Category Archives: Europe / International

Anything to do with European / international issues

Mark Valladares

New ELDR President Sir Graham Watson: ready for the challenge

By Mark Valladares | Tue 6th December 2011 - 11:54 am

At last week’s Congress of the European Liberal Democrats, the umbrella grouping of liberal parties across the continent, Graham Watson, our list MEP in South West England (and Gibraltar), was elected to the position of President. Here are his thoughts on the task ahead…

Last week I had the honour of being elected the new President of ELDR, the European political party federation to which the Liberal Democrats belong, at its annual congress in sunny Palermo, Italy.

I was unopposed as a candidate, so the result was not quite the surprise as it might otherwise have been. I’m not sure whether the …

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Mark Pack

What are Lib Dem MEPs up to when it comes to money?

By Mark Pack | Mon 5th December 2011 - 11:55 am

I’ve been wondering for a little time what the Liberal Democrat MEPs are pushing for when it comes to the European Union’s budget, which makes London MEP Sarah Ludford’s latest email update particularly timely:

No pro-European LibDem can be other than fully committed to reform of the EU. Any flaws in the way it is run overshadow its good work on everything from research to roaming charges, not to speak of the area I am passionate about, justice and civil liberties. I’m pleased therefore that a deal has been reached for the EU’s 2012  budget which overall represents no real terms

…

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Mark Valladares

ELDR Congress: that’s another fine Mezzogiorno, they’ve gotten us into…

By Mark Valladares | Sun 4th December 2011 - 1:48 pm

Liberals from across Europe and, according to one vocal member of our delegation, beyond, gathered last week in the Sicilian capital, Palermo, under rather tighter security than usual, to discuss the gathering Euro crisis and the future of the European Union budget. As Liberal Democrats, we’ve grown used to meeting with rather depressing levels of security but, for a change, this wasn’t intended for us. Our hosts, Italia dei Valori, included the former Mayor of Palermo and current ELDR Vice-President, Leoluca Orlando, whose anti-mafia campaigning probably still makes him a potential target.

The theme for the Congress was the 2014-2020 EU …

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Paul Reynolds

Opinion: European Liberal Democrat Parties vote against war with Iran

By Paul Reynolds | Wed 30th November 2011 - 10:54 am

At the 2011 Annual Congress of the European Liberal Democratic and Reform (ELDR) parties in Palermo last week, a major initiative from the UK Lib Dems was the successful tabling of an emergency resolution on the growing likelihood of war with Iran. Media and intelligence reports have described the ‘planned’ action as a multi-pronged attack on Iran by the United States and Israel, with military support from the United Kingdom and Canada. In Palermo, the UK Lib Dem resolution against the war, and against European involvement, was passed with a large majority. The ELDR resolution also condemned Iran for not …

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Mark Pack

A welcome shift in international interventions

By Mark Pack | Mon 28th November 2011 - 10:55 am

News of the Arab League’s sanctions against Syria brings to mind the Curate’s Egg – good in parts. That such sanctions are unprecedented shows a welcome increase once more in the Arab League’s willingness to stand up to dictators where mass violence against the population is involved. (Other dictators are another matter of course.) After the steps in Libya and now Syria, the Arab League is looking rather more like a body that does good rather than excuses evil.

That transformation only goes so far. For it has taken months and around 3,500 deaths to bring about sanctions which are …

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Rob Murphy

Opinion: Egypt – time now for the power of votes in ballot boxes

By Rob Murphy | Sat 26th November 2011 - 11:54 am

Egyptians have risked, and continue to risk, so much for their future. Back in February, there was jubilation in Tahrir Square, at the ousting of President Mubarak after forty years of autocratic rule. There was hope for a more democratic future. Nine months on, they are back in Tahrir facing military and police brutality, asking why the ruling military council is denying the people that future.

These are the most sustained protests since Mubarak was ousted. Nearly 40 people have been killed. It is thought that many have been shot dead by the security forces. Many hundreds are injured. There are …

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Manmeet Kaur

The Independent View: 1 in 7 people go hungry every day. But you can help. Here’s how…

By Manmeet Kaur | Thu 24th November 2011 - 9:17 am

It is a shocking fact that whilst enough food is produced globally to feed everyone, one in seven people go hungry every day. Around half a billion of these hungry people are smallholder farmers who struggle to grow enough food from their land to feed themselves and their families. So Concern Worldwide has launched a campaign action for you to use your influence to help tackle hunger.

World leaders of the Group of 20 leading economies met in Cannes in November 2011 and promised to address the issue of hunger. However, despite some progress, the issue was largely …

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Mark Valladares

ELDR Congress – let’s hope it isn’t a lemon…

By Mark Valladares | Wed 23rd November 2011 - 3:25 pm

It’s a long way from Creeting St Peter to Palermo, which partly explains why this piece comes to you from Linate Airport in Milan. But if my eight hour journey feels arduous, it is as nothing compared to the journey back to stability that is the mission of the Eurozone’s finance ministers.

