8.15 The ALDE Econ Breakfast. Seems that carousing went on well into the small hours last night, but Wolf, Sophie, Mariela and Bilyana make it as well as me.
9.00 ELDE Econ prep meeting. We discuss who is doing which upcoming matters. I have been given the rapporteurship of an opinion on the aging demography of Europe. I had said I would shadow and the one I really wanted about financial instruments for the environment we do not get so I am only shadow. I give up the rapporteurship on the demography to one of the Bulgarian members who wants to do something. We discuss a voting list and then Margarita comes in and makes a fuss about the van den Burg report. Comments not bloggable!!
10.00 We all gallop off to an extraordinary ECON committee meeting to listen to the Portuguese Presidency. We also have a vote to do which we only just get squeezed in by 11.25 when we all have to rush off to plenary votes at 11.30.
11.30 Votes. We have quite a lot to do but I have to say that Poettering in the chair does an express job and we get through an awful lot in one hour.
12.45 Back in the office. Everyone is leaving. As usual I have several hours now by myself. So I pack my trunk, sort through papers, do letter to the Financial Times and do the blog. I attend the human rights votes at 4pm. Finish the blog and find I still have a couple of hours so I start the long read of the official version of solvency ll!! I will be leaving for Basle at 7pm and should be home sometime after midnight Strasbourg time.
Thursday 12 July 2007
Wednesday 11 July 2007
A busy day in plenary
9.00 Arrive in Parliament and have meeting with Microsoft. Their technical chap joins in via telephone, which is useful. We are now expecting a decision on the competition case in September. However even after that, and irrespective of which way it goes, we will still be left with interoperability and standards to deal with. I point out, as I have to everyone, that if industry can not get its act together and agree the way to go it will be all the more up to politicians to decide. The annoying thing is that different arguments are deployed at different times and places by several companies because of the particular litigation in which they are embroiled. I see major work coming up on all this next year.
10.00 Yet more email spats on the van den Burg Report. There are some split votes on references to tax. Wolf and I say we would prefer them out as a subsidiarity point, Margarita wants them in. Rest of the morning spent on papers and sorting votes.
12.00 I go to plenary armed with three extra voting lists. I gather the EPP will back taking out investment banks, so I should be able to chalk up another little success. Votes are deferred until 12.30, then start late at 12.45, there are complaints. Apparently the Portuguese Presidency spoke for too long. Lots of the votes are tight and have to be checked. The vand den Burg report seems to go reasonably OK, investment banks come out. We are still voting at ten past two when Pervenche Beres interrupts with a point of order that we can not continue and will have to start early tomorrow. (There are still three long voting lists left. It also means lunch meetings are being spoiled and plenary starts again at 3pm). Nobody waits to hear, we all clap, bang desks and vote with our feet. We have an LDEPP photo call outside plenary.
14.35 I get to my office and the stock exchange people who expected to see me at 2pm are waiting. We have a useful discussion, I am glad I grabbed a sandwich before votes! I am having another of those no meals weeks so far.
15.15 Well it is now getting into the routine of organising things that need to be done over the holiday. My TRIPS speaking time is moving onwards towards 8pm from its original schedule of around 6.45. I hope it does not get too late as we have a dinner on private equity at 8pm
19.20 Into plenary for TRIPS. I am not really impressed by the contributions, there is no point blaming the provisions in the amendments as being the reason it has not been invoked, the necessary circumstances have not really arrived yet, which I endeavour to explain, again.
20.05 Debate finishes just in time to go for the dinner. The presentations are quite informative although they overlap a lot with information in this week’s Economist. It ends just after 10pm. I have missed the Group barbeque because I attended this – however I bet I will be glad in the morning.
10.00 Yet more email spats on the van den Burg Report. There are some split votes on references to tax. Wolf and I say we would prefer them out as a subsidiarity point, Margarita wants them in. Rest of the morning spent on papers and sorting votes.
