GUE/NGL

Another Europe is possible

EUROPEAN UNITED LEFT/NORDIC GREEN LEFT
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARY GROUP

Session Review July 2010

13/07/2010

Strasbourg plenary session 5-8 July 2010

July's session saw the beginning of the Belgian Presidency, the voting through of the Liotard report on Novel Foods with its call to ban food from cloned animals and the unfortunate passing of bad deals on SWIFT and the External Action Service.

SWIFT

Despite having rejected the agreement four months ago the SWIFT agreement on bank data transfers to the US was approved by parliament on Thursday. As data on the financial transactions of EU citizens will be processed by a third state without adequate protections for the privacy of EU citizens, the GUE/NGL group voted against and a court challenge will be launched against the accord. Rui "Putting Europol in charge of data protection is absurd, illegal and unconstitutional" said Rui Tavares after the vote.

Final vote: 484+, 109-, 12 abstentions.

Press release: "Absurd and unconstitutional" SWIFT deal to face ECJ challenge

Speeches:

Rui Tavares

External Action Service

High Representative Ashton came to plenary to debate the staffing, budget, organisation and accountability of the EEAS. Speaking on behalf of the group, Willy Meyer said the service would institutionalise the militarization of Europe and that "it is a mistake to link the EEAS to military structures". He also criticized the lowly status given to development policy in the agency's programme. Willy

Speeches:

Willy Meyer

Novel Foods

"We will continue to press the Commission to produce a separate legislative proposal to prohibit food from clones and their offspring in order to protect consumers and uphold environmental and animal health standards" Kartika Liotard said after MEPs approved a ban of food from cloned animals from the European market on the basis of concerns about potential risks for human health. Kartika

Press release: MEPs back left's call to exclude cloning from novel foods rules

Speeches:

Kartika Liotard

Next step: Conciliation negotiations with Council begin in September.

Belgian Presidency

Spanish PM Zapatero and Belgian PM Yves Leterme were in Strasbourg to present the results and programme of their respective Presidencies of the EU. Lothar Bisky calls on the Belgian presidency to address the root causes of the crisis. In plenary, Patrick Le Hyaric said that "The crisis calls for audacity. We need new progressive initiatives to overcome the crisis."