Sometimes we hear all kinds of strange claims about what the European Union is debating and what it’s trying to do. Often the truth is in the detail. Recent increases in bee mortality and a declining number of beekeepers across Europe could threaten food production and security, environmental sustainability and biodiversity if left unchecked.  An […]

Some times you have to wonder what’s in the water that the reporters at the national papers drink before they write articles about Europe… It’s certainly something very funny as shown by a wonderful headline “EU says water is not healthy”. Do we honestly think that any right minded individual would say this?  Regardless of what […]

With a large number of commuters in St Albans, we do our best to liaise with our Liberal Democrat colleagues across London to make sure that our concerns there are heard.  From concerns about the failures of First Capital Connect through to the air quality. Commenting on the new report from the Parliamentary Environmental Audit […]

Are you jetting off this Summer holiday? That’s one of the things which has become easier being part of the European Union, but did you know it had also become safer? EU regulations provide for extra protection and support where flights are cancelled or delayed. Under EU law, when a person books a flight, they […]

Nuclear plants failing to pass the EU’s stress test criteria should face closure if the issues raised cannot be remedied, according to ALDE MEP Lena Ek (Centre Party, Sweden and Liberal Democrat sister party),spokesperson for the European Liberals and Democrats on the Industry Committee in the European Parliament. Günther Oettinger, the EU Energy Commissioner, has published […]

Calling for a freeze of the 2012 EU Budget ahead of today’s vote on the European Parliament’s position for the forthcoming negotiations on it, Sarah Ludford MEP, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat delegation in the European Parliament, said: “In times of financial crises and austerity measures at national level in many states including our own, […]

Not everyone want’s to wear leather or fur.  For many there are real concerns about the way animals are treated and kept. The European Parliament has adopted, by a large majority, a report that paves the way for a more transparent labelling of textile products within the European Union. The most important new aspects: First, […]

Members of the Liberal Democrats have been working to highlight the restrictions on street photography in public spaces due to counterterrorism laws. Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which allowed the police to stop and search people without reasonable suspicion in certain conditions, was repealed by the LibDem-Conservative coalition government in January 2011. It […]

The European Parliament Environment Committee has held its first exchange of views on the possibility of setting a limit on the permitted content of phosphorus in household detergents. Phosphorus leaked into European lakes, streams and rivers can lead to eutrophication – the overgrowth of algae which can starve fish and other plant life of oxygen. […]

The European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a draft report on European contract law which is aimed at strengthening cross-border competition and opening up the full potential of the EU’s internal market for businesses and consumers. Commenting after the vote, ALDE/Liberal Democrat MEP Diana Wallis, who drafted the report on […]