9.00 Off to the Patent Conference. I am a panellist for the final session, but before that we have speeches from Industry and the President of the European Patent Office. The panel session goes well. I get the feeling that I am the most in tune with those attending.
Several of the patent attorneys, and Nicholas Pumfrey, come to me afterwards and say that I had done well and made things very clear. I am gratified for I can think of nothing worse than my former colleagues thinking I was doing a bad job!
Friday, 30 March 2007
Thursday, 29 March 2007
Record breaking mini session?
9.00 Arrive in the office and start to pack papers and tidy up. I may have to rush off for my plane to Berlin immediately after votes.
10.00 Interview with Ian Murray, editor of the Southern Daily Echo.
11.00 Go over to Plenary. Votes are delayed until 11.30 so I go for a coffee with Sarah.
11.30 Votes. Apparently this is the longest ever (or largest number of votes) in a mini session. Not sure whether he (chair) really means ever or just this session. Anyway well over 800 votes. Damages actions has been delayed until next time as well.
13.15 Get car to airport. At the airport meet up with Lehne and his assistant Sebastian and have useful chat on damages actions and a few other things. Our flight lands and we are whisked by car to the conference just in time for the final session at 5pm. Lehne is chairing one session. I go to another about EPLA at which UK patents judge Sir Nicholas Pumfrey is a contributor. There is a French Government representative and a French Industry representative and they have very different views. Industry effectively says ‘which bit of we want EPLA do you not understand?’ The evening is a reception at which there is useful networking.
10.00 Interview with Ian Murray, editor of the Southern Daily Echo.
11.00 Go over to Plenary. Votes are delayed until 11.30 so I go for a coffee with Sarah.
11.30 Votes. Apparently this is the longest ever (or largest number of votes) in a mini session. Not sure whether he (chair) really means ever or just this session. Anyway well over 800 votes. Damages actions has been delayed until next time as well.
13.15 Get car to airport. At the airport meet up with Lehne and his assistant Sebastian and have useful chat on damages actions and a few other things. Our flight lands and we are whisked by car to the conference just in time for the final session at 5pm. Lehne is chairing one session. I go to another about EPLA at which UK patents judge Sir Nicholas Pumfrey is a contributor. There is a French Government representative and a French Industry representative and they have very different views. Industry effectively says ‘which bit of we want EPLA do you not understand?’ The evening is a reception at which there is useful networking.
Wednesday, 28 March 2007
Football Debate and Amendments
8.30 I am in the chair for the Lib Dem Parliamentary party meeting. Nothing spectacular, just routine review of the upcoming business and staff positions.
9.00 Telephone discussion with the French Deputy Ambassador to the EU. He wanted to talk to me about patents before the Berlin Conference and we could not schedule a meeting so agreed to have this call to establish contact. Everyone is looking for solutions, and ways to work together, which is good but I am concerned that too much complexity will lead to failure.
9.30 I get to the working group meeting for the discussion of the football reports. Most of the amendments that we submitted have made their way into the compromises so we agree that some of ours can be withdrawn. Just about everything that I submitted is in the compromises, the bits that did not make it are not mine and I reckon of less importance. ALDE, and to a large extent myself, have 24 amendments and co-signed 25 compromises including our amendments. Out of 54 in total I reckon we have done our stuff.
11.00 Meeting with Andrew Cave of the Federation of Small Businesses. They are concerned about Rome 1, which also came up yesterday with UKREP. Seems I will have to look at this.
12.00 I have a photoshoot outside the Parliament.
12.30 Back to the office. I have speaking time in the football debate so start to work out what to say in that and the corresponding press release. Also start to gather papers and thoughts for my session at the Berlin Conference.
15.30 TV Interview with Jim Gibbons on football. Then back to the office and paperwork, keeping an eye on the debates. My speaking time, originally scheduled for around 6pm starts to slip later and later.
18.30 The group has a celebration reception for the EU 50 years. I do not stay long. My speaking time now scheduled for about 8.30pm.
