Committee Places Decided

8.30 Our Lib Dem European Parliamentary Party meeting. Sarah is to get the human rights position and a place on the US delegation so she is happy. Under any other business we discuss the NHS computer. Several of us are worried that it is an infringement of data protection that police and others will have access. It seems the Government get around this by saying the data is not owned by individuals but by the NHS! Of course when it comes to other data they argue the other way round: eg not giving tax info to other countries to help track fraud. We would like to challenge them on the NHS.

9.00 Nothing of mine in the working groups so I continue with work on amendments on Russia and putting a note together on trademarks and the Russian Civil Code for Commissioner Mandelson.

10.00 ALDE Group meeting. We hear the final package of committee places. We seem to have traded one of our JURI places for something else and behind the scenes several of us are unhappy at that. In the Committees later today and tomorrow we will vote for chairs and vice chairs. Normally one follows the agreed (or is that ‘greed’!) package but there are some that do not want to do that for the far right wing group. It is argued than for some committees that are technical it would not matter but on committees like culture which is about ‘values’ they are a bigger problem. We agree that we will not propose candidates against them. Individuals will have to vote as they see fit. I am uncomfortable at a discriminatory approach.

14.00 Another ECON prep meeting to elect our co-ordinator. Wolf tried to do this yesterday but had to be reminded it could not be done until committee places allocated. Technically I still think it is too early as we do not vote the places until 5.30 in plenary. I am late again because just as I set off Diana comes to say that tomorrow when she is in the chair in Plenary for the first time there is a debate on a European Private Company Statute which she shadowed. We have no speaker from ALDE and 8 minutes speaking time, so do I want to say something? I say ok, but not 8 minutes as that would be disproportionately long, longer than the Rapporteur. So I say I will do 4 minutes.

When I arrive at ECON prep Margarita has already started to complain that Wolf is not giving a fair share out of work and is keeping too much to himself, especially the best things. This is true. Anyway we let him continue with the job. I will be far to busy with JURI stuff as well to want the coordinator job, indeed I suspect I will have to help Diana out on JURI when she is doing Parliament Bureau stuff.

16.30 Having filled in time with press releases more work on Russia and looking out documents on the Company Statutes I see Mikael Down from UKRep on fiscal fraud. The UK just wants freedom to reverse charge selectively and on other frauds to get better information.

17.30 Into Plenary to vote for the committee places. There are no allowed amendments, so there ends up being no votes.

18.00 We have the ‘constituent meeting’ of JURI. As the oldest member Marco Pannella is in the Chair. Rather like with the Group when he did the same function he likes his moment in the chair and, quite amusingly, manages to draw things out longer than necessary. Anyway, no surprises here and we re-elect Gargarni as Chair then the four vice presidents agreed in the ‘package’ en bloc by acclamation (clapping).

18.20 Back in my office to work out what I am saying tomorrow in the debate on Private Company Statute. It seems that the JURI committee voted for the report unanimously, but I do not agree. I think it would only work for medium sized companies because of the capital provisions. That would not matter as long as it does not introduce an element of discrimination. Anyway, that is what I intend to say.

19.30 Leaving party for Desiree, Graham’s assistant who is going to work for Commissioner Kallas. Some useful networking with Italian, Hungarian and German colleagues.