12.00 I go to plenary armed with three extra voting lists. I gather the EPP will back taking out investment banks, so I should be able to chalk up another little success. Votes are deferred until 12.30, then start late at 12.45, there are complaints. Apparently the Portuguese Presidency spoke for too long. Lots of the votes are tight and have to be checked. The vand den Burg report seems to go reasonably OK, investment banks come out. We are still voting at ten past two when Pervenche Beres interrupts with a point of order that we can not continue and will have to start early tomorrow. (There are still three long voting lists left. It also means lunch meetings are being spoiled and plenary starts again at 3pm). Nobody waits to hear, we all clap, bang desks and vote with our feet. We have an LDEPP photo call outside plenary.
14.35 I get to my office and the stock exchange people who expected to see me at 2pm are waiting. We have a useful discussion, I am glad I grabbed a sandwich before votes! I am having another of those no meals weeks so far.
15.15 Well it is now getting into the routine of organising things that need to be done over the holiday. My TRIPS speaking time is moving onwards towards 8pm from its original schedule of around 6.45. I hope it does not get too late as we have a dinner on private equity at 8pm
19.20 Into plenary for TRIPS. I am not really impressed by the contributions, there is no point blaming the provisions in the amendments as being the reason it has not been invoked, the necessary circumstances have not really arrived yet, which I endeavour to explain, again.
20.05 Debate finishes just in time to go for the dinner. The presentations are quite informative although they overlap a lot with information in this week’s Economist. It ends just after 10pm. I have missed the Group barbeque because I attended this – however I bet I will be glad in the morning.
Tuesday 10 July 2007
Debate on Van den Burg, Barometers
9.00 Get to the Parliament. We get a panic email from our administrator that her submissions from yesterday missed the deadline. We point out that they could not, they were a day early!! Seems both Delphine and the tabling office now suffering fatigue! We then have an email from Margarita saying she does not agree with what was agreed yesterday. It is pointed out she was outvoted (and would have been even if she had been there).
10.30 I go down to plenary for the debate on the van den Burg report. I have decided to concentrate on three points: hedge funds/private equity, where I say discussion and analysis fine but do not put pre-emptive conclusions in the same sentence just to be fashionable, the investment bank point and not to try and asses the next steps in supervising before we have finished the current changes. It seems to fit in (or challenge) what other say. Radwan speaks after me and in reply to me says he is not be pre-emptive on hedge funds (or words to that effect). I think it is good to get a dynamic exchange within such short speeches! All these speeches are available on the Parliament websites, so no need for more here! I talk to Ieke van den Burg afterwards about investment banks and say I would accept a compromise that pointed out there were differing degrees of concentration.
12.00 Votes. Diana is in the chair for her first session of votes. She is very clear and it is possible to hear everything she says without headphones. Why is it only the Brits that speak up so clearly! We get to the vote on whether mercury should be banned in antique barometers. I turn to the page and there is an extraordinary list of which delegations are voting how, with subdivisions within that, so it runs over two pages. Several colleagues look around wondering who to side with!. Basically we are all split between being pragmatic, being rules is rules and possibly thinking it is a member state thing. I vote for antique barometers.
13.15 Back to the office. There are continuing email exchanges about our voting on the van den Burg report.
16.00 We have a committee meeting with Charlie McCreevy about Solvency ll, which is launched today. I arrive on time, as does Karin and McCreevy and entourage, but everyone else is late!
17.30 Back in the office and more paperwork. I plot my one minute on TRIPS. News that I may have got a split vote request in on investments banks has been discovered by Deutche Bank. Their lobbyist comes to check then happily goes away to talk to MEPs in the EPP.
18.30 Reception and speeches on launch of Solvency ll. There are about five speakers lined up, starting with Charlie McCreevy, who usefully spots that if he reads his speech (9 pages) everyone else will do the same and so we will be there until midnight. So he sets the trend for improvisation, which works well. Just as the speeches end I get text from Carol to sprint over to Group for votes.
20.00 Votes in Group on postal services and employ with lost of proxies. Win some, lose some. So this means we will have work to do tomorrow on three voting lists. Leave Parliament at 9pm
10.30 I go down to plenary for the debate on the van den Burg report. I have decided to concentrate on three points: hedge funds/private equity, where I say discussion and analysis fine but do not put pre-emptive conclusions in the same sentence just to be fashionable, the investment bank point and not to try and asses the next steps in supervising before we have finished the current changes. It seems to fit in (or challenge) what other say. Radwan speaks after me and in reply to me says he is not be pre-emptive on hedge funds (or words to that effect). I think it is good to get a dynamic exchange within such short speeches! All these speeches are available on the Parliament websites, so no need for more here! I talk to Ieke van den Burg afterwards about investment banks and say I would accept a compromise that pointed out there were differing degrees of concentration.