21.30 The football debate finally gets started, I do my speech at about 22.20. Leave Parliament afterwards.
9.00 Telephone discussion with the French Deputy Ambassador to the EU. He wanted to talk to me about patents before the Berlin Conference and we could not schedule a meeting so agreed to have this call to establish contact. Everyone is looking for solutions, and ways to work together, which is good but I am concerned that too much complexity will lead to failure.
9.30 I get to the working group meeting for the discussion of the football reports. Most of the amendments that we submitted have made their way into the compromises so we agree that some of ours can be withdrawn. Just about everything that I submitted is in the compromises, the bits that did not make it are not mine and I reckon of less importance. ALDE, and to a large extent myself, have 24 amendments and co-signed 25 compromises including our amendments. Out of 54 in total I reckon we have done our stuff.
11.00 Meeting with Andrew Cave of the Federation of Small Businesses. They are concerned about Rome 1, which also came up yesterday with UKREP. Seems I will have to look at this.
12.00 I have a photoshoot outside the Parliament.
12.30 Back to the office. I have speaking time in the football debate so start to work out what to say in that and the corresponding press release. Also start to gather papers and thoughts for my session at the Berlin Conference.
15.30 TV Interview with Jim Gibbons on football. Then back to the office and paperwork, keeping an eye on the debates. My speaking time, originally scheduled for around 6pm starts to slip later and later.
18.30 The group has a celebration reception for the EU 50 years. I do not stay long. My speaking time now scheduled for about 8.30pm.
21.30 The football debate finally gets started, I do my speech at about 22.20. Leave Parliament afterwards.
Tuesday, 27 March 2007
Damages Actions, Mazars missed
8.00 Arrive in the office and continue with preparation work.
9.00 ECON. I am first on. Amongst other things I share my doubts about the creation of an oversight board unless in has some teeth and I say that it looks like the Council are trying to ensure it has no teeth. I see the ECON secretariat grinning somewhat and I wonder whether I have been a bit blunt. Ike van den Burg talks about the advisory committee, for which she is rapporteur. She says she agrees with my reservations about the board but does not sound quite so blunt as me. I had hoped not to stick with the original tight timetable and we have amendments set for 16 May. It is agreed we will try to talk to the Commission next Strasbourg and to have some feedback on what is done in the US. I suppose if we do not get a clearer picture I will have to compile amendments that give the Board more teeth and then see who squeals.
11.00 Meeting with the UK Permanent Representative people who do the JURI Committee things. This is really just an introduction now I am formally on the committee so we chat about various ongoing and upcoming issues in general terms.
12.00 I go to speak to a visitors Group from the University of Portsmouth. I do the first half hour then Caroline Lucas takes over for the second half.
12.30 Back to the office. We should be going to the ALDE Prep meeting but there are still a few bits to sort out for this afternoon so I skip it.
13.20 I arrive, late, for the Kangaroo Group Lunch meeting on the modernised customs code. I decided to go to this as it might be useful background to fiscal fraud. It is a bit marginal as to whether that is the case. The most interesting fact seems to be that in some countries the customs clearance paperwork still seems to be a bit of a closed shop/family businesses, unless I misunderstood (meeting partly in French). I will check sometime with Janelly Fortou who is the rapporteur.
15.00 ECON. We have votes first. The damages actions is completely controlled by our votes. The EPP are on the losing side (unusual for them). My innovation votes also go well, although I lose two amendments possibly because they have not been understood. However, they are in for JURI as well and I will talk to EPP members about them just to check. Sanches Presaro comes to speak to me after the damages actions votes. One vote to delete a paragraph is lost but then the paragraph is not voted for so it falls after all! They want to check that I agree that is what happened.
I said yes and I thought it was because hands did not go up fast enough (especially in the PES). Sanches Presaro hopes to make some amendments to try and get the EPP in more agreement at plenary. I explain that it may not be easy because where they had delete options I had already put in the ‘softer’ amendments. However, there may be a few things.
