European diary
Federalism needed to save euro: EPP
Nation-states should give up control over tax rules, retirement ages and working hours to save the euro, a senior Fine Gael ally in Europe has suggested.
The European People’s Party bureau (leadership) in the European Parliament held its annual conference in Killarney on 17-18 May. It is the Parliament’s largest group, with 271 MEPs, including four from Fine Gael.
Chairman Joseph Daul, a French MEP, asked Irish voters to endorse the Fiscal Compact, describing it as a “European solution to our European problems … which guarantees solidarity and transparency and which restores confidence.”
Daul, however, went on to call for “economic union” with common tax rules and a “social union” where the retirement age and weekly working hours are decided on a European level. He claimed that this action would “restore our citizens’ confidence” and protect “peace and prosperity” on the continent.
Indeed, the group put forward a motion calling for a common consolidated corporate tax base on 19 April, which was passed by the European Parliament on the same day. All Fine Gael MEPs rebelled, to protect the 12.5 per cent rate.
Daul also criticised the “tub-thumping” of the left and questioned where socialists would find the money to pay for higher public spending. The meeting received minimal press coverage in Ireland, with opponents of the Fiscal Compact claiming that the EPP’s federalist views were being covered up.
Enda Kenny told the conference that better policy co-ordination was needed between “the surplus and the deficit countries” in Europe.
Regional airport reform debated
Irish MEPs have welcomed a report on improving the competitiveness of regional airports, written by British Conservative MEP Philip Bradbourn. The report calls for the abolition of debit and credit card charges on tickets and the end of the one-bag rule (which bans many airport purchases on low cost flights). It was approved without a division on 9 May.
Labour South MEP Phil Prendergast said that the one-bag rule “benefits the airlines … to the detriment of the airport itself as many regional airports depend on retail and food sales to survive.” Spain has already abandoned the rule.
Seán Kelly (Fine Gael, South) claimed that some regional airports were now “uneconomic and possibly unnecessary” and there was no point in “pouring good money after bad” to keep them open. In contrast, Pat the Cope Gallagher (Fianna Fáil, North West) welcomed the report’s call to maintain “existing public service obligations [i.e. subsidies] … into the future.”
Regional airport reform debated
Irish MEPs have welcomed a report on improving the competitiveness of regional airports, written by British Conservative MEP Philip Bradbourn. The report calls for the abolition of debit and credit card charges on tickets and the end of the one-bag rule (which bans many airport purchases on low cost flights). It was approved without a division on 9 May.
Labour South MEP Phil Prendergast said that the one-bag rule “benefits the airlines … to the detriment of the airport itself as many regional airports depend on retail and food sales to survive.” Spain has already abandoned the rule.
Seán Kelly (Fine Gael, South) claimed that some regional airports were now “uneconomic and possibly unnecessary” and there was no point in “pouring good money after bad” to keep them open. In contrast, Pat the Cope Gallagher (Fianna Fáil, North West) welcomed the report’s call to maintain “existing public service obligations [i.e. subsidies] … into the future.”
New Northern MEP
Martina Anderson has been co-opted to replace Sinn Féin MEP Bairbre de Brún in the North. De Brún resigned on
3 May and had been unwell for some time, last attending the Parliament in December. The selection convention took place in Derry on 17 May. Anderson was junior Minister to Martin McGuinness as deputy First Minister
Northern Ireland’s other two MEPs are Jim Nicholson (UUP) and Diane Dodds (DUP).
An ex-prisoner, Anderson was elected as an Assembly member for Foyle in 2007 and appointed as junior Minister in May 2011. She served jointly with the DUP’s Jonathan Bell, and both were responsible for the North’s relations with Europe.
