ALDE secures recognition of National Transitional Council of Libya

Following the overwhelming vote on the EP resolution on Libya, Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE President made the following statement:

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Media law in Hungary: current changes are not enough

On March 11 the EP adopted a resolution on the controversial Media law in Hungary, which calls upon the Fidez government to further review their media law on the basis of the remarks and proposals made by the European Parliament, OSCE and the Council of Europe Commissioner on Human Rights. The previous week the Hungarian Government amended their media law in line with an agreeement made with the European Commission but ALDE feel they did not go far enough.

Turkey has a key role to play

On March 9th the European Parliament voted on Turkey's 2010 progress report. Turkey provides inspiration to many in the Arab world as a secular democracy with a majority Muslim population. Nevertheless the Turkish accession process is facing multiple challenges, not least the issue of Cyprus. Given the current popular uprisings in the Arab world, ALDE feels that Turkey has a key role to play and our Group secured a reference to this important point in the final resolution in light of events throughout the Middle East

European Parliament asserts its independence over calendar vote

During the Strasbourg March plenary session the European Parliament voted to reduce the number of weeks it plans to meet in Strasbourg in the next two years.

Europe´s health shows inequalities

The European Parliament adopted on March 8th a report proposing the outline of a strategy to reduce health inequalities in the European Union. ALDE underlines the importance of fundamental social objectives through equal opportunities, access and solidarity.

Permanent Financial Stability Mechanism: EP demands respect for Community method

On March 7th the Parliament's Constitutional Affairs Committee adopted a recommendation on changes to article 136 of the Treaty to enable the creation of a permanent financial stability mechanism.

H1N1: better risk management needed

The European Parliament adopted on March 8th a report which calls for a new initiative of the management of the H1N1 flu crisis. The main conclusions are a lack of independent evaluation by national and European health authorities, a striking contrast between the number of deaths associated with H1N1 and the number of deaths associated with seasonal influenza, a wide variation in the cost of vaccination strategies among Member States.

Liberals call for EU Marshall Plan for new Arab democracies

Following a visit to Cairo February 26-27th, Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE group leader), Edward McMillan-Scott (Lib Dem, UK) and Hans Van Baalen (VVD, Netherlands and President of Liberal International) urged the European Union to develop a comprehensive action plan for support and investment in North Africa as a concrete way to bolster support for the new democracy movements spreading across the region.

Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme is not respecting data protection safeguards

Europol’s supervisory body published a report in early March on the implementation of the EU-US TFTP agreement (Terrorism Finance Tracking Programme), the so-called SWIFT agreement. The conclusions by the Joint Supervisory Board (overseeing data protection issues) of Europol raise serious concerns about compliance with EU data protection standards as Europol appears to be just rubberstamping requests for the transfer of bulk data, without any kind of scrutiny or oversight. Authorisation of data transfer seems to be given on the basis of oral, unrecorded information, and all relevant documents have been classified top secret.

Europe needs a Community Act for economic convergence and governance

The coming weeks will reveal whether EU leaders have the stomach and vision to address Europe's underlying economic problem - that 17 of the 27 Member States of the EU share a common currency but not a common economic policy.

RESPECTING THE RULE OF LAW IN RUSSIA

Dear Prime Minister Putin, The ALDE group secured a paragraph in the resolution on Russia adopted in the February session of the European Parliament, reminding “the Council and the High Representative of the full array of appropriate measures that may be used when faced with systematic human rights abuses and failures to uphold the rule of law”.

ALDE hosts a visit of Libyan Interim Transitional National Council Delegation

The ALDE group hosted three members of the Libyan Interim Transitional National Council Delegation in Strasbourg on the 8th and 9th of March. The delegation was composed of Dr. Mahmoud Gebril Elwarfally and Dr. Ali A.S. Al-Issawi, both members of the Executive Team of the Interim Transitional National Council of Libya and responsible for Foreign Affairs, and Mr. Ali Zeidan from the Libyan Human Rights Council.

The Delegation addressed the ALDE Group and met the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Lady Catherine Asthon, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis response, Kristalina Georgieva, European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, as well as members of all the EP political groups.

