Strategic defence review?

The UK ministry of Defence (MoD) is conducting an online poll to gauge the views of the public on the government’s reorganisation of the armed forces, something the MoD term a ‘strategic defence review’. The reorg is due to take place early in the life of the next UK parliament.

Given the present state of the UK finances it is widely expected that there’ll be massive cuts right across the different services. Something we’re all too familiar with here in Wales.

In theory, the online poll results will feed into the Green Paper which the present government is expected to draft in early 2010. Meanwhile behind the scenes, the various branches of the MoD will be arguing for a larger slice of the shrinking cake for themselves.

To take part in the MoD’s ‘strategic defence review’ visit their website here .

Give the people of Wales a voice

While the bargaining goes on over who will become the new unelected President of the European Council, European governments are also putting forward their nominees for members of the new 27 strong European Commission. Before being approved by the European Parliament, each one who has been proposed has to appear before the relevant parliamentary committee to be questioned as to their suitability for the job.

The name of the new UK Commissioner will be put forward by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, but I believe that our Assembly members should have a say in the appointment. I wrote to Gordon Brown in September to ask him to agree to this but I’ve still not received a reply.

If the Members of the European Parliament can give their view on the new Commissioners then the National Assembly must have the right to give its view on the UK Commissioner. The Commission is a powerful body which can propose new laws. Those laws include issues which specifically affect Wales. The new Commissioner should have an understanding of that.

There has been a lot of discussion about the lack of democracy in the past few months. Labour denied us a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, going back on its promise to hold one. So the people of Wales never got the chance to make their views known. Names are being bandied about for the new European President who will be chosen by government leaders with not even the European Parliament having a say in the appointment.

This has to change. Politicians at all levels have to be open and accountable to the people they represent. Giving the Assembly the power to agree or not on the proposed European Commissioner would be a small step in the right direction. It would at least acknowledge the reality of devolution in the UK and would give the people of Wales a voice in a very important process.

A major boost for Rhondda!

I was really excited to learn that the plans for the former Burberry in Treorci are going ahead. This is real welcome news for the Rhondda, and a major boost for the area.

I met with the developers when the plans were in their early stages and gave this project my total support. Following our meeting I raised the issue of European funding with Ieuan Wyn Jones, the Deputy First Minister, and I’m really pleased that he was able to secure that funding, and help progress this much-needed project in these very difficult times.

I hope this will be a springboard for the community to develop the local economy further, and move towards a more sustainable future. I wish the project every success.

65,000 march to end animal testing

I recently joined more than sixty five thousand people on a ‘cyber march’ calling for an EU ban on unnecessary experiments on animals.

I met the organisers of the protest from the Dr. Hadwen Trust in Brussels and discussed a new and stronger European law. More than twelve million animals are used for experiments every year across the European Union and the UK is one of the biggest users of animals for testing. The aim of the campaign is to replace animal tests with effective alternatives.

I published a report in the European Parliament in 2002 which looked at how the law could be strengthened to ensure strict conditions on the use of animals, ensuring there were alternative methods of testing, and providing incentives to develop such alternatives. I’m now involved in the negotiations on a new law.

Seven years on from my original report animals, millions of animals are still suffering because of unnecessary scientific experiments. This cyber march, which is supported by more than 65,000 people and rising, shows the tremendous strength of feeling on this issue.

For me, the priorities are using animals only when there is no other alternative and reducing their use as technology develops; phasing out experiments on primates and an immediate ban on the use of monkeys caught in the wild; and ensuring there is strict supervision of testing. There should be centres to actively support and promote the development of alternative methods.

Our long term goal must be to replace experiments on animals. It has taken several years to get this new law discussed. I know from my constituents in Wales that they are following developments and demanding that Europe moves ahead in terms of animal welfare. That is why so many have written to me and joined the cyber march. We cannot do less.

The Cyber March which can be seen here .

Promoting multilingualism within the EU

During an extremely busy week in Strasbourg, I met Slovakia’s Maros Sefcovic, the new EU Commissioner for Culture, Education and Training.

I reminded the new Commissioner of our group’s (European Free Alliance – E.F.A.) priorities in terms of promoting multilingualism. I emphasised the need to make progress on improving the status at EU level for Welsh, Catalan, Galician and other languages which are official in their own territories but are not yet full official EU languages. E.F.A. is pushing for interpretation to be made available so that these languages can be used in the European Parliament.

Wales and Europe Moving in the Right Direction

For the first time, the European Parliament has voted for a tax on international financial transactions. Following the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, parliament recognised that a tax like this would reduce financial speculation and help make our economy more sustainable.

