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North West MEP to tackle new EU chiefs
A North West
Euro-MP is to play a leading role in quizzing some of the people
seeking Europe's top jobs.
The Prime Ministers of all 27 countries within the European Union
have each nominated one person to become a European Commissioner for
the next 5 years, but their positions have first to be approved by
the European Parliament.
Next week each prospective Commissioner will face a 3 hour grilling
before MEPs, who will then decide whether to support them or not.
Liberal Democrat Chris Davies MEP leads Europe's Liberal Democrats
on the Environment and Public Health committee, and is also a member
of the Fisheries committee.
Said Davies:- “The European Commissioners have to give meaning
to the decisions taken by the governments of Europe in all the areas
where we have agreed that we need to work together. I want to know
whether they are up to their jobs. Ministers in Britain don't have
to pass any scrutiny of this kind when they take on their new
roles."
The MEP said that he wanted to hear from the people nominated to
work on climate change, environment and fisheries policies what they
would do to address problems and develop policies to bring about
improvements for the long term.
Davies said:- “The questions asked will range from huge issues
about the future of the planet to smaller ones like ensuring that we
still have fish to put into fish fingers."
On Wednesday 15 January 2010, Davies
will take part in the questioning of the prospective Environment
Commissioner Janez Potocnik (Slovenia).
On Thursday it will be the turn of the man seeking to become the
Health Commissioner, John Dalli (Malta), and the following day that
of Connie Hedegaard (Denmark) who has been nominated to become
Climate Action Commissioner.
The following week Davies will quiz prospective Fisheries
Commissioner Maria Damanaki (Greece) on the future of endangered
fish stocks in EU waters. |
Brussels beats UK in green glass league...
A new report reveals that Brits
don’t have as much bottle as the Belgians when it comes to recycling
glass. The European Container Glass Federation (FEVE) says
that the UK recycled only 61% of the glass it produced in 2008
compared to 96% in Belgium. On average, EU countries recycle
65% of their glass, but although Britain is still under-performing
Southport Euro-MP Chris Davies says that good progress has
been made in recent years. Davies, who leads the Liberal Democrats
on the powerful Environment committee in the European Parliament,
claims that
recycling glass saves energy, saves raw materials, saves money and
saves space in landfill sites. "We were slow to start, and we
are not there yet, but at least Britain is moving in the right
direction. Local councils have raised their game and need now to
match the best that is already being achieved elsewhere in Europe."
The energy savings from recycling one glass bottle can:-
► power a 60 watt bulb for 100 minutes
► Power a computer for 25 minutes
► Power a colour TV for 20 minutes
► Power a washing machine for 10 minutes
If the average family recycled all the glass they used in a year
they would save enough energy to power a colour TV through 210
episodes of Coronation Street.*
* Information from the British Glass Manufacturers Confederation |