Charlie McCreevy arrives to answer questions in ECON. I did not ask a question as I had put them in JURI last week, however some of what I had asked there is repeated repeated by others. There is also a bit of report back on payments which was agreed in ECOFIN this morning. McCreevy very much on form. When quizzed by Radwan and Hoppenstedt on hedge funds, they said he had not said anything about them, he replied and said he had said plenty it was just that they had not liked what he had said! He then went on to repeat what he has previously said and which, allegedly, they must not have liked.
I could not help but smirk for it was so true, we have been told before. At the very end of the session Pervenche Beres quizzed again quite aggressively (Carol said afterwards she felt quite sorry for McCreevy) but McCreevy was a real pro taking out all the sting with humorous flattery - saying that Pervenche had just shown what a good candidate she would have made in certain French elections (Presidential elections) - before addressing the points she raised.
18.00 Back to the office. ECON has gone on so long I will miss the Mazars seminar on corporate accountability that I was hoping to get to. Not really vital but I was going to go because I was instrumental in appointing Mazars as the Lib Dems auditors some years ago when I was on the Federal Finance Committee. I recall we chose them because they had really got to grips with how difficult it would be to make all units of political parties comply with the (then) new financial reporting. I continue with paperwork and leave at 7.30 pm.
9.00 ECON. I am first on. Amongst other things I share my doubts about the creation of an oversight board unless in has some teeth and I say that it looks like the Council are trying to ensure it has no teeth. I see the ECON secretariat grinning somewhat and I wonder whether I have been a bit blunt. Ike van den Burg talks about the advisory committee, for which she is rapporteur. She says she agrees with my reservations about the board but does not sound quite so blunt as me. I had hoped not to stick with the original tight timetable and we have amendments set for 16 May. It is agreed we will try to talk to the Commission next Strasbourg and to have some feedback on what is done in the US. I suppose if we do not get a clearer picture I will have to compile amendments that give the Board more teeth and then see who squeals.
11.00 Meeting with the UK Permanent Representative people who do the JURI Committee things. This is really just an introduction now I am formally on the committee so we chat about various ongoing and upcoming issues in general terms.
12.00 I go to speak to a visitors Group from the University of Portsmouth. I do the first half hour then Caroline Lucas takes over for the second half.
12.30 Back to the office. We should be going to the ALDE Prep meeting but there are still a few bits to sort out for this afternoon so I skip it.
13.20 I arrive, late, for the Kangaroo Group Lunch meeting on the modernised customs code. I decided to go to this as it might be useful background to fiscal fraud. It is a bit marginal as to whether that is the case. The most interesting fact seems to be that in some countries the customs clearance paperwork still seems to be a bit of a closed shop/family businesses, unless I misunderstood (meeting partly in French). I will check sometime with Janelly Fortou who is the rapporteur.
15.00 ECON. We have votes first. The damages actions is completely controlled by our votes. The EPP are on the losing side (unusual for them). My innovation votes also go well, although I lose two amendments possibly because they have not been understood. However, they are in for JURI as well and I will talk to EPP members about them just to check. Sanches Presaro comes to speak to me after the damages actions votes. One vote to delete a paragraph is lost but then the paragraph is not voted for so it falls after all! They want to check that I agree that is what happened.
I said yes and I thought it was because hands did not go up fast enough (especially in the PES). Sanches Presaro hopes to make some amendments to try and get the EPP in more agreement at plenary. I explain that it may not be easy because where they had delete options I had already put in the ‘softer’ amendments. However, there may be a few things.
Charlie McCreevy arrives to answer questions in ECON. I did not ask a question as I had put them in JURI last week, however some of what I had asked there is repeated repeated by others. There is also a bit of report back on payments which was agreed in ECOFIN this morning. McCreevy very much on form. When quizzed by Radwan and Hoppenstedt on hedge funds, they said he had not said anything about them, he replied and said he had said plenty it was just that they had not liked what he had said! He then went on to repeat what he has previously said and which, allegedly, they must not have liked.
I could not help but smirk for it was so true, we have been told before. At the very end of the session Pervenche Beres quizzed again quite aggressively (Carol said afterwards she felt quite sorry for McCreevy) but McCreevy was a real pro taking out all the sting with humorous flattery - saying that Pervenche had just shown what a good candidate she would have made in certain French elections (Presidential elections) - before addressing the points she raised.
