Headlines
Verhofstadt: Ashton must take action on Syria immediately
 As Syrian tanks and troops moved into the town of Banyias to suppress the freedom protest movement with military force Liberals and Democrats participated in the first European/Arab Liberal Conference in Cairo from the 5th to 7th May. At the conference liberals from all over the Arab world were present including representatives of parties that were involved in several revolutions and representatives from countries where demonstrations are still ongoing. Among the many topics discussed has been the worrying situation in Syria.
 Free-trade agreement EU/India: The Commission must mobilise all its efforts to quickly conclude an ambitious and balanced agreement.
 At ALDE's intitiative the European Parliament meeting at the Strasbourg May plenary session has adopted a joint resolution on the state of negotiations of a free-trade agreement (FTA) between the EU and India. The European Liberals and Democrats support the efforts undertaken by the European Commission.
"This agreement is a bit like the goddess Shiva, it is multifaceted", said Niccolò RINALDI (IdV, Italy) illustrating the wide range of subjects still under discussion; a spirit of compromise on both sides will be necessary to produce a positive outcome.
Bank stress tests must be credible, thorough and transparent
 During the May 10th debate on stress tests of the EU banking sector at the European Parliament, ALDE called for more transparency overall of the banking sector due to its close connection to the sovereign debt crisis. Financial stability depends on how stable banks are and their resistance to shocks.
Syria crackdown is becoming the "Arab Tiananmen"
 Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE Leader has referred to the current violent crackdown in several Syrian cities as "the Arab Tiananmen" in the European Parliament during a May 11th debate with EU High Representative, Catherine Ashton and called on her to give Bashar Al-Assad an ultimatum to stop his cruel repression and undertake substantial reforms or face a serious toughening of the EU response.
Discharge: Parliament grants conditional discharge to Commission for 2009 budget
 The debate and vote on discharge reports for the 2009 financial year took place in the Parliament's Strasbourg plenary session in a very particular political context with negotiations on the post-2013 multiannual financial network and a corollary recasting of the financial regulations which determine the conditions and assessment criteria for a good implementation of the budgetary procedure. This was an opportunity for the Parliament "to give a new impetus and dynamism to a procedure that has been taken much too lightly over the past years" said Jorgo CHATZIMARKAKIS (FDP, Germany), rapporteur for the 2009 discharge for the general budget managed by the Commission.
Schengen: ALDE categorically rejects any attempt to establish new border control mechanisms
 ALDE made it clear during the May 10th debate on the impact on Schengen of migration flows that it will fight tooth and nail to prevent any attempt to weaken it or introduce new provisions allowing the reintroduction of border controls.
Cultural diplomacy should also be a top priority for the EU’s external actions. This is one of the recommendations by ALDE MEP Marietje Schaake (Democrats 66, NL) on the role of cultural diplomacy. The report is due to be appr
 For the first time the European Parliament will express its views on the strategic function of culture in the EU’s communal foreign policy.
European Union gains status at UN
 The ALDE Group expressly welcomes the May 3rd vote by the United Nations General Assembly on the Resolution "Participation of the European Union in the work of the United Nations", which elevated the Union's status at the Assembly and brings it in line with the Lisbon Treaty's new provisions on EU external representation.
Parliament strengthens substantially economic governance package
 The European Parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee meeting on April 19th voted on the "package" of six legislative proposals on economic governance. The committee has substantially changed and strengthened the package. This was also requested by Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the ECB.
This is the first time that Parliament has co-legislative powers on economic governance, giving it an influential role in deciding the outcome of legislation in this area. This vote establishes a mandate for MEPs to negotiate with the Council. ALDE group priorities are for discipline to be strengthened amongst Member States, for macro-economic imbalances to be tackled effectively and for more transparent decision-making.
Ashton must forge a bold strategy on Arab democracy movements
 As the Arab Spring is spreading to a number of Middle Eastern and Gulf countries it is becoming all the more imperative for European countries to agree a common position and common response. This is particularly urgent in the cases of Syria, Yemen and Bahrain where citizens are mobilising in their thousands on a daily basis for political freedom and democracy yet frequently paying with their lives.
EU data retention directive should be scrapped
 On April 18th the European Commission adopted a report assessing application of the Data Retention Directive (Directive 2006/24/EC) approved amid much controversy in 2006 which requires Member States to ensure that telecommunications operators retain certain categories of data (for identifying identity and details of phone calls made and emails sent) for the purpose of the investigation, detection and prosecution of serious crime.
New Hungarian constitution threatens European values
 Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) in the European Parliament, along with Amnesty International, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, the Helsinki Committee and other international and national human rights organizations are drawing attention to the serious threats the new Hungarian constitution, approved in the Hungarian Parliament on Monday April 18th, poses to widely held European values: freedom, democracy, equality, non-discrimination and respect for fundamental human rights.
EU moves to ban phosphorus in household detergents
 During the May Strasbourg plenary session the European Parliament Environment Committee held its first exchange of views on the possibility of setting a limit on the permitted content of phosphorus in household detergents.
Parliament set to approve stronger regulation for investor protection
 "Fair compensation and full harmonisation are necessary to provide adequate protection for consumers of financial products whose investments fall into fraudulent or negligent hands." said ALDE MEP Olle Schmidt MEP (Folkpartiet, Sweden), ahead of the April 13th vote on his report on investor-compensation schemes, which is likely to receive the backing of the Economic and Monetary Affairs committee in the European Parliament.
