News Releases
Showing: April 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.
Anger at cost of EC "high life"
Posted,4/29/2012 10:00:00 PM
A senior Conservative MEP today responded angrily to revelations about a deal to spend millions of pounds of taxpayers' money on private jets to whisk the EU's top officials around the globe in luxury.
Tory welcome for report that debunks Commission budget claims
Posted,4/27/2012 12:00:00 PM
The think tank Open Europe has today published a report which "fact-checks" claims made by the European Commission on Wednesday in support of its demands for a 6.8 per cent increase in the EU's budget in 2013. Among other things, it demonstrates that despite claims to be tackling the EU's unwieldly administrative budget, the Commission's plans involve the net loss of just six jobs. Richard Ashworth, leader of the UK's Conservative MEPs, welcomed the Open Europe study and said: "The Commission's justification for its budget demand does not stand up to scrutiny. "Commissioners are paying lip service to the subject of staff cuts rather than seriously looking to slim down the EU's hefty payroll. "To present a net reduction of just six jobs as a tough re-examination of staffing levels is no way to gain credibility - expansion or no expansion. "Rather than looking for a seven per cent increase, the Commission should be looking to do what every national government, every local authority, every business and indeed every family in Europe is doing - and that is to cut its spending to fit the times we live in."The Open Europe Fact Check can be found at: http://www.openeurope.org.uk/Article/Page/en/LIVE?id=8802
Allegations of Tymoshenko violence 'deeply concerning'
Posted,4/26/2012 4:00:00 PM
News from Yulia Tymoshenko's lawyer that, on the 20th April, she was forcefully and brutally removed from her prison cell and transported to a state hospital against her will, is deeply concerning and requires explanation, Charles Tannock MEP, European Conservatives and Reformists' foreign affairs spokesman, said today.
No time to be bluffing over EU budget
Posted,4/25/2012 4:00:00 PM
The European Commission today (Wednesday) presented to the European Parliament's budget committee its proposal for the EU's 2013 budget.
Callanan: EU ministers should discuss Argentina's G20 expulsion
Posted,4/20/2012 2:00:00 PM
EU foreign ministers meeting next week should discuss launching a joint initiative to expel Argentina from the G20, the leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament, Martin Callanan MEP, said today. He has written to EU High Representative Catherine Ashton asking her to place Argentina on the agenda of Monday's meeting. It comes after the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Argentina's expropriation of the YPF oil company this lunchtime. Mr Callanan's letter is below: Dear High Representative Ashton, RE: Argentina's membership of the G20 As you will be aware, the European Parliament has today adopted a hard-hitting resolution on the recent nationalisation and expropriation of the YPF oil company by Argentina. This matter, and the ongoing interference in the economic sovereignty of the Falkland islands, are merely the tip of the iceberg. In reality, for many years Argentina has been an economic pariah state which refuses to abide by the basic norms and standards we expect of G20 members. Argentina owes almost £10 billion to private creditors. The World Bank is lending Argentina £4.78 billion yet she has refused to honour the rulings of its arbitration arm. It has repeatedly breached treaty obligations under the ICSID. It refuses to allow the IMF to review its public accounts. Its policies of economic nationalism and price controls run contrary to the principles of an open, trading G20 bloc. Hard-hitting words from the European Union are only playing to President Kirchner's nationalist agenda, bolstering her position against the West. Instead, the EU needs to take economic actions to make it clear to Argentina that its economic heresy will be met with actions as well as words. Therefore, I urge you to place Argentina on the agenda for Monday's Foreign Affairs Council meeting, with a view to discussing both the EU's economic response to the events of the past week, and the possibility of the EU and its G20 member states jointly launching an initiative to expel Argentina from the G20. Such an action is the only way the EU can send a strong signal that will make the administration sit up and listen. The USA has taken significant action already, including the automatic adoption of sanctions as a result of Argentinian arrears of $6 billion to the Paris Club countries. With the global economy in such a delicate state, it falls to the industrialised economies to ensure that international financial systems and standards are not compromised. Argentina has been flouting the rules of the game for many years, yet we have watched on. I call on you to put this matter on the agenda, so that the EU can finally lance this boil on the global economy. Yours sincerely, Martin Callanan MEP, Leader, European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament
Ford: Delay shows we are winning the mortgage battle
Posted,4/20/2012 12:00:00 PM
A vote on EU proposals for new legislation on mortgages is now likely to be delayed following the intervention of Conservative MEP Vicky Ford.
EU cash-grab will fuel disgust
Posted,4/20/2012 9:00:00 AM
Conservative MEPs have promised a full scale battle against attempts by the European Commission to increase the EU's budget next year by nearly seven per cent. Today's Daily Telegraph reveals that the inflation-busting increase, sought in defiance of all requests for restraint, would add more than £7 billion to total spending and send the UK's annual contribution spiralling to £14 billion or £666 per household. Richard Ashworth, leader of the UK's Conservative MEPs and a member of the European Parliament budget committee, said: "The Commission's demands are simply outrageous in the current climate. It is as though these people live on an other planet where there is no recession, no eurozone crisis, no bottom to taxpayers' pockets and no limit to their own self-indulgence. "They seem to have no concept of the disgust which will greet this demand for evermore cash. "Our position is clear - this is simply unacceptable. Conservatives will fight against this profligacy all the way. The Commission is out of touch with reality and we must make them see sense."
Crucial PNR counter-terrorism agreement takes off
Posted,4/19/2012 1:00:00 PM
The critical Passenger Name Records (PNR) agreement between the EU and USA, which has been approved by Euro-MPs today, will ensure that extremely valuable data on terrorists, serious criminals and people traffickers can be passed to the US authorities under strict conditions, Timothy Kirkhope MEP, European Conservatives and Reformists group spokesman, said today.
"Bonkers" climate-change claims are an insult to women
Posted,4/19/2012 11:00:00 AM
London MEP Marina Yannakoudakis today launched a withering attack on an EU committee's attempts to portray climate change as a feminist issue.
Callanan: The Euro zone sugar rush has worn off; time for euro leaders to make a decision
Posted,4/18/2012 5:00:00 PM
Speaking in a European Parliament debate today with EU commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, European Conservatives and Reformists group chairman Martin Callanan MEP said that it was time for euro zone leaders to stop pointing fingers at each other and make some tough decisions - particularly regarding the future of Greece within the euro zone, which Mr Callanan described as a 'lightning rod' for the crisis.