poverty-hit Europeans over the period 2014-2020. The on-going economic crisis has reduced governments’ abilities to provide for those facing extreme poverty. 43 million Europeans cannot meet their basic food needs. 18 million people now have to rely on food aid. The Fund for European Aid to the most deprived (FEAD) will help Member States break the vicious circle of poverty and deprivation. Read More Europe’s openness to foreign talent benefits growth The European Parliament signed off on 25 February ALDE MEP Cecilia Wikström’s (Folkpartiet, Sweden) report improving rules and conditions for third country nationals who come to Europe for research, studying, paid or unpaid traineeships, to work as a volunteer or as au-pair. Read More Uganda: Unacceptable anti-gay law Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE President called the signing of the Anti-homosexual act in Uganda an “appalling breach of human rights”. This act, recently signed into law by Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, hands down sentences of life in prison for LGBTI persons engaging in sexual activity and up to seven years in jail for any business, NGO or individual that supports an LGBTI person. Read More Troika’s lack of democratic accountability fuels euroscepticism After several months of enquiry, the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) on 24 February voted on a report on the role and operations of the Troika (ECB, Commission and IMF) with regard to the euro area programme countries. Read More Networking Ukraine’s Ruslana Lyzhychko invited by the ALDE Group in Strasbourg On 25th February and in the framework of the Ukrainian political and human rights crisis, the ALDE Group invited Ruslana Lyzhychko, a famous Ukrainian pop singer and activist of Maidan Square to share her experiences and voice the requests of the civil society. Ruslana held a common press conference with ALDE Leader Guy Verhofstad as well as with MEPs Marielle de Sarnez, Hans van Baalen and Henri Malosse, President of the OSCE. After her statements, Ruslana received applause by the audience, a rare occasion in a press conference. Ruslana Lyzhychko and Guy Verhofstadt also launched a proposal to set up a non-partisan, civil society initiative “Maidan Platform”. The main objective of this initiative is to empower Maidan activists and channel their commitment for a different Ukraine. Maidan Platform would develop specific proposals and initiatives with the sole aim of eradicating corruption in Ukraine.The ALDE Group organised an internal projection of her film “The beginning” which pictured the events from November 2013 until Yanoukovic´s fall. MEP Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, Vice Chair of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, hosted this event along with Ruslana. Profiles of MEPs in the News Nathalie Griesbeck (Mouvement Démocrate, France) Nathalie Griesbeck was born in 1956 in Metz, a city in the northeast of France and prefecture of both the Lorraine region and the Moselle department. She studied at the University of Metz where she obtained a Masters of law and then at Nancy University where she obtained two postgraduate diplomas, both times as valedictorian. She was and continues to be a lecturer in public law at the University of Metz.In 1983 she entered public life being elected the youngest ever Municipal Councillor in Metz. She was then chosen by an overwhelming majority as Departmental Councillor of the Metz III canton in 1988. She has since then been re-elected on each occasion. Unanimously elected as a deputy Mayor in 1989, and then First Deputy Mayor in 1995, Nathalie was responsible for finance and economic development. From 1995 and 2001 as chairman of the Departmental Senior Citizens’ Association, better known as the Hôtel de Gournay, she brought a new dynamic, succeeded in improving the financial situation and restoring the operational capacity of the Metz Public Housing Office (OPAC) – a body that builds and manages the vast majority of social housing in the City.Nathalie was first elected member of the European Parliament in 2004. She headed the centrist list in the Grand Est constituency, which comprises five regions: Alsace, Bourgogne, Champagne-Ardenne, Franche-Comté and Lorraine. Having to prioritize her multiple mandates, she decided to focus on her roles as a Member of the European Parliament and member of the Moselle Departmental Council, where she has served as Vice-president in charge of Community actions since 2011. During the 2004-2009 legislature, she served as full member of the Budget committee and substitute member of the Transport and Tourism Committee. Nathalie has been given the responsibility of permanent rapporteur for the strategic question on Structural funds. Re-elected in 2009, she decided for her second mandate to keep her place as substitute member of the Transport and Tourism Committee, and to join the Civil liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE).As full member of the LIBE committee, Nathalie has been involved in a large number of key issues. She is very concerned about the questions of asylum and migration. She was rapporteur on a text regarding the situation of unaccompanied minors. With the support of the ALDE Group, she wrote and passed an own initiative report getting the Parliament to recognize that an unaccompanied minor is above all a child who is potentially in danger and that child protection, rather than immigration policies, must be the leading principle when Member States and the European Union are dealing with such children. Working in LIBE, Nathalie also pushed for the reform of the European Arrest Warrant and the creation of a European Public Prosecutor’s Office.In the Transport and Tourism Committee, Nathalie is committed to stronger transport infrastructures and better harmonisation of European transport. Concerned about European health and well-being, she has also been focusing on road safety and passengers rights. She took a clear stance on the recent 4th Railway Package. Nathalie is also a member of the Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly that brings together on a regular basis, the elected representatives of the European Parliament and those of the African, Caribbean and Pacific states’ national parliaments. For the upcoming elections this May, Nathalie has again been chosen as the head of the centrist ‘Alternative’ list for the Grand Est constituency in France. Amidst her hectic schedule as elected representative, university lecturer, and married mother of two, Nathalie Griesbeck still manages to make time for her passions in life: reading, music and long walks in the forest, although these are unfortunately becoming shorter and less frequent. Read More For more information, please contact: ALDE Press Service and Inter-institutional relations unit neil.corlett@europarl.europa.eu willem.vandenbroucke@europarl.europa.eu ALDE Join ALDE on Facebook Follow ALDE on Twitter Events Media Freedoms and Accession Talks: Speak up Serbia! 2014-04-01 Videos Sylvie GOULARD 12 March plenary speech on role and operations of the Troika Phil BENNION 11 March plenary speech on Freedom of movement for workers Johannes Cornelis VAN BAALEN 12 March plenary speech on Invasion of Ukraine by Russia Guy VERHOFSTADT 12 March plenary speech on Preparations for the European Council Marietje SCHAAKE 13 March plenary speech on Russia sentencing of demonstrators involved in the Bolotnaya Square events Pat the Cope GALLAGHER 13 March plenary speech on Joint Debate Fisheries One charger for all mobile phones and tablets sold in the EU Links Alliance 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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ALDE Newsletter February 2014


7 February 2014 Headlines ALDE NewsProfiles of MEPs in the News Networking ALDE News Ukraine: EU must be ready to introduce targeted sanctions if Yanukovich ignores democracy Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE Leader on 5 February told the European Parliament in Strasbourg that Europe needs a credible, action based strategy to bring change in Ukraine and stop violence immediately including, if necessary, the use of sanctions. He was speaking during a debate on the situation in Ukraine. Read More Air passenger rights: legal certainty on responsibility and rights A report adopted on 5 February by the European Parliament updates common rules for compensation for air passengers when facing long delays or cancellations of flights. It also relaxes rules on carry-on baggage, allows passengers to use the return part of their ticket even if they did not use the outward leg of the journey and establishes legal certainty for airlines on when exceptional circumstances apply that are genuinely beyond their control. Read More Improving access of third country nationals to seasonal work in the EU After years of controversies, on 5 February the Seasonal Workers Directive has finally been adopted by the European Parliament and will be transposed into national laws within 30 months from its publication in the EU official Journal. This Directive presented by the Commission in July 2010 is part of the common EU labour migration policy and sets harmonised conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purpose of seasonal employment. Read More End double discrimination against undocumented women migrants The Liberals and Democrats group in the European Parliament (ALDE) welcomes the support for the report on Undocumented Women migrants, drafted by ALDE MEP Norica Nicolai (PNL, Romania). Read More Syria: EU must do everything within its power to limit the suffering of the Syrian people Speaking during the plenary debate of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, ALDE Leader Guy Verhofstadt has said that as long as Bashar al-Assad remains in power there will be no solution ever for Syria. Read More Banking union: Council’s proposal is neither credible nor democratic The adoption of a European Resolution Mechanism and the creation of a resolution Fund is an important step for the stability of the banking sector and the euro area as a whole. As part of the single market for financial services, it is a matter of co-decision between Parliament and Ministers of finance. Read More Easier to license music rights across European borders It will now be easier for online services, such as Spotify, to acquire music rights across EU borders. The new directive, passed by the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 4 February, will not only help online music services offering their services in several member states, but also strengthen the rights of individual rights holders, by clarifying their rights vis-à-vis collecting management organisations. Read More Internet developments require new efforts on consumer rights When a hotel uses fake consumer references to praise itself in an internet forum, or if a supposedly neutral website for assisting consumer’s choice singles out products of preferred suppliers, then unfair commercial practices misrepresent the truth and abuse consumer trust. In order to tackle such cases, the European Parliament on 4 February asked for further efforts of the Members States and the European Commission to ensure consumers are better protected against emerging unfair commercial practices. Read More Insider dealing and market manipulation finally outlawed and punished “The scandal over the manipulation of the EURIBOR and LIBOR benchmarks not only underlined the transnational nature and impact of the financial markets, but it also showed that the differences between Member States’ legislation was a fertile ground for such a scourge to flourish”, said ALDE MEP Wolf Klinz (FDP, Germany) welcoming the adoption on 4 February by the European Parliament of a Directive on criminal sanctions for market abuse. Read More EU roadmap against LGBTI discrimination: Parliament’s progressive majority must speak out The European Parliament on February 4 voted on a report on homophobia and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. ALDE spokeswoman on the file Sophie in ‘t veld (D66,Netherlands) called on the progressive majority to provide the ultra-conservative opponents of this report with a clear and audible sound. Read More 2014 European Semester – no complacency in implementation On January 30 the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee adopted a report on the 2014 EU economic priorities set by the European Commission in November 2013 at the launch of the fourth European Semester by presenting its Annual Growth Survey for the next year focusing on “strengthening the recovery”. Read More Combatting violence against women: EU must show leadership One in four women has been a victim of violence, domestic abuse, rape, sexual exploitation, genital mutilation or other sexual violence in the EU yet there is still no comprehensive EU-strategy to prevent violence against women (VAW), despite it being a European wide problem. Read More Networking 9th Annual ALDEPAC Conference on Economic Growth and Development, Cape Town South Africa January 23 to 26 In the historical setting of the Old Chamber of the South African Parliament, prominent liberal politicians and MPs from Africa and Europe gathered for the 9th annual conference of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, Pacific, Africa and the Caribbean (ALDEPAC).In his welcome remarks, Niccolo Rinaldi, ALDEPAC, Co-President and Vice President of the ALDE Group in the EP spoke of the European context: “divided, we are irrelevant on an international level; united the EU will play a key role in global relations. In that sense, the European elections in 2014 will set an important course for Euro-African relations and their impact on world developments.” He mentioned two events in 2014 as crucial for the political future of Africa: the democratic elections in South Africa, essential to maintain a society based on liberal principles and the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide during which 800.0000 Tutsis were murdered, “which has traumatised for a long time not only Africa but also Europe”.Former Prime Minister of Guinea and Leader of UFDG Cellou Dialo inspired the audience saying: “The fight for Africa based on values, on values of freedom and liberty for everyone, is something that must inspire us on a daily basis, in all the work we are doing, in all the policies we are promoting.”ALDEPAC Political Coordinator Johan van Hecke, welcomed delegates to Cape Town and the Western Cape as “the liberated areas of South Africa”.Louis Michel, MEP, Co-President of the ACP-JPA, underlined that unlike capitalism, liberalism is a social project, a vision of humanity. Liberalism creates wealth, but that wealth must display freedom. It must enable everyone to blossom. While there is no development without economic growth it does not always guarantee human progress. Liberalism is therefore founded on two fundamental pillars: an effective market economy and a consolidated state, capable of carrying out its great missions in the service of the population, education, justice, health care, institutions, culture, etc.). Western Cape Premier and leader of the Democratic Alliance Helen Zille, addressed the political situation in South Africa and the continent, ahead of the important parliamentary elections scheduled for May this year. She spoke with pride about a “democratic South Africa with a liberal constitution.” Zille spoke of the challenges her nation and continent faced, emphasising that the “Europeans have not helped Africa”. She said: “They came to Africa, carved it out in the most illogical way, without any respect to the ethnic and tribal realities, and told the local people ‘implement democracy’ — something they could not themselves implement back at home on their continent where their states were carved out following ethnic/tribal divides.”She continued “I was blessed enough to be part of the constitutional debates, where liberals were giving ideas, where people have been for decades working hard to convince the others that a liberal constitution is the way to build a common future together. Liberals are about commitment, about a long-term service to the people to help them achieve their goals. Liberals are unique because they believe that human beings are fallible; humans are not always right. If we keep on long enough, I believe more people will understand how important it is to safeguard and guarantee other people’s freedom, and how important it is to respect each other for whoever we might be. And that is why Cape Town and the Western Cape are so wonderful, because the majority have embraced this concept.”During the course of the Conference, LI President Hans van Baalen MEP underlined that “the free market provides the right environment for human and civil rights and the fight against discrimination.” Speaking on “Good Governance and the Rule of Law” he stressed: “The free market is blind, which means, it does not discriminate between black and white, gay or straight, men or women. Private enterprise wants to attract the best people fit for the job and wants to sell its products and services to everybody. On the other hand, equal rights, civil liberties and non-discrimination unleashes the best qualities in people, and provides the best workforce and consumers for private enterprise. Therefore, the free market and the free society are complementary.”Tim Harris MP, DA, speaking on the session “Strengthening Regional Trade in Africa” summarised the general opinion “Boosting free trade in Africa is the best way to drive economic growth across the continent and help to lift millions of Africans out of poverty. Too often Africans remain separated from each other by xenophobia, ignorance, red tape, tariffs, inadequate infrastructure and visa problems. Every Liberal party on the continent should prioritise strengthening African trade on their policy platforms, particularly given the failure of most incumbent governments to make good on their lofty promises in this area.”The ALDEPAC Conference welcomed the members of the Bureau of the Africa Liberal Network (ALN) and was organised in cooperation with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty. Profiles of MEPs in the News Philippe De Backer (Open VLD, Belgium) Philippe De Backer was born on December 4th 1978 in Ekeren, a small town close to Antwerp in Belgium. . After high school he went to Ghent to study Biotechnology where he soon got involved in student councils and political organisations. First he became a member of the Liberal Flemish Student association (LVSV) where he was active for three years writing blogs and opinion articles for the liberal think tank Liberales. He was also a student representative to the Board of Directors of the University of Ghent for two years. In 2008 he became president of the Young Flemish Liberals and served for three years. He then joined the local elections for the Flemish Liberals (Open Vld) and got elected to the city Council of Kapellen. After obtaining his PhD in biotechnology from Ghent University and an MBA from Solvay Business School, Philippe worked as a Technology Transfer Officer at CRP-Santé and as analyst at Vesalius Biocapital, a Luxembourg-based venture capital firm specialising in life-sciences. He has an expertise in the valorisation of IP developed by public research institutes and setting-up early ventures in the life-sciences. Philippe became a Member of the European Parliament in 2011 where he is a full member of the Transport and Tourism Committee. He is also a substitute Member on the Economy and Monetary Affairs Committee, as well as the Employment and Social Affairs Committee. As full member of the Committee for Transport and Tourism, Philippe is involved in many important files. Transport infrastructure is the backbone of our economy. As our network is full of missing links, bottlenecks and cross border problems, Philippe defended the European added value of infrastructure projects during the discussion about new rules on the Trans-European Transport network and the Connecting Europe Facility. The completion of the internal market for transport is the ultimate goal of the legislation Philippe is working on. The railway market demonstrates how much work still needs to be done to unite Europe. The single railway market is hampered by stubborn Member States who want to protect their, mostly inefficient national railway companies by introducing technical barriers and protecting their national monopolies. During negotiations in Parliament, Philippe defended the opening of market, technical harmonisation and mandatory tendering of public service contracts. This is the only way to ensure a better level of service quality for passengers and companies who use rail to transport their goods. Philippe also plays a key role in the negotiations on the new ports regulation. Due to its history and the huge importance of ports to our EU economy, the stakes are high. Philippe believes that opening the market for port services is key to improving the working of our European ports. Transparency is absolutely necessary, but commercial freedom for our ports and port users should be preserved. In the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON), Philippe is strongly involved in creating a hospitable environment for enterprises. In particular, Philippe tried to stimulate the European Commission and the Member States in creating an adequate legislative framework for SMEs in his report “Improving access to finance for SMEs”. The crisis struck hard, especially on SMEs, and finding adequate funding was almost impossible. Therefore, Philippe strongly advocated introducing legislative frameworks for alternative means of financing. SMEs are the backbone of our economy, so legislators ought to do the maximum to support them. Not only by creating new incentives, but also by making sure that Member States structurally reform in order to be sufficiently competitive in the after-crisis-era. Therefore in his European Semester 2014 report Philippe argued for Member States to lower taxes, especially on labour, to adequately reform their pension system, and to ensure a flexible labour market. As a liberal, Philippe truly believes that it is his duty to take up responsibility in the community and actively work for the society and the people that live in it. He believes strongly in individual liberty, self-development and equal starting chances for everybody. On a personal note, Philippe has been married to Marie since May 2011 with whom he is expecting a baby in March 2014. On the rare occasion that he has free time, he enjoys reading non-fiction books. Read More For more information, please contact:ALDE Press Service and Inter-institutional relations unitneil.corlett@europarl.europa.euwillem.vandenbroucke@europarl.europa.euALDE Join ALDE on FacebookFollow ALDE on TwitterVideos Marietje SCHAAKE February 4 plenary speech on licensing of rights in musical works for online uses Phil BENNION February 3 plenary speech on EU law and better lawmaking Guy VERHOFSTADT February 6 plenary speech on Single Resolution Mechanism and a Single Bank Resolution Fund: outcome of the negotiations Wolf KLINZ February 4 plenary speech on Criminal sanctions for insider dealing and market ma Alexandra THEIN February 3 plenary speech on Promoting free movement by simplifying the acceptance of certain public documentsLinksAlliance 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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ALDE Newsletter January 2014