European Energy Efficiency Plan: Commission gears up for more savings with renovation and smart meters

On March 8th the European Commission adopted a plan for saving more energy through concrete measures. Energy efficiency is a key tool for strengthening Europe's competitiveness and reduces energy dependence, while decreasing the level of emissions. The set of measures proposed aims at creating substantial benefits for households, businesses and public authorities: it should transform our daily lives and generate financial savings of up to €1000 per household every year. It should improve the EU's industrial competitiveness with a potential for the creation of up to 2 million jobs.

Günther Oettinger, European Commissioner responsible for Energy, said: "Despite progress, our estimates show that we need a further decisive and coordinated action on energy efficiency, without which the EU will not meet its objective of 20% energy savings by 2020. It paves the way for the longer term policies needed to achieve a decarbonised and resource-efficient economy by 2050 and to place the EU at the forefront of innovation."

The Commission will monitor the implementation of the Action Plan and translate these actions into a legislative proposal in the coming months.

It will report on progress in spring 2013 in the framework of the new EU 2020 governance. If the review shows that the overall EU target is unlikely to be achieved, the Commission will propose legally binding targets for 2020. For now, the priority is for binding measures to help Member States, companies and citizens alike to achieve their savings objectives and to save on their energy bills.

ALDE Reaction: Commission energy proposals "a betrayal of Europe's interests"

European Commission proposals on energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 have been criticised by ALDE spokespersons for energy and environment.
 

Commenting on the Commission's Energy Efficiency Plan 2011 and the Roadmap for moving to a low carbon economy in 2050 which was adopted on March 8, Lena Ek (Centre Party, Sweden), ALDE spokesperson on the Industry, Research and Energy Committee, said:
 

"The Commission admits that we are about to be leapfrogged by emerging economies such as China and India, which put 48% and 35% respectively of their GDP in capital investments, compared to Europe's meagre 19%. Yet the Commission is not prepared to put more ambitious proposals for our energy future on the table. The proposal for an additional investment rate of 1.5% is good, but more substantial increases are necessary."

"It is peculiar that the Commission does not propose cutting greenhouse gases by 30% by 2020 when its own calculations clearly show that is more cost effective to reduce emissions sooner, in particular by making energy savings. All the arguments are there, but they simply refuse to put the proposals forward."
 

Chris Davies (Lib Dem, UK), ALDE spokesperson on the Environment Committee added:
 
"The Commission has demonstrated all the courage and conviction of a rabbit caught in headlights and about to be run over. 

"With fuel prices rising and set to stay high energy efficiency targets should be made legally binding now. Not to insist upon this, amounts to a betrayal of Europe's interests." 
 

"Short term concerns have been put before the needs of our long term future.  European development has been condemned to stay in the slow lane, certain to be overtaken by the fast lane Asian economies.
 

"By opting for complacency and delay we could hardly have been let down more if the Commissioners were acting on behalf of the Chinese Government." 
 

Carl Haglund (Swedish People´s Party, Finland)

Carl Haglund is currently serving his first term as Member of the European Parliament as one of Finland's 13 MEPs. He was elected to the European Parliament from the list of the Swedish People's Party in Finland.  Prior to that, he worked for the Finnish Government. He first worked as a political advisor to Ministers Astrid Thors and Stefan Wallin, and then from November 2008 held the post of State Secretary with responsibility for culture, sports, youth and gender equality matters.

As an economist, Carl is especially interested in issues related to the economy and budget. His work in the European parliament is focused on three main topics: economy, budget and fisheries. He is the Vice-chairman of the Committee on Fisheries, a full member of the Committee on Budget and the Committee on Policy Challenges, and a substitute member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs as well as the Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis. He is currently one of Parliament's rapporteurs on the economic governance package as well as ALDE coordinator for the temporary committee for the assessment of the Union's future budgetary needs (SURE).

As a member of the Swedish speaking community in Finland, Carl is also very involved in issues concerning minority and linguistic rights in the Union. He is the co-chairman of the Parliamentary Intergroup for Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages.

Carl is married to Michaela and has a son, Edward. He spends most of his spare time in the Finnish archipelago, where he has built a summer house for his family. Thus, the environmental state of the Baltic Sea is particularly close to his heart. As vice chairman of the Baltic Europe Intergroup he is a strong advocate for related issues in the Parliament.

For more information, please contact:
ALDE Press Service and Inter-institutional relations unit

neil.corlett@europarl.europa.eu
willem.vandenbroucke@europarl.europa.eu