As well as this, parliament gave its backing for a wider range of indicators to judge the state of the economy rather than just GDP. The One Wales government already uses headline indicators which together measure the numbers living in low income households, progress on the Biodiversity Action Plan and Wales’s ecological footprint, as well as economic factors. We can’t solve the economic or climate crises by using the same policies that created them in the first place. We’ve already recognised this in Wales. It’s good to see others are beginning to as well.

News of a Referendum…and not in Ireland

Arenys de Munt in Catalonia has a population of just over 8,000. On 13th September 96% (of the 40% who turned out) voted in favour of Catalan independence in a local referendum. Now other towns and cities across Catalonia are organising similar referenda.

The Spanish government took out a court order banning municipal authorities form holding referenda. But Arenys de Munt got around that by not doing it officially as an authority. We await the ruling of the Spanish Constitutional Court on the bigger issue of a statute on Catalan autonomy but no amount of legal edicts can prevent the people of Catalonia moving towards independence.

It is interesting too that the Spanish government allowed a demonstration in Arenys de Munt on referendum day by the Falangists, supporters of Franco’s dictatorship, who waved Spanish flags and made fascist salutes. There were only a handful of them and they were hopelessly outnumbered by the huge crowds who were there to support independence, but a demonstration like this would have been banned in some other European countries – not in Catalonia with a desperate Spanish government fighting against a surge of support for autonomy.

Every referendum held in the next few months will increase pressure on the government to listen to and respond to the demands of the Catalan people for independence and democracy. Europe is changing – and it’s not because of the Lisbon Treaty!

It’s not just Lisbon!

So today Ireland goes to the polls as the Irish people are asked to ratify or reject the Lisbon Treaty.

Ireland is an independent country, and as such the Irish people are able to voice their opinion. Not only do they have the right to vote, but they have also negotiated a good deal for Ireland into the bargain.

It’s different in Wales of course; we’re denied a debate and a referendum by the London government, and we lose out because we are part of the UK.

As part of their deal, Ireland will now always have a Commissioner who’ll be representing the views of the Irish people at the heart of Europe.

In contrast, the people of voiceless Wales will hardly notice the difference if the Lisbon Treaty goes through. Even the person put forward to be the UK Commissioner is decided upon by Gordon Brown. In order to claw back some of the democratic deficit, the very least we are demanding is that the person put forward appears before the National Assembly to explain how they would represent Wales’s interests. The Assembly should also have to give their collective approval before the candidate can go forward.

We need change and that’s why we ARE having a full debate and referendum on constitutional change in Wales.

The same debate is also happening in countries like Scotland, Catalonia, the Basque Country, etc. There’s change happening right across Europe – it’s not just Lisbon!

Made in Wales

If it’s Monday, it means I’m usually travelling to either Brussels, or one week every month, to Strasbourg. I try to travel by train as much as possible, at least 1 in 4 journeys, but today I was flying to Brussels from Cardiff via Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.

As I made my way through Shiphol’s shopping mall to catch my connecting flight to Brussels, I was pleased to see a prominent sales display for Ty Nant mineral water advertising proclaiming it a “Must buy!” But nowhere did it mention that Ty Nant was Welsh.
As far as the legions of people passing through that part of the airport were concerned (Schiphol is the world’s third largest in terms of international passenger traffic!), Ty Nant water could have been produced anywhere.

Wales is missing a huge promotional opportunity here. I decided I would write to Ty Nant when I got to Brussels pointing this out. Imagine my surprise when during my flight I was served with a carton of orange juice, made by a Wrexham-based company called, ‘Calypso.’ I checked the container, but nowhere could I find, ‘Made in Wales, only a postcode.

Striking a deal to supply one of the world major airlines, or having your product displayed in one of the world’s largest airports is a real achievement and I congratulate the companies on their success. But I will also be reminding them that we produce quality products in Wales and we should let the world know!

It’s official – Welsh in Europe!

I’m so pleased! From this week Welsh speakers will be able to correspond with the European Commission in Welsh.

It’s been a long campaign, but on Thursday, when the UK’s Permanent Representative to the EU signs the memorandum in Brussels, it becomes official.

Its another step forward in boosting the status of Welsh at European level and raising the profile of Wales.

Although it’s fantastic news that Welsh speakers can now deal with the European Commission in the language of their choice, I won’t be stopping here. When the new president of the parliament is elected next week, I’ll be meeting him or her and continue to push the European Parliament to adopt better rules, allowing further use of the language.