17 January 2014 Headlines ALDE NewsProfiles of MEPs in the News European Commission News ALDE News The Greek tragedy holds lessons for the whole of the EU Addressing Greek Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, during the January Strasbourg plenary at the opening debate on the Greek Presidency of the EU’s Council of Ministers, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE group leader, underlined that Greece’s own tough experiences of the financial crisis were brought on both by failure of the former dominant Greek political class and the collective inability of the EU to act decisively in 2009. Read More Immediate suspension of Safe Harbour arrangement EU-US Sophie in ‘t Veld, ALDE Vice-chair of the Civil Liberties committee is calling for the immediate suspension of the controversial Safe Harbour arrangement during the January 15 debate in the European Parliament with Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding. Read More EU Citizenship must remain priceless Malta’s recent decision to start selling citizenship to third country nationals for €650,000 has been strongly criticised during the January plenary session in the European Parliament both for the risk it poses for all Member States but also for the apparent discriminatory and purely commercial nature of the eligibility criteria without any requirement for residence. Read More MIFiD: Stronger investors’ protection and competition as preconditions for a robust financial market After months of negotiations, the European Parliament and the Council on 14 January reached an agreement on the revision of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID II). This revision was proposed in 2011 by the Commission to respond to the speed of the market and technological developments and to overcome the weaknesses in the regulation of financial instruments exposed by the financial crisis. Read More European public procurement opens up for SMEs EU legislation on public procurement is being overhauled, in order to ensure a level playing field for contracts tendered by public bodies across the EU. Comprising almost 1/5 of total GDP in the Union, and covering sensitive sectors, services and public utilities, the package adopted on January 15 by the European Parliament, aims to ensure the application of simpler, more transparent and consistent rules, and to prevent discriminatory behaviour whilst preserving the basic freedom to provide services across borders. Read More Serbia from regional maverick into integration leader During a debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on January 16 , ALDE MEP Jelko Kacin (LDS, Slovenia) and EP rapporteur on Serbia welcomed progress over the past year and said Serbia is taking up a transformative role: “turning from a regional maverick into an integration leader.” Read More Broad support for EU Action Plan to fight Wildlife Crime The EU Action plan to fight Wildlife Crime, an initiative launched by Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (D66, Netherlands) received broad support of the European Parliament during the January plenary session. The plan (see link below) calls for the complete destruction of seized illegal ivory, higher penalties for criminals, the creation of a special investigative unit at Europol and the review of EU legislation. Read More European consumer policy improved Ensuring a high level of consumer protection and empowering consumers to make informed choices is the essence of a programme to improve the policy framework for European consumers from 2014 to 2020 and the subject of report adopted by a large majority during the January plenary session. Read More Lower CO2 emissions in vans The European Parliament has endorsed a deal to reduce CO2 emissions from new light commercial vehicles (Vans). The report by ALDE MEP Holger Krahmer (FDP, Germany) also aims to make vans more fuel-efficient. Read More Kickstart carbon capture, say MEPs The European Parliament on January 14th called for measures to kickstart the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to reduce CO2 emissions from industry and power generation. With CO2 capture plants under construction in the USA, Canada and China, MEPs say that Europe could not only fail to achieve CO2 reductions at least possible cost but also risks losing out on export orders. Read More We must strengthen the EU mechanisms to ensure respect for fundamental rights The Committee on Civil Liberties and Justice of the European Parliament adopted on 14 January the report by Louis Michel (MR , Belgium) on Fundamental Rights in the EU for 2012. According to Michel. “In recent years the European Union has experienced severe institutional and constitutional crises in certain Member States. The European values as set out in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, were in some cases abused and even violated.” Read More ALDE welcomes woman appointee to ECB Board Olle Schmidt MEP, (Folkpartiet, Sweden) welcomed the outcome of the vote in the Economic and Monetary Affairs approving Sabine Lautenschläger as a member of the ECB Executive Board in place of Jörg Asmussen, outgoing German member. However he believes more needs to be done to promote gender balance within the EU institutions and in particular in the ECB. Read More Employee financial participation can power inclusive growth According to the report drafted by Phil Bennion (LibDems, UK) and debated on 13 January in the European Parliament, Employee financial participation (EFP) should be encouraged to involve employees directly in the performance or ownership of the enterprises they work for. The concept of EFP can be an important tool to give employees a real sense of ownership and allow them to share in the value of the organization. Read More European Council fails to convince on Banking Union Some may claim that progress has been made over the past week towards delivering an EU wide Banking Union, but the reality is very different. Despite a week of intensive negotiations and diplomacy amongst finance ministers the outcome is less than was hoped for to convince markets that Europe has understood both the severity of the economic and financial crisis and the urgency of putting in place a comprehensive solution. Read More Plastic waste: MEPs move on pollution During the January plenary session MEPs backed a Commission Green paper for dealing with the huge amounts of plastic waste generated each year in the EU which pollute the environment. Parliament calls for the review of EU waste targets which means that future EU legislation should include inter alia the promotion or restriction of certain kinds of plastic materials, new rules on the disposal of plastic waste, measures to help phasing out landfilling of recyclable and recoverable waste by 2020, common criteria for recyclability, the promotion of waste prevention, recycling, recovery and reuse of products as well as measures to reduce the impact of plastic waste on the environment through sustainable solutions for product design and for the life-cycle of plastics. Read More Syrian humanitarian disaster: greater solidarity needed ALDE Leader Guy Verhofstadt has called on EU Member States to act in a more coordinated and responsible way to ease the growing Syrian humanitarian crisis. “Time is passing and we seem to have put Syria to the back of our minds yet the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding both inside Syria’s borders and beyond is without precedent and needs to be tackled urgently”. Read More Khodorkovsky pardon is welcome but it does not yet mean that Rule of Law is respected Commenting on December 19th on news that President Putin has granted an amnesty to a number of political prisoners including jailed businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE Group President, said:“If news of the pending release of Mikhail Khodorkovsky is confirmed, then I can only welcome it, though it is not before time. His harsh treatment at the hands of the Russian justice system, along with that of other political prisoners who have suffered over the years, has only served to bring shame and international opprobrium on Russia as a country.” Read More 4th rail package will improve efficiency and interconnectedness of Europe’s rail network Currently more than 8 billion journeys a year are made by rail in Europe, and 10 % of goods are transported by rail freight whilst the sector is responsible for a turnover of EUR 73 billion, generating EUR 13 billion of revenue and supporting 800 000 jobs. Read More Banking union: taxpayers out of the line of fire In parallel to Council’s December discussions finalising agreement on the banking union, the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee approved on December 17 a report on its vision for the structuring of the remaining building blocks of Europe’s banking union, namely the Single Resolution Mechanism and the Single Bank Resolution Fund, due to complement the agreed Single Supervisory Mechanism. Read More Consumer rights: IMCO pressures Member States In adopting a report on 17 December on the implementation of an EU directive on unfair commercial practices, Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Affairs committee approved a new legislative tool to regulate misleading advertising and other unfair practices in business-to-consumer transactions. Read More Air passenger rights: legal certainty on responsibility and rights for all stakeholders The European Parliament’s Transport Committee on December 17th signed off on the new rules on airline passenger rights. This reform sets common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of cancellation or delay of a flight and air carrier liability in respect of the carriage of passengers and their baggage. This revision also includes more clarity on what constitutes “extraordinary circumstances” in which compensation is not paid to passengers. Read More Tobacco: Legal doubts surround e-cigs In a final round of negotiations lasting late into the night on Monday 16th, the framework for a revision of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) was agreed, laying down new standards for packaging, labelling, flavourings and tobacco-related products like the rise in use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs). Read More LGTBI discrimination – EU roadmap The European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) adopted on December 17th a report calling for a multiannual policy to protect the fundamental rights of LGBTI people, through a concrete roadmap (comprising a strategy and action plan containing themes and objectives). The proposal for a roadmap was first launched by Sophie In’t Veld on behalf of the ALDE group. Read More European Commission News Free movement: Commission publishes guide on application of ‘Habitual Residence Test’ for social securityA practical guide on the ‘Habitual Residence Test’ to help Member States apply EU rules on the coordination of social security for EU citizens that have moved to another Member State has just been published by the European Commission. The new guide gives more clarity about the EU ‘Habitual Residence Test’ and will facilitate its application in practice by Member States’ authorities.László Andor, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, said: “There are clear safeguards in EU law to prevent people from abusing social welfare systems of other EU countries. This guide will make it easier for Member States authorities to apply the ‘Habitual Residence’ safeguards in practice. The handbook is part of the Commission’s ongoing actions to facilitate the free movement of people throughout the EU.”The guide, drafted in cooperation with Member States, clarifies the separate concepts of ‘habitual residence’ and ‘temporary residence’ or ‘stay’. These definitions, laid down in EU law (Regulation EC/883/2004 as last amended by Regulation EU/465/2012), are necessary to establish which Member State is responsible for the provision of social security benefits to EU citizens moving between Member States. Under EU law there can be only one habitual place of residence and so only one Member State responsible for paying residence-based social security benefits.Employees and the self-employed qualify for social security in the country where they work and non-active people (e.g. pensioners, students) qualify in the Member State where they are “habitually resident”. Determining a person’s Member State of “habitual residence” is also important for workers that work in more than one Member State.Read More Without free movement there is no EU As a follow up to the abolition of the transitional arrangements on the free movement of workers from Romania and Bulgaria on 1st January 2014, lifting all potential restrictions in access to labour market in the EU, the freedom of movement of EU citizens has been subject to a rather passionate debate in several Member States. Eurosceptic politicians in Europe, including a head of government, have not missed the opportunity to ask for limiting free movement of workers to avoid, as they claim, a massive inflow of EU citizens from certain Member States. The European Parliament is due to vote a resolution tomorrow deploring this demand to restrict one of the EU’s fundamental freedoms.ALDE Group President Guy Verhofstadt said: “Without this right, there is no Europe. Capping the number of migrants of EU citizens does not only mean undermining one of the greatest achievements of EU integration and one of the main EU fundamental values, but it also means blocking European growth and wealth creation”.ALDE spokesperson in the Civil Liberties Committee Renate Weber (PNL, Romania) said: “It’s unacceptable that this fundamental right is challenged over and over. Certain politicians don’t seem to understand that by attacking certain EU core values they simply fuel intolerance, stigmatisation and xenophobia”.”As always, the closer we get to the European elections, the bigger the lies, scapegoating Europe, we hear. Let’s stick to allowing facts and figures to speak the truth. The inconvenient truth for the Eurosceptics is that mobile workers are net contributors to the budget and the economies of their host country”. Nadja Hirsch (FDP, Germany) vice-president of the committee on employment and social affairs: “The liberals stressed the value of free movement as the motor of economic growth and an effective means to fight against the shortage of skilled labour. Especially in the areas of healthcare, services, agriculture and construction we benefit enormously from the mobility of European workers.” Read More Profiles of MEPs in the News Michael Theurer (FDP, Germany) Michael Theurer was born in Tübingen, Germany in 1967 and grew up in Horb a. N. where he started his active political career by joining the liberal youth organisation “Junge Liberale” and the liberal party FDP in 1983. Even before completing his studies in economics at Eberhard-Karls-University, Tübingen, he was elected Lord Mayor of his hometown Horb am Neckar in February 1995, thus becoming the youngest mayor in Germany at that time, managing a public administration with almost 400 employees and a yearly budget of 50 million Euros. From 2001 to 2009, Michael was Member of Parliament of the Land Baden-Württemberg in Germany, sitting on the committees for budget and for European affairs. In 2009 Michael was elected to the European Parliament and became Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee in 2012. Initially a member, now a substitute of the Committee on Regional Development, Michael is also Substitute Member of the Delegation for Relations with the People’s Republic of China and for Relations with India. Michael is also Vice-Chair of the FDP delegation in the European Parliament and is spokesperson for regional policy. He is also Member of the ALDE Bureau.As Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee, Michael is strongly in favour of budget consolidation and a more efficient use of financial resources by means of more transparency and performance checks. In particular, Michael was able to reveal mismanagement of EU-subsidies which paved the way for the European Commission’s legislative proposal to establish a European Public Prosecutor’s Office. This proposal was discussed by experts from the OECD and European Commissioner Šemeta at an ALDE seminar in the European Parliament upon Michael’s invitation in July 2013. In addition to the importance of budgetary control at the European level, Michael has been pointing to the crucial role of transparent and simple fiscal systems at a national level for effective EU spending. In line with this, Michael’s report and Troika opinion on “the evaluation of the Union’s finances based on the results achieved: a new tool for the European Commission’s improved discharge procedure” will be voted this month. Likewise, his opinion on the “Enquiry report on the role and operations of the Troika (ECB, Commission and IMF) with regard to the euro area programme countries” will also be voted this month in committee.As one of the initiators of the ALDE group’s “Boost SMEs” campaign, Michael sees considerable potential in strengthening small and medium-sized enterprises across the EU as a means of overcoming the economic crisis, and has been advocating means to provide SMEs with improved access to international markets. In January 2014, he organised an ALDE seminar on SMEs in the Stuttgart Parliament as part of the campaign. As rapporteur on the absorption of Structural and Cohesion Funds, Michael also drew important lessons for the future EU cohesion policy and pointed to the difficulties for some recipient countries in obtaining funds. With his background and long-standing political experience as Lord Mayor of Horb am Neckar, Michael stands for strong, independent, and self-governed local and regional bodies. While there is always room for improvement and constructive criticism, Michael is a keen advocate of European integration: “Had the EU not been founded, we would have to create it now.” Coming from Baden-Württemberg, one of the regions that is closely involved in the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, Michael has been actively supporting the strategy since 2010 as co-founder and Vice-Chair of the MEP Danube Forum. This network of MEPs from different political groups brings together stakeholders and civil society organisations which regularly convene in Brussels with each meeting being dedicated to one of the priority areas under the Danube Strategy. Together with colleagues from the MEP Danube Forum, Michael initiated the first Danube Parliamentarian Floating Conference in May 2013 which resulted in the founding of a Danube Parliamentarian Network Initiative. This network is the first of its kind in Europe bringing together parliamentarians from the local, regional, state and European levels with the aim of enhancing parliamentary cooperation in the Danube region. In addition, Michael initiated an ALDE ad-hoc delegation to Regensburg in June 2013 where he met with local politicians and stakeholders shortly after the severe flooding and discussed the state of play of riverbed development and cross-border cooperation.On top of his many commitments as MEP, Member of the FDP Presidency and leader of FDP Baden-Württemberg, Michael is also actively involved in his region as Chair of the “Friends of former synagogue Rexlingen” association. Until 2013, he was also Member of the Presidency of Europa Union Deutschland. When he is not busy travelling and working in Brussels, Strasbourg, Berlin and his constituency, Michael enjoys listening to classical music to unwind – a great source of inspiration – together with a glass of Riesling wine from his region. Born and bred in the Black Forest, Michael particularly enjoys skiing in his holidays and if time permits, playing tennis and going for a short run almost daily. 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 TwitterEventsCorruption in Russia 2014-01-29 ALDE SME Campaign – Stuttgart2014-01-16 Videos Alexander LAMBSDORFF January plenary speech on Programme of activities of the Greek Presidency Chris DAVIES January plenary speech on Carbon capture and storage technology Phil BENNION 15 Jan 2014 plenary speech on Respect for the fundamental right of free movement Jürgen CREUTZMANN January plenary speech on Public procurement Renate WEBER 15 Jan 2014 plenary speech on EU citizenship for sale Sophia IN ‘T VELD January plenary speech on Future of the Safe Harbour Agreement in the light of the NSA affairLinksAlliance 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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ALDE Newsletter January 2014


