Conservatives in the European Parliment - News Feed

Conservatives win through for UK Offshore Oil and Gas industry

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:00:00 GMT

British MEPs today declared victory in their long-running battle over offshore oil safety rules.

Yes to tackling tax evasion - No to a common euro-tax!

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:00:00 GMT

Conservative MEPs will today refuse to back moves which they fear would be a first step towards a common corporation tax - imposed right across Europe and decided in Brussels.

Deva says we must stop the rise of Jihadist states in Africa

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:00:00 GMT

A conference of donor nations and charities in Brussels today aims to mobilise and coordinate support for strife-torn Mali.

Britain's long-term EU budget goal "in sight"

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:00:00 GMT

Agreement on an extra €7.3 billion in this year's EU budget should pave the way for a long-term spending settlement which delivers a series of key British objectives, the leader of the UK's Conservative MEPs said today. Richard Ashworth was speaking after Finance Ministers sitting in the EU Council decided by qualified majority that in theory they would allow the extra spending towards unpaid bills run up last year by member states - including Britain - on EU projects. The European Parliament, which has co-decision powers with the Council on budget matters, has insisted that key negotiations on the EU's long-term budget blueprint to 2020 could go no further until the matter of the so-called "draft amending budget" for 2013 was settled. The UK along with Sweden, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands were in a minority in opposing the extra spending, but Mr Ashworth said today that what might appear to be a backward step could help deliver a better long-term deal for Britain in the seven-year Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF). In announcing its new position, Council said the extra money for 2013 would only be finally approved once MEPs agreed final terms on the long-term budget. Mr Ashworth said: "If this measure is finally agreed next week between Parliament and Council, it should mean Britain achieving its key goals for the long-term budget - including the Prime Minister's historic deal for the first ever budget reduction. We should see the seven-year budget fall by 3.3 per cent and a lid firmly put on the idea of the EU raising its own funding through own-resources taxation. "All of those are worth striving for and it is now incumbent on the Parliament to accept the current position and stop coming back with demands for more cash." As a key UK negotiator in the Parliament on budget, the South East MEP has been concerned that the political log-jam over the 2013 budget could threaten the prospects of a sound seven-year agreement. He said: "The issue of the amending budget has been a cloud over our talks, but it could prove to have a silver lining if it helps deliver the right agreement on MFF. This puts a good long-term deal in sight."

Welcome for serious action on petrol-price allegations

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:00:00 GMT

Conservative MEP Vicky Ford, who has consistently pushed for EU action against petrol price-fixing, today welcomed the launch of a major investigation into manipulation of the oil and petrol market. Working in co-operation with Harlow MP Robert Halfon, Mrs. Ford has tabled a series of parliamentary questions in Brussels urging the European Commission to probe serious allegations of price-manipulation levelled against major oil companies. Yesterday the Commission announced a wide-ranging investigation as officials raided the offices of leading firms including Shell and BP. Mrs. Ford, MEP for the East of England and Conservative spokesman on Industry, Research and Energy, said: "We have been working together to give the Commission a serious push on this issue. "I persistently questioned them and urged them to sit up and take notice of this important issue. It is very pleasing that now they have. "Sometimes when you ask questions of the EU you feel as though they disappear into a black hole, but it looks as though this time the right people have listened. "I hope the investigation now underway will be as thorough and wide-reaching as it needs to be to root out any malpractice and reassure consumers that in future they will not be cheated. "Motorists need be in the driving seat - not taken for a ride."

Rogue MEP's Falklands intervention condemned

Fri, 10 May 2013 11:00:00 GMT

Conservatives in Brussels are to demand that the European Parliament"s authorities rein in a Spanish MEP after he told Argentina the EP did not accept British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.

Sturdy: EU solar panels duties are a really dim idea

Wed, 08 May 2013 17:00:00 GMT

An eye-watering EU duty of 47 percent on solar panels from China, proposed today, puts thousands of jobs at risk in Europe, whilst pushing prices of solar panels through the roof, Robert Sturdy MEP, Conservative trade spokesman and Vice-President of the European Parliament's International Trade committee, said today.

Struan hails black-pudding breakthrough

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:00:00 GMT

Scots MEP Struan Stevenson today welcomed a decision to grant protected status to Stornoway black pudding. The decision means that only products made in the Isle of Lewis town can be labelled and marketed as "Stornoway" black pudding and puts it on a par with Parma ham, Roquefort cheese and Champagne. Mr Stevenson said: "Black pudding from Stornoway is well-known and well-loved around the world and this decision means it cannot be be faked or counterfeited. People will not be allowed to pass off inferior puddings made elsewhere as Stornoway puddings. "It's a good day for Stornoway and a good day for black pudding."

Accounting standards need scrutiny to make sure banks behave

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

Conservatives MEPs today called for the regime for global accounting standards to be held up to thorough international scrutiny in light of the central role it played in causing the financial crisis. The MEPs a series of key questions at a hearing in the European Parliament on the future of International Financial Reporting Standards. With the European Commission set to commit to another six years of funding for both the International Accounting Standards Board and the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group - the bodies which respectively write the standards and grant them the EU's legal endorsement - the hearing flagged up several major areas requiring attention on in depth. Host Syed Kamall MEP, Conservative MEP for London, said: "It cannot just be business as usual. We need to be sure we get to a regime which is clear and simple but also thorough and a powerful tool for better governance. Time is passing and this needs addressing now." International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are globally-recognised accounting standards that have been used in the EU for the accounts of banking groups and other listed companies for more than 20 years. Some investors believe that their complexity allows banks to misrepresent the reality of their balance sheets, making it hard to know what may be wrong with their finances. Some of the standards are said to have contributed to the crisis, in particular those relating to how derivatives and losses on loans are recognised on balance sheets. Dr Kamall, Conservative MEP for London, believes that fresh call for European banks to be stress-tested once more, to identify possible capital shortfalls, means transparency in banks' balance sheets should be top priority for the Commission. He has been fighting hard to raise awareness of the issue at a European level. At today's event, organised by the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants, he said: "The European accounting model has developed over several centuries and is about far more than simply providing information to the capital markets" "Accounts in this context are drivers of better governance, not just about information for investors." "It is important to discuss the extent to which IFRS, which run up to several thousand pages of rules, can achieve these aims. Often the more rules there are, the easier they are to get around." "The G20 commitment is to strengthen the global financial system. We have to ask ourselves whether converging around complex, wordy accounting standards is something that will stave off future crises."

NATO Secretary General comments on EU defence policy

Mon, 06 May 2013 18:00:00 GMT

Conservative Security and Defence spokesman, Geoffrey Van Orden MEP, today stated that European defence policy was merely a case of the EU looking for ways to justify its existence and push for more European integration.