Protectionist proposals for hedge funds directive
Posted,19/05/2010 00:00:00
Strasbourg, 18th May 2010 -- An alliance of the Communist, Green, Socialist and EPP groups in the parliament supported amendments to create a heavily protectionist Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) directive, which will make it extremely difficult for EU investors to invest in non-EU funds, Syed Kamall MEP, European Conservatives and Reformists group shadow on the directive, warned today.
|
German MPs given right to scrutinise EU power extensions as others are denied
Posted,08/09/2009 16:00:00
Brussels 8 September 2009 - German MPs today voted through legislation giving them the power to vote on any changes to the Lisbon Treaty or expansion of EU competences that might have an impact on German sovereignty. The new legislation is in response to the German Constitutional Court ruling from Karlsrühe stating that the EU was not sufficiently democratic and needs to be brought closer to the people. Adopting this legislation will be the final part of German ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, which proved to be a surprising stumbling block for the ratification process for the rest of the EU. The Treaty was supposed to be in force by January of this year, but still has to wait for the outcome of the Irish referendum as well as for the Presidents of the Czech Republic and Poland to formally sign it. Conservative MEP Syed Kamall who is the Vice-Chairman of the European Parliament's Constitutional Affairs Committee said: "The German court ruling and resulting legislation confirmed that a democratic deficit exists in the EU, "If the German Parliament is to be consulted on changes to the Lisbon Treaty, then the British Parliament should also be granted the same right " "Having denied the Britsh people referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, I call on the government to assert Parliament's sovereign right to be consulted on any further treaty changes."
|
Scooter tax: UK government should show moral leadership
Posted,29/06/2009 00:00:00
The UK representative at the EU's Customs committee should oppose plans to retain a 10 percent import duty on mobility scooters when it votes on the matter this Wednesday, Syed Kamall MEP, Conservative international trade spokesman, said today. Currently the customs code classifies mobility scooters as 'motor vehicles for the transport of persons' rather than 'carriages for disabled persons', therefore attracting a 10 percent import duty. The European Commission has proposed that the classification continue, but campaigners including Professor Stephen Hawking have called for the scooters to be recognised for what they are. The British government has said it is intending to support the commission, citing global customs practice. However Dr Kamall has called on the government to oppose the move. He said: "Mobility scooters are clearly only used by disabled people and they are an expensive piece of equipment for many disabled and elderly people to afford. We should be doing everything within our power to make them cheaper, not to put them out of the reach of people who need them for their independence. "Rather than taxing the disabled and elderly more, the government should be standing up for the most vulnerable in society. "The British government and the EU should show moral leadership and attempt to change this warped global practice, rather than hiding behind it. The EU's trade policies are too often distorted against businesses and consumers and nothing illustrates that better than this tax."
|
Mobile phone roaming 'bill shock' brought to an end thanks to Conservative MEPs
Posted,22/04/2009 15:00:00
More transparency for phone users abroad
|
MEPs adopt mobile roaming 'bill shock' proposals
Posted,02/03/2009 18:00:00
Clearer information on data and SMS roaming costs
|