2009 has been a year of extreme highs and lows. In June I was delighted to be elected as Britain’s youngest MEP – a very proud moment for me and a highlight of my year for sure. It has been a very busy six months but I am loving every moment of Parliamentary life.
I have long advocated that the Conservative Party should lead the way in creating a new group in the European Parliament that can fight for reform, accountability and an EU based on the Single Market, rather than political integration and federalism. So the creation of the ECR was a real high point.
I am proud of how far our group – the European Conservatives and Reformists – has come in such a short time. Despite the personal smears and our opponents’ chattering campaigns, our group has already become instrumental in deciding votes in the parliament, for example by providing President Barroso with the majority he needed to return as President of the European Commission. I firmly believe that in this parliament, not only do we now have a strong voice for change and reform, but the centre-right also has a strong majority (but only with our group’s support), meaning that we can confine Euro-socialism to the history books.
The low point of the past six months was the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. The Irish were bullied and blackmailed into accepting the treaty during the second referendum campaign and, rather than voicing enthusiastic support for Lisbon, I believe the Irish people begrudgingly accepted it. Czech President Klaus held out for as long as he could but, faced with the strong-arming tactics of other European leaders, it was no surprise that he signed the Treaty.
The Labour Party should hang its head in shame for failing to give the British people the vote they were promised on Lisbon. The Conservatives were committed to a referendum right up until it became impossible. But we have a new reality now. I think David Cameron’s response was not only strong but it also showed that he is a serious European leader in waiting.
The Lisbon Treaty gives the EU new powers over sports policy. So, as the ECR and the Party’s Sports spokesman in Brussels, I am looking forward to an even busier year in 2010!
( 7 comments ) Tags: European Conservatives and Reformists, European Parliament, Lisbon Treaty
Comment by Collis Gretton on January 1, 2010 at 10:04 am
Emma McClarkin’s ‘low point’ was our ‘high point’.
Comment by Ron Gobell on January 1, 2010 at 4:32 pm
David Cameron made a cosmetic response only. I am not convinced that he will pursue the matter further with any enthusiasm if he is elected with any kind of majority at the next election.
Comment by Dr. G. Bonsall on January 2, 2010 at 10:55 am
Good Morning Emma,
I have been resident in the EU, Germany and Spain for 25 years now, working as a dentist, employing locals and playing taxes and wages and social security, like my Spanish and German neighbours and being active in professional and social associations. However, like one million other Europeans resident “abroad” in Spain, never mind the rest of Europe, I am not allowed to vote. Moving within the EU immediately makes one a “second-class citizen” – deprived of the democratic right to vote and enjoy the protection of political representation where you are legally resident under the Treaty of Rome. The removal of one´s democratic right to vote is a discrimination and a violation of my human rights. I am discriminated against due to my nationality, while enjoying the right to live in Spain. Even criminals may vote. I may not. There should be not barriers to movement in the EU, but loss of voting rights in the state where one is legally resident is one such barrier. Why should I vote in Britain where I no longer reside? Why should Spanish resident in the UK not be eligible to vote where they live, send their kids to school and pay their taxes? For many years, Spanish police targeted UK citizens, demanding illegal import taxes on their goods. Because no one in the MAdrid cares about us, no-one depends there on our vote, we could be targeted with impunity. The Americans had a civil war due to taxation without representation. Emma, you are a EU politician but I suspect you have no idea of what it is happening in Europe nor what it is like to have lost your voting rights. We are like China; we may work and cough-up our taxes, but have no political representation. What are you doing Emma, to make Europe democratic?
Comment by Dr. G. Bonsall on January 2, 2010 at 11:08 am
Sorry, if Spain give Brits legally resident in Spain the right to vote, would the Conservative Party reciprocate give Spanish citizens resident in the Uk the same right? We are talking of millions of EU citizens who have lost their right to vote where they live within the ever-expanding EU. Imagine, Emma, if we all moved abroad within the EU. No-one would be allowed to vote in the whole EU. 500 million would be disenfranchised. This is the EU we have. Can it be made better?
Comment by Mary Welch on January 3, 2010 at 4:45 pm
I am sorry to disagree with Dr G Bonsall, 2 January but I thought anyone who is a citizen over 18 and registered to vote can vote in British elections. I wasnt aware that nationality was checked before allowing a vote.
Comment by Mike Wallace on January 4, 2010 at 2:03 pm
I am not anti-Europe, or want to pull totally out of it- but we need as Association of truly independent states not the bureaucratic nightmare of the ‘Brussels Beast’ that devours everything it touches . I was bitterly disappointed with D.C. not honouring his ‘cast iron guarantee’. Give us a referendum on Europe and I will vote for him.
Comment by John smith on July 1, 2010 at 8:56 pm
Gordon Brown and now David Cameron have both refered to items underlined in red.Is this more spin? Can someone tell us what these items are, and since underlining anything does not alter the agreed wording, can it mean anything at all?