Robert’s View from Strasbourg, February 2010
Strasbourg report, February 2010
Sometimes I despair of politicians, I really do. I have always been a believer in simple, reasonable and sensible policies. So my confidence in my fellow MEPs was really shaken by some recent new developments. You may remember the farcical “bendy bananas” and “curvy cucumber” rules dreamt up by Brussels bureaucrats and only recently scrapped. I was delighted about this, and know many of my constituents felt the same. Disappointingly, I have learnt that we could be returning to those ludicrous rules again – at least if Spanish EPP and Socialist MEPs get their way.
It was a major triumph last year for Conservative MEPs when the European Commission finally overturned the ban of mis-shapen fruit and veg which had been widely ridiculed in the press. Prior to the U-turn, strict marketing standards were imposed for 26 types of fruit and vegetables governing their size and shape. I deplored the fact that bananas which curved too much, as well as oversized apples and knobbly carrots, could not be sold and instead had to be thrown away, wasting a huge amount of healthy food and driving prices up. I have seen a lot of stupid rules come out of Brussels in my time as an MEP, but however. this ranks among the worst.
Consumers agreed with my beliefs that we should be able to decide what we want our food to look like; we should not be dictated about this from Brussels. Our farmers, of course, were also delighted as it meant they could sell perfectly good produce, whatever its shape or size. We need to let the market decide on this one, not the European Parliament.
Conservative MEPs will continue to rigorously oppose any plans to return to those “ban the bendy banana” days!
*Elsewhere this week, we had the big vote on the new European Commissioners who will oversee the various departments of the European Commission for the next five years. The ECR group, having been central to the re-election of President Barroso for a second five year term, was faced with a tough decision. The idea that we as MEPs can vote on the whole College of Commissioners as a whole is utterly ridiculous. If you want to reject a single candidate, you have to vote against the entire group. This “take it or leave” approach means that we were unable to voice our support of the candidates we endorsed, and unable to act against the weak candidates we would have opposed.
I felt that several of the Commissioners were simply not good enough for the demands of their roles. Firstly, the European Commission is massively powerful and the idea that we might appoint people who were not up to the job should be of great concern. Secondly, many of the candidates expressed their support for EU powers in the field of taxation, but this is unacceptable to me. Finally, I failed to see why it was necessary to move several of the existing Commissioners to new portfolios, despite them having performed extremely well in their previous positions. Because of the limitations imposed by the approval system, I reluctantly decided, along my fellow Conservative MEPs, to abstain from voting rather vote in some Commissioners I could not support.
*There was some welcome news about how the European Parliament has thrown its support behind a World Horse Welfare initiative that seeks to end the cruel long distance transport of horses. I signed a written declaration expressing my support for an urgent review of EU legislation governing the welfare of animals during transport to slaughter. Latest figures estimate that 100,000 horses are transported in atrocious conditions across Europe to slaughter. Imagine a 12 hour journey from Bulgaria or Romania to Italy, often without rest, water or food, and in the stifling heat. Journeys such as these are inhumane and can lead to exhaustion, injury, pain suffering and stress for the horse. Most of these journeys are completely unnecessary as slaughter facilities exist across Europe, so why are these horses being transported around like this? I sincerely hope that this is the beginning of the end of this scandal; it is precisely this sort of issue where the EU can do a lot of good.