In the midst of this crisis, ELDR (the European Liberal Democrats) delegates from across Europe (and I’m beginning to appreciate just how far that might be) are gathering in Sicily’s capital to discuss the European Union’s budget for 2014-2020. I’m here because you sent me (or at …

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Stephen Tall

Spain turns to the right – but are the voters rejecting ‘the left’ or incumbents?

By Stephen Tall | Mon 21st November 2011 - 8:00 am

As the polls had predicted, Spain has a new government: Rajoy’s right-wing Partido Popular (PP) defeated Zapatero’s left-of-centre Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE). The only surprise was the large margin of victory, 16%, the worst defeat for Spain’s socialists in their electoral history.

So yet another right-wing government takes power in a European nation. On the face of it, it seems almost perverse that at a time when confidence in the deregulated capitalist system associated with the right is at its lowest ebb that those parties which champion it are winning elections. As I noted here on LibDemVoice back in …

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Don Foster MP

Don Foster MP writes… It’s time we talked about toilets!

By Don Foster MP | Sat 19th November 2011 - 11:45 am

Here in the UK, a toilet is a necessity that we are lucky enough to take for granted – a subject for humour, or something we’d prefer not to talk about.

Yet for billions of people around the world, sanitation is a serious issue. With a staggering 2.6 billion – nearly 40% of the world’s population – living without basic, safe sanitation, it’s time we talked about toilets. It’s a shocking fact that diarrhoea, caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation, is the biggest killer of children under five in Africa. In fact, globally it kills more children every year …

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Mark Valladares

Graham Watson runs for the Presidency of the European Liberal Democrats

By Mark Valladares | Thu 17th November 2011 - 9:15 am

Next week sees the annual Congress of ELDR, the European Liberal Democrats, which takes place in the Sicilian city of Palermo from 23-25 November.

Apart from the debates on the current economic crisis and the 2014-20 EU budget, there will be elections for the President and four Vice-Presidents. At the time of writing, there is only one declared candidate to succeed Annemie Neyts, whose three terms as President have seen ELDR grow and flourish — Sir Graham Watson, MEP for South West England and Gibraltar. You can read his manifesto here.

Graham has been a Member of the European Parliament …

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Stephen Tall

Clegg: the Coalition’s priorities must be “jobs and growth, jobs and growth”

By Stephen Tall | Thu 17th November 2011 - 8:10 am

The intertwined topics of the economy and Europe has continued to dominate the political scene this week. But as Europhobic Tories continue to froth at the thought of England’s the UK’s retreat from its neighbours, Nick Clegg has maintained a decidedly mainstream approach, and attempted to shift the focus back from constitutional niceties to economic reality. Here’s how The Guardian reports Nick’s words:

Nick Clegg has clashed with David Cameron over Europe as he warned that only “populists, chauvinists and demagogues” would gain from protracted negotiations on treaty change. The Liberal Democrat deputy hit out the day after Cameron used

…

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Carl Quilliam

The weekend debate: Are Lib Dems too pro-European?

By Carl Quilliam | Sat 12th November 2011 - 8:45 am

Here’s your starter for ten in our weekend slot where we throw up an idea or thought for debate…

With the looming debt crisis in the Eurozone and Eurosceptics from across the political divide baying for blood, the LDV weekend debate couldn’t resist the pressure any longer.

So, with people openly talking about the possibility of the end of the Euro as we know it, and Europe seemingly in crisis, are Lib Dem Ministers taking the right decisions for the party and the country as a whole?

The party has long been …

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Helen Duffett

Liz Lynne MEP to stand down

By Helen Duffett | Mon 7th November 2011 - 6:50 pm

Liberal Democrat MEP Liz Lynne has announced she plans to stand down as Euro MP for the West Midlands Region in three months’ time, saying ‘the time is right’ to move on after 12 and a half years representing the region in the European Parliament. She will be succeeded by Phil Bennion, the second candidate on the party’s list at the election in 2009.

The Euro MP revealed her decision in her speech to the regional Lib Dem party conference at Birmingham Chamber of Commerce on Saturday afternoon, saying:

I have decided to stand down as MEP at the beginning of February.

…

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Jasper Gerard

Opinion: The modern Conservative party – how very Reckless

By Jasper Gerard | Wed 2nd November 2011 - 10:05 am

If Dickens had invented a character called “Mark Reckless”, it might have looked a little contrived. The Conservative MP for Strood and Rochester has argued that Britain should withdraw from the EU, and claims that over half his Conservative colleagues support him.

