Top of the bill at the Tripartite meeting between the House of Lords, House of Commons and the European Parliament was the ever present climate change talks at Copenhagen. This is undeniably the most important issue facing the world. This did not, however, stop the two UKIP MEPs present coming out with what were rather feeble attempts to deny the man-made nature of the climate change we are currently suffering.
Although I don’t often attend these Tripartite meetings which are held two to three times a year, I strongly believe they are a good idea. The meetings keep us all in touch and prevent the two parliaments occupying completely parallel universes where there is no contact whatsoever.
The debate on climate change was a case in point. The MEPs were able to tell the Lords and MPs that Commission President Barosso intends to fund climate change to the tune of 30 – 50 billion Euros. A lively debate followed, focusing on developing alternative energy sources and energy saving measures. Although the economic downturn is making the former more difficult, it is probably helping the latter in which, incidentally, the UK has a good record.
The meeting moved on from climate change to the hugely problematic regulation of hedge funds. 80% of hedge funds in Europe are in the City of London, making this a substantially British issue. The general feeling of the meeting was that since hedge funds only risk their own money, they are not a problem in the way the banks have shown themselves to be.
And finally, we looked at what seem to most people outside parliamentary procedures the arcane processes used in the European Parliament. It is, of course, worth noting that since there is a high turnover of MEPs, over half the European Parliament elected earlier this year are new, and may also be struggling with some of these matters.
European Parliament Committees will, of course, be interviewing Commissioners in the middle of January, and there is no cast-iron guarantee that all Commissioners will be confirmed. It will be made more complicated in that President Barosso has redrawn Commissioner portfolios to some large extent.
One of the main conclusions of this Tripartite meeting was that the Lisbon Treaty has changed the landscape. Lisbon gives the European Parliament much greater power. As one of the members of the House of Lords on the Committee succinctly put it, “The Lisbon Treaty has ended the democratic deficit at a stroke.”
