Dear Reader, 

November saw the adoption of an important new piece of EU legislation – the Services directive. Its aim was and is to open up the EU’s services market, which now accounts for two thirds of our economic output, to cross-border competition. French and German trade unions had been very strong in opposing it because they wanted to protect domestic jobs from “unfair” competition. So the final version is watered down, notably by the abandonment of the idea that service companies would be able to operate under the rule of the countries they come from rather than those of the country they work in. In addition, health services and other services of “public interest” are excluded from the directive, and – another sop to the Left – national labour laws will still apply.

But the directive is still worth having: governments will have to provide an administrative “one-stop shop”, including electronic registration, so companies will not have to navigate local bureaucracy. It should make life easier for cross-border service providers but, as the Conservative MEPs pointed out, much will depend on how much effort the European Commission is prepared to put into ensuring that it is implemented as intended.

 

At the very end of the month agreement was reached between Parliament and the Council of Ministers on an even more controversial law – the draft regulation on the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals, known by its initials as REACH. We expect it to be adopted formally by MEPs during the December session. This will bring to an end some very complex negotiations on such points as when it is safe to insist on the automatic substitution of alternatives to chemicals of very high concern, how we can minimise extra testing on animals and how we can safeguard the interests of “down-stream users”, often very small companies, from the burden of new bureaucracy. Yet another new agency will be set up to oversee the system: the European Chemical Agency will be based in Helsinki.

 

Two more minor pieces of legislation also proved headline catchers. One was a draft directive “restricting the marketing of certain non-electrical measuring devices containing mercury”. As I have reported to you before, we were contacted by repairers and restorers of old barometers, one in Devon, who pointed out that a total ban on mercury would damage if not end their businesses. So we moved an amendment to relax the ban and say that the new restrictions would not apply to measuring devices more than 50 years old. Given the small number of companies concerned, mainly in Britain, Holland and Belgium I simply cannot see why the Commission refuses to be flexible on this sort of issue. We will pursue it at second reading if necessary. The other issue was safety standards for fireworks, where there will be new Europe-wide rules. MEPs have insisted on extending the obligation to comply with these to importers, since 96% of the fireworks on the market come from China. 

 

In committee I steered my report on the waste framework directive to adoption through a vote on over 600 amendments. I am proud to say that for the first time it now proposes EU-wide targets for waste prevention: we want to commit all EU states to stabilise their waste production by 2012 to the level produced in 2008. We must do something on these lines as municipal waste in the 25 EU states grew by no less than 19% between 1995 and 2003.

 

Out and about in the south west this month I attended Gloucestershire county council’s very interesting seminar on the possible construction of a Severn barrage as a major contributor to the region’s renewable energy target, long-term. We are going to miss our current target because it is proving so difficult to get planning permission for wind turbines. Then I had a very interesting morning in south Wiltshire with Jenny Wheeldon and the STREAM team (Strategic Restoration and Management of the River Avon Special Area of Conservation). They are using EU funding from the LIFE environment scheme to carry out restoration of the river and its banks at Upper Woodford and Fovant. The idea is to use these as demonstration projects and share the knowledge gained with European experts. I was impressed by how meticulously everything was being done, right down to the careful marking of water vole burrows so they would not be disturbed by the work. The EU budget is contributing 40% of the total £1 million cost – far better than financing French farmers.

 

I was also down in Cornwall where I attended a rarity, a production by Duchy Opera of Dame Ethel Smyth’s “The Wreckers”. This was first produced in Leipzig in 1906, but Dame Ethel, who became a noted suffragette, found the production unsatisfactory and forestalled further performances by removing all the parts from the orchestra pit and catching the train to Prague. This was not a good start and the opera was seldom produced thereafter. But it is set in Cornwall, and the first Act, sung with great verve, really works although it’s down hill thereafter. It was performed in Truro’s excellent “Hall for Cornwall” which itself demonstrates the perils of using time-limited EU funding. Under Objective One, the Hall received £150,000 a year for three years. Now that has ended and it has a £100,000 deficit. I hope it finds alternative funding.

 

We are all being urged by David Cameron, quite rightly, to measure our “carbon footprint” and reduce it. We know that our monthly displacement from Brussels to Strasbourg produces 190,000 tonnes of carbon a year; so having one home would be an important environmental saving. But what do I do about my “footprint” here at home? A small windmill on the roof is out, as are solar panels. Not only would we never (being listed) get planning permission but we are in an exposed position so that the first gale would have us using carbon in pursuit of bits of turbine, solar panel and (probably) the house across several counties to the east of us. I am not digging up the garden to put in a heat pump. In the end all I can think of is mending the punctures in my bicycle tyres so that I can cycle to the village. I’m with you in spirit, David.

 

I have just published a pamphlet “Britain’s Waste: the lessons from Europe”. Please let me know your address if you would like a copy.