International

The SP is well-known to be an EU-critical party, and we are certainly that. No interference from Brussels and an end to the 30-year-old bond between the petty dictators in that city and the multinationals – these are what we stand for, along with such things as putting a stop to the revolving door which has delivered nice jobs to ex-Commissioners like Barroso, Kroes and now also the Dane Connie Hedegaard at major financial institutions and corporations. This revolving door leads, as anyone can see, to an unhealthy conflict of interests. But the SP works hard also on legislation which is good for ordinary people, such as the EU directive on legal aid which is a help in the fight against class justice. This week the results of the tough negotiations with the member states on this, which I conducted as the European Parliament’s Rapporteur on the proposal, will come before the member states, and we’ll be voting in favour.

Next week the entire European Parliament will head off to Strasbourg once again. On Monday evening I am taking part in a hearing of the committee of enquiry into what has been dubbed ‘Dieselgate’, the scandal of fraudulent software in cars. The European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, will come along to explain to us that she is not completely au fait with the precise situation with regard to this dodgy software, because the member states have not given her all of the necessary information. The EP will be eager to help get her more power in relation to the member states, but the real problems begin elsewhere: Bieńkowska is committed to competition between the establishments which test cars, as well as many other products. I’m curious to see how she reacts to the idea of reversing privatisation and in the future allowing only non-profit state-owned establishments to conduct such tests.

I’ll be taking part, on behalf of the United Left Group (GUE-NGL) in the European Parliament, to which the SP is affiliated, in a hearing of the committee charged with investigating “Dieselgate”, the affair involving fraudulent software employed by certain car companies to disguise the true extent of their products’ CO2 emissions. Amongst those whom we will be interrogating will be former European Commissioner Günter Verheugen. This German politician has close links to the auto industry and it was under his reign that the unclear legislation was enacted which made the dodgy software possible. In his answers to our written questions Verheugen denies that the legislation was obscure. It was, he says, perfectly clear. Yet if that was the case, then the car manufacturers have still been involved in illegal activity. So won’t they have to compensate European Union for past damage consumers who bought their cars, as they have had to do in the United States? Is Verheugen indeed going to drop his old car chums in it, just to keep his own nose clean? I’m curious to find out.

Eighteen months ago the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude  Juncker, announced that he was going to ensure that investment would return to Europe. The EU budget would guarantee €16 billion and the European Investment Bank (EIB) a further €5 billion.  Along with those sums private investors would provide additional finance. In total, €315 billion on innovative investment would be created. According to a celebratory report from the Commission, since then an agreement has been reached on €100 billion in concrete investments. But what has emerged is that the money is not only being administered by the financial ‘old boys network’, but is also flowing into the coffers of the selfsame group of chums. The Juncker fund is not only undemocratic, but on top of that it lacks both innovativeness and integrity.