Headlines
EU Leaders must be unflinching in support for Arab democracy movements
 Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE group leader commented on the latest discussions between Member States: "The Member States have not been consistent or strong enough in supporting the democratic aspirations of the people in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain. Events in Libya have shown that expressing concern without committing to action have limited or no results. The European Union cannot afford to be neutral. People's aspirations for greater freedom and democracy have to be supported."
 EP approves a single permit for third country nationals seeking work in EU
 On 14 December 2010, ALDE rejected the amended proposal of a directive on a single permit for third-country nationals to reside and work in the territory of a Member state. The Liberals and Democrats opposed the fact that Member states could issue additional documents next to the Single permit as this would defeat the whole purpose of having this permit. The revised text adopted on March 24th includes ALDE's two key priorities - deletion all reference to additional documents, and insistence on "correlation tables" regarding correct implementation into national law. ALDE believes that the text also sends a clear signal that the European Parliament wants to move towards an EU legislative framework for legal migration.
The Libyan Transitional Council should formally join the Contact Group on Libya
 Liberals and Democrats in the European Parliament have welcomed progress made at the March 29th London Conference on Libya attended by over 40 countries, which decided inter alia on the setting-up of a Libya Contact Group of senior diplomats and international officials to steer the political future of Libya.
2009 Discharge: European Commission and Member States under scrutiny
 The European Parliament's budgetary control committee adopted on March 28th its draft report by Jorgo Chatzimarkakis (FDP, Germany) proposing to grant discharge to the European Commission for the 2009 budgetary year. Nevertheless the report is highly critical of the management of certain common policies such as cohesion where Member States feel immune from responsibility for the handling of EU funds despite being jointly responsible for the management of structural funds and selection of projects.
China: Liberals call for release of Ai Weiwei
 Ai Weiwei, a vocal critic of the Chinese regime who is best known for designing Beijing's Bird's Nest Olympic stadium and the current 'sunflower seed' installation in London's Tate Modern, was detained in Beijing April 3rd and remains unreachable since being held by Chinese authorities at the capital's airport.
Combating populism and extremism across the European Union
 Addressing a March 30th Liberal and Democrat conference in Brussels, Guy Verhofstadt warned against retreating into a "nationalist air-raid shelter" and called for society to adapt to the new multi-polar world whilst turning the process of globalisation into a positive rather than negative concept, developing humane and sustainable migration policies and remaining true to the open society.
ALDE continues to push nuclear safety agenda
 On April 6th Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) in the European Parliament called for a comprehensive reassessment of the EU's approach towards nuclear energy, pushing for common safety standards of nuclear facilities across Europe and more investment into renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.
ASPARTAME: The European Health authorities play a fools game
 On Wednesday March 16th, 2011 ALDE MEPs Corinne Lepage (CAP 21, France) and Antonyia Parvanova (NMSP, Bulgaria) organised a hearing in the European Parliament to examine concerns about the health risks of aspartame, an artificial sweetener used in products such as some soft drinks.
New boost for the Single Market
 Despite having brought many benefits to European business, citizens and consumers in the last 19 years, the full potential of the Single Market has not yet been achieved. In this regard the European Parliament debated on April 6th, future improvements of the Single Market and adopted three reports on the issue:
Liberals and Democrats raise concerns about draft new Hungarian Constitution
 "While the European Union has equipped itself with all possible instruments to guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms, a number of Member States seem to simply run amok." said Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE President in the European Parliament during a April 5th debate with the President of the Commission, José Manuel Barroso, raising Liberals and Democrats concerns over the proposals for revising Hungary's Constitution.
Asylum is a right not a charity
 ALDE played a fundamental role to ensure that a key part of the Asylum package was adopted on April 6th. A narrow majority of the European Parliament favoured the recast of a directive on minimum standards on procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection, which is a part of the so-called "asylum package" designed to make the common EU asylum system a reality by 2012. The recast is meant to tackle current discrepancies and disparities between national asylum procedures that contradict the presumption that Member States' asylum systems are comparable, as proscribed by the Dublin system.
Organized crime must be tackled at EU level
 A two day ALDE hearing addressing "an EU strategy to fight transnational organized crime" took place on March 29th-30th. It brought together the competent European, national and international institutions, experts and judges to analyse the current obstacles and weaknesses of the existing regulatory framework in order to find possible solutions.
