I read with interest the report of the Irish Parliament’s sub-Committee on the future of Ireland in the EU which was released yesterday. I addressed this committee when I was in Ireland, as did 119 other people from a range of organisations, including No campaigners, journalists, business people and academics. I found the report well written, thoughtful and balanced. It sets out the context of Ireland’s membership of the EU, the issues which arose during the referendum, the state of play since then, the implications and the various options and possibilities for the future. I expect the Irish government is studying these aspects of the report closely and will elaborate on how they see the way ahead during the European Council in December.

I found Chapter Three – on the role of government, politicians, media and Institutions in communicating on EU affairs – of the report especially interesting. It has not yet been much reported in the press as far as I have seen, as all the focus has been on the Treaty. Apart from iterating the need for domestic politicians and the parliament to regularly talk about EU issues, some very interesting concrete proposals are made in this chapter, including:

- The Council of Ministers should meet in public when legislating;
- European treaties should be accompanied by clear explanatory documents, approved by the Member States;
- Modern European history to be on the Irish school curriculum;
- European Studies as a subject on the secondary school curriculum;
- The teaching of European languages at primary school level;
- The establishment of an independent body to assist public understanding of the EU in Ireland;
- the development of a cross-party foundation allowing scholars from other Member States of the Union to contribute to Irish public life and to policy formation.

I have long been advocating both more openness in the Council and the role of civic education when it comes to communicating about the EU. And before my more EU-sceptic readers leap to their keyboards, I am not talking about EU propaganda, I am talking about citizens’ basic right to know how the EU Institutions work and how the EU interacts with their national governments. We have civic education which explains how national political systems work, but in many member states there is nothing on how decisions are taken at European level which affect peoples’ daily lives.

I was also pleased to see proposals for improving the role of the national parliament in scrutinising EU proposals including:

- A formal scrutiny reserve mechanism, similar to the model used in the UK Parliament, to provide more influence in the negotiating positions adopted by Irish Ministers on draft EU legislation at Council meetings;
- National Parliaments to be consulted formally about the European Commission’s annual policy strategy and legislative work programmes before they are finalised;
- More structured arrangement for parliamentary committees to meet with Ministers before Council meetings to consider the Government’s negotiating positions on agenda items;
- Ministers to report back in writing on the outcome of the discussions and on specific decisions made.

Increased involvement of national parliaments in the process of drafting and agreeing EU legislation is something I would welcome and on which I have been actively working. I think it is extremely important that EU questions are integrated into the national political debate. I also believe – like the Committee – that it would help reduce the democratic deficit in the EU.

The full report can be found at:
http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?fn=/documents/committees30thdail/j-europeanaffairs/Sub_Cttee_EU__20081127.doc

Press Release by Gary Titley MEP on Nov 26

Gary Titley MEP, Labour’s Leader in Europe, is calling for concerted action by the European Union and its member states in response to the economic recovery plan announced by the European Commission today.

Gary Titley MEP continued: “Only strong, coordinated government action at national, European and international level can restore confidence, secure and create more jobs, fill order books, and boost demand from both business and consumers. The tools for economic action must be determined by national circumstances.”

“We face the deepest economic crisis for 80 years with dramatic job losses. In addition, more than 150 million jobs may disappear next year throughout the developing world, as a result of the rich world’s credit crunch.”

“This week the British Labour Government has lead the way out of the economic crisis with its comprehensive national recovery plan, while the Conservatives have contributed nothing and reverted to their old free mark values.”

The Socialist Group of the European Parliament has also passed a resolution to beat recession during its recent meeting in Manchester and is calling on its member parties across 27 EU member states to take on board the declaration.

Calling for strong European and international coordination, Labour MEPs advocate:

targeting measures to help those who need it most, in particular small firms and vulnerable households. This will involve rapidly restoring levels of lending to households and businesses, especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs);
the implementation of a European Green Investment package to boost the economy, avoid long-lasting recession and help Europe to meets its climate and energy goals; and
a revival of the Doha world trade talks to reach successful, development-friendly conclusions.

For more information please call the European Parliamentary Labour Party press officer, Silke Thomson on +32 479 790 053.

Today it’s been 47 years since the Mirabal sisters – two political activists in the Dominican Republic – were brutally assassinated on the order of the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. In order to raise awareness of the problems that so many women face around the world – rape, domestic violence and other forms of violence – this date, 25 November, has been designated as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence. Today, governments, international organisations and NGOs across the world will be involved in awareness-raising activities about this issue.