17 January 2014 Headlines ALDE NewsProfiles of MEPs in the News European Commission News ALDE News The Greek tragedy holds lessons for the whole of the EU Addressing Greek Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, during the January Strasbourg plenary at the opening debate on the Greek Presidency of the EU’s Council of Ministers, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE group leader, underlined that Greece’s own tough experiences of the financial crisis were brought on both by failure of the former dominant Greek political class and the collective inability of the EU to act decisively in 2009. Read More Immediate suspension of Safe Harbour arrangement EU-US Sophie in ‘t Veld, ALDE Vice-chair of the Civil Liberties committee is calling for the immediate suspension of the controversial Safe Harbour arrangement during the January 15 debate in the European Parliament with Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding. Read More EU Citizenship must remain priceless Malta’s recent decision to start selling citizenship to third country nationals for €650,000 has been strongly criticised during the January plenary session in the European Parliament both for the risk it poses for all Member States but also for the apparent discriminatory and purely commercial nature of the eligibility criteria without any requirement for residence. Read More MIFiD: Stronger investors’ protection and competition as preconditions for a robust financial market After months of negotiations, the European Parliament and the Council on 14 January reached an agreement on the revision of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID II). This revision was proposed in 2011 by the Commission to respond to the speed of the market and technological developments and to overcome the weaknesses in the regulation of financial instruments exposed by the financial crisis. Read More European public procurement opens up for SMEs EU legislation on public procurement is being overhauled, in order to ensure a level playing field for contracts tendered by public bodies across the EU. Comprising almost 1/5 of total GDP in the Union, and covering sensitive sectors, services and public utilities, the package adopted on January 15 by the European Parliament, aims to ensure the application of simpler, more transparent and consistent rules, and to prevent discriminatory behaviour whilst preserving the basic freedom to provide services across borders. Read More Serbia from regional maverick into integration leader During a debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on January 16 , ALDE MEP Jelko Kacin (LDS, Slovenia) and EP rapporteur on Serbia welcomed progress over the past year and said Serbia is taking up a transformative role: “turning from a regional maverick into an integration leader.” Read More Broad support for EU Action Plan to fight Wildlife Crime The EU Action plan to fight Wildlife Crime, an initiative launched by Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (D66, Netherlands) received broad support of the European Parliament during the January plenary session. The plan (see link below) calls for the complete destruction of seized illegal ivory, higher penalties for criminals, the creation of a special investigative unit at Europol and the review of EU legislation. Read More European consumer policy improved Ensuring a high level of consumer protection and empowering consumers to make informed choices is the essence of a programme to improve the policy framework for European consumers from 2014 to 2020 and the subject of report adopted by a large majority during the January plenary session. Read More Lower CO2 emissions in vans The European Parliament has endorsed a deal to reduce CO2 emissions from new light commercial vehicles (Vans). The report by ALDE MEP Holger Krahmer (FDP, Germany) also aims to make vans more fuel-efficient. Read More Kickstart carbon capture, say MEPs The European Parliament on January 14th called for measures to kickstart the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to reduce CO2 emissions from industry and power generation. With CO2 capture plants under construction in the USA, Canada and China, MEPs say that Europe could not only fail to achieve CO2 reductions at least possible cost but also risks losing out on export orders. Read More We must strengthen the EU mechanisms to ensure respect for fundamental rights The Committee on Civil Liberties and Justice of the European Parliament adopted on 14 January the report by Louis Michel (MR , Belgium) on Fundamental Rights in the EU for 2012. According to Michel. “In recent years the European Union has experienced severe institutional and constitutional crises in certain Member States. The European values as set out in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, were in some cases abused and even violated.” Read More ALDE welcomes woman appointee to ECB Board Olle Schmidt MEP, (Folkpartiet, Sweden) welcomed the outcome of the vote in the Economic and Monetary Affairs approving Sabine Lautenschläger as a member of the ECB Executive Board in place of Jörg Asmussen, outgoing German member. However he believes more needs to be done to promote gender balance within the EU institutions and in particular in the ECB. Read More Employee financial participation can power inclusive growth According to the report drafted by Phil Bennion (LibDems, UK) and debated on 13 January in the European Parliament, Employee financial participation (EFP) should be encouraged to involve employees directly in the performance or ownership of the enterprises they work for. The concept of EFP can be an important tool to give employees a real sense of ownership and allow them to share in the value of the organization. Read More European Council fails to convince on Banking Union Some may claim that progress has been made over the past week towards delivering an EU wide Banking Union, but the reality is very different. Despite a week of intensive negotiations and diplomacy amongst finance ministers the outcome is less than was hoped for to convince markets that Europe has understood both the severity of the economic and financial crisis and the urgency of putting in place a comprehensive solution. Read More Plastic waste: MEPs move on pollution During the January plenary session MEPs backed a Commission Green paper for dealing with the huge amounts of plastic waste generated each year in the EU which pollute the environment. Parliament calls for the review of EU waste targets which means that future EU legislation should include inter alia the promotion or restriction of certain kinds of plastic materials, new rules on the disposal of plastic waste, measures to help phasing out landfilling of recyclable and recoverable waste by 2020, common criteria for recyclability, the promotion of waste prevention, recycling, recovery and reuse of products as well as measures to reduce the impact of plastic waste on the environment through sustainable solutions for product design and for the life-cycle of plastics. Read More Syrian humanitarian disaster: greater solidarity needed ALDE Leader Guy Verhofstadt has called on EU Member States to act in a more coordinated and responsible way to ease the growing Syrian humanitarian crisis. “Time is passing and we seem to have put Syria to the back of our minds yet the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding both inside Syria’s borders and beyond is without precedent and needs to be tackled urgently”. Read More Khodorkovsky pardon is welcome but it does not yet mean that Rule of Law is respected Commenting on December 19th on news that President Putin has granted an amnesty to a number of political prisoners including jailed businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE Group President, said:“If news of the pending release of Mikhail Khodorkovsky is confirmed, then I can only welcome it, though it is not before time. His harsh treatment at the hands of the Russian justice system, along with that of other political prisoners who have suffered over the years, has only served to bring shame and international opprobrium on Russia as a country.” Read More 4th rail package will improve efficiency and interconnectedness of Europe’s rail network Currently more than 8 billion journeys a year are made by rail in Europe, and 10 % of goods are transported by rail freight whilst the sector is responsible for a turnover of EUR 73 billion, generating EUR 13 billion of revenue and supporting 800 000 jobs. Read More Banking union: taxpayers out of the line of fire In parallel to Council’s December discussions finalising agreement on the banking union, the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee approved on December 17 a report on its vision for the structuring of the remaining building blocks of Europe’s banking union, namely the Single Resolution Mechanism and the Single Bank Resolution Fund, due to complement the agreed Single Supervisory Mechanism. Read More Consumer rights: IMCO pressures Member States In adopting a report on 17 December on the implementation of an EU directive on unfair commercial practices, Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Affairs committee approved a new legislative tool to regulate misleading advertising and other unfair practices in business-to-consumer transactions. Read More Air passenger rights: legal certainty on responsibility and rights for all stakeholders The European Parliament’s Transport Committee on December 17th signed off on the new rules on airline passenger rights. This reform sets common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of cancellation or delay of a flight and air carrier liability in respect of the carriage of passengers and their baggage. This revision also includes more clarity on what constitutes “extraordinary circumstances” in which compensation is not paid to passengers. Read More Tobacco: Legal doubts surround e-cigs In a final round of negotiations lasting late into the night on Monday 16th, the framework for a revision of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) was agreed, laying down new standards for packaging, labelling, flavourings and tobacco-related products like the rise in use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs). Read More LGTBI discrimination – EU roadmap The European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) adopted on December 17th a report calling for a multiannual policy to protect the fundamental rights of LGBTI people, through a concrete roadmap (comprising a strategy and action plan containing themes and objectives). The proposal for a roadmap was first launched by Sophie In’t Veld on behalf of the ALDE group. Read More European Commission News Free movement: Commission publishes guide on application of ‘Habitual Residence Test’ for social securityA practical guide on the ‘Habitual Residence Test’ to help Member States apply EU rules on the coordination of social security for EU citizens that have moved to another Member State has just been published by the European Commission. The new guide gives more clarity about the EU ‘Habitual Residence Test’ and will facilitate its application in practice by Member States’ authorities.László Andor, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, said: “There are clear safeguards in EU law to prevent people from abusing social welfare systems of other EU countries. This guide will make it easier for Member States authorities to apply the ‘Habitual Residence’ safeguards in practice. The handbook is part of the Commission’s ongoing actions to facilitate the free movement of people throughout the EU.”The guide, drafted in cooperation with Member States, clarifies the separate concepts of ‘habitual residence’ and ‘temporary residence’ or ‘stay’. These definitions, laid down in EU law (Regulation EC/883/2004 as last amended by Regulation EU/465/2012), are necessary to establish which Member State is responsible for the provision of social security benefits to EU citizens moving between Member States. Under EU law there can be only one habitual place of residence and so only one Member State responsible for paying residence-based social security benefits.Employees and the self-employed qualify for social security in the country where they work and non-active people (e.g. pensioners, students) qualify in the Member State where they are “habitually resident”. Determining a person’s Member State of “habitual residence” is also important for workers that work in more than one Member State.Read More Without free movement there is no EU As a follow up to the abolition of the transitional arrangements on the free movement of workers from Romania and Bulgaria on 1st January 2014, lifting all potential restrictions in access to labour market in the EU, the freedom of movement of EU citizens has been subject to a rather passionate debate in several Member States. Eurosceptic politicians in Europe, including a head of government, have not missed the opportunity to ask for limiting free movement of workers to avoid, as they claim, a massive inflow of EU citizens from certain Member States. The European Parliament is due to vote a resolution tomorrow deploring this demand to restrict one of the EU’s fundamental freedoms.ALDE Group President Guy Verhofstadt said: “Without this right, there is no Europe. Capping the number of migrants of EU citizens does not only mean undermining one of the greatest achievements of EU integration and one of the main EU fundamental values, but it also means blocking European growth and wealth creation”.ALDE spokesperson in the Civil Liberties Committee Renate Weber (PNL, Romania) said: “It’s unacceptable that this fundamental right is challenged over and over. Certain politicians don’t seem to understand that by attacking certain EU core values they simply fuel intolerance, stigmatisation and xenophobia”.”As always, the closer we get to the European elections, the bigger the lies, scapegoating Europe, we hear. Let’s stick to allowing facts and figures to speak the truth. The inconvenient truth for the Eurosceptics is that mobile workers are net contributors to the budget and the economies of their host country”. Nadja Hirsch (FDP, Germany) vice-president of the committee on employment and social affairs: “The liberals stressed the value of free movement as the motor of economic growth and an effective means to fight against the shortage of skilled labour. Especially in the areas of healthcare, services, agriculture and construction we benefit enormously from the mobility of European workers.” Read More Profiles of MEPs in the News Michael Theurer (FDP, Germany) Michael Theurer was born in Tübingen, Germany in 1967 and grew up in Horb a. N. where he started his active political career by joining the liberal youth organisation “Junge Liberale” and the liberal party FDP in 1983. Even before completing his studies in economics at Eberhard-Karls-University, Tübingen, he was elected Lord Mayor of his hometown Horb am Neckar in February 1995, thus becoming the youngest mayor in Germany at that time, managing a public administration with almost 400 employees and a yearly budget of 50 million Euros. From 2001 to 2009, Michael was Member of Parliament of the Land Baden-Württemberg in Germany, sitting on the committees for budget and for European affairs. In 2009 Michael was elected to the European Parliament and became Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee in 2012. Initially a member, now a substitute of the Committee on Regional Development, Michael is also Substitute Member of the Delegation for Relations with the People’s Republic of China and for Relations with India. Michael is also Vice-Chair of the FDP delegation in the European Parliament and is spokesperson for regional policy. He is also Member of the ALDE Bureau.As Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee, Michael is strongly in favour of budget consolidation and a more efficient use of financial resources by means of more transparency and performance checks. In particular, Michael was able to reveal mismanagement of EU-subsidies which paved the way for the European Commission’s legislative proposal to establish a European Public Prosecutor’s Office. This proposal was discussed by experts from the OECD and European Commissioner Šemeta at an ALDE seminar in the European Parliament upon Michael’s invitation in July 2013. In addition to the importance of budgetary control at the European level, Michael has been pointing to the crucial role of transparent and simple fiscal systems at a national level for effective EU spending. In line with this, Michael’s report and Troika opinion on “the evaluation of the Union’s finances based on the results achieved: a new tool for the European Commission’s improved discharge procedure” will be voted this month. Likewise, his opinion on the “Enquiry report on the role and operations of the Troika (ECB, Commission and IMF) with regard to the euro area programme countries” will also be voted this month in committee.As one of the initiators of the ALDE group’s “Boost SMEs” campaign, Michael sees considerable potential in strengthening small and medium-sized enterprises across the EU as a means of overcoming the economic crisis, and has been advocating means to provide SMEs with improved access to international markets. In January 2014, he organised an ALDE seminar on SMEs in the Stuttgart Parliament as part of the campaign. As rapporteur on the absorption of Structural and Cohesion Funds, Michael also drew important lessons for the future EU cohesion policy and pointed to the difficulties for some recipient countries in obtaining funds. With his background and long-standing political experience as Lord Mayor of Horb am Neckar, Michael stands for strong, independent, and self-governed local and regional bodies. While there is always room for improvement and constructive criticism, Michael is a keen advocate of European integration: “Had the EU not been founded, we would have to create it now.” Coming from Baden-Württemberg, one of the regions that is closely involved in the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, Michael has been actively supporting the strategy since 2010 as co-founder and Vice-Chair of the MEP Danube Forum. This network of MEPs from different political groups brings together stakeholders and civil society organisations which regularly convene in Brussels with each meeting being dedicated to one of the priority areas under the Danube Strategy. Together with colleagues from the MEP Danube Forum, Michael initiated the first Danube Parliamentarian Floating Conference in May 2013 which resulted in the founding of a Danube Parliamentarian Network Initiative. This network is the first of its kind in Europe bringing together parliamentarians from the local, regional, state and European levels with the aim of enhancing parliamentary cooperation in the Danube region. In addition, Michael initiated an ALDE ad-hoc delegation to Regensburg in June 2013 where he met with local politicians and stakeholders shortly after the severe flooding and discussed the state of play of riverbed development and cross-border cooperation.On top of his many commitments as MEP, Member of the FDP Presidency and leader of FDP Baden-Württemberg, Michael is also actively involved in his region as Chair of the “Friends of former synagogue Rexlingen” association. Until 2013, he was also Member of the Presidency of Europa Union Deutschland. When he is not busy travelling and working in Brussels, Strasbourg, Berlin and his constituency, Michael enjoys listening to classical music to unwind – a great source of inspiration – together with a glass of Riesling wine from his region. Born and bred in the Black Forest, Michael particularly enjoys skiing in his holidays and if time permits, playing tennis and going for a short run almost daily. 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 TwitterEventsCorruption in Russia 2014-01-29 ALDE SME Campaign – Stuttgart2014-01-16 Videos Alexander LAMBSDORFF January plenary speech on Programme of activities of the Greek Presidency Chris DAVIES January plenary speech on Carbon capture and storage technology Phil BENNION 15 Jan 2014 plenary speech on Respect for the fundamental right of free movement Jürgen CREUTZMANN January plenary speech on Public procurement Renate WEBER 15 Jan 2014 plenary speech on EU citizenship for sale Sophia IN ‘T VELD January plenary speech on Future of the Safe Harbour Agreement in the light of the NSA affairLinksAlliance 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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Posted in ALDE | Tagged | Comments Off on ALDE Newsletter January 2014

ALDE Newsletter January 2014