ALDE remains sceptical that the Euro Plus Pact will deliver results
 "The European Council has put in place a permanent mechanism to underwrite the financial stability of Member States. However, I have serious doubts that the 'Euro Plus Pact' can achieve this goal as past experience has shown that national governments are unable to discipline themselves." said ALDE Leader Guy Verhofstadt commenting on the March 25th European Council Summit conclusions, "The Commission must retain the leading role in Europe's economic governance as an objective adjudicator and impartial enforcer which is exactly what the Parliament will try to achieve in its negotiations on economic governance with Council by the end of June."
Consumer rights extended to on-line purchases
 On March 24th the European Parliament voted on a number of important amendments to improve consumer rights in the EU. The votes amend the European Commission's proposal for a new consumer rights directive intended to update and replace a set of four existing laws regarding sales of goods and services from business-to-consumer. But the vote on the overall text was postponed in order to keep open the chance for a first reading agreement with the Council.
'EU citizenship' must mean no EU citizen should ever be left behind
 ALDE MEP Sarah Ludford (Liberal Democrat, UK), member of the Civil liberties Committee commenting the March 23rd European Commission proposal to reinforce citizens' rights to consular protection and assistance in third countries said: "EU citizens make 80 million trips a year outside the EU so this really is important not just for crises such as in Libya but also for more day-to-day issues such as lost passports. It's not only the travelling public who need educating about this EU right, but also - rather shockingly - consular staff. It would be an important step forward for all EU states to put a sentence about it in passports."
Reducing over-reliance on ratings and making credit rating agencies more accountable
 On March 16th the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) adopted a report on the future perspectives of credit rating agencies (CRAs). The own initiative report runs parallel to a Commission consultation on the future regulation of CRAs that is the basis for a new regulatory proposal expected for autumn this year. CRAs came to the spotlight during the financial crisis and again during the public debt crisis in the Euro zone Member States.
 | | ALDEPAC LUNCH DURING THE ACP-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE WEEK - March 2011
The traditional ALDEPAC lunch was held on March 17th in Brussels during the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. The event was attended by 75 guests, mainly parliamentarians from many African countries and from the European Parliament, including ALDE President Guy Verhofstadt MEP, Niccolò Rinaldi MEP and ALDEPAC Co-President, Hans Van Baalen MEP and President of Liberal International, Charles Goerens MEP and Vice President of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Olle Schmidt MEP ALDE ACP coordinator and Catherine Bearder MEP. Furthermore, the Ambassadors from Benin, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Togo and Uganda were also present.
Two guest speakers were invited, Mr Romain Philippe and Mr Pascal Erard from CONCORD, the European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development. They gave their recommendations on food and agriculture, and on the influence of the EU Common Agriculture Policy reform on ACP Countries. The presentations were followed by a brief Q & A session with ALDE Members and several ACP delegates.
 | | Marietje Schaake (D66, Netherlands)
Marietje Schaake is serving her first term in the European Parliament with the entrepreneurial spirit that she fostered as she ran her own consultancy firm prior to being elected.
Marietje is a member of the Committee on Culture, Media, Education, Youth and Sports in which she mostly focuses on Europe's Digital Agenda. On the Foreign Affairs Committee, she is ALDE coordinator for urgency resolutions on human rights violations in the world. In her work on foreign policy she focuses on EU Neighbourhood Policy, and Iran, as well as free expression and internet freedom. She is a member of the Parliaments' delegations with Iran, the USA and South-Eastern Europe.
An ambitious knowledge economy, education for all and the realisation of a single European digital market are her main priorities in the committee for Culture, Media, Education, Youth and Sports. In the Foreign Affairs committee, she particularly works on Europe's position in the world to become more significant through advancing human rights, free speech and democratisation.
Marietje is currently working on a report which touches upon her responsibilities in both committees: her own- initiative report on the role of culture in the EU's external affairs policy. "Cultural Diplomacy is increasingly being used as a vehicle to promote liberal democratic values and to foster democracy and participation", she says.
Inspired by the way technology is empowering new levels of citizen engagement, she is very active on twitter (Marietje Schaake (MarietjeD66) on Twitter) and other social media platforms, where she interacts with people in Europe and across the world. To engage MEP's, civil society, the business community and others interests, she founded the Intergroup on New Media and Technology which facilitates exchanges on various topics in the intersection of democracy and technology.
Prior to her election in 2009, Marietje was as an independent advisor to governments, diplomats, businesses and NGO's on the following issues: transatlantic relations, diversity, pluralism, civil and human rights and integration.
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