Graham's blog Friday 30January 2009

Published on Fri 30th Jan 2009

Parliament's committees and political groups were meeting in Brussels this week to prepare for next week's formal debates and votes. The member states' European Affairs and Foreign Affairs ministers met on Monday and Tuesday and the Development ministers on Thursday and Friday. The European Commission met, as usual, on Wednesday. I had constituency engagements Monday, Thursday and Friday and tomorrow I attend the LibDems' South West Regional Conference in Taunton, where party leader Nick Clegg will join us.

The foreign affairs ministers welcomed the US announcement that it will close the Guantanamo Bay detention centre but showed little enthusiasm for helping the Americans by taking some of the detainees (there has been no formal request from the US, but one is expected).

The Development Aid ministers considered a proposal by Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel, who visited the Middle East early in the week, for EUR 58 million worth of aid in 2009, of which two-thirds would go to Gaza.

The European Commission developed further its strategy to overcome recession by adopting a plan entitled 'Investing today for tomorrow's Europe', which would plough EUR 3.5 bn from the EU budget into energy interconnection projects and EUR 1.5 bn into broadband internet access and climate change alleviation projects in rural areas. With a further EUR 5 bn in matching funds from member states, considerable investments will be possible including investment in carbon capture and storage technology.

In a separate development the Commission announced something I had never expected: the success of an operation started four years ago to cut red tape. I take my hat off to Commissioner Verheugen for having achieved the repeal of some 1,300 pieces of legislation (about one tenth by volume of all EU legislation) which will save EU businesses more than EUR 30 bn. Civil servants often pay lip service to the need to reduce regulatory burdens: the European Commission (under pressure from the European Parliament and the member states, admittedly) has actually done it.

There was good news this week for diversification of energy supplies. At the initiative of Denmark, Spain and Germany an internation renewable energy agency (IRENA) was established. 75 countries including the UK signed an agreement to give it a start up budget of EUR 25 million. It is hoped that the new US administration will agree that the USA should join and that China and Brazil can also be brought on board.

A conference to discuss the NABUCCO pipeline which would bring gas from the Caspian Sea through Turkey to Europe, thus reducing dependence on Russian good will, was held in Budapest. I am still sceptical about the viability of this project unless we persuade Iran to supply gas, but the recent problems with supply through the Ukraine have added political impetus to it and work is likely to begin this year. It will take four years to construct some 3,300 km of pipeline.

On Monday I joined Councillors in Exeter to protest against government cuts in bus subsidies. On Tuesday and Wednesday I chaired the meetings of my Group to prepare for next week's votes (and spent time and effort pursuing my campaign for the Presidency of the EP). Yesterday I was in Exeter again at lunchtime to speak about structural funds, in Bristol in the afternoon to join MPs Vince Cable and Steve Williams and many others to debate the way out of recession and in Trowbridge in the evening at a LibDem social event. Today I visit Chilton Cantelo school before joining councillors in Yeovil with David Laws MP and Paddy Ashdown; this evening I open a town twinning event in Frome before attending another Lib Dem social event in East Cranmore.

I look forward to writing again next week from Strasbourg.