Graham's Blog

Regular views, thoughts and comment from Graham Watson MEP on the news, the European Parliament and more.

If you would like to comment on any of the items you see here, please send Graham an email to the following address info@grahamwatsonmep.org

10 Most Recent Stories From Graham's Blog

Fri 18th Jul 2008:

Graham's blog Friday 18 July 2008.

I was enjoying a LibDem barbecue on the banks of the River Tone at lunchtime on Sunday when news reached me of Bronislaw Geremek's death in a car accident. My press team, who are first class, issued my statement in English and French within two hours.

Fri 11th Jul 2008:

Graham's blog Friday 11 July 2008.

My major initiative this week was the launch of a new pamphlet called 'The Lisbon strategy - mode d'emploi' in which I argue, together with two MEPs from the European People's party, two from the Socialists, one other Liberal Democrat and one Green, that economic reform in the EU is urgently needed. Though from different political parties and different countries, there is a broad measure of agreement between us: we all argue that we need to be investing more in innovative processes and people and that we can ignore neither environmental sustainability nor social cohesion. You will shortly be able to order a copy from my website www.grahamwatsonmep.org.

Fri 4th Jul 2008:

Graham's blog Friday 4 July 2008.

On 1 July France formally took over from Slovenia the baton of the EU Presidency, to great French fanfare. But with President Sarkozy deciding to engage in a barrage of bitter public criticism of Commissioners McCreevy (single market) and Mandelson (trade), some of us fear the whole thing could yet turn sour very early on.

Fri 27th Jun 2008:

Graham's blog Friday 27 June 2008.

Speaking at a UK-Italian twinning dinner on the night Italy played Spain in the European Cup was not a great idea, so I made one of my shortest speeches ever. That was the start to my week last Sunday evening. Since then I've been in Brussels at the EP, in Paris with the incoming Presidency of the EU and in Lome (capital of Togo, from where I write) hosting an EU-African Liberal Conference.

Sat 21st Jun 2008:

Graham's blog Friday 20 June 2008.

The main EU news in the UK this weekend will doubtless be 'EU pushes ahead with Lisbon Treaty despite Irish No'. I was at the summit and it was not like that at all.

Fri 13th Jun 2008:

Graham's blog Friday 13 June .

My week started in the way I like best: on constituency business. I was invited to open the Barle Enterprise Centre near Brushford in West Somerset. £800,000 of EU funding matched the same amount provided by Somerset County and West Somerset District Councils between them, to finance a small development of business units already in demand. Exactly the kind of thing we should be doing with EU Competitiveness funding.

Fri 6th Jun 2008:

Graham's blog Friday 6 June 2008.

The ten former communist countries which joined the EU in 2004 and 2007 are proving no different from the other member states: they fail to undertake some of the reforms they have agreed and when the others ask 'why?' they plead for extra time or financial help or both. I was in Vilnius on Monday and from the Prime Minister and the other Party leaders I learned of their difficulties in closing the Ignalina nuclear power plant by 2009, as they agreed to do some 14 years ago. True, oil and gas alternatives are now much more costly than foreseen: true too that it is not in our interests to have them too dependent on Russia for energy supplies. But they've done very little in the meantime either to build a new nuclear power station or to develop other sources of power or to link their country to power distribution networks in Poland or other neighbouring EU countries.

Fri 23rd May 2008:

Graham's blog Friday 23 May 2008.

Parliament met in Strasbourg this week. At this time of the year fresh asparagus is on the menu of every restaurant and the weather is almost warm enough to eat outside, so most people were in a good mood.

Fri 16th May 2008:

Graham's blog Friday 16 May.

I am increasingly optimistic about the extent to which the EU spirit is seeping into public life. While opposition to UK membership of the EU has hardened among those who have always opposed it, the numbers feeling more positive about the EU continue to rise. I see it regularly; among school pupils, university students, freelance professionals, people in local government and the business community. Particularly young professionals; partly because we've put 1.7 million students through the Erasmus university exchange scheme (and hope to have reached 3 million by 2012) and partly, I think, because they have more contact with continentals than any previous generation. Attitudes to the power of individual states are changing too: if phase one of the European Union was consolidating peace and phase two has been building a strong economy, phase three must be using the EU to develop a common response to global challenges like population growth and migration, climate change and internationally organised crime.

Fri 9th May 2008:

Graham's blog Friday 9 May 2008.

Parliament re-assembled in Brussels this week after a week's break. We marked the tenth anniversary of the decision to create the Euro, which is currently worth around 80p against 68p a year ago. Unfortunately for me, I am paid by the UK government in pounds which now buy fewer euros, though living in Langport my expenditure is still mainly in sterling. In ten days' time the European Commission and the Central Bank are likely to recommend that Slovakia joins the euro on 1 January next year, becoming the 16th country to join.

Earlier Stories

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(c) 2008 Graham Watson MEP