Tag Archives: andrew duff

The Voice

Awards for Liberal Democrat MEPs Chris Davies and Andrew Duff

By The Voice | Wed 19th March 2014 - 3:55 pm

EU Parliament Brussels - Some rights reserved by PoetografieGood news from Brussels. Two Liberal Democrat MEPs have won awards in the MEP Awards 2014.

First up was Chris Davies for his work to secure sustainable fishing through Fish for the Future.

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Also tagged , and | 2 Comments
Mark Valladares

This week in Europe: 11-15 November – it’s all getting a bit tense out there…

By Mark Valladares | Fri 15th November 2013 - 3:19 pm

Following a complaint by the UK Government to the European Commission over the imposition of strict border controls by Spain at its border with Gibraltar, the Commission have, somewhat unexpectedly, concluded that the checks did not break EU laws. It has written to both the UK and Spain with recommendations to avoid future delays at the border.

In response, Sir Graham Watson, Liberal Democrat MEP for South West England and Gibraltar, said;

“It sounds to me as if Spanish officials have succeeded in nobbling this report. As the editor of Private Eye once said, if that’s justice then I’m a banana.”
 
“I am …

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Also tagged and | 15 Comments
NewsHound

Liberal Democrat MEPs call for Committee of Inquiry on Cyprus

By NewsHound | Fri 12th April 2013 - 11:51 am

Senior UK Liberal Democrat MEP Sharon Bowles has called for a Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry should the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) Hearing on 25 April not answer the many questions hanging over the Cyprus affair.
 
Bowles, who chairs the influential ECON Committee said:
 

We will have an ECON Committee hearing on 25 April with the Troika and Mr Dijsselbloem, President of the Eurogroup to get to the bottom of the Cyprus bailout affair. If we find the answers insufficient the Liberal Group in the European Parliament will call for the immediate setting up of a Committee of Inquiry

…

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Posted in Europe / International | Also tagged and | 2 Comments
Paul Haydon

MEPs call for review of funding for European far-right

By Paul Haydon | Thu 31st January 2013 - 11:56 am

Last year, for the first time, the far-right Alliance of European National Movements (AENM) organised itself into a pan-European bloc, and has therefore recently been allocated almost £400,000 in public funding from the European Parliament. This group includes the BNP, the Front National in France and Jobbik, a far-right political party in Hungary renowned for its racist and anti-semitic views. Of particular concern is the possibility that public money could now end up being used to incite racial hatred.

Under EU regulations, parties must observe fundamental principles such as liberty, democracy and respect for human rights in order to …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 2 Comments
NewsHound

This week in Europe… 10-13 December

By NewsHound | Fri 14th December 2012 - 8:51 am

European patent will boost UK businesses

Liberal Democrat MEPs have warmly welcomed Tuesday’s green light for the long-awaited deal on a unitary European Patent.

The European Parliament has voted to accept a hard-fought compromise package which has taken nearly forty years to negotiate. Two states, Spain and Italy, have declined to take part on the grounds that their languages are not included in the patent filing process.

Andrew Duff MEP, who represents the important cluster of science research in the East of England, commented:

Today sees a huge break-through for European innovation and competitiveness. The final agreement on a unitary patent

…

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Also tagged and | 6 Comments
Giles Goodall

Three cheers for the unsung heroes of Brussels

By Giles Goodall | Fri 16th November 2012 - 11:52 am

A new survey by European news portal Euractiv has ranked Sharon Bowles MEP as the most influential Brit in EU policy-making, eight places ahead of David Cameron and thirty-three above Nigel Farage. The UK40 survey also features Lib Dem MEPs Andrew Duff and Sir Graham Watson in the top sixteen. National politicians such as Cameron, William Hague and Nick Clegg make the top twenty, but often lose out in the ranking to less well known Brits in the EU institutions.

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Posted in Europe / International | Also tagged , , and | Leave a comment
Mark Valladares

European Parliament – another day, more elections…

By Mark Valladares | Fri 20th January 2012 - 11:00 am

Following on from the election of Martin Schulz to the Presidency of the European Parliament earlier this week, European Parliamentarians have been electing fourteen Vice–Presidents and five Quaestors.

Incumbent Vice-President, Edward McMillan-Scott (Liberal Democrat, Yorkshire and the Humber), having been elected last time as a member of the European People’s Party when the Conservatives were still members, was successfully re-elected as a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, meaning that the Liberal Democrats are directly represented on the Bureau, which is the administrative decision-making body in parliament dealing with issues such as buildings and MEPs’ expenses.

The full list …

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 1 Comment
NewsHound

LibLink: Andrew Duff – Europe gripped by UK election

By NewsHound | Tue 4th May 2010 - 8:45 am

Over at the Financial Times, Lib Dem MEP Andrew Duff offers a European perspective on the UK’s general election – and finds the continent as gripped as the rest of us by Thursday’s national poll:

In Brussels and across Europe there has been a surge of interest in the British general election campaign. People had more or less accepted that David Cameron would form a Conservative government, probably with a large majority, but now the outcome looks far from certain. …

Yet the thing that has galvanised continental political interest is the exposure of the iniquity of British electoral procedure. That Mr

…

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Posted in Europe / International and LibLink | 3 Comments
Mark Pack

Book review: Saving the European Union

By Mark Pack | Sun 14th February 2010 - 4:50 pm

Andrew Duff’s book Saving the European Union: The logic of the Lisbon Treaty, written early in 2009, has an endearingly open comment about his own political views compared with those of his colleagues:

My party, the UK Liberal Democrats, and group, the Alliance for Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), have been amazingly tolerant of finding a militant federalist in their midst.

Although an enthusiast for a closer European Union, Andrew Duff recognises the need for pro-Europeans to make their case and starts with the roots of the EU in the ruins of post-1945 Europe. He quotes Winston Churchill saying:

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Posted in Books and Europe / International | Also tagged , and | 2 Comments
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