The new leader of the Liberal Democrat MEPs, Fiona Hall, has said that its time for MEPs to have an increased profile in the party and for the European angle to have a greater role in Liberal Democrat policy making.

In an interview with me on behalf of the Lib Dem European Group, Fiona said,

“We need to get MEPs out of the ghetto of “Europe”. MEPs do not do “Europe”. MEPs do crime, security, civil liberties, finance, climate change, energy, biodiversity, agriculture, fisheries, international development … with a particular emphasis on the European level of decision making in these areas. At present, party policy has a worrying tendency to overlook and omit that European angle, or to report it inaccurately”

Fiona also noted that the Liberal MEPs from Britain, France, and Germany all now have women leaders.  She said that the economy, climate change, and Lisbon stand out as issues facing the new parliament and defined her personal vision for Europe as,

“My personal vision is of a United Kingdom at ease in the EU and putting energy into being the highly influential European partner that it deserves to be.”

You can read the interview in full here and an interview with Nick Clegg is coming soon.