17 January 2014 Headlines ALDE NewsProfiles of MEPs in the News European Commission News ALDE News The Greek tragedy holds lessons for the whole of the EU Addressing Greek Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, during the January Strasbourg plenary at the opening debate on the Greek Presidency of the EU’s Council of Ministers, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE group leader, underlined that Greece’s own tough experiences of the financial crisis were brought on both by failure of the former dominant Greek political class and the collective inability of the EU to act decisively in 2009. Read More Immediate suspension of Safe Harbour arrangement EU-US Sophie in ‘t Veld, ALDE Vice-chair of the Civil Liberties committee is calling for the immediate suspension of the controversial Safe Harbour arrangement during the January 15 debate in the European Parliament with Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding. Read More EU Citizenship must remain priceless Malta’s recent decision to start selling citizenship to third country nationals for €650,000 has been strongly criticised during the January plenary session in the European Parliament both for the risk it poses for all Member States but also for the apparent discriminatory and purely commercial nature of the eligibility criteria without any requirement for residence. Read More MIFiD: Stronger investors’ protection and competition as preconditions for a robust financial market After months of negotiations, the European Parliament and the Council on 14 January reached an agreement on the revision of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID II). This revision was proposed in 2011 by the Commission to respond to the speed of the market and technological developments and to overcome the weaknesses in the regulation of financial instruments exposed by the financial crisis. Read More European public procurement opens up for SMEs EU legislation on public procurement is being overhauled, in order to ensure a level playing field for contracts tendered by public bodies across the EU. Comprising almost 1/5 of total GDP in the Union, and covering sensitive sectors, services and public utilities, the package adopted on January 15 by the European Parliament, aims to ensure the application of simpler, more transparent and consistent rules, and to prevent discriminatory behaviour whilst preserving the basic freedom to provide services across borders. Read More Serbia from regional maverick into integration leader During a debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on January 16 , ALDE MEP Jelko Kacin (LDS, Slovenia) and EP rapporteur on Serbia welcomed progress over the past year and said Serbia is taking up a transformative role: “turning from a regional maverick into an integration leader.” Read More Broad support for EU Action Plan to fight Wildlife Crime The EU Action plan to fight Wildlife Crime, an initiative launched by Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (D66, Netherlands) received broad support of the European Parliament during the January plenary session. The plan (see link below) calls for the complete destruction of seized illegal ivory, higher penalties for criminals, the creation of a special investigative unit at Europol and the review of EU legislation. Read More European consumer policy improved Ensuring a high level of consumer protection and empowering consumers to make informed choices is the essence of a programme to improve the policy framework for European consumers from 2014 to 2020 and the subject of report adopted by a large majority during the January plenary session. Read More Lower CO2 emissions in vans The European Parliament has endorsed a deal to reduce CO2 emissions from new light commercial vehicles (Vans). The report by ALDE MEP Holger Krahmer (FDP, Germany) also aims to make vans more fuel-efficient. Read More Kickstart carbon capture, say MEPs The European Parliament on January 14th called for measures to kickstart the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to reduce CO2 emissions from industry and power generation. With CO2 capture plants under construction in the USA, Canada and China, MEPs say that Europe could not only fail to achieve CO2 reductions at least possible cost but also risks losing out on export orders. Read More We must strengthen the EU mechanisms to ensure respect for fundamental rights The Committee on Civil Liberties and Justice of the European Parliament adopted on 14 January the report by Louis Michel (MR , Belgium) on Fundamental Rights in the EU for 2012. According to Michel. “In recent years the European Union has experienced severe institutional and constitutional crises in certain Member States. The European values as set out in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, were in some cases abused and even violated.” Read More ALDE welcomes woman appointee to ECB Board Olle Schmidt MEP, (Folkpartiet, Sweden) welcomed the outcome of the vote in the Economic and Monetary Affairs approving Sabine Lautenschläger as a member of the ECB Executive Board in place of Jörg Asmussen, outgoing German member. However he believes more needs to be done to promote gender balance within the EU institutions and in particular in the ECB. Read More Employee financial participation can power inclusive growth According to the report drafted by Phil Bennion (LibDems, UK) and debated on 13 January in the European Parliament, Employee financial participation (EFP) should be encouraged to involve employees directly in the performance or ownership of the enterprises they work for. The concept of EFP can be an important tool to give employees a real sense of ownership and allow them to share in the value of the organization. Read More European Council fails to convince on Banking Union Some may claim that progress has been made over the past week towards delivering an EU wide Banking Union, but the reality is very different. Despite a week of intensive negotiations and diplomacy amongst finance ministers the outcome is less than was hoped for to convince markets that Europe has understood both the severity of the economic and financial crisis and the urgency of putting in place a comprehensive solution. Read More Plastic waste: MEPs move on pollution During the January plenary session MEPs backed a Commission Green paper for dealing with the huge amounts of plastic waste generated each year in the EU which pollute the environment. Parliament calls for the review of EU waste targets which means that future EU legislation should include inter alia the promotion or restriction of certain kinds of plastic materials, new rules on the disposal of plastic waste, measures to help phasing out landfilling of recyclable and recoverable waste by 2020, common criteria for recyclability, the promotion of waste prevention, recycling, recovery and reuse of products as well as measures to reduce the impact of plastic waste on the environment through sustainable solutions for product design and for the life-cycle of plastics. Read More Syrian humanitarian disaster: greater solidarity needed ALDE Leader Guy Verhofstadt has called on EU Member States to act in a more coordinated and responsible way to ease the growing Syrian humanitarian crisis. “Time is passing and we seem to have put Syria to the back of our minds yet the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding both inside Syria’s borders and beyond is without precedent and needs to be tackled urgently”. Read More Khodorkovsky pardon is welcome but it does not yet mean that Rule of Law is respected Commenting on December 19th on news that President Putin has granted an amnesty to a number of political prisoners including jailed businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE Group President, said:“If news of the pending release of Mikhail Khodorkovsky is confirmed, then I can only welcome it, though it is not before time. His harsh treatment at the hands of the Russian justice system, along with that of other political prisoners who have suffered over the years, has only served to bring shame and international opprobrium on Russia as a country.” Read More 4th rail package will improve efficiency and interconnectedness of Europe’s rail network Currently more than 8 billion journeys a year are made by rail in Europe, and 10 % of goods are transported by rail freight whilst the sector is responsible for a turnover of EUR 73 billion, generating EUR 13 billion of revenue and supporting 800 000 jobs. Read More Banking union: taxpayers out of the line of fire In parallel to Council’s December discussions finalising agreement on the banking union, the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee approved on December 17 a report on its vision for the structuring of the remaining building blocks of Europe’s banking union, namely the Single Resolution Mechanism and the Single Bank Resolution Fund, due to complement the agreed Single Supervisory Mechanism. Read More Consumer rights: IMCO pressures Member States In adopting a report on 17 December on the implementation of an EU directive on unfair commercial practices, Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Affairs committee approved a new legislative tool to regulate misleading advertising and other unfair practices in business-to-consumer transactions. Read More Air passenger rights: legal certainty on responsibility and rights for all stakeholders The European Parliament’s Transport Committee on December 17th signed off on the new rules on airline passenger rights. This reform sets common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of cancellation or delay of a flight and air carrier liability in respect of the carriage of passengers and their baggage. This revision also includes more clarity on what constitutes “extraordinary circumstances” in which compensation is not paid to passengers. Read More Tobacco: Legal doubts surround e-cigs In a final round of negotiations lasting late into the night on Monday 16th, the framework for a revision of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) was agreed, laying down new standards for packaging, labelling, flavourings and tobacco-related products like the rise in use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs). Read More LGTBI discrimination – EU roadmap The European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) adopted on December 17th a report calling for a multiannual policy to protect the fundamental rights of LGBTI people, through a concrete roadmap (comprising a strategy and action plan containing themes and objectives). The proposal for a roadmap was first launched by Sophie In’t Veld on behalf of the ALDE group. Read More European Commission News Free movement: Commission publishes guide on application of ‘Habitual Residence Test’ for social securityA practical guide on the ‘Habitual Residence Test’ to help Member States apply EU rules on the coordination of social security for EU citizens that have moved to another Member State has just been published by the European Commission. The new guide gives more clarity about the EU ‘Habitual Residence Test’ and will facilitate its application in practice by Member States’ authorities.László Andor, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, said: “There are clear safeguards in EU law to prevent people from abusing social welfare systems of other EU countries. This guide will make it easier for Member States authorities to apply the ‘Habitual Residence’ safeguards in practice. The handbook is part of the Commission’s ongoing actions to facilitate the free movement of people throughout the EU.”The guide, drafted in cooperation with Member States, clarifies the separate concepts of ‘habitual residence’ and ‘temporary residence’ or ‘stay’. These definitions, laid down in EU law (Regulation EC/883/2004 as last amended by Regulation EU/465/2012), are necessary to establish which Member State is responsible for the provision of social security benefits to EU citizens moving between Member States. Under EU law there can be only one habitual place of residence and so only one Member State responsible for paying residence-based social security benefits.Employees and the self-employed qualify for social security in the country where they work and non-active people (e.g. pensioners, students) qualify in the Member State where they are “habitually resident”. Determining a person’s Member State of “habitual residence” is also important for workers that work in more than one Member State.Read More Without free movement there is no EU As a follow up to the abolition of the transitional arrangements on the free movement of workers from Romania and Bulgaria on 1st January 2014, lifting all potential restrictions in access to labour market in the EU, the freedom of movement of EU citizens has been subject to a rather passionate debate in several Member States. Eurosceptic politicians in Europe, including a head of government, have not missed the opportunity to ask for limiting free movement of workers to avoid, as they claim, a massive inflow of EU citizens from certain Member States. The European Parliament is due to vote a resolution tomorrow deploring this demand to restrict one of the EU’s fundamental freedoms.ALDE Group President Guy Verhofstadt said: “Without this right, there is no Europe. Capping the number of migrants of EU citizens does not only mean undermining one of the greatest achievements of EU integration and one of the main EU fundamental values, but it also means blocking European growth and wealth creation”.ALDE spokesperson in the Civil Liberties Committee Renate Weber (PNL, Romania) said: “It’s unacceptable that this fundamental right is challenged over and over. Certain politicians don’t seem to understand that by attacking certain EU core values they simply fuel intolerance, stigmatisation and xenophobia”.”As always, the closer we get to the European elections, the bigger the lies, scapegoating Europe, we hear. Let’s stick to allowing facts and figures to speak the truth. The inconvenient truth for the Eurosceptics is that mobile workers are net contributors to the budget and the economies of their host country”. Nadja Hirsch (FDP, Germany) vice-president of the committee on employment and social affairs: “The liberals stressed the value of free movement as the motor of economic growth and an effective means to fight against the shortage of skilled labour. Especially in the areas of healthcare, services, agriculture and construction we benefit enormously from the mobility of European workers.” Read More Profiles of MEPs in the News Michael Theurer (FDP, Germany) Michael Theurer was born in Tübingen, Germany in 1967 and grew up in Horb a. N. where he started his active political career by joining the liberal youth organisation “Junge Liberale” and the liberal party FDP in 1983. Even before completing his studies in economics at Eberhard-Karls-University, Tübingen, he was elected Lord Mayor of his hometown Horb am Neckar in February 1995, thus becoming the youngest mayor in Germany at that time, managing a public administration with almost 400 employees and a yearly budget of 50 million Euros. From 2001 to 2009, Michael was Member of Parliament of the Land Baden-Württemberg in Germany, sitting on the committees for budget and for European affairs. In 2009 Michael was elected to the European Parliament and became Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee in 2012. Initially a member, now a substitute of the Committee on Regional Development, Michael is also Substitute Member of the Delegation for Relations with the People’s Republic of China and for Relations with India. Michael is also Vice-Chair of the FDP delegation in the European Parliament and is spokesperson for regional policy. He is also Member of the ALDE Bureau.As Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee, Michael is strongly in favour of budget consolidation and a more efficient use of financial resources by means of more transparency and performance checks. In particular, Michael was able to reveal mismanagement of EU-subsidies which paved the way for the European Commission’s legislative proposal to establish a European Public Prosecutor’s Office. This proposal was discussed by experts from the OECD and European Commissioner Šemeta at an ALDE seminar in the European Parliament upon Michael’s invitation in July 2013. In addition to the importance of budgetary control at the European level, Michael has been pointing to the crucial role of transparent and simple fiscal systems at a national level for effective EU spending. In line with this, Michael’s report and Troika opinion on “the evaluation of the Union’s finances based on the results achieved: a new tool for the European Commission’s improved discharge procedure” will be voted this month. Likewise, his opinion on the “Enquiry report on the role and operations of the Troika (ECB, Commission and IMF) with regard to the euro area programme countries” will also be voted this month in committee.As one of the initiators of the ALDE group’s “Boost SMEs” campaign, Michael sees considerable potential in strengthening small and medium-sized enterprises across the EU as a means of overcoming the economic crisis, and has been advocating means to provide SMEs with improved access to international markets. In January 2014, he organised an ALDE seminar on SMEs in the Stuttgart Parliament as part of the campaign. As rapporteur on the absorption of Structural and Cohesion Funds, Michael also drew important lessons for the future EU cohesion policy and pointed to the difficulties for some recipient countries in obtaining funds. With his background and long-standing political experience as Lord Mayor of Horb am Neckar, Michael stands for strong, independent, and self-governed local and regional bodies. While there is always room for improvement and constructive criticism, Michael is a keen advocate of European integration: “Had the EU not been founded, we would have to create it now.” Coming from Baden-Württemberg, one of the regions that is closely involved in the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, Michael has been actively supporting the strategy since 2010 as co-founder and Vice-Chair of the MEP Danube Forum. This network of MEPs from different political groups brings together stakeholders and civil society organisations which regularly convene in Brussels with each meeting being dedicated to one of the priority areas under the Danube Strategy. Together with colleagues from the MEP Danube Forum, Michael initiated the first Danube Parliamentarian Floating Conference in May 2013 which resulted in the founding of a Danube Parliamentarian Network Initiative. This network is the first of its kind in Europe bringing together parliamentarians from the local, regional, state and European levels with the aim of enhancing parliamentary cooperation in the Danube region. In addition, Michael initiated an ALDE ad-hoc delegation to Regensburg in June 2013 where he met with local politicians and stakeholders shortly after the severe flooding and discussed the state of play of riverbed development and cross-border cooperation.On top of his many commitments as MEP, Member of the FDP Presidency and leader of FDP Baden-Württemberg, Michael is also actively involved in his region as Chair of the “Friends of former synagogue Rexlingen” association. Until 2013, he was also Member of the Presidency of Europa Union Deutschland. When he is not busy travelling and working in Brussels, Strasbourg, Berlin and his constituency, Michael enjoys listening to classical music to unwind – a great source of inspiration – together with a glass of Riesling wine from his region. Born and bred in the Black Forest, Michael particularly enjoys skiing in his holidays and if time permits, playing tennis and going for a short run almost daily. 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 TwitterEventsCorruption in Russia 2014-01-29 ALDE SME Campaign – Stuttgart2014-01-16 Videos Alexander LAMBSDORFF January plenary speech on Programme of activities of the Greek Presidency Chris DAVIES January plenary speech on Carbon capture and storage technology Phil BENNION 15 Jan 2014 plenary speech on Respect for the fundamental right of free movement Jürgen CREUTZMANN January plenary speech on Public procurement Renate WEBER 15 Jan 2014 plenary speech on EU citizenship for sale Sophia IN ‘T VELD January plenary speech on Future of the Safe Harbour Agreement in the light of the NSA affairLinksAlliance 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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ALDE Newsletter January 2014


17 January 2014 Headlines ALDE NewsProfiles of MEPs in the News European Commission News ALDE News The Greek tragedy holds lessons for the whole of the EU Addressing Greek Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, during the January Strasbourg plenary at the opening debate on the Greek Presidency of the EU’s Council of Ministers, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE group leader, underlined that Greece’s own tough experiences of the financial crisis were brought on both by failure of the former dominant Greek political class and the collective inability of the EU to act decisively in 2009. Read More Immediate suspension of Safe Harbour arrangement EU-US Sophie in ‘t Veld, ALDE Vice-chair of the Civil Liberties committee is calling for the immediate suspension of the controversial Safe Harbour arrangement during the January 15 debate in the European Parliament with Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding. Read More EU Citizenship must remain priceless Malta’s recent decision to start selling citizenship to third country nationals for €650,000 has been strongly criticised during the January plenary session in the European Parliament both for the risk it poses for all Member States but also for the apparent discriminatory and purely commercial nature of the eligibility criteria without any requirement for residence. Read More MIFiD: Stronger investors’ protection and competition as preconditions for a robust financial market After months of negotiations, the European Parliament and the Council on 14 January reached an agreement on the revision of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID II). This revision was proposed in 2011 by the Commission to respond to the speed of the market and technological developments and to overcome the weaknesses in the regulation of financial instruments exposed by the financial crisis. Read More European public procurement opens up for SMEs EU legislation on public procurement is being overhauled, in order to ensure a level playing field for contracts tendered by public bodies across the EU. Comprising almost 1/5 of total GDP in the Union, and covering sensitive sectors, services and public utilities, the package adopted on January 15 by the European Parliament, aims to ensure the application of simpler, more transparent and consistent rules, and to prevent discriminatory behaviour whilst preserving the basic freedom to provide services across borders. Read More Serbia from regional maverick into integration leader During a debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on January 16 , ALDE MEP Jelko Kacin (LDS, Slovenia) and EP rapporteur on Serbia welcomed progress over the past year and said Serbia is taking up a transformative role: “turning from a regional maverick into an integration leader.” Read More Broad support for EU Action Plan to fight Wildlife Crime The EU Action plan to fight Wildlife Crime, an initiative launched by Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (D66, Netherlands) received broad support of the European Parliament during the January plenary session. The plan (see link below) calls for the complete destruction of seized illegal ivory, higher penalties for criminals, the creation of a special investigative unit at Europol and the review of EU legislation. Read More European consumer policy improved Ensuring a high level of consumer protection and empowering consumers to make informed choices is the essence of a programme to improve the policy framework for European consumers from 2014 to 2020 and the subject of report adopted by a large majority during the January plenary session. Read More Lower CO2 emissions in vans The European Parliament has endorsed a deal to reduce CO2 emissions from new light commercial vehicles (Vans). The report by ALDE MEP Holger Krahmer (FDP, Germany) also aims to make vans more fuel-efficient. Read More Kickstart carbon capture, say MEPs The European Parliament on January 14th