12.00 Votes. Diana is in the chair for her first session of votes. She is very clear and it is possible to hear everything she says without headphones. Why is it only the Brits that speak up so clearly! We get to the vote on whether mercury should be banned in antique barometers. I turn to the page and there is an extraordinary list of which delegations are voting how, with subdivisions within that, so it runs over two pages. Several colleagues look around wondering who to side with!. Basically we are all split between being pragmatic, being rules is rules and possibly thinking it is a member state thing. I vote for antique barometers.
13.15 Back to the office. There are continuing email exchanges about our voting on the van den Burg report.
16.00 We have a committee meeting with Charlie McCreevy about Solvency ll, which is launched today. I arrive on time, as does Karin and McCreevy and entourage, but everyone else is late!
17.30 Back in the office and more paperwork. I plot my one minute on TRIPS. News that I may have got a split vote request in on investments banks has been discovered by Deutche Bank. Their lobbyist comes to check then happily goes away to talk to MEPs in the EPP.
18.30 Reception and speeches on launch of Solvency ll. There are about five speakers lined up, starting with Charlie McCreevy, who usefully spots that if he reads his speech (9 pages) everyone else will do the same and so we will be there until midnight. So he sets the trend for improvisation, which works well. Just as the speeches end I get text from Carol to sprint over to Group for votes.
20.00 Votes in Group on postal services and employ with lost of proxies. Win some, lose some. So this means we will have work to do tomorrow on three voting lists. Leave Parliament at 9pm
Monday 9 July 2007
Van den Burg
5.30 Off to Luton airport. I bid goodbye to other regular travellers I may not see again when the flights change in September. I finish off the blog for last week on the plane. We get to Basle approximately on time, car is there and so Austrian MEP Johannes and I get to the Parliament just before noon (11 am UK time). Being first in I unpack my trunk and all the other stuff we have locked in the cupboard (my mini fridge got stolen last year). Having unpacked I investigate emails and other correspondence. Check through the amendments that other Groups have filed on the van den Burg report.
15.30 Go down to Group. Nothing hugely relevant to me but I am keeping a watch out for things popping up from various committees other than my own. I get 1 minute to speak on the van den Burg report and they forget to give me time on TRIPS (but I see the Secretary general who says he will fix it, so that will be another one minute)
17.30 Our UKLib Dem delegation meeting (LDEPP). We exchange views about items coming up for votes where we may have to fight our corner in Group. Possible controversies are on postal services, the report on the employment green paper and the one that has been constantly on my desk, the van den Burg report on the financial services white paper. The biggest problem we have however seems to be how can we get all twelve of us in one place to have our photo taken.
18.00 I leave LDEPP early to get to Working Group A to discuss the van den Burg report. Those of us there reach an agreed line on the various amendments in from other groups and I get agreement to ask for a split vote to take ‘investment banks’ out of a paragraph that flags up the consolidation of firms offering financial services to large listed companies, especially in the field of audit, Credit rating and investment banks. I think the statement is true about audit firms (less than a handful that can do the big audits) and credit rating agencies, but there is not the same order of concentration with investment banks and that dilutes the point we are making about audit firms. Margarita is not there, who is the shadow, and I point out that she may have a differing view on a couple of points. However, everyone there agrees the lines that Wolf and I want to take.
19.00 Back to the office, paperwork and working out how much I can squeeze into one minute on the financial services report. The shorter the speech the harder it is. I take the opportunity to leave ‘early’ at 20.30.
