John Vincent

Battery hen cages will have been eliminated from every EU country by the end of the year, EU Health Commissioner John Dalli has announced.

Speaking at a meeting of the European Agriculture Committee in Brussels this week, Dalli also said that 16 Member States are now expected to be compliant with the ban on sow stalls - small boxes where pigs can stand but barely move about - by the end of this year.

Members of the LDEG executive including George Dunk, Carol Weaver and Jonathan Fryer took part in the ELDR Party Council meeting in Yerevan last weekend soon after Armenia's parliamentary elections. LDEG chair Phil Bennion MEP also spoke at a fringe event on 'Making Liberal Climate and Resource Policies Work'.

"The European Parliament has voted through an ambitious and innovative text today. On the key concern of maximum versus minimum harmonisation there is sufficient flexibility within an EU framework. This will allow countries with a very large debt to GDP ratio to take the necessary action to protect themselves.

Using your mobile phone abroad will be cheaper from this summer after Euro MPs voted to cut roaming charges again.

The new legal limits set by the European Parliament in Brussels mean mobile phone calls from one EU country to another will cost no more than 28p per minute, while the cap on SMS charges is down to 8p per message.

West Midlands Lib Dem Euro MP Phil Bennion has spoken out against a call in a European Parliament report to ban budget airlines from offering low fares with strict limits on hand baggage allowance.
An 'own initiative' report by local Tory MEP Philip Bradbourn on regional airports and aviation was adopted by the European Parliament in Brussels this week.
Phil Bennion said he backed the report overall as it called for regional airports such as Birmingham to be developed to boost regional growth and jobs, but he was concerned by a compromise amendment added by the Transport Committee calling for a generous common upper limit for hand baggage for all flights.
If carried into law such a rule could see budget airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet having to drastically increase fares or even redesign the interiors of their planes at huge cost.
Phil Bennion said: "There is a lot of good stuff in the Bradbourn report and as it is not legislative I voted for it. Overall it strikes a good balance between the important role of regional aviation in boosting regional economic competitiveness while opposing proliferation of too many regional airports.
"However I don't agree with paragraph 13 which is a compromise amendment added by the Transport Committee, where I am a substitute member but did not have a vote.
"Encouraging people to travel light not only means lower fares but also makes good environmental sense as fares more closely reflect the carbon footprint of each passenger.
"If low hand baggage limits were banned, fares overall would go up.
"Airlines should be free to offer different types of fares, with or without limited baggage allowances. I don't think low hand baggage limits are a breach of competition law at all.
"The effect of this proposal would be to force budget airlines with smaller planes to offer the same hand baggage allowance as long distance jumbo jets. This would not only increase fares, it would be extremely difficult technically on a small regional jet where the lockers are not very deep. There simply is not enough space in a narrow fuselage."
Phil added that he was also concerned by the stress in the amended report on promoting commercial activities as a major income stream for airports.
"An airport should fundamentally be an airport, not be padded out with a huge shopping malls outside town centres subsidising landing charges which passengers are forced to walk through.
"This idea could lead to a vicious circle that favours the largest airports like Heathrow with huge retail centres attached. Regional airports could lose out.
"I support more long distance flights at Birmingham on a longer runway but not building a new Bull Ring at the site to keep up with pressure to subsidise landing charges."
Phil said that he also backed calls by the ALDE group of Lib Dem MEPs for more stress on better connections for air travellers with rail and bus transport.
ENDS

In a vote to clear the EU's budget for 2010, MEPs have today sent out another strong message of support for a single working location of the European Parliament.

EU Member States continue to veto a single seat for the European Parliament despite the fact that it would achieve estimated savings of € 180million (£145million) a year.

Today the European Parliament approved a report on the future of regional airports. The text sets out for the first time a framework and a definition for regional airports, which are increasingly proving to be key in boosting competitiveness and in promoting European regional development.

MEP Giommaria Uggias (Italia dei Valori, Italy) ALDE spokesperson on this dossier said: "With this report the European Parliament stresses the vital role that regional airports can play in reinforcing European cohesion policy and EU territorial continuity. In addition, regional airports can act as catalysts for the creation of new jobs, especially in the most depressed and less developed areas of Europe ".

Last year large multinational companies operating in the developing world avoided paying taxes of approximately $165 billion to host governments.

Sharon Bowles MEP, who represents South East England in the European Parliament, has launched a new campaign - 'Own, Up, Pay Up!' - to shed light on the issue and to prevent future financial malpractice among EU multinationals.