called for measures to kickstart the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to reduce CO2 emissions from industry and power generation. With CO2 capture plants under construction in the USA, Canada and China, MEPs say that Europe could not only fail to achieve CO2 reductions at least possible cost but also risks losing out on export orders. Read More We must strengthen the EU mechanisms to ensure respect for fundamental rights The Committee on Civil Liberties and Justice of the European Parliament adopted on 14 January the report by Louis Michel (MR , Belgium) on Fundamental Rights in the EU for 2012. According to Michel. “In recent years the European Union has experienced severe institutional and constitutional crises in certain Member States. The European values as set out in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, were in some cases abused and even violated.” Read More ALDE welcomes woman appointee to ECB Board Olle Schmidt MEP, (Folkpartiet, Sweden) welcomed the outcome of the vote in the Economic and Monetary Affairs approving Sabine Lautenschläger as a member of the ECB Executive Board in place of Jörg Asmussen, outgoing German member. However he believes more needs to be done to promote gender balance within the EU institutions and in particular in the ECB. Read More Employee financial participation can power inclusive growth According to the report drafted by Phil Bennion (LibDems, UK) and debated on 13 January in the European Parliament, Employee financial participation (EFP) should be encouraged to involve employees directly in the performance or ownership of the enterprises they work for. The concept of EFP can be an important tool to give employees a real sense of ownership and allow them to share in the value of the organization. Read More European Council fails to convince on Banking Union Some may claim that progress has been made over the past week towards delivering an EU wide Banking Union, but the reality is very different. Despite a week of intensive negotiations and diplomacy amongst finance ministers the outcome is less than was hoped for to convince markets that Europe has understood both the severity of the economic and financial crisis and the urgency of putting in place a comprehensive solution. Read More Plastic waste: MEPs move on pollution During the January plenary session MEPs backed a Commission Green paper for dealing with the huge amounts of plastic waste generated each year in the EU which pollute the environment. Parliament calls for the review of EU waste targets which means that future EU legislation should include inter alia the promotion or restriction of certain kinds of plastic materials, new rules on the disposal of plastic waste, measures to help phasing out landfilling of recyclable and recoverable waste by 2020, common criteria for recyclability, the promotion of waste prevention, recycling, recovery and reuse of products as well as measures to reduce the impact of plastic waste on the environment through sustainable solutions for product design and for the life-cycle of plastics. Read More Syrian humanitarian disaster: greater solidarity needed ALDE Leader Guy Verhofstadt has called on EU Member States to act in a more coordinated and responsible way to ease the growing Syrian humanitarian crisis. “Time is passing and we seem to have put Syria to the back of our minds yet the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding both inside Syria’s borders and beyond is without precedent and needs to be tackled urgently”. Read More Khodorkovsky pardon is welcome but it does not yet mean that Rule of Law is respected Commenting on December 19th on news that President Putin has granted an amnesty to a number of political prisoners including jailed businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE Group President, said:“If news of the pending release of Mikhail Khodorkovsky is confirmed, then I can only welcome it, though it is not before time. His harsh treatment at the hands of the Russian justice system, along with that of other political prisoners who have suffered over the years, has only served to bring shame and international opprobrium on Russia as a country.” Read More 4th rail package will improve efficiency and interconnectedness of Europe’s rail network Currently more than 8 billion journeys a year are made by rail in Europe, and 10 % of goods are transported by rail freight whilst the sector is responsible for a turnover of EUR 73 billion, generating EUR 13 billion of revenue and supporting 800 000 jobs. Read More Banking union: taxpayers out of the line of fire In parallel to Council’s December discussions finalising agreement on the banking union, the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee approved on December 17 a report on its vision for the structuring of the remaining building blocks of Europe’s banking union, namely the Single Resolution Mechanism and the Single Bank Resolution Fund, due to complement the agreed Single Supervisory Mechanism. Read More Consumer rights: IMCO pressures Member States In adopting a report on 17 December on the implementation of an EU directive on unfair commercial practices, Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Affairs committee approved a new legislative tool to regulate misleading advertising and other unfair practices in business-to-consumer transactions. Read More Air passenger rights: legal certainty on responsibility and rights for all stakeholders The European Parliament’s Transport Committee on December 17th signed off on the new rules on airline passenger rights. This reform sets common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of cancellation or delay of a flight and air carrier liability in respect of the carriage of passengers and their baggage. This revision also includes more clarity on what constitutes “extraordinary circumstances” in which compensation is not paid to passengers. Read More Tobacco: Legal doubts surround e-cigs In a final round of negotiations lasting late into the night on Monday 16th, the framework for a revision of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) was agreed, laying down new standards for packaging, labelling, flavourings and tobacco-related products like the rise in use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs). Read More LGTBI discrimination – EU roadmap The European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) adopted on December 17th a report calling for a multiannual policy to protect the fundamental rights of LGBTI people, through a concrete roadmap (comprising a strategy and action plan containing themes and objectives). The proposal for a roadmap was first launched by Sophie In’t Veld on behalf of the ALDE group. Read More European Commission News Free movement: Commission publishes guide on application of ‘Habitual Residence Test’ for social securityA practical guide on the ‘Habitual Residence Test’ to help Member States apply EU rules on the coordination of social security for EU citizens that have moved to another Member State has just been published by the European Commission. The new guide gives more clarity about the EU ‘Habitual Residence Test’ and will facilitate its application in practice by Member States’ authorities.László Andor, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, said: “There are clear safeguards in EU law to prevent people from abusing social welfare systems of other EU countries. This guide will make it easier for Member States authorities to apply the ‘Habitual Residence’ safeguards in practice. The handbook is part of the Commission’s ongoing actions to facilitate the free movement of people throughout the EU.”The guide, drafted in cooperation with Member States, clarifies the separate concepts of ‘habitual residence’ and ‘temporary residence’ or ‘stay’. These definitions, laid down in EU law (Regulation EC/883/2004 as last amended by Regulation EU/465/2012), are necessary to establish which Member State is responsible for the provision of social security benefits to EU citizens moving between Member States. Under EU law there can be only one habitual place of residence and so only one Member State responsible for paying residence-based social security benefits.Employees and the self-employed qualify for social security in the country where they work and non-active people (e.g. pensioners, students) qualify in the Member State where they are “habitually resident”. Determining a person’s Member State of “habitual residence” is also important for workers that work in more than one Member State.Read More Without free movement there is no EU As a follow up to the abolition of the transitional arrangements on the free movement of workers from Romania and Bulgaria on 1st January 2014, lifting all potential restrictions in access to labour market in the EU, the freedom of movement of EU citizens has been subject to a rather passionate debate in several Member States. Eurosceptic politicians in Europe, including a head of government, have not missed the opportunity to ask for limiting free movement of workers to avoid, as they claim, a massive inflow of EU citizens from certain Member States. The European Parliament is due to vote a resolution tomorrow deploring this demand to restrict one of the EU’s fundamental freedoms.ALDE Group President Guy Verhofstadt said: “Without this right, there is no Europe. Capping the number of migrants of EU citizens does not only mean undermining one of the greatest achievements of EU integration and one of the main EU fundamental values, but it also means blocking European growth and wealth creation”.ALDE spokesperson in the Civil Liberties Committee Renate Weber (PNL, Romania) said: “It’s unacceptable that this fundamental right is challenged over and over. Certain politicians don’t seem to understand that by attacking certain EU core values they simply fuel intolerance, stigmatisation and xenophobia”.”As always, the closer we get to the European elections, the bigger the lies, scapegoating Europe, we hear. Let’s stick to allowing facts and figures to speak the truth. The inconvenient truth for the Eurosceptics is that mobile workers are net contributors to the budget and the economies of their host country”. Nadja Hirsch (FDP, Germany) vice-president of the committee on employment and social affairs: “The liberals stressed the value of free movement as the motor of economic growth and an effective means to fight against the shortage of skilled labour. Especially in the areas of healthcare, services, agriculture and construction we benefit enormously from the mobility of European workers.” Read More Profiles of MEPs in the News Michael Theurer (FDP, Germany) Michael Theurer was born in Tübingen, Germany in 1967 and grew up in Horb a. N. where he started his active political career by joining the liberal youth organisation “Junge Liberale” and the liberal party FDP in 1983. Even before completing his studies in economics at Eberhard-Karls-University, Tübingen, he was elected Lord Mayor of his hometown Horb am Neckar in February 1995, thus becoming the youngest mayor in Germany at that time, managing a public administration with almost 400 employees and a yearly budget of 50 million Euros. From 2001 to 2009, Michael was Member of Parliament of the Land Baden-Württemberg in Germany, sitting on the committees for budget and for European affairs. In 2009 Michael was elected to the European Parliament and became Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee in 2012. Initially a member, now a substitute of the Committee on Regional Development, Michael is also Substitute Member of the Delegation for Relations with the People’s Republic of China and for Relations with India. Michael is also Vice-Chair of the FDP delegation in the European Parliament and is spokesperson for regional policy. He is also Member of the ALDE Bureau.As Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee, Michael is strongly in favour of budget consolidation and a more efficient use of financial resources by means of more transparency and performance checks. In particular, Michael was able to reveal mismanagement of EU-subsidies which paved the way for the European Commission’s legislative proposal to establish a European Public Prosecutor’s Office. This proposal was discussed by experts from the OECD and European Commissioner Šemeta at an ALDE seminar in the European Parliament upon Michael’s invitation in July 2013. In addition to the importance of budgetary control at the European level, Michael has been pointing to the crucial role of transparent and simple fiscal systems at a national level for effective EU spending. In line with this, Michael’s report and Troika opinion on “the evaluation of the Union’s finances based on the results achieved: a new tool for the European Commission’s improved discharge procedure” will be voted this month. Likewise, his opinion on the “Enquiry report on the role and operations of the Troika (ECB, Commission and IMF) with regard to the euro area programme countries” will also be voted this month in committee.As one of the initiators of the ALDE group’s “Boost SMEs” campaign, Michael sees considerable potential in strengthening small and medium-sized enterprises across the EU as a means of overcoming the economic crisis, and has been advocating means to provide SMEs with improved access to international markets. In January 2014, he organised an ALDE seminar on SMEs in the Stuttgart Parliament as part of the campaign. As rapporteur on the absorption of Structural and Cohesion Funds, Michael also drew important lessons for the future EU cohesion policy and pointed to the difficulties for some recipient countries in obtaining funds. With his background and long-standing political experience as Lord Mayor of Horb am Neckar, Michael stands for strong, independent, and self-governed local and regional bodies. While there is always room for improvement and constructive criticism, Michael is a keen advocate of European integration: “Had the EU not been founded, we would have to create it now.” Coming from Baden-Württemberg, one of the regions that is closely involved in the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, Michael has been actively supporting the strategy since 2010 as co-founder and Vice-Chair of the MEP Danube Forum. This network of MEPs from different political groups brings together stakeholders and civil society organisations which regularly convene in Brussels with each meeting being dedicated to one of the priority areas under the Danube Strategy. Together with colleagues from the MEP Danube Forum, Michael initiated the first Danube Parliamentarian Floating Conference in May 2013 which resulted in the founding of a Danube Parliamentarian Network Initiative. This network is the first of its kind in Europe bringing together parliamentarians from the local, regional, state and European levels with the aim of enhancing parliamentary cooperation in the Danube region. In addition, Michael initiated an ALDE ad-hoc delegation to Regensburg in June 2013 where he met with local politicians and stakeholders shortly after the severe flooding and discussed the state of play of riverbed development and cross-border cooperation.On top of his many commitments as MEP, Member of the FDP Presidency and leader of FDP Baden-Württemberg, Michael is also actively involved in his region as Chair of the “Friends of former synagogue Rexlingen” association. Until 2013, he was also Member of the Presidency of Europa Union Deutschland. When he is not busy travelling and working in Brussels, Strasbourg, Berlin and his constituency, Michael enjoys listening to classical music to unwind – a great source of inspiration – together with a glass of Riesling wine from his region. Born and bred in the Black Forest, Michael particularly enjoys skiing in his holidays and if time permits, playing tennis and going for a short run almost daily. 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 TwitterEventsCorruption in Russia 2014-01-29 ALDE SME Campaign – Stuttgart2014-01-16 Videos Alexander LAMBSDORFF January plenary speech on Programme of activities of the Greek Presidency Chris DAVIES January plenary speech on Carbon capture and storage technology Phil BENNION 15 Jan 2014 plenary speech on Respect for the fundamental right of free movement Jürgen CREUTZMANN January plenary speech on Public procurement Renate WEBER 15 Jan 2014 plenary speech on EU citizenship for sale Sophia IN ‘T VELD January plenary speech on Future of the Safe Harbour Agreement in the light of the NSA affairLinksAlliance 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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Posted in ALDE | Tagged | Comments Off on ALDE Newsletter January 2014

ALDE Newsletter January 2014


17 January 2014 Headlines ALDE NewsProfiles of MEPs in the News European Commission News ALDE News The Greek tragedy holds lessons for the whole of the EU Addressing Greek Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, during the January Strasbourg plenary at the opening debate on the Greek Presidency of the EU’s Council of Ministers, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE group leader, underlined that Greece’s own tough experiences of the financial crisis were brought on both by failure of the former dominant Greek political class and the collective inability of the EU to act decisively in 2009. Read More Immediate suspension of Safe Harbour arrangement EU-US Sophie in ‘t Veld, ALDE Vice-chair of the Civil Liberties committee is calling for the immediate suspension of the controversial Safe Harbour arrangement during the January 15 debate in the European Parliament with Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding. Read More EU Citizenship must remain priceless Malta’s recent decision to start selling citizenship to third country nationals for €650,000 has been strongly criticised during the January plenary session in the European Parliament both for the risk it poses for all Member States but also for the apparent discriminatory and purely commercial nature of the eligibility criteria without any requirement for residence. Read More MIFiD: Stronger investors’ protection and competition as preconditions for a robust financial market After months of negotiations, the European Parliament and the Council on 14 January reached an agreement on the revision of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID II). This revision was proposed in 2011 by the Commission to respond to the speed of the market and technological developments and to overcome the weaknesses in the regulation of financial instruments exposed by the financial crisis. Read More European public procurement opens up for SMEs EU legislation on public procurement is being overhauled, in order to ensure a level playing field for contracts tendered by public bodies across the EU. Comprising almost 1/5 of total GDP in the Union, and covering sensitive sectors, services and public utilities, the package adopted on January 15 by the European Parliament, aims to ensure the application of simpler, more transparent and consistent rules, and to prevent discriminatory behaviour whilst preserving the basic freedom to provide services across borders. Read More Serbia from regional maverick into integration leader During a debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on January 16 , ALDE MEP Jelko Kacin (LDS, Slovenia) and EP rapporteur on Serbia welcomed progress over the past year and said Serbia is taking up a transformative role: “turning from a regional maverick into an integration leader.” Read More Broad support for EU Action Plan to fight Wildlife Crime The EU Action plan to fight Wildlife Crime, an initiative launched by Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (D66, Netherlands) received broad support of the European Parliament during the January plenary session. The plan (see link below) calls for the complete destruction of seized illegal ivory, higher penalties for criminals, the creation of a special investigative unit at Europol and the review of EU legislation. Read More European consumer policy improved Ensuring a high level of consumer protection and empowering consumers to make informed choices is the essence of a programme to improve the policy framework for European consumers from 2014 to 2020 and the subject of report adopted by a large majority during the January plenary session. Read More Lower CO2 emissions in vans The European Parliament has endorsed a deal to reduce CO2 emissions from new light commercial vehicles (Vans). The report by ALDE MEP Holger Krahmer (FDP, Germany) also aims to make vans more fuel-efficient. Read More Kickstart carbon capture, say MEPs The European Parliament on January 14th called for measures to kickstart the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to reduce CO2 emissions from industry and power generation. With CO2 capture plants under construction in the USA, Canada and China, MEPs say that Europe could not only fail to achieve CO2 reductions at least possible cost but also risks losing out on export orders. Read More We must strengthen the EU mechanisms to ensure respect for fundamental rights The Committee on Civil Liberties and Justice of the European Parliament adopted on 14 January the report by Louis Michel (MR , Belgium) on Fundamental Rights in the EU for 2012. According to Michel. “In recent years the European Union has experienced severe institutional and constitutional crises in certain Member States. The European values as set out in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, were in some cases abused and even violated.” Read More ALDE welcomes woman appointee to ECB Board Olle Schmidt MEP, (Folkpartiet, Sweden) welcomed the outcome of the vote in the Economic and Monetary Affairs approving Sabine Lautenschläger as a member of the ECB Executive Board in place of Jörg Asmussen, outgoing German member. However he believes more needs to be done to promote gender balance within the EU institutions and in particular in the ECB. Read More Employee financial participation can power inclusive growth According to the report drafted by Phil Bennion (LibDems, UK) and debated on 13 January in the European Parliament, Employee financial participation (EFP) should be encouraged to involve employees directly in the performance or ownership of the enterprises they work for. The concept of EFP