15.30 Go down to Group. Nothing hugely relevant to me but I am keeping a watch out for things popping up from various committees other than my own. I get 1 minute to speak on the van den Burg report and they forget to give me time on TRIPS (but I see the Secretary general who says he will fix it, so that will be another one minute)
17.30 Our UKLib Dem delegation meeting (LDEPP). We exchange views about items coming up for votes where we may have to fight our corner in Group. Possible controversies are on postal services, the report on the employment green paper and the one that has been constantly on my desk, the van den Burg report on the financial services white paper. The biggest problem we have however seems to be how can we get all twelve of us in one place to have our photo taken.
18.00 I leave LDEPP early to get to Working Group A to discuss the van den Burg report. Those of us there reach an agreed line on the various amendments in from other groups and I get agreement to ask for a split vote to take ‘investment banks’ out of a paragraph that flags up the consolidation of firms offering financial services to large listed companies, especially in the field of audit, Credit rating and investment banks. I think the statement is true about audit firms (less than a handful that can do the big audits) and credit rating agencies, but there is not the same order of concentration with investment banks and that dilutes the point we are making about audit firms. Margarita is not there, who is the shadow, and I point out that she may have a differing view on a couple of points. However, everyone there agrees the lines that Wolf and I want to take.
19.00 Back to the office, paperwork and working out how much I can squeeze into one minute on the financial services report. The shorter the speech the harder it is. I take the opportunity to leave ‘early’ at 20.30.
Thursday 5 July 2007
Busy Weekend Ahead!
9.00 In to the office. All I am doing this morning is clearing my desk and getting the midday Eurostar as I have a meeting in London. On Eurostar work on my speech for Friday, which means I have missed my blogging time again. Getting into bad habits. Tomorrow morning we are presenting the Eurostar petition at Downing Street, then I have my speech, then another meeting. On Saturday I am in Maidstone. Pity it is not Sunday as I could have caught the Tour de France at the same time.
Wednesday 4 July 2007
Solvency II and Collective Actions
9.00 Group meeting. Rather irritatingly I have to leave before the employment bit. However proxies have been arranged but I am not sure we have enough people there to cast them all.
10.00 I go on a bit of mystery tour in the Journalists’ part of the Parliament building. Looks much swisher than our bit!! Eventually find the seminar. I have to start it on my own then Pervenche Beres arrives. We talk about Solvency ll, private equity, hedge funds and the Euro. We are filmed by Spanish TV.
12.30 Back to the office and collect a few papers then down to the lunch that I am hosting on collective redress in Europe.
13.00 Lunch with the European Justice Forum. We talk about collective actions, how not to have the pitfalls of the US system. I think it is useful. My input mainly seems to be getting the message over that the Parliament is probably more interested in consumer redress aspects than in encouraging company on company actions. There is some mention of the recent developments in Australia, which may not have gone as intended. I will need to follow this up.
15.00 Back to the office and to pack my trunk for Strasbourg. Then I do some more work on what to say on Friday. I think I have too much now but will edit it down on Eurostar tomorrow. Carol leaves to get Eurostar back to UK, then Alan leaves. I hope he has had a flavour of what goes on. Probably easier to follow as it was a Group week. I am just getting ready to leave when Peter Price turn up to talk about Solvency ll, so end up leaving at about 8pm.
10.00 I go on a bit of mystery tour in the Journalists’ part of the Parliament building. Looks much swisher than our bit!! Eventually find the seminar. I have to start it on my own then Pervenche Beres arrives. We talk about Solvency ll, private equity, hedge funds and the Euro. We are filmed by Spanish TV.
12.30 Back to the office and collect a few papers then down to the lunch that I am hosting on collective redress in Europe.
13.00 Lunch with the European Justice Forum. We talk about collective actions, how not to have the pitfalls of the US system. I think it is useful. My input mainly seems to be getting the message over that the Parliament is probably more interested in consumer redress aspects than in encouraging company on company actions. There is some mention of the recent developments in Australia, which may not have gone as intended. I will need to follow this up.
15.00 Back to the office and to pack my trunk for Strasbourg. Then I do some more work on what to say on Friday. I think I have too much now but will edit it down on Eurostar tomorrow. Carol leaves to get Eurostar back to UK, then Alan leaves. I hope he has had a flavour of what goes on. Probably easier to follow as it was a Group week. I am just getting ready to leave when Peter Price turn up to talk about Solvency ll, so end up leaving at about 8pm.
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