News Releases
Showing: February 2012
Here you can find an archive of all the news items that have been on this website as well as any comments, polls or surveys.
Argentinians threaten Britain - EU sends them aid
Posted,2/29/2012 6:00:00 PM
Conservative MEP Nirj Deva has demanded an end to a "potty" EU scheme that sends tens of millions of pounds of development aid to Argentina - at the same time the South American country is menacing Britain over the Falkland Islands.
Independent assessors are needed to root out EU waste and fraud
Posted,2/29/2012 2:00:00 PM
Conservative MEPs are set to join Chancellor George Osborne in refusing to approve the latest set of European Union accounts because continued of waste, misspending and potential fraud.
Callanan responds to Ireland referendum announcement
Posted,2/28/2012 5:00:00 PM
Responding to the Irish Taoiseach's announcement that Ireland is to hold a referendum on the Fiscal Compact Treaty to determine whether the country will ratify, Martin Callanan MEP, European Conservatives and Reformists group chairman, said:
Progress on "roaming" charges - but consumers still not feeling the full benefit of open competition
Posted,2/28/2012 4:00:00 PM
Cheaper mobile phone calls and internet downloads for holidaymakers and business travellers could be on the way under a package of measures adopted in the European Parliament today - but Conservative MEPs believe the service-providers themselves should be doing more to drive down prices.
MEP warns that women will pay the price for overly-ambitious equality proposals
Posted,2/28/2012 4:00:00 PM
Marina Yannakoudakis, Conservative MEP for London, today criticised proposals approved by the European Parliament’s Women’s Rights and Gender Equalities Committee which called for quotas for female representation in political assemblies and which repeated unreasonable demands to introduce 20 weeks of paid maternity leave across the European Union.
Energy efficiency directive must be ambitious but not rigid
Posted,2/28/2012 12:00:00 PM
The European Parliament industry committee's vote this morning on the proposed energy efficiency directive sets out a good starting place for MEPs to open negotiations with national governments, European Conservatives and Reformists group shadow rapporteur Vicky Ford MEP, said following the vote. She wants the directive to deliver demonstrable savings in terms of energy and money, but with consideration for differing national and local circumstances across the EU.
We fight threat to insurance industry and pensions
Posted,2/27/2012 5:00:00 PM
British Conservatives in the European Parliament are staunchly resisting EU plans which could devalue British pensions and force major insurance companies to move abroad.
Dismay at prospect of "EU-wide tax"
Posted,2/22/2012 4:00:00 PM
Kay Swinburne, Conservative spokesman on economic and monetary affairs in the European Parliament, today expressed dismay over news that the introduction of an EU-wide tax rate may have come a step closer. She was responding to reports that Germany and France had moved nearer full fiscal union by announcing they would have "harmonised" their rates of corporate tax by 2013. The move was interpreted as increasing the prospect of an EU-wide enforced tax rate, something Britain has strongly opposed. The two countries described their plans as "a first step towards more European coherence" and as being in line with the Euro-Plus Pact treaty (not signed by the UK) which sets out rules for economic and fiscal co–ordination. Dr Swinburne said: "This is further evidence that some EU states simply cannot get their priorities right in these desperate economic times. "Corporation tax must always be handled with care as it is potentially a tax on jobs and growth. That is not what Europe needs right now. "Instead of scheming over the next step towards greater integration and increased federalism, the EU should be working to set its economies free to pursue true flexibility, global competitiveness and growth."
Welcome for Edmund Stoiber's red tape report
Posted,2/21/2012 5:00:00 PM
European Parliament internal market committee chairman Malcolm Harbour MEP has welcomed a report by Edmund Stoiber, former Minister-President of Bavaria, on reducing red tape - presented to the European Commission President today.
Cameron's letter on growth demonstrates UK's leadership in Europe
Posted,2/21/2012 12:00:00 PM
A letter signed by 12 European leaders, urging the EU to focus on growth in tackling the economic crisis, is an indication of the UK's leading role in Europe, the leader of Britain's Conservative MEPs said today. Martin Callanan today hailed Britain's role in pushing the initiative forward and said support from countries including Spain and Italy showed Britain was far from alone in challenging the EU's current priorities. The letter, sent to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Von Rompuy ahead of next week's EU summit, calls for urgent action to tackle the EU's "crisis of growth". Led by Britain's David Cameron and Holland's Mark Rutte, 10 other leaders have signed the letter. It puts forward an eight-point plan for growth, including reducing the burden on business of EU red tape, advancing the single market through stronger enforcement and driving forward the digital economy. Mr Callanan, Conservative MEP for the North East, said: "The Prime Minister, of course, is absolutely right to demand that the EU's leaders concentrate on growth and stop wasting their efforts on treaties that will solve nothing. "The really encouraging thing is that 11 other countries now seem to see things the same way as us. They too want to see action not words and it seems they too would welcome a rolling back of restrictive social legislation such as the working-time and the agency-workers directives, which cripple expansion and obstruct growth. "Again it shows that Britain, rather than being isolated in Europe, is pointing the way."