can be an important tool to give employees a real sense of ownership and allow them to share in the value of the organization. Read More European Council fails to convince on Banking Union Some may claim that progress has been made over the past week towards delivering an EU wide Banking Union, but the reality is very different. Despite a week of intensive negotiations and diplomacy amongst finance ministers the outcome is less than was hoped for to convince markets that Europe has understood both the severity of the economic and financial crisis and the urgency of putting in place a comprehensive solution. Read More Plastic waste: MEPs move on pollution During the January plenary session MEPs backed a Commission Green paper for dealing with the huge amounts of plastic waste generated each year in the EU which pollute the environment. Parliament calls for the review of EU waste targets which means that future EU legislation should include inter alia the promotion or restriction of certain kinds of plastic materials, new rules on the disposal of plastic waste, measures to help phasing out landfilling of recyclable and recoverable waste by 2020, common criteria for recyclability, the promotion of waste prevention, recycling, recovery and reuse of products as well as measures to reduce the impact of plastic waste on the environment through sustainable solutions for product design and for the life-cycle of plastics. Read More Syrian humanitarian disaster: greater solidarity needed ALDE Leader Guy Verhofstadt has called on EU Member States to act in a more coordinated and responsible way to ease the growing Syrian humanitarian crisis. “Time is passing and we seem to have put Syria to the back of our minds yet the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding both inside Syria’s borders and beyond is without precedent and needs to be tackled urgently”. Read More Khodorkovsky pardon is welcome but it does not yet mean that Rule of Law is respected Commenting on December 19th on news that President Putin has granted an amnesty to a number of political prisoners including jailed businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE Group President, said:“If news of the pending release of Mikhail Khodorkovsky is confirmed, then I can only welcome it, though it is not before time. His harsh treatment at the hands of the Russian justice system, along with that of other political prisoners who have suffered over the years, has only served to bring shame and international opprobrium on Russia as a country.” Read More 4th rail package will improve efficiency and interconnectedness of Europe’s rail network Currently more than 8 billion journeys a year are made by rail in Europe, and 10 % of goods are transported by rail freight whilst the sector is responsible for a turnover of EUR 73 billion, generating EUR 13 billion of revenue and supporting 800 000 jobs. Read More Banking union: taxpayers out of the line of fire In parallel to Council’s December discussions finalising agreement on the banking union, the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee approved on December 17 a report on its vision for the structuring of the remaining building blocks of Europe’s banking union, namely the Single Resolution Mechanism and the Single Bank Resolution Fund, due to complement the agreed Single Supervisory Mechanism. Read More Consumer rights: IMCO pressures Member States In adopting a report on 17 December on the implementation of an EU directive on unfair commercial practices, Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Affairs committee approved a new legislative tool to regulate misleading advertising and other unfair practices in business-to-consumer transactions. Read More Air passenger rights: legal certainty on responsibility and rights for all stakeholders The European Parliament’s Transport Committee on December 17th signed off on the new rules on airline passenger rights. This reform sets common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of cancellation or delay of a flight and air carrier liability in respect of the carriage of passengers and their baggage. This revision also includes more clarity on what constitutes “extraordinary circumstances” in which compensation is not paid to passengers. Read More Tobacco: Legal doubts surround e-cigs In a final round of negotiations lasting late into the night on Monday 16th, the framework for a revision of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) was agreed, laying down new standards for packaging, labelling, flavourings and tobacco-related products like the rise in use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs). Read More LGTBI discrimination – EU roadmap The European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) adopted on December 17th a report calling for a multiannual policy to protect the fundamental rights of LGBTI people, through a concrete roadmap (comprising a strategy and action plan containing themes and objectives). The proposal for a roadmap was first launched by Sophie In’t Veld on behalf of the ALDE group. Read More European Commission News Free movement: Commission publishes guide on application of ‘Habitual Residence Test’ for social securityA practical guide on the ‘Habitual Residence Test’ to help Member States apply EU rules on the coordination of social security for EU citizens that have moved to another Member State has just been published by the European Commission. The new guide gives more clarity about the EU ‘Habitual Residence Test’ and will facilitate its application in practice by Member States’ authorities.László Andor, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, said: “There are clear safeguards in EU law to prevent people from abusing social welfare systems of other EU countries. This guide will make it easier for Member States authorities to apply the ‘Habitual Residence’ safeguards in practice. The handbook is part of the Commission’s ongoing actions to facilitate the free movement of people throughout the EU.”The guide, drafted in cooperation with Member States, clarifies the separate concepts of ‘habitual residence’ and ‘temporary residence’ or ‘stay’. These definitions, laid down in EU law (Regulation EC/883/2004 as last amended by Regulation EU/465/2012), are necessary to establish which Member State is responsible for the provision of social security benefits to EU citizens moving between Member States. Under EU law there can be only one habitual place of residence and so only one Member State responsible for paying residence-based social security benefits.Employees and the self-employed qualify for social security in the country where they work and non-active people (e.g. pensioners, students) qualify in the Member State where they are “habitually resident”. Determining a person’s Member State of “habitual residence” is also important for workers that work in more than one Member State.Read More Without free movement there is no EU As a follow up to the abolition of the transitional arrangements on the free movement of workers from Romania and Bulgaria on 1st January 2014, lifting all potential restrictions in access to labour market in the EU, the freedom of movement of EU citizens has been subject to a rather passionate debate in several Member States. Eurosceptic politicians in Europe, including a head of government, have not missed the opportunity to ask for limiting free movement of workers to avoid, as they claim, a massive inflow of EU citizens from certain Member States. The European Parliament is due to vote a resolution tomorrow deploring this demand to restrict one of the EU’s fundamental freedoms.ALDE Group President Guy Verhofstadt said: “Without this right, there is no Europe. Capping the number of migrants of EU citizens does not only mean undermining one of the greatest achievements of EU integration and one of the main EU fundamental values, but it also means blocking European growth and wealth creation”.ALDE spokesperson in the Civil Liberties Committee Renate Weber (PNL, Romania) said: “It’s unacceptable that this fundamental right is challenged over and over. Certain politicians don’t seem to understand that by attacking certain EU core values they simply fuel intolerance, stigmatisation and xenophobia”.”As always, the closer we get to the European elections, the bigger the lies, scapegoating Europe, we hear. Let’s stick to allowing facts and figures to speak the truth. The inconvenient truth for the Eurosceptics is that mobile workers are net contributors to the budget and the economies of their host country”. Nadja Hirsch (FDP, Germany) vice-president of the committee on employment and social affairs: “The liberals stressed the value of free movement as the motor of economic growth and an effective means to fight against the shortage of skilled labour. Especially in the areas of healthcare, services, agriculture and construction we benefit enormously from the mobility of European workers.” Read More Profiles of MEPs in the News Michael Theurer (FDP, Germany) Michael Theurer was born in Tübingen, Germany in 1967 and grew up in Horb a. N. where he started his active political career by joining the liberal youth organisation “Junge Liberale” and the liberal party FDP in 1983. Even before completing his studies in economics at Eberhard-Karls-University, Tübingen, he was elected Lord Mayor of his hometown Horb am Neckar in February 1995, thus becoming the youngest mayor in Germany at that time, managing a public administration with almost 400 employees and a yearly budget of 50 million Euros. From 2001 to 2009, Michael was Member of Parliament of the Land Baden-Württemberg in Germany, sitting on the committees for budget and for European affairs. In 2009 Michael was elected to the European Parliament and became Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee in 2012. Initially a member, now a substitute of the Committee on Regional Development, Michael is also Substitute Member of the Delegation for Relations with the People’s Republic of China and for Relations with India. Michael is also Vice-Chair of the FDP delegation in the European Parliament and is spokesperson for regional policy. He is also Member of the ALDE Bureau.As Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee, Michael is strongly in favour of budget consolidation and a more efficient use of financial resources by means of more transparency and performance checks. In particular, Michael was able to reveal mismanagement of EU-subsidies which paved the way for the European Commission’s legislative proposal to establish a European Public Prosecutor’s Office. This proposal was discussed by experts from the OECD and European Commissioner Šemeta at an ALDE seminar in the European Parliament upon Michael’s invitation in July 2013. In addition to the importance of budgetary control at the European level, Michael has been pointing to the crucial role of transparent and simple fiscal systems at a national level for effective EU spending. In line with this, Michael’s report and Troika opinion on “the evaluation of the Union’s finances based on the results achieved: a new tool for the European Commission’s improved discharge procedure” will be voted this month. Likewise, his opinion on the “Enquiry report on the role and operations of the Troika (ECB, Commission and IMF) with regard to the euro area programme countries” will also be voted this month in committee.As one of the initiators of the ALDE group’s “Boost SMEs” campaign, Michael sees considerable potential in strengthening small and medium-sized enterprises across the EU as a means of overcoming the economic crisis, and has been advocating means to provide SMEs with improved access to international markets. In January 2014, he organised an ALDE seminar on SMEs in the Stuttgart Parliament as part of the campaign. As rapporteur on the absorption of Structural and Cohesion Funds, Michael also drew important lessons for the future EU cohesion policy and pointed to the difficulties for some recipient countries in obtaining funds. With his background and long-standing political experience as Lord Mayor of Horb am Neckar, Michael stands for strong, independent, and self-governed local and regional bodies. While there is always room for improvement and constructive criticism, Michael is a keen advocate of European integration: “Had the EU not been founded, we would have to create it now.” Coming from Baden-Württemberg, one of the regions that is closely involved in the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, Michael has been actively supporting the strategy since 2010 as co-founder and Vice-Chair of the MEP Danube Forum. This network of MEPs from different political groups brings together stakeholders and civil society organisations which regularly convene in Brussels with each meeting being dedicated to one of the priority areas under the Danube Strategy. Together with colleagues from the MEP Danube Forum, Michael initiated the first Danube Parliamentarian Floating Conference in May 2013 which resulted in the founding of a Danube Parliamentarian Network Initiative. This network is the first of its kind in Europe bringing together parliamentarians from the local, regional, state and European levels with the aim of enhancing parliamentary cooperation in the Danube region. In addition, Michael initiated an ALDE ad-hoc delegation to Regensburg in June 2013 where he met with local politicians and stakeholders shortly after the severe flooding and discussed the state of play of riverbed development and cross-border cooperation.On top of his many commitments as MEP, Member of the FDP Presidency and leader of FDP Baden-Württemberg, Michael is also actively involved in his region as Chair of the “Friends of former synagogue Rexlingen” association. Until 2013, he was also Member of the Presidency of Europa Union Deutschland. When he is not busy travelling and working in Brussels, Strasbourg, Berlin and his constituency, Michael enjoys listening to classical music to unwind – a great source of inspiration – together with a glass of Riesling wine from his region. Born and bred in the Black Forest, Michael particularly enjoys skiing in his holidays and if time permits, playing tennis and going for a short run almost daily. Read More For more information, please contact:ALDE Press Service and Inter-institutional relations unitneil.corlett@europarl.europa.euwillem.vandenbroucke@europarl.europa.euALDEUnsubscribeJoin ALDE on FacebookFollow ALDE on TwitterEventsCorruption in Russia 2014-01-29 ALDE SME Campaign – Stuttgart2014-01-16 Videos Alexander LAMBSDORFF January plenary speech on Programme of activities of the Greek Presidency Chris DAVIES January plenary speech on Carbon capture and storage technology Phil BENNION 15 Jan 2014 plenary speech on Respect for the fundamental right of free movement Jürgen CREUTZMANN January plenary speech on Public procurement Renate WEBER 15 Jan 2014 plenary speech on EU citizenship for sale Sophia IN ‘T VELD January plenary speech on Future of the Safe Harbour Agreement in the light of the NSA affairLinksAlliance 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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Posted in ALDE | Tagged | Comments Off on ALDE Newsletter January 2014

ALDE Newsletter January 2014


17 January 2014 Headlines ALDE NewsProfiles of MEPs in the News European Commission News ALDE News The Greek tragedy holds lessons for the whole of the EU Addressing Greek Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, during the January Strasbourg plenary at the opening debate on the Greek Presidency of the EU’s Council of Ministers, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE group leader, underlined that Greece’s own tough experiences of the financial crisis were brought on both by failure of the former dominant Greek political class and the collective inability of the EU to act decisively in 2009. Read More Immediate suspension of Safe Harbour arrangement EU-US Sophie in ‘t Veld, ALDE Vice-chair of the Civil Liberties committee is calling for the immediate suspension of the controversial Safe Harbour arrangement during the January 15 debate in the European Parliament with Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding. Read More EU Citizenship must remain priceless Malta’s recent decision to start selling citizenship to third country nationals for €650,000 has been strongly criticised during the January plenary session in the European Parliament both for the risk it poses for all Member States but also for the apparent discriminatory and purely commercial nature of the eligibility criteria without any requirement for residence. Read More MIFiD: Stronger investors’ protection and competition as preconditions for a robust financial market After months of negotiations, the European Parliament and the Council on 14 January reached an agreement on the revision of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID II). This revision was proposed in 2011 by the Commission to respond to the speed of the market and technological developments and to overcome the weaknesses in the regulation of financial instruments exposed by the financial crisis. Read More European public procurement opens up for SMEs EU legislation on public procurement is being overhauled, in order to ensure a level playing field for contracts tendered by public bodies across the EU. Comprising almost 1/5 of total GDP in the Union, and covering sensitive sectors, services and public utilities, the package adopted on January 15 by the European Parliament, aims to ensure the application of simpler, more transparent and consistent rules, and to prevent discriminatory behaviour whilst preserving the basic freedom to provide services across borders. Read More Serbia from regional maverick into integration leader During a debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on January 16 , ALDE MEP Jelko Kacin (LDS, Slovenia) and EP rapporteur on Serbia welcomed progress over the past year and said Serbia is taking up a transformative role: “turning from a regional maverick into an integration leader.” Read More Broad support for EU Action Plan to fight Wildlife Crime The EU Action plan to fight Wildlife Crime, an initiative launched by Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (D66, Netherlands) received broad support of the European Parliament during the January plenary session. The plan (see link below) calls for the complete destruction of seized illegal ivory, higher penalties for criminals, the creation of a special investigative unit at Europol and the review of EU legislation. Read More European consumer policy improved Ensuring a high level of consumer protection and empowering consumers to make informed choices is the essence of a programme to improve the policy framework for European consumers from 2014 to 2020 and the subject of report adopted by a large majority during the January plenary session. Read More Lower CO2 emissions in vans The European Parliament has endorsed a deal to reduce CO2 emissions from new light commercial vehicles (Vans). The report by ALDE MEP Holger Krahmer (FDP, Germany) also aims to make vans more fuel-efficient. Read More Kickstart carbon capture, say MEPs The European Parliament on January 14th called for measures to kickstart the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to reduce CO2 emissions from industry and power generation. With CO2 capture plants under construction in the USA, Canada and China, MEPs say that Europe could not only fail to achieve CO2 reductions at least possible cost but also risks losing out on export orders. Read More We must strengthen the EU mechanisms to ensure respect for fundamental rights The Committee on Civil Liberties and Justice of the European Parliament adopted on 14 January the report by Louis Michel (MR , Belgium) on Fundamental Rights in the EU for 2012. According to Michel. “In recent years the European Union has experienced severe institutional and constitutional crises in certain Member States. The European values as set out in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, were in some cases abused and even violated.” Read More ALDE welcomes woman appointee to ECB Board Olle Schmidt MEP, (Folkpartiet, Sweden) welcomed the outcome of the vote in the Economic and Monetary Affairs approving Sabine Lautenschläger as a member of the ECB Executive Board in place of Jörg Asmussen, outgoing German member. However he believes more needs to be done to promote gender balance within the EU institutions and in particular in the ECB. Read More Employee financial participation can power inclusive growth According to the report drafted by Phil Bennion (LibDems, UK) and debated on 13 January in the European Parliament, Employee financial participation (EFP) should be encouraged to involve employees directly in the performance or ownership of the enterprises they work for. The concept of EFP can be an important tool to give employees a real sense of ownership and allow them to share in the value of the organization. Read More European Council fails to convince on Banking Union Some may claim that progress has been made over the past week towards delivering an EU wide Banking Union, but the reality is very different. Despite a week of intensive negotiations and diplomacy amongst finance ministers the outcome is less than was hoped for to convince markets that Europe has understood both the severity of the economic and financial crisis and the urgency of putting in place a comprehensive solution. Read More Plastic waste: MEPs move on pollution During the January plenary session MEPs backed a Commission Green paper for dealing with the huge amounts of plastic waste generated each year in the EU which pollute the environment. Parliament calls for the review of EU waste targets which means that future EU legislation should include inter alia the promotion or restriction of certain kinds of plastic materials, new rules on the disposal of plastic waste, measures to help phasing out landfilling of recyclable and recoverable waste by 2020, common criteria for recyclability, the promotion of waste prevention, recycling, recovery and reuse of products as well as measures to reduce the impact of plastic waste on the environment through sustainable solutions for product design and for the life-cycle of plastics. Read More Syrian humanitarian disaster: greater solidarity needed