April 2009

Published on Wed 29th Apr 2009

March drew toward an end with a visit to Milburn Academy in Inverness to meet with the winners of the UK section of the Charlemagne Youth Prize, awarded for their project helping disadvantaged children in Romania.

It actually ended and April began in Brussels, involving Regional Development Committee and Group meetings followed by a "mini-plenary" session. I attended the Petitions Committee, too, to join with some petitioners from Barra about their broadband connection, as well as meeting with Scottish Government lawyers, two journalists and members of the Scottish Rural Leadership Group.

Come Thursday, it was back to Scotland, and to Craigellachie, to take part in the Agriculture Commissioner's visit, whilst the Friday afternoon saw me down in Edinburgh, giving evidence to the Calman Commission.

I confess to having spent the following week entirely on Arran and - apart from one interview for a local paper - with no work involved. I did meet up with various old friends and acquaintances - one entirely unexpectedly and for the first time since my student days.

After this pre-Easter break, to Brussels again, for a Group meeting, a presentation from "Stirling before Pylons", chairing a session on volunteering - including a really useful contribution by BEMIS (the Black and Ethic Minorities Infrastructure in Scotland) - a visit to the Commission about structural funding in the Highlands and Islands and, finally, another Regional Development Committee.

Next came Strasbourg, with a great deal of voting involved, including major issues, such as cross-border health care and the extension of copyright. It was a big week for fisheries, too, dealing with the control regulation (hopefully we have sorted the issue about recreational sea angling), technical measures and my own report on governance.

Discussion of the Commission Green Paper on the Common Fisheries Policy, along with their proposed strategy on aquaculture, marked the end of the month (and my last Fisheries Committee) in Brussels, reached via a Group meeting and study days in London.

Once the first week of May is over, with a final session in Strasbourg, we shall be into the European election campaign. Voting is on the 4th June, so if you cannot get to the polling station, please do remember to apply for a postal ballot. It's one election where every vote makes a difference to the outcome.