And not since such Dickensian figures as Sir Leicester Dedlock or Artful Dodger has a character lived up to his name with such enthusiasm. For think how reckless it would be if Britain were to withdraw from the EU, a scenario which even Margaret Thatcher considered suicidal and which was once the lonely position of the lunatic, Bennite left.

Amid …

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Nick T

LibLink: Paddy Ashdown – Libya’s path to democracy

By Nick T | Thu 27th October 2011 - 10:28 am

Lord (Paddy) Ashdown recently penned a piece for the Guardian with some thoughts on how Libya should now move towards a functioning democracy following its liberation. The rule of law, in the short term at least, is more important than elections, according to Paddy.

Here’s an extract:

If there is one thing more fraught, more attended by failure and more difficult to do than fighting a war, it is building the peace which follows. Our modern wars are fought in weeks or months – but building the peace is measured in decades. Wars are violent and swift. Building peace is long, painful

…

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Paul Walter

PMQs: Nadine Dorries asks question. No-one dies.

By Paul Walter | Wed 26th October 2011 - 6:54 pm

Today was the fiftieth anniversary of Prime Minister’s Questions. And it was a fairly typical session. As always, it was in two parts.

Part one: Lots of jeering, cheering, knockabout, winding-up and prepared lines exchanged between the PM and opposition leader.

Part Two: Generally hum-drum but important questions from various back-benchers, largely heard in earnest silence.

The bit that most people will see will be the short bit on the telly, which will be a few seconds of ya-boo politics. In itself, that is a good piece of democracy in that it highlights the weaknesses of the government and the opposition. The longer …

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Layla Moran MP

Opinion: Gaddafi’s Death – a conflict of emotion

By Layla Moran MP | Wed 26th October 2011 - 2:27 pm

As is customary in my family, any major news event (especially one in the Arab world) is first alerted to us by a text or call from my mother. While neither of my parents are party political, politics has permeated every hour of our family life for a long as I can remember. These days, usually as a result of either BBC World News or Al-Jazeera being the TV channel of choice at all times.

My father is currently operative as the EU head of ‘mission’ (in as much as one can exist) in Libya and so we have been watching …

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Nick T

LibLink: Paddy Ashdown – To be stronger, Europe must give away power

By Nick T | Tue 25th October 2011 - 5:28 pm

Former Liberal Democrat leader Lord (Paddy) Ashdown has a piece in today’s Times arguing that the European Union must reform if it is to regain public support and fulfil its original objectives.

Here are a couple of excerpts:

The reasons for European integration are not weaker today than they were when this all started; they are stronger. The EU’s founding fathers saw European integration as a means to avoid repeating our past and as the right response to postward turmoil. We should see it as the best means to assure our future and the right reaction to the global turmoil that we

…

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Tim Farron MP

Tim Farron MP writes… EU referendum: the Conservatives are not acting out of patriotism

By Tim Farron MP | Mon 24th October 2011 - 12:53 pm

This is not likely to win me any votes, but I am proudly pro-Europe and in favour of our continued membership of the EU. That doesn’t make me an apologist for every aspect of the EU: the EU could definitely operate more transparently, efficiently and effectively, and we as Liberal Democrats should say so more often and with more conviction.

Nevertheless, our main challenge has to be to win hearts and minds in favour of our broader membership of the EU, and reverse the completely poisonous anti-European narrative. So many of those who were so indignant this summer about Mr Murdoch’s …

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The Voice

Martin Horwood: the real issue facing Europe today is an unprecedented economic crisis

By The Voice | Sat 22nd October 2011 - 7:26 pm

Earlier today, we ran a guest post calling on the Liberal Democrats to back the forthcoming Parliamentary vote on a European referendum. Here is the press statement issued today by the party’s International Spokesman, Martin Horwood MP:

The Conservative right and UKIP seem hell bent in stoking a row which will threaten our stability.

The real issue facing Europe today is an unprecedented economic crisis. For Britain to start a constitutional argument at this critical moment would be fantastically irresponsible and could damage Britian’s ability to influence.

Billions of pounds of European investment in Britain is at stake as we watch an

…

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Simon McGrath

Opinion: Why won’t Nick Clegg trust the people with a referendum on Europe?

By Simon McGrath | Sat 22nd October 2011 - 3:54 pm

If there is one thing which Liberal Democrats need to be careful about after the tuition fees debacle, it is being seen to renege on any of our manifesto commitments. But this appears to be exactly what Nick Clegg is determined to do with the news that he has imposed a three line whip to vote against an EU referendum.

