ECON, Damages and IP

8.30 Get to the office and check emails and voting lists.

9.30 Into the ECON Committee. I ask a question to Trichet (ECB) about oil prices, interest rates and hedge funds. Amongst his replies he moots ‘indirect surveillance’ as a possible hedge fund supervision technique. We vote at 11.15 on the Oil Prices report, Football and Social Services of General Interest. My office has done the voting list for Football, then Jorgo who is actually the shadow turns up. He and Olle Schmit think one change desirable, which is just about OK. Voting list on oil prices has grown to 13 pages. I have asked for several split votes where I like one bit of an amendment but not another, and these all get voted as I hoped.

Then we get to the exchange with the International Securities Commission and it is very interesting indeed. We get into some useful points on hedge funds and it is so interesting I almost forget to leave in time to get to my next meeting. Only miss the very end though.

13.00 A rapporteurs meeting on damages actions with the Commission. The Commission like the very European line taken by the Rapporteur but concede I have put my finger on the political problems. We can see the way forward on a couple of these but have to agree to differ on others. Anyway we have yet to have EPP input and Jonathan Evans, who has not made the meeting, has some amendments quite similar to my contested ones. The Socialists and the Commission are obviously targeting me to try and get the necessary majority. I would prefer to find a middle way that is not obstructive to further proposals being brought forward, but makes sure the difficulties of not getting a system that can be pushed in the direction US law has been pushed should not be underestimated. A further problem is that I am not actually the shadow and Karin, who is, has less sceptical views than I do.

15.00 I start to tidy office and file mountain of paper. I discover that the JURI Committee tomorrow has been cancelled so after JURI today I can clear up and get an early train tomorrow.

16.00 Go to JURI Committee, which is packed out and running late. The crowds are there for the discussion on designs protection for spare parts. This is one Intellectual Property issue on which I have not taken a lead as there are plenty of others around able to deal with this – it is not complicated just a battle over whether to stop design protection for spare parts, as has been done in the UK, or keep the car manufacturers happy as the Germans and French mainly want. After that I go out and have a chat with Erik Noteboom from the Commission then go back in for damages actions. The focus on this committee is very much on damages for consumers and follow-on actions after a competition authority has held that a company infringes competition law. This is popular, simple and represents championing the consumer, but it does not get to the important matter of digging out more cases. The amount of compensation consumers would get is likely to be small so really it is just a punishment.

18.00 Back to the office, continue to clear up and leave at 8pm.