Parliament's environment committee backs national freedom of choice on GMO cultivation
 On April 12th the Environment Committee in the European Parliament voted in favour of a report backing a Commission proposal to grant Member States the choice of whether to ban the cultivation of GMOs or not on their territory.
 | | Commission proposes better management of migration to the EU On May 4th the Commission presented initiatives for a more structured, comprehensive, rapid-response approach from the EU to the challenges and opportunities of migration, not least in view of the current developments in the Mediterranean. The initiatives cover various aspects of migration, including strengthened border control and Schengen governance, completion of the Common European Asylum System, more targeted legal migration, exchange of best practices for successful integration of migrants, and a strategic approach for relations with third countries on migration. These initiatives come in addition to the urgent short-term measures already taken by the Commission to deal with the migration situation in the Mediterranean and migration pressures on frontline Member States.
ALDE Response to Commission Communication: France-Italy border row: a shameful ping-pong that puts at risk the free movement of people
Responding to the Commission's communication on forging a more sustainable migration policy, Liberal and Democrats cautioned against any knee-jerk reaction which failed to address the underlying causes yet put at risk the important achievement of border free movement in Europe.
"Everyone should condemn the way in which Italy and France have dealt with migrants fleeing unrest in North Africa. Their "ping-pong" game has had damaging consequences for Schengen." said Guy Verhofstadt, President of the ALDE Group in the European Parliament.
"The answer to migration flows should not be a reintroduction of border controls or a change in the Schengen rules."
"What we need is transparency and accountability: The Commission and Parliament should be involved in the evaluation of the concepts of "public order" inside the Schengen area to prevent unilateral decisions of re-introducing border controls."
ALDE Civil Liberties Committee coordinator, Renate Weber (PNL, Romania) said: "So far the Council and Member States' answers to the migration flows have been disappointing. The reluctance towards the adoption of the asylum and the legal migration packages, and the buck passing attitude of some of the Member States puts at risk one of the principal and most popular achievements of the EU - Schengen and the free movement of people."
Ms Weber also added: "The current intergovernmental system of peer reviews to ensure the application of Schengen is not sufficient. An EU evaluation mechanism is necessary and we expect the Parliament to supervise it and co-decide on its adoption."
"Free movement is too valuable for both European citizens and economies to sacrifice in a knee-jerk reaction to the current challenges from North Africa." said ALDE MEP Sarah Ludford (Liberal Democrat, UK) "It is essential that individual Member States fulfil their responsibilities in dealing with numbers of migrants that are not unmanageable, instead of destroying the Schengen zone."
“The way France and Italy have run around like headless chickens over a relatively small spike in migration shows EU states’ failure, despite a decade of rhetoric, to install a coherent ability to manage inflows." concluded Ludford.
 | | ALDE delegation to the International Conference on Transition to Democracy in the Arab World
From May 5th-7th Liberals and Democrats participated in the first European/Arab Liberal Conference in Cairo. At the conference liberals from all over the Arab world were present including representatives of parties that were involved in several revolutions, as well as representatives from countries where uprisings are still ongoing. Among the many topics discussed was the situation in Libya and Syria. Our delegation met with Egyptian Prime Minister, Essam Sharaf, young activists and bloggers, representatives of Muslim Brotherhood, and women's right and civil society organisations.
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT OPEN DAYS 2011
2011 European Parliament Open Days took place in Brussels on the 7 May and in Strasbourg on the 8 May, giving thousands of citizens the opportunity to visit both buildings and have a brief insight as to how the European Parliament functions.
This year the the ALDE Team was helped by their young interns coming from all over Europe, and who very much enjoyed the chance to interact with the visiting public. Many of the visitors voiced their appreciation at receiving the third published ALDE comic strip "Storm Over Green Finance" a big hit with both children and adults. A great day was had by all!
 | | Dr. Jorgo Chatzimarkakis MEP (FDP, Germany)
Dr. Jorgo Chatzimarkakis was elected to the European Parliament for the German Liberal Party in 2004. He is currently a member of the European Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and of the Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT). In the latter he is coordinator for the liberal ALDE-group.
Jorgo Chatzimarkakis studied agriculture and political sciences in Bonn and Oxford, and holds a PhD in political science obtained from the University of Bonn in 2000. He joined the German Young Liberals (Julis) in 1990 and the German Free Democratic Party (FDP) in 1991, of which he is Member of the National Board. He has been Secretary General of the Regional FDP branch in Saarland from 2002 to 2010. From 1993 to 1996, Dr.Chatzimarkakis held the post of Science Policy Officer at the German Bundestag. He then joined the Policy Planning Unit in the German Foreign Office where he worked for several years with the then Foreign Minister Kinkel before being elected to parliament.
As member on the ITRE Committee, Mr. Chatzimarkakis has been actively involved in developing directives on a wide range of subjects, most notably innovation issues (CIP), education and research policies (EIT), and CO2 emission reductions for the automotive industry (CARS 21). On May 11th he hosted the European Launch of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 with the participation of Michael Schumacher.
In 2011 Mr. Chatzimarkakis was the main rapporteur for the discharge of the 2009 budget of the European Union and was actively engaged in ensuring a better control of EU funds. In the 6th term of the European Parliament, he was Rapporteur for the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme. He is also Head of the EP-Delegation for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). In August 2009, he also became Vice-President of the World Hellenic Inter-Parliamentary Association (WHIA).
As a German of Greek origin, Mr. Chatzimarkakis invests his time in building bridges. He is involved in various issues concerning Greece, for example, on May 25th Mr. Chatzimarkakis will host the conference: Reset Greece: Rebuilding its economy after the crisis. As tensions mount between Greece and Germany, he is an important actor in networking and mediation between Athens, Berlin and Brussels.
Mr. Chatzimarkakis resides with his wife and 2 daughters in Perl, Saarland and enjoys running in his free time.
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