Labour in North East Cambridgeshire European News

News from the European Parliament

Britain's Ashton wins in battle against vested Brussels interests
Europe's new diplomatic service led by Britain's Cathy Ashton has been given the green light today (Thursday) with parliamentary approval of the service more than six months after Ashton was first appointed. The agreement has been welcomed as a defeat for those seeking to preserve bureaucratic empires in Brussels. Labour's Foreign Affairs Spokesperson in the European Parliament, Richard Howitt MEP, helped thwart a last minute attempt by the Parliament's centre-right grouping to further delay agreement by pushing back the vote until after the summer recess. The British Labour Euro-MP warned that failure to agree further technical changes to staffing and
Trade in illegal wood cut down to size
A new system to ensure the wood used by British companies and citizens isn't made from illegally chopped down trees has been agreed by the European Parliament. Illegal logging is a major cause of global deforestation, contributing to climate change and a loss of biodiversity. It also feeds money into organised crime and damages the economies of many developing countries. The environmental charity WWF estimates that 7.2 per cent of UK wood imports could come from illegal sources. Now that new pan-EU rules have been endorsed by MEPs, it will become easier to buy wood in confidence that it has
Action needed to stop horrific trade in torture instruments
Labour MEPs have called for more to be done to ensure EU countries abide by rules designed to stop the trade in instruments of torture. In a report approved by the European Parliament, Euro-MPs have hit out at a failure of some EU governments to prevent companies from exporting equipment that can be used for torture or other inhumane or degrading treatment. The report comes soon after a dossier was published by Amnesty International showing how legal loopholes are being used to continue the sale of goods that should have been banned. Richard Howitt MEP, spokesperson for Labour's Euro-MPs on
Food industry "must now accept the need for honest labelling"
Food manufacturers must now accept the need to be more upfront and honest about the way they label their packages. That's the message from Labour MEP Glenis Willmott after the European Parliament voted to require companies to display more nutritional information about their products on the front of packs. A massive lobby by the food industry defeated proposals by parliamentarians to require the use of "traffic light labels" on many processed foods, but manufacturers failed in their attempts to block more honest labelling about where products are produced. In an important victory for consumers, the parliament backed rules to prevent
New translation rules to make EU trials fairer
The European Parliament has approved new legal standards to ensure that people facing criminal charges in any EU country will be able to understand what is happening both inside and outside the courtroom. The new rules are designed to ensure that people cannot face criminal proceedings in a foreign language without having access to an interpreter and translations of the key documents in the case. Once in force, the rules will apply in cases in which British citizens face criminal proceedings in other EU member states. Claude Moraes MEP, Labour's spokesperson in the European Parliament on justice and home affairs,
Brussels battle over ready meal rules
Labour members of the European Parliament have launched a last ditch effort to prevent a PR push by food industry lobbyists from stopping shoppers from getting honest, upfront information about their food. Next Wednesday MEPs are set to vote on food labelling rules, including the question of whether "traffic light labels" should be used on the front of packs for ready meals, processed convenience foods and many soft drinks. If successful it would mean that these foods would need to show a sequence of red, amber or green indications so that people can quickly see how much salt, fat and
Mobile phone ruling is good news for consumers
Labour MEPs have welcomed a European court ruling that has rejected attempts by major mobile phone operators to challenge an EU cap on the cost of using mobile phones abroad. Speaking immediately after the ruling, Arlene McCarthy, the Euro MP who steered the mobile roaming law through the European Parliament as Chair of the Consumer Protection Committee, said: "Today's judgement from the European Court of Justice shows we were right to act against excessive charges by mobile operators for using your phone in another EU country. "It is now time for the mobile operators to show that they have learned
Ministers should act now to boost access to life-saving organ transplants
Labour MEPs have called on EU governments to act quickly to agree new rules to boost access to life-saving organ transplants. The call from comes after the European Parliament voted on a package of standards to help improve the safety and quality of organs donated across the EU. By establishing these guarantees, the proposed rules should help boost access to a larger pool of organ donations. This would particularly help people looking for a rare match, enabling them to be paired with a donor from another EU country. The EU directive was backed by the European Parliament on Wednesday and
Consumer victory as parliament says no to meat glue
The European Parliament has voted to ban a glue used by the food industry to stick scraps of meat together for sale as whole steaks. The decision comes after concerns were raised that the use of 'thrombin', which is derived from the blood of pigs and cows, misleads consumers and therefore should not be allowed under EU law. The enzyme is the same protein that plays a role in the process that stops bleeding from a wound. When used as glue, thrombin allows food manufacturers to seamlessly join pieces of meat and chicken together to form steaks, which can then
'Sort out Spanish property problems or suspend EU funding', says Labour MEP
A Labour MEP has hit out at the Spanish government over its failure to support people, including many British citizens, who are facing the prospect of their homes being demolished. Michael Cashman MEP has been pushing for Spain's national government to step in to solve the disagreement over local planning laws but, with the authorities failing to respond, he is calling for EU funding to the affected region to be suspended. The call came as Cashman welcomed a group of people affected by the problems to the European Parliament's Petitions Committee, where they had the opportunity to raise their concerns