ECR

07-06-2010 Debating the Future of the CAP

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is momentarily under review because it will be reformed in 2013. The Civil Society, Member States, the Commission and the European Parliament therefore try to get as much of their opinions on the matter heard. MEP George Lyon (ALDE) member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development was responsible for drafting up an own initiative report on the Future of the Common Agricultural Policy. Although his draft was well written with concerns for growing world population, food security, financial crisis, growing oil prices, climate change and unfair trade, it was hardly critical on the negative effect the CAP has had on developing countries and their agricultural sectors. Many amendments on the other hand give hope that the report will lead to more EU Policy Coherence for Development. Read more »

20-04-2010 MEP Tannock Concerned about E-Waste

Electronic waste, is a growing problem for developing countries. Computers, washing machines, televisions and other electronic equipment that can no longer be used in Europe are shipped to developing countries (mainly West Africa) as second hand technology or illegally. European e-waste finds its way to open ground dumpsites where people, including children, make a living by removing and selling the very small amounts of raw materials such as copper, without appropriate protection. As a result, hundreds of people experience dramatic health problems and the surrounding land contains highly toxic materials such as high concentrations of lead. Charles Tannock (ECR), on the basis of a BBC television report, is concerned for the populations in Ghana, a destination for large amounts of e-waste. Read more »

29-07-2009 MEPs concerned about Uzbeki children

Different MEPs from parties such as the ECR, ALDE and S&D have raised the issue of forced child labour that is used by the Uzbeki government in order to provide for harvest of their cotton each year. While this led to a call for boycott by the World Fair Trade Organisation, the EU the biggest single destination for Uzbek cotton continued importing the product under the preferential system. Graham Watson (ALDE) particularly highlights the incoherence of this by referring to the commitments the Commission made to eradicating child labour at a global level. We would like to thank Bill Newton Dunn (ALDE), Roger Helmer (ECR), Graham Watson (ALDE), Claude Moraes (S&D) and Charles Tannock (ECR) for raising this issue. Read more »