October 2001

EURO MP CALLS FOR CASH AID FOR FISH PROCESSORS

In a debate on the European Commission's Green Paper on CFP Reform in Strasbourg on 1st October I stressed the need for aid for the fish-processing sector to be included in the Common Fisheries Policy in future years.

Under the current CFP aid proposals assistance is available to the EU fishing fleet for tie-ups, de-commissioning and effort reduction. It is worth noting, however, that the Scottish Executive has resolutely refused to co-finance any tie-up cash for Scotland's fishermen. This is in sharp contrast to Spain where tie-up aid has been paid to their Galician fleet for the past two and a half years, since the EU failed to renegotiate a new fishing contract with Morocco, where the Galician vessels traditionally operated. The Commission has now agreed a package of a further £150 million to help de-commission the Galician fleet and compensate their fishermen.

Despite the existence of a generous Commission budget for the fisheries sector, we have never given aid at all to the beleaguered fish processing industry, where many thousands of jobs have been lost due to dwindling fish stocks and punitive legislation, like the waste water directive and the ban on feeding fishmeal to farm animals. We have an opportunity to remedy this situation within the current CFP reform package. The fish processing sector is a vital integral part of the overall fishing industry and deserves our support and I will press the European Parliament to provide a budget for such aid in future years.

MEP'S "ALL SHOOK UP" OVER VIBRATIONS DIRECTIVE

Tory MEP's are quivering with rage at what they see as the next massive intrusion into UK affairs by the EU. We have united to fight against proposals contained in a report nicknamed "The Vibrations Directive." The report was drawn up by Socialist MEP Helle Thorning-SCHMIDT, Danish daughter-in-law of Neil Kinnock. Mrs Thorning-SCHMIDT is seeking to introduce minimum health and safety standards affecting the exposure of workers to vibration.

If these proposals go through, it would mean drivers of tractors, forklifts, JCB's, bulldozers and dumpers would be restricted to 2 hours driving per day. They would then be required by law to stop operating their vehicles. This crazy regulation would be disastrous for farming, forestry, the construction trade, civil engineering, road transport, mining and quarrying. It would even limit long-distance lorry drivers to a maximum of 7 hours per day. It ranks alongside the straight bananas debacle as the latest loony left idea to emanate from Europe. Even the British Health and Safety Executive has condemned the report out of hand. Tory MEP's are determined to stop this legislation in its tracks. We are literally shaking with rage!

SEX & SATAN

The British Board of Film Censors had better watch out. The European Commission is after their jobs! Not satisfied with their ever expanding EU Empire, the Brussels bureaucrats now want to handle film censorship throughout Europe. In answer to a parliamentary question which I tabled in Strasbourg on 3rd. October, the Commission stated that while they recognised that film censorship was entirely the responsibility of individual Member States, nevertheless they intend "to launch a study on the rating of films for cinema, television, DVD and videocassettes in the European economic area." Rather sneakily, the Commission seeks to justify this amazing piece of interference by stating that "The study will evaluate the reasons, for, and the impact of differences between the different national laws or self-regulatory measures for rating of films on their subsequent marketing."

In other words, if the application of differing censorship laws in different Member States can be seen to distort the market, then the Commission will feel free to take action on Single Market grounds. Presumably the Commission will in future have a team of bureaucrats examining all sex and horror movies to ensure that they are provided with a suitable EU-wide rating! EU-X Certificates can only be a matter of weeks away!

FOOT & MOUTH INQUIRY

Tory MEPs have gathered the necessary 170 signatures of fellow parliamentarians required under the rules of the European Parliament, to enable the creation of a special Committee of Inquiry into Foot & Mouth Disease. The British socialist MEPs were frantically trying to stop this move. Acting on instructions from Tony Blair, they were desperate to avoid the sort of in-depth investigation that such a Committee of Inquiry would carry out. Now, however, a Committee will be set up with powers to call witnesses from the UK, France, Ireland and the Netherlands, which were all stricken with the disease.

There is a widespread view that the UK government gravely mis-handled the epidemic, allowing the rapid spread of the disease through dithering and incompetence and then panicking into the wholesale slaughter of over 7 million animals, at least 1 million of which were killed needlessly. A Committee of Inquiry in Brussels will hold the UK Government to account and publish a full and detailed report of their findings.

(A photograph of MEPs handing the 170 signatures to EP Vice President James Provan can be found here).

Struan Stevenson is a Conservative Member of the European Parliament for Scotland. He is Front-Bench Spokesman in the European Parliament on Scottish Rural Affairs and Deputy Front Bench Spokesman on UK Agriculture. He is also Front Bench Spokesman on UK Fisheries and is a Member of the EU Delegation for Relations with the People's Republic of China.