This is an area where he has a clear and very unsatisfactory track record already. The 2005 manifesto promised a referendum on the EU Constitution but when it came to a vote on the Lisbon Treaty (identical in virtually every respect …

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Zadok Day

Opinion: Euro-reformists, not Euro-philes

By Zadok Day | Wed 19th October 2011 - 11:25 am

We are due what will be undoubtedly be a hard general election in 2015, and Liberal Democrats are already lagging behind the other main parties by not planning our post-coalition policy. The economy, of course, is the most obvious issue – an elephant in the room that, this time around, everyone will be fully aware of! Falling back into second place, if not further, is the comparative whale in the fishtank: the EU, and Britain’s place in it.

Few would deny the time for debate is close. As the nation watches what looks like the slow-motion collapse of the Euro, Euroscepticism …

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Mark Valladares

Opinion: Ever wanted to be a European Liberal Democrat, if only for forty-eight hours…?

By Mark Valladares | Thu 13th October 2011 - 12:15 pm

In my capacity as one of Liberal Democrat Voice’s foreign correspondents, I’ve been covering ELDR events for a few years now. So, why might you be interested, and how do you get to go to an ELDR Congress?

The annual Congress of the European Liberal Democrats (ELDR) is an opportunity for liberals from across Europe, including beyond the European Union, to discuss the issues of the day, and to get a sense of how liberals in the European Parliament are responding to them. Delegates get to debate with parliamentarians, take part in sessions with Commissioners and leading academics and, perhaps of …

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Stephen Tall

Lib Dem members’ views on the European Union (more divided than you might expect)

By Stephen Tall | Mon 3rd October 2011 - 7:55 am

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Over 550 party members responded, and we’ve been publishing the full results.

85% back EU membership… but 51% reject move to ever closer union

LDV asked: Which of the following options would be your ideal future for the UK and the European Union?

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Mark Pack

Sarah Ludford opposed plans to refurbish MEP offices

By Mark Pack | Thu 29th September 2011 - 8:45 am

Good to see a Liberal Democrat MEP taking up this cause in a press release:

Liberal Democrat London MEP Sarah Ludford has called for the blocking of plans by European Parliament bosses known as the ‘bureau’ to spend £26 million (€30 million) on improving MEP offices in the Parliament’s Strasbourg building.

The Parliament is currently obliged under the EU treaties – fixed by the 27 national governments – to sit in both Brussels and Strasbourg in a ‘travelling circus’. But in June a majority of MEPs voted in favour of maintaining a single seat in Brussels, which would save 19,000 tonnes of CO2 …

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Mark Pack

Lib Dems hold Tories back on Europe

By Mark Pack | Sat 10th September 2011 - 8:36 pm

The Spectator reports:

Hague says he’s been held back on Europe by the Lib Dems
William Hague’s comments in an interview with The Times that the Liberal Democrats are restraining the Tories on Europe will increase the grumbling among Tory backbenchers about the power of the junior coalition partner.

I’ll file that in the ‘good news’ pile.

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Alex Foster

80 dead in Norway shootings

By Alex Foster | Sat 23rd July 2011 - 3:33 am

I’ve been keeping late hours baking but as I was getting ready to turn in, the news began breaking about the extent of the awfulness in Norway. As I write, 80 are confirmed dead at a summer camp for youth members of Norway’s ruling Labour party.

It’s terrible, terrible news, all the more vivid for me for the thought that this meeting must have been a similar sort of thing to the dozens run by our own party over the years. None of us would ever have considered Activate, or a Liberal Youth meeting a target for such an atrocity. …

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Chris Davies

Chris Davies MEP writes: Conservatives and climate change – Tuesday’s revealing vote in Strasbourg

By Chris Davies | Mon 4th July 2011 - 12:49 pm

While Energy Secretary Chris Huhne is at the fore of efforts in the European Council to raise EU ambitions for reducing CO2 emissions, Conservative MEPs are refusing to back the Government’s position, and look set this week instead to demonstrate their real views about efforts to curb global warming.

At issue is a vote due to take place in Strasbourg on Tuesday that will determine the Parliament’s stance on the European Commission’s strategy to promote a low carbon economy. The result is on a knife edge.

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Mark Valladares

There is a corner of a foreign field that is forever… ELDR Council

By Mark Valladares | Thu 19th May 2011 - 9:53 am

Welcome to Dresden, the capital of Saxony, famous for being the last place mentioned by a Liberal minister at the dispatch box before the Coalition. Admittedly, on that occasion, he was announcing its carpet-bombing, but I’m optimistic that this visit will be rather less traumatic for all concerned…

So, why are a dozen or so Liberal Democrats gathering here? The Council of ELDR (the European Liberal Democrats) – think of it as the European equivalent of the Federal Executive – is holding its first meeting of its current two year term, hosted by the FDP, and a delegation of people for …

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