18.00 Back to the office. ECON has gone on so long I will miss the Mazars seminar on corporate accountability that I was hoping to get to. Not really vital but I was going to go because I was instrumental in appointing Mazars as the Lib Dems auditors some years ago when I was on the Federal Finance Committee. I recall we chose them because they had really got to grips with how difficult it would be to make all units of political parties comply with the (then) new financial reporting. I continue with paperwork and leave at 7.30 pm.
Monday, 26 March 2007
Summertime is here!
8.30 Now that the clocks have gone forward the plane times have changed so I am getting an earlier flight that arrives in Brussels at 1.00 pm, at least in theory. Actually it departs about an hour late, so most of the extra time is spent at Heathrow.
14.00 Arrive in the office. Straight to work on checking voting lists for our ECON votes tomorrow. We have damages actions, on which I have taken over the lead for the Group and my innovation report. Additionally I have to do my presentation on the proposed statistical board.
16.30 Meeting with specialist press from eFinancial News and Money Marketing.
17.30 Back to the paperwork, then leave to go to the flat at about 8.00pm. I note that the Place de Luxembourg is thronging with everywhere outside the bars full. Interesting how it suddenly looks like summer just because the clocks have changed and everyone is out socialising.
14.00 Arrive in the office. Straight to work on checking voting lists for our ECON votes tomorrow. We have damages actions, on which I have taken over the lead for the Group and my innovation report. Additionally I have to do my presentation on the proposed statistical board.
16.30 Meeting with specialist press from eFinancial News and Money Marketing.
17.30 Back to the paperwork, then leave to go to the flat at about 8.00pm. I note that the Place de Luxembourg is thronging with everywhere outside the bars full. Interesting how it suddenly looks like summer just because the clocks have changed and everyone is out socialising.
Thursday, 22 March 2007
Close votes on roaming
8.30 get my Eurostar ticket. Suddenly little Easter Eggs are appearing everywhere including at the ticket desk. I nobly resist.
9.00 Arrive in office and review emails and start to collect thoughts on payments. Then I get an SOS to go and vote on the Internal Market committee which is voting today on roaming. Get there for 10.00 and we take the best part of an hour to finish the votes. Many are won by ‘our side’ 22 to 21 including the final vote, so just as well I got there otherwise nothing would have been passed!
11.00 I have a meeting with the Commission on the statistics supervisory board. I am not convinced of the need! When they go we have the German Presidency on the phone wanting to come and see me on the same subject, but I have a lunch to go to so decline.
12.15 Lunch to discuss upcoming IP issues.
14.30 Back in the office and we have the final texts coming through for out meeting at 16.00. Read these then head off for the Council offices.
16.00 Trilogue meeting. More big guns there from the Presidency (the ambassador) and Commission. It all goes according to known positions with the Parliament trying to squeeze some concessions but beyond some extra clarity I do not think there will be a great deal. That suits me and the UK.
18.00 leave for Eurostar.
9.00 Arrive in office and review emails and start to collect thoughts on payments. Then I get an SOS to go and vote on the Internal Market committee which is voting today on roaming. Get there for 10.00 and we take the best part of an hour to finish the votes. Many are won by ‘our side’ 22 to 21 including the final vote, so just as well I got there otherwise nothing would have been passed!
11.00 I have a meeting with the Commission on the statistics supervisory board. I am not convinced of the need! When they go we have the German Presidency on the phone wanting to come and see me on the same subject, but I have a lunch to go to so decline.
12.15 Lunch to discuss upcoming IP issues.
14.30 Back in the office and we have the final texts coming through for out meeting at 16.00. Read these then head off for the Council offices.
16.00 Trilogue meeting. More big guns there from the Presidency (the ambassador) and Commission. It all goes according to known positions with the Parliament trying to squeeze some concessions but beyond some extra clarity I do not think there will be a great deal. That suits me and the UK.
18.00 leave for Eurostar.
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