“Violence against women and girls continues unabated in every continent, country and culture. It takes a devastating toll on women’s lives, on their families, and on society as a whole. Most societies prohibit such violence — yet the reality is that too often, it is covered up or tacitly condoned”, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon stated last year on the International Women’s Day.

Europe is no better than the rest of the world. Did you know for instance that in the EU, 1 in 5 women experience violence by their male partner? And globally, at least one in three women is beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused by an intimate partner in the course of her lifetime. Moreover, it is estimated that worldwide, one in five women will become a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime.

For women aged 15 to 44 years, violence is a major cause of death and disability; some studies show that up to 1 in 5 women reports being sexually abused before the age of 15. In some countries, the percentage of women reporting that their first sexual experience was forced is as high as 30 per cent, and 2-4 million women and girls are trafficked annually – approximately 500.000 of them into Western Europe.

To improve the situation for women, they have to be included in the decision-making process, allowing them to speak up about issues that concern them.   And I agree with Madeleine Albright who said: “Violence against women is not cultural – it’s criminal!”

On the eleventh day of our South African trip, we returned from Swaziland to Johannesburg, to visit Men as Partners. This is a program that looks at engaging men in reducing gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS.

They go into the townships and recruit men and run workshops on gender. They engage both men and women in constant dialogue and use peer systems to spread their message. They also facilitate workshops on “what it means to be a young man” and a program where older men mentor younger men as positive role models.

Being able to participate in their street interventions was amazing. Seeing someone being able to attract crowds of 20-30 people in the space of half an hour just by mingling at a market stall and showing people a book with pictures of genitalia infected with STDS. They target the streets which are at most risk of gender-based violence. While the crowds gather, they identify those that are the most interested and recruit them to be peer educators in their own areas.

What shocked me however as their AIDS policy, entitled ABY. Abstinence, Behaviour Change and Youth… What was worse was that they only promote condom use to over 18 year olds through “condocans” and “spazashops”. It was unclear whether they thought that it wasn’t appropriate to raise awareness amongst young people or how much pressure had been applied by their main funders USAID, who won’t fund anything which promotes condom use.

Cirque du Soleil , the Canadian modern circus, is in Brussels. We saw it last night after an adventurous and long car ride on snowy and icy roads. We liked the costumes, music and of course the amazing acrobatics, showing what a human body could do – if not fed a diet of M&Ms and hot dogs, like ours.
 
From one circus to another….
 
The financial crisis deepens and has effects on the real economy. Many analysts say that we have only seen the beginning of it…Can’t help thinking that the root causes of the economic crisis and the climate change crisis are very much the same : need, greed and feed.

Poor peoples’ need for housing in the US, speculators greed for quick money, bonuses and wealth in Wall Street and similar places, the willingness from the rest of the world to “feed” the American economy with loans/cheap money.

The short-range  approach, the unwillingness to realise that – as with banknotes- nature can not just be endlessly reprinted or copied, the overexploitation of natural resources has led to a situation where we lose biodiversity at a scary speed – and at a very high cost. And even the golden boys working with “blanking” (speculation in ups and downs on the stock market) depend on photosynthesis to stay alive on this amazing little globe…
 
I  would also like to report from Göteborg (Gothenburg) where I received the Göteborg Sustainable Development Award on the 12 November. I felt very honoured and happy about this recognition for my work on a new chemicals legislation – REACH for short – and to share the  prize-money (1 million SEK ) with three other winners who have contributed to sustainable development. We all participated in a seminar, roundtable discussions and did interviews on this highly important issue. I will invite Theo Colborn (writer of the book “Our stolen future”), Ulf Duus and Jan Ahlbom (scientists ) as guest bloggers. For example Theo Colborn might explain why she sees a link between ED =erectile dysfunction and ED= endocrine disrupters…And Duus/Ahlbom might tell the story about why and how they helped to get a ban on dangerous chemicals in car tyre oils.   You can read my speech at the Awards here.

Now comes the difficult but pleasant problem of choosing whom to donate the money to.  I want to make sure that this generous prize will bring benefit to some of those I care for most in this world – women struggling to preserve the fragile environment in developing and will soon decide on an organisation that supports these aims.