ALDE Leader Guy Verhofstadt has called on EU Member States to act in a more coordinated and responsible way to ease the growing Syrian humanitarian crisis. “Time is passing and we seem to have put Syria to the back of our minds yet the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding both inside Syria’s borders and beyond is without precedent and needs to be tackled urgently”. Read More Khodorkovsky pardon is welcome but it does not yet mean that Rule of Law is respected Commenting on December 19th on news that President Putin has granted an amnesty to a number of political prisoners including jailed businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE Group President, said:“If news of the pending release of Mikhail Khodorkovsky is confirmed, then I can only welcome it, though it is not before time. His harsh treatment at the hands of the Russian justice system, along with that of other political prisoners who have suffered over the years, has only served to bring shame and international opprobrium on Russia as a country.” Read More 4th rail package will improve efficiency and interconnectedness of Europe’s rail network Currently more than 8 billion journeys a year are made by rail in Europe, and 10 % of goods are transported by rail freight whilst the sector is responsible for a turnover of EUR 73 billion, generating EUR 13 billion of revenue and supporting 800 000 jobs. Read More Banking union: taxpayers out of the line of fire In parallel to Council’s December discussions finalising agreement on the banking union, the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee approved on December 17 a report on its vision for the structuring of the remaining building blocks of Europe’s banking union, namely the Single Resolution Mechanism and the Single Bank Resolution Fund, due to complement the agreed Single Supervisory Mechanism. Read More Consumer rights: IMCO pressures Member States In adopting a report on 17 December on the implementation of an EU directive on unfair commercial practices, Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Affairs committee approved a new legislative tool to regulate misleading advertising and other unfair practices in business-to-consumer transactions. Read More Air passenger rights: legal certainty on responsibility and rights for all stakeholders The European Parliament’s Transport Committee on December 17th signed off on the new rules on airline passenger rights. This reform sets common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of cancellation or delay of a flight and air carrier liability in respect of the carriage of passengers and their baggage. This revision also includes more clarity on what constitutes “extraordinary circumstances” in which compensation is not paid to passengers. Read More Tobacco: Legal doubts surround e-cigs In a final round of negotiations lasting late into the night on Monday 16th, the framework for a revision of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) was agreed, laying down new standards for packaging, labelling, flavourings and tobacco-related products like the rise in use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs). Read More LGTBI discrimination – EU roadmap The European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) adopted on December 17th a report calling for a multiannual policy to protect the fundamental rights of LGBTI people, through a concrete roadmap (comprising a strategy and action plan containing themes and objectives). The proposal for a roadmap was first launched by Sophie In’t Veld on behalf of the ALDE group. Read More European Commission News Free movement: Commission publishes guide on application of ‘Habitual Residence Test’ for social securityA practical guide on the ‘Habitual Residence Test’ to help Member States apply EU rules on the coordination of social security for EU citizens that have moved to another Member State has just been published by the European Commission. The new guide gives more clarity about the EU ‘Habitual Residence Test’ and will facilitate its application in practice by Member States’ authorities.László Andor, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, said: “There are clear safeguards in EU law to prevent people from abusing social welfare systems of other EU countries. This guide will make it easier for Member States authorities to apply the ‘Habitual Residence’ safeguards in practice. The handbook is part of the Commission’s ongoing actions to facilitate the free movement of people throughout the EU.”The guide, drafted in cooperation with Member States, clarifies the separate concepts of ‘habitual residence’ and ‘temporary residence’ or ‘stay’. These definitions, laid down in EU law (Regulation EC/883/2004 as last amended by Regulation EU/465/2012), are necessary to establish which Member State is responsible for the provision of social security benefits to EU citizens moving between Member States. Under EU law there can be only one habitual place of residence and so only one Member State responsible for paying residence-based social security benefits.Employees and the self-employed qualify for social security in the country where they work and non-active people (e.g. pensioners, students) qualify in the Member State where they are “habitually resident”. Determining a person’s Member State of “habitual residence” is also important for workers that work in more than one Member State.Read More Without free movement there is no EU As a follow up to the abolition of the transitional arrangements on the free movement of workers from Romania and Bulgaria on 1st January 2014, lifting all potential restrictions in access to labour market in the EU, the freedom of movement of EU citizens has been subject to a rather passionate debate in several Member States. Eurosceptic politicians in Europe, including a head of government, have not missed the opportunity to ask for limiting free movement of workers to avoid, as they claim, a massive inflow of EU citizens from certain Member States. The European Parliament is due to vote a resolution tomorrow deploring this demand to restrict one of the EU’s fundamental freedoms.ALDE Group President Guy Verhofstadt said: “Without this right, there is no Europe. Capping the number of migrants of EU citizens does not only mean undermining one of the greatest achievements of EU integration and one of the main EU fundamental values, but it also means blocking European growth and wealth creation”.ALDE spokesperson in the Civil Liberties Committee Renate Weber (PNL, Romania) said: “It’s unacceptable that this fundamental right is challenged over and over. Certain politicians don’t seem to understand that by attacking certain EU core values they simply fuel intolerance, stigmatisation and xenophobia”.”As always, the closer we get to the European elections, the bigger the lies, scapegoating Europe, we hear. Let’s stick to allowing facts and figures to speak the truth. The inconvenient truth for the Eurosceptics is that mobile workers are net contributors to the budget and the economies of their host country”. Nadja Hirsch (FDP, Germany) vice-president of the committee on employment and social affairs: “The liberals stressed the value of free movement as the motor of economic growth and an effective means to fight against the shortage of skilled labour. Especially in the areas of healthcare, services, agriculture and construction we benefit enormously from the mobility of European workers.” Read More Profiles of MEPs in the News Michael Theurer (FDP, Germany) Michael Theurer was born in Tübingen, Germany in 1967 and grew up in Horb a. N. where he started his active political career by joining the liberal youth organisation “Junge Liberale” and the liberal party FDP in 1983. Even before completing his studies in economics at Eberhard-Karls-University, Tübingen, he was elected Lord Mayor of his hometown Horb am Neckar in February 1995, thus becoming the youngest mayor in Germany at that time, managing a public administration with almost 400 employees and a yearly budget of 50 million Euros. From 2001 to 2009, Michael was Member of Parliament of the Land Baden-Württemberg in Germany, sitting on the committees for budget and for European affairs. In 2009 Michael was elected to the European Parliament and became Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee in 2012. Initially a member, now a substitute of the Committee on Regional Development, Michael is also Substitute Member of the Delegation for Relations with the People’s Republic of China and for Relations with India. Michael is also Vice-Chair of the FDP delegation in the European Parliament and is spokesperson for regional policy. He is also Member of the ALDE Bureau.As Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee, Michael is strongly in favour of budget consolidation and a more efficient use of financial resources by means of more transparency and performance checks. In particular, Michael was able to reveal mismanagement of EU-subsidies which paved the way for the European Commission’s legislative proposal to establish a European Public Prosecutor’s Office. This proposal was discussed by experts from the OECD and European Commissioner Šemeta at an ALDE seminar in the European Parliament upon Michael’s invitation in July 2013. In addition to the importance of budgetary control at the European level, Michael has been pointing to the crucial role of transparent and simple fiscal systems at a national level for effective EU spending. In line with this, Michael’s report and Troika opinion on “the evaluation of the Union’s finances based on the results achieved: a new tool for the European Commission’s improved discharge procedure” will be voted this month. Likewise, his opinion on the “Enquiry report on the role and operations of the Troika (ECB, Commission and IMF) with regard to the euro area programme countries” will also be voted this month in committee.As one of the initiators of the ALDE group’s “Boost SMEs” campaign, Michael sees considerable potential in strengthening small and medium-sized enterprises across the EU as a means of overcoming the economic crisis, and has been advocating means to provide SMEs with improved access to international markets. In January 2014, he organised an ALDE seminar on SMEs in the Stuttgart Parliament as part of the campaign. As rapporteur on the absorption of Structural and Cohesion Funds, Michael also drew important lessons for the future EU cohesion policy and pointed to the difficulties for some recipient countries in obtaining funds. With his background and long-standing political experience as Lord Mayor of Horb am Neckar, Michael stands for strong, independent, and self-governed local and regional bodies. While there is always room for improvement and constructive criticism, Michael is a keen advocate of European integration: “Had the EU not been founded, we would have to create it now.” Coming from Baden-Württemberg, one of the regions that is closely involved in the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, Michael has been actively supporting the strategy since 2010 as co-founder and Vice-Chair of the MEP Danube Forum. This network of MEPs from different political groups brings together stakeholders and civil society organisations which regularly convene in Brussels with each meeting being dedicated to one of the priority areas under the Danube Strategy. Together with colleagues from the MEP Danube Forum, Michael initiated the first Danube Parliamentarian Floating Conference in May 2013 which resulted in the founding of a Danube Parliamentarian Network Initiative. This network is the first of its kind in Europe bringing together parliamentarians from the local, regional, state and European levels with the aim of enhancing parliamentary cooperation in the Danube region. In addition, Michael initiated an ALDE ad-hoc delegation to Regensburg in June 2013 where he met with local politicians and stakeholders shortly after the severe flooding and discussed the state of play of riverbed development and cross-border cooperation.On top of his many commitments as MEP, Member of the FDP Presidency and leader of FDP Baden-Württemberg, Michael is also actively involved in his region as Chair of the “Friends of former synagogue Rexlingen” association. Until 2013, he was also Member of the Presidency of Europa Union Deutschland. When he is not busy travelling and working in Brussels, Strasbourg, Berlin and his constituency, Michael enjoys listening to classical music to unwind – a great source of inspiration – together with a glass of Riesling wine from his region. Born and bred in the Black Forest, Michael particularly enjoys skiing in his holidays and if time permits, playing tennis and going for a short run almost daily. Read More For more information, please contact:ALDE Press Service and Inter-institutional relations unitneil.corlett@europarl.europa.euwillem.vandenbroucke@europarl.europa.euALDEUnsubscribeJoin ALDE on FacebookFollow ALDE on TwitterEventsCorruption in Russia 2014-01-29 ALDE SME Campaign – Stuttgart2014-01-16 Videos Alexander LAMBSDORFF January plenary speech on Programme of activities of the Greek Presidency Chris DAVIES January plenary speech on Carbon capture and storage technology Phil BENNION 15 Jan 2014 plenary speech on Respect for the fundamental right of free movement Jürgen CREUTZMANN January plenary speech on Public procurement Renate WEBER 15 Jan 2014 plenary speech on EU citizenship for sale Sophia IN ‘T VELD January plenary speech on Future of the Safe Harbour Agreement in the light of the NSA affairLinksAlliance 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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ALDE Newsletter December 2013


13 December 2013 Headlines ALDE News Profiles of MEPs in the News ALDE News Growing support for New European Narrative At a meeting in Milan December 8 and 9, the European Commission President and the Italian Prime Minister, together with artists, writers, intellectuals and many others from the creative sector, joined together to inspire and further the working group on the New Narrative on Europe which will be published next year in Berlin. Read More Verhofstadt contrasts European spirit in Kiev with growing scepticism in Member States Addressing the European Parliament’s December plenary debate in Strasbourg ahead of next week’s important EU summit, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE group leader, pointed to the enthusiasm for the European Union that has brought tens of thousands of Ukrainians onto the streets of Kiev in support of closer association. Read More European Liberals strengthen Human Rights and Democracy Support Commenting during the December plenary session of Parliament after the adoption of his report on The European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, (FDP, Germany) said: “Strengthening human rights and democracy is a priority for liberals. Human rights are at the heart of our foreign and development policy. We successfully fought for a stronger voice for the Parliament and managed to increase the instrument’s budget by about 20%. I am extremely satisfied with the outcome.” Read More EU Competition policy: Commission should act to end the bad practices of Member States “A lot still remains to be done in several sectors, such as banks, telecommunications, energy, competition authorities and transport, in order to achieve a non-discriminatory, well-functioning single market in Europe”, said EP rapporteur Ramon Tremosa i Balcells (CiU, Catalonia, Spain) following the adoption by the European Parliament of his Annual Report on EU Competition Policy during the December plenary session. Read More Liberals and Democrats welcome continuation of EU’s emergency jobless fund The future of the European Globalisation Fund (EGF), the EU’s solidarity aid fund, has now been secured: the report drafted by ALDE MEP Marian Harkin was adopted with a clear majority by the European Parliament. Read More The people of Ukraine have chosen Europe not Moscow ALDE Leader Guy Verhofstadt, speaking during a live link to Maidan square in Kyiv with one of the leaders of the protesters Mykola Katerynchuk, President of the European Party of Ukraine said “The Ukrainian people have chosen Europe and not Moscow and while Russia may have legitimate concerns about the trade agreements of its neighbours – sabotage and blackmail is not acceptable. The Russian interests end where the Ukrainian people’s sovereignty over the choice of their own future begins.” Read More ALDE condemns kidnapping of Syrian former Sakharov prize winner, Razan Zaitouneh Guy Verhofstadt commented on the news of the kidnapping of Razan Zaitouneh one of the most prominent Syrian opposition activists, and Sakharov prize winner in 2011: “It is deeply worrying and upsetting to hear of the kidnapping of Razan Zaitouneh. We stand united with her friends and family and hope for her immediate and unconditional release.” Read More ALDE: Fight for sexual and reproductive health and rights continues A majority of the European Parliament voted on December 10 against a political resolution on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR ), the Estrela report. Read More MEPs agree on delaying auction of CO2 pollution permits The European Parliament on December 10th finally approved plans to delay the auctioning of some CO2 pollution permits by a few years in order to allow the market price of carbon to recover and thus encourage companies to invest in less-polluting technologies and green investments. Read More EU rules on rescue at sea: no more time to quibble while migrants drown European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee adopted on December 9 a regulation establishing rules for improving the surveillance of the external sea borders in the context of operations coordinated by the Frontex Agency with the aim of avoiding another humanitarian tragedy. Read More WTO trade package deal in Bali restores credibility of WTO as forum for multilateral negotiations The 9th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC9) has recently concluded in Bali having reached a long-awaited agreement to free up world trade through improved customs procedures that have been holding up the cross-border movement of goods. The Conference also addressed sensitive issues like food security in some of the less developed countries. But in political terms, it was seen as vital to restore credibility to an organisation that was perceived to be losing authority and legitimacy as a trade negotiating forum under the Doha ‘development’ round. Read More Verhofstadt: “My obsession is a liberal Europe, not a bureaucratic, centralised superstate.” Addressing the formal opening of the ALDE Party Congress in London’s Canary Wharf on November 29, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE Group President called for a fight-back against rising euro-scepticism and for Liberals to campaign for a stronger, more democratic and accountable Europe. Read More Reciprocity in trade must not undermine the EU’s trade policy The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe supports the compromise adopted on November 28th during the parliamentary International Trade Committee ( INTA ) on the proposal for regulation on the access of third-country goods and services to the Union’s internal market in public procurement Read More Egypt is once again crossing the line A series of recent rulings and judicial heavy-handedness are once again jeopardising Egypt’s progress to a stable democratic future. Read More NSA scandal: US assurances not enough to dispel spying suspicions Following the November 27 publication by the European Commission of its assessment of the functioning of the Safe Harbour Agreement and on Rebuilding Trust in EU-US Data Flows in light of the recent data mining scandals, Sophie In’t Veld (D66, Netherlands), Vice President of Parliament’s Civil Liberties and Home Affairs committee was both sceptical and critical. Read More Profiles of MEPs in the News Marian Harkin MEP (Independent, Ireland) Marian Harkin was born in Sligo, Ireland in 1953 and is the oldest in her family of five brothers and two sisters. After graduating from University College Dublin Marian taught Mathematics and Science in Mercy College Sligo for 24 years and was elected as an Independent member of Dail Eireann (Irish Parliament) in 2002. In 2004 she was elected to the European Parliament and was re-elected in 2009.Marian’s interest in politics stems from her work as a volunteer in the voluntary community sector. Her interest in European Politics was triggered by a realisation that the EU, through its regional and Cohesion policy, strongly supported regional development and her work in Ireland was to try to achieve balanced regional development.Initially she was involved in community development in County Leitrim where she and her late husband lived for 16 years. This work expanded to include her role as Chairperson of the Council for the West (CFTW) (a voluntary body representing seven counties set up to achieve balanced development) and subsequently as a board member of the Western Development Commission (a statutory body set up with similar objectives to the CFTW).She served on the board of the Ulster Community Investment Trust (UCIT), an organisation which assists community organisations, charities and social enterprises to access social finance. Marian also served two terms as a Member of Ireland’s National Statistics Board.Throughout all of this time Marian came to fully appreciate the value of volunteering and community led action. Indeed she led the campaign in the European Parliament to have 2011 designated as the European Year on Volunteering and before, during and after 2011 she worked closely with ‘The Alliance’ which is a network of all the major voluntary organisations across the EU. The active involvement of the stakeholders in The Alliance in helping to support and promote volunteering alongside their very significant policy contributions ensured a very successful 2011 in volunteering terms with on-going impacts and continued stakeholder participation. In December 2013 Marian hosted the event which saw Barcelona named as the European City of Volunteering.Marian was awarded the ‘Outstanding Achievement’ award at the MEP of the Year awards in 2011 for her contribution to the field volunteering at EU level. She was again awarded the title MEP of the Year in 2012, but this time for her work on the Employment and Social Affairs Committee, and in particular on the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF). Marian was Parliament Rapporteur for this dossier and the EGF has just been approved by a big majority at the December 2013 Plenary session.Her main committee is Employment and Social Affairs and she is also active on the Agriculture Committee and the Petitions Committee. She has also had a strong interest in Environment issues and most of this is driven by environmental concerns articulated by her constituents. Her interests also include economic matters and in particular the challenges facing the Eurozone economy. Representing a country that holds regular referenda on e.g. the ESM Treaty, the Lisbon Treaty, the Nice Treaty etc, she takes an interest in all European Treaty provisions and implications.Marian also has a keen interest in many other non-legislative issues, ranging from Mental Health to Carers and Disability, and on all of these issues, she either chairs or is a member of a Parliament interest group. She works closely with civil society and in fact all stakeholders to influence European policy. She is a strong supporter of the EU but also believes we should never cease to challenge the system and she is supportive of sunset clauses on legislation and consistent monitoring of the impact and outcomes of EU legislation.On a personal level Marian has two sons, and one grandson. She lives in Sligo Town and when she has the time, she enjoys cooking, reading and catching up with friends and family. She loves to listen to all types of music and for many years sang with her local choir. Read More For more information, please contact:ALDE Press Service and Inter-institutional relations unitneil.corlett@europarl.europa.euwillem.vandenbroucke@europarl.europa.euJoin ALDE on FacebookFollow ALDE on TwitterEventsIs the Chinese Leadership ready for dialogue? Perspectives on the Uyghur Issue2013-12-17 Corruption in Russia 2014-01-29 Videos Guy VERHOFSTADT 11 Dec plenary speech on Preparations for the European Council meeting Sylvie GOULARD 11 December plenary speech on Constitutional problems of a multitier governance in the EU Press conference – Guy Verhofstadt on the situation in Ukraine, Strasbourg 10 Dec 2013 Chris DAVIES 09 December plenary speech on North East Atlantic fisheries Speech by Guy Verhofstadt at opening ceremony, ALDE Party Congress, London, 29th November 2013 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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ALDE Newsletter November 2013


