News has reached your reporter that, in a radical break with tradition, the English Candidates Committee is likely to meet later this month to address key questions relating to the selection of European Parliamentary candidates for elections due in May 2014, where Liberal Democrats will be defending seats held in each of the nine English Regions (two in South East England) and in Scotland.

Radical, because the Committee usually only meets four times a year, with the first meeting at the Spring Federal Conference, and the newly elected Chairs of Regional Candidates Committees will in some cases have only just taken up their responsibilities. But don’t worry, it’s unlikely that they’ll do anything particularly unexpected.

So, whilst Candidates Office were extremely cagey about what is likely to emerge from their deliberations, here’s what this observer is predicting;

The Selection Rules will not be finalised until English Council meets to approve them, unlikely to be until early June.

There will be a deadline applied to applications for approval as a European Parliamentary candidate, likely to be earlier than that, to ensure that there is time to run sufficient development days.

Applications for candidacy will be formally sought in July, with ballot papers issued in October, and results declared before Christmas.

What this means is that, if you haven’t been approved, and you intend to put yourself forward, now would be a very good time to ask those lovely people in Candidates Office for the application forms.

As we receive confirmation of the formal schedule, we’ll make sure that you find out too and, if you happen to know what is intended in Scotland or Wales, let us know, so that we can pass word on.