22 November 2013 Headlines ALDE NewsProfiles of MEPs in the News ALDE Networking ALDE News MFF: Parliament’s tough stance delivered a better deal The European Parliament meeting in Strasbourg adopted on November 19th the General Regulations on the implementation of the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework. ALDE participated in this consensus because after months of long and difficult negotiations with the Council, all the conditions set forth in the parliamentary resolution last July have been accepted, thus considerably altering the political agreement reached by the European Council . Read More EU provides more money than ever to boost SMEs Between 2014 and 2020 the EU will spend considerably more money to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) than ever before. With Horizon 2020 and COSME the European Parliament has adopted two major funding programmes during the November Strasbourg plenary session. Read More New EU mobility programme will help match skills and jobs across EU The European Parliament meeting during the November plenary session in Strasbourg adopted a new programme endorsed under the EU’s next multiannual budget, the EU programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI). This important policy tool in the long-running battle to stabilise the EU economy and labour markets is funded with a € 815 million budget for the next seven years. EaSI integrates three existing instruments (Progress, EURES and Microfinance) designed to fight unemployment, poverty and social exclusion in the EU and extends their coverage. Read More A better funding base to connect Europe’s infrastructure Liberals and Democrats supported the November 19 plenary vote for a new legal base to fund future trans-European transport, energy and telecommunication infrastructure projects. The adoption of the “Connecting Europe Facility” (CEF) gives the EU from 2014 on a common instrument for the co-financing of these trans-European networks. Read More Erasmus+ : More money for more mobility in education “In times of austerity we have to invest whatever we can possibly afford in education. The 40 % budget increase for the new Erasmus+ programme shows that the EU understands that principle more than ever,“ said liberal MEP Morten Løkkegaard (Venstre, Denmark), on the adoption of the new Erasmus+ programme by the European Parliament during the November Strasbourg plenary session. Read More Gender diversity is good for the boardroom say Liberals and Democrats After four decades of voluntary measures, EU companies are still failing to fill vacant boardroom seats with women. Despite the growing presence of suitably qualified and experienced women in the recruitment pool, optimism that these talented women would automatically break the” glass ceiling” turned out to be misplaced. Only 13% of company board members in the EU’s largest publicly listed companies are women. Read More EU Cohesion policy brings real added value to Europe’s regions The EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020, approved on November 19th by the European Parliament, includes €325 billion for investing in Member States, regions and cities via the Cohesion Policy instruments. It represents 30% of the total EU budget over the next seven years. The new Cohesion and Structural Funds will invest more in sectors such as Innovation and R&D, ICT, SMEs and the low-carbon economy whilst investments in sustainable transport infrastructures are maintained. Read More Online censorship: Morten Løkkegaard calls for ombudsman The issue of censorship on the internet was debated during the November plenary session by Morten Løkkegaard, vice-chair of the European Parliament’s Culture committee, who brought together representatives from Facebook and Google in Copenhagen, Denmark. Read More Seasonal workers should be treated the same as EU nationals After years of controversies, the Seasonal Workers Directive is in the final phases of adoption. The Justice and Civil Liberties Committee and the Employment Committee signed off on November 14th the agreement reached with Council last month, after two years of negotiations. This Directive presented by the Commission in July 2010 is part of the common EU labour migration policy and sets harmonised conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purpose of seasonal employment. Read More Verhofstadt welcomes the alliance of the two centrist and pro-European parties in France Guy Verhofstadt , President of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the European Parliament said: “I welcome the creation of a strong alliance of the French Centre, gathering my French friends from UDI and MODEM. Such an alliance, which I have called for since the last presidential elections in France, is indispensable. This joint force establishes a real alternative for France and for Europe. ” Read More Europe must reap benefits of worldwide talent market The European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) on November 5th adopted ALDE MEP Cecilia Wikström’s (Folkpartiet, Sweden) report on clearer conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of research, studies, pupil exchange, remunerated and unremunerated training, voluntary service and ‘au pairing’. Read More More integrated European maritime management The European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee (TRAN) adopted on November 5th a framework directive for the establishment and implementation of maritime spatial planning and integrated coastal management which aim at mapping the marine waters and the efficient distribution of actual and potential uses in maritime space. By coordinating the different sector activities and policies this would yield huge potential benefits for industries like offshore-energy, aquaculture and tourism. Read More Court of Auditors criticise EU accounts The Annual Report of the European Court of Auditors for the financial year 2012, was made public on November 5th in the Parliament, and indicated that the average error rates had worsened since the previous year, standing now at 4.8% on average with the highest rates of errors detected in the areas of rural development and regional policy. Read More ALDE support help for fishermen but reject subsidies for fleet renewal MEPs during the October II Strasbourg plenary rejected calls for EU subsidies to be paid for fleet renewal ie the building of new fishing boats but approved payment of subsidies to help fishermen adjust to change and provide funding for small ports affected by declines in fish landings. The vote on the European Maritime & Fisheries Fund (EMFF) will provide €6 billion towards the fishing industry between 2014 and 2020. Read More Credibility of EU in world affairs at stake if EEAS is not trusted by larger Member States The European Parliament adopted on October 24th an important report giving greater emphasis on thorough preparation of the European Defence Council of December 2013. This report is the European Parliament’s position on the annual report by the Council on the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy and outlines the main aspects of CFSP. Whilst there have been understandable difficulties in the transition to a new approach to CFSP following the Lisbon Treaty, this report now calls upon the EU’s High Representative and External Action Service to show leadership through quality, courage and decisive and timely action. Read More EU-US TFTP – temporary suspension On October 23rd the European Parliament adopted a resolution which clearly asks the Commission to temporarily suspend the EU-US TFTP agreement after leaked papers revealed that the US National Security Agency illegally accessed the Swift database. This agreement was meant to govern the exchange of financial information between the EU and the US in the joint fight against terrorism under the US Terrorist Finance Tracking Program (TFTP). Read More Lampedusa tragedy is a wake-up call for EU migration policy The latest refugee tragedies close to Lampedusa and Malta earlier this month should be considered as a turning point for European migration policy based on more solidarity and responsibility according to a resolution adopted by Parliament on October 23rd during the Strasbourg plenary session.Read More European strategy on organised crime After 18 months of hearings, the European Parliament on October 23rd gave its final assessment on the state of organised crime, corruption and money laundering in Europe and called for a European strategy to counter the growing phenomenon which is depriving national tax authorities of billions of euros every year in lost revenue in addition to the social and human misery generated by criminal activity. Read More 2014 budget: rigorous and growth oriented Aside from its role in wrestling with Council over the Multiannual Financial Framework, the European Parliament’s October II plenary session in Strasbourg adopted the 2014 draft budget. The rapporteur, Anne Jensen, did re-establish the amounts for commitments and payments as originally proposed by the European Commission, and which the Council had reduced to the point that the financing of growth policies was threatened. Even so, it is an austerity budget, which lowers the actual expenditures of the EU by 3%. The Parliament makes its contribution by substantially reducing its own 2014 operating budget. Read More EU trading rights strengthened The European Parliament on October 23rd called on the Commission to strengthen the EU’s trading rights and interests both within the WTO and in bilateral agreements. Currently, in the absence of horizontal legislation for the handling of disputes, all litigation decisions are handled on a case by case basis, which is very slow and not dissuasive to trading partners who do not fulfill their contractual obligations. Read More New rules on medical devices will restore patient confidence The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe welcomes the new legislative rules on the safety and performance of medical devices and in-vitro diagnostic medical devices approved on October 22nd during plenary session by the Members of the European Parliament. Read More Khodorkovsky: Decade of injustice Ten years after his arrest at gunpoint, Mikhail Khodorkovsky remains the definitive symbol of serious political manipulation of justice and human rights abuse in his country. He is due to be released next August but the authorities could easily release him earlier, either as part of a general amnesty or a humanitarian gesture ahead of the Sochi Olympics. Read More Protecting data privacy in the internet age On October 21st the European Parliament’s Civil liberties Committee (LIBE) voted on two new pieces of legislation on data protection, proposed by the Commission in January 2012. Specifically a Data Protection Regulation and a Directive on data processing in law enforcement. This legislative update reflects the need to keep pace with technological change and threats that have emerged over recent years as the Internet has come into widespread use. Read More Verhofstadt congratulates Luxembourg Liberals on election success Congratulating Luxembourg Liberal party leader, Xavier Bettel of the Democratic Party, after emerging as the principal winner in the October 20th national elections, Guy Verhofstadt said: “Liberals in Luxembourg were the clear winners yesterday, making themselves potential kingmakers in determining the composition and complexion of the next government. I congratulate Xavier Bettel, currently mayor of Luxembourg, on his campaign and success in placing the Liberal party centre stage.” Read More Serbia accession report: Formal talks should begin in December The European Parliament’s rapporteur on Serbia ALDE MEP Jelko Kacin (LDS, Slovenia) commented on October 16th on the publication of the latest round of progress reports by the European Commission. Read More Turkey: Warning signals on civil liberties The European Commission on October 16th adopted its progress report on Turkey, as part of the annual enlargement package, ALDE MEPs made the following statement: Alexander Graf Lambsdorff (FDP, Germany), ALDE Spokesperson on Turkey commented “As expected, the 2013 progress report on Turkey is marked by the heavy handed Government crackdown on the Gezi park protesters and the absence of dialogue with civil society.”Read More Digital signature to be valid across borders EU citizens and businesses will soon be enabled to use their national electronic identification schemes (eIDs) to access public services across the EU. The EP Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, who has the lead on the issue, adopted on October 14th by a large majority a proposal for a regulation on electronic identification and transactions in the internal market. An Austrian student who plans his studies in Lithuania could then prepare applications at the university and municipal level (and also sign a rental agreement with his land-lord) by identifying himself online via his eID. Read More ALDE Networking 10 years of ALDE-CALD Partnership commemorated in the Philippines during Typhoon Haiyan The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) marked its 20th anniversary and its 10 years old ALDE-CALD Partnership in Manila, Philippines on 8-11 November, just as the country was being ravaged by Typhoon Haiyan, though very little news reached the capital as emergency services struggled to respond and coordinate the international relief effort.During the four-day meeting more than a hundred international and local participants discussed how Asia’s political-security environment, economic clout, and regional integration have an impact on strategic relations between Asia and Europe.Attending were prominent European Liberals such as Hans VAN BAALEN MEP (President of Liberal International – LI), Sir GRAHAM WATSON MEP (President of the Party of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe – ALDE Party), NICCOLO RINALDI MEP (ALDE Group Vice President) and ANTONYIA PARVANOVA MEP (ALDE Group Vice President).The anniversary event included commemorating CALD’s 20th Anniversary Conference “Towards Party Reform and Renewal: Bringing Political Parties Back to the People”. CALD had chosen this topic in the hope of reconnecting political parties with the general public in an age marked by widespread political disillusionment.Between the two CALD events, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s Freedom Day (FNF) focussed on the national campaign project: It’s All About Freedom which included thousands of runners convened at the Quezon City Memorial Circle to join the biggest fun run against corruption (http://www.fnf.org.ph/freedomrun/). ALDE staff member THERESE MURDOCK emerged as one of the top runners in the 3 km race. The evening was reserved for the Foundation’s annual Freedom Speech and Freedom Awards. Profiles of MEPs in the News Morten Løkkegaard (Venstre, Denmark) Morten was born in Helsingør, Denmark, in 1964 and is the oldest son with three younger siblings. Due to his upbringing Morten has always had a special interest in the societal issues, democracy, civil rights and freedom of expression. Therefore it was a natural choice for Morten to become a journalist.After graduating high school in 1983 he began at Copenhagen University, where he studied History, but already the year after in 1984 he was admitted to the Danish School of Journalism in Aarhus. During his student years he worked as an intern at the Danish Newspaper “Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten”, which became well known worldwide for the printing of the Muhammed cartoons back in 2005. When Morten graduated in 1988 he continued to work for Jyllands-Posten as a reporter, covering business, finance and from 1989 the political life in the Danish Parliament. In 1990 Morten started working at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) and continued to cover politics in Danish Parliament. In 1991-92 he followed the Tamil-case, which led to the resignation of the government in 1993. From 1994 he helped to develop a new TV-concept for investigative journalism called Søndagsmagasinet, which he afterwards hosted and edited for almost 10 years. On top of that he was the anchor on the 9 o’clock News for more than 10 years. Alongside the many years in the world of Danish journalism, Morten became a German Marshall Fellow in 1995. This exclusive fellowship awakened his interest for the transatlantic bond and the international perspective as a whole. Due to Morten’s passion for communication and a growing interest in the theoretical and practical background he started his own company in 2005 – Løkkegaard Communication, specializing in political communication and strategy. In 2008 Morten was offered a place as a candidate for the Danish Liberal Party and was elected in 2009. Since becoming a member Morten has been working as vice- chairman for the culture committee and a member in the internal market committee. In the latter Morten is focusing on the functionality of the Internal Market. At the moment this topic is reflected in an upcoming report regarding SOLVIT, an on-line problem solving network in which EU Member States work together to solve problems caused by the misapplication of Internal Market law by public authorities.In the culture committee Morten has been involved in the area of education, in particular the recent upgrade of the Erasmus programmes, the new Erasmus+, where he represented the ALDE group in negotiations. Morten has a keen interest in the Parliament’s new possibilities regarding international trade agreements. He has been following the work in the trade committee closely and has been traveling to Asia (i.e. China, Singapore, Japan), US and South Africa in order to create networks and understanding for EU among companies and local authorities.More than anything else, Morten has a keen interest in how to strengthen the European public sphere in order to secure the legitimacy of the political project as a whole. In 2010 he wrote a report on this, and in light of this he initiated “the New Narrative for Europe”. The President of the European Commission, Mr Barroso, is working together with Morten and the rest of the culture committee on this project, which will culminate in the Spring of 2014 with a new charter and an extended version of the existing Narrative for Europe. In private life Morten is married to Connie, has four children (aged between 13and24) and lives in Charlottenlund, a suburb north of Copenhagen. He played football as a youngster but nowadays he only plays on rare occasions, but loves to watch Champions League. He also enjoys playing tennis, when he is home in Denmark. He appreciates Italian wine and likes to listen to both pop and classical music, the latter also due to the fact, that he played the violin as a boy and later on the guitar in a band. For more information, please contact:ALDE Press Service and Inter-institutional relations unitneil.corlett@europarl.europa.euwillem.vandenbroucke@europarl.europa.euJoin ALDE on FacebookFollow ALDE on TwitterEventsVideos Press Crisis in Europe Seminar Nathalie GRIESBECK November 2013 plenary speech on Joint Debate Horizon 2020 George LYON November 2013 plenary speech on Joint Debate Common agricultural policy .Morten LØKKEGAARD November 2013 plenary speech on Erasmus for all programme Stanimir ILCHEV November 2013 plenary speech on Location of the seats of the European Union’s i . Silvana KOCH MEHRIN November 2013 plenary speech on Gender balance among non-executive directors Jan MULDER November 2013 plenary speech on MFF 2014 2020 .Adina Ioana VĂLEAN 18 Nov 2013 plenary speech on Connecting Europe 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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