At adult age

An “ambitious and binding” agreement to reduce polluting emissions, protect the environment and limit the effects of climate change: MEPs are not resigning themselves to a failure or a “lowest common denominator” result at the UN Conference in Copenhagen, which will be called to lay the foundations for post-Kyoto between 7 and 18 December. With a document approved during the plenary session in Strasbourg (23-26 November), the European Parliament maintains that Europe is playing its part and calls on its member states to remain in the forefront, setting a “good example” also to the USA, China, India and other emerging economies.An “adult” Parliament. The plenary session, the last before the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, tackled a number of questions: MEPs voted on the “Telecom package”, adopted a position on the strategy of enlargement, with particular regard to the candidate countries (Croatia, Turkey, Macedonia), and exchanged views with Council and Commission on the summit of the 27 in mid-December. With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, fixed for 1st December, the European Parliament will be enlarged by the acquisition of 18 more MEPs, passing in a provisional manner from the current 736 to 754, before returning to the final quota of 751 members from 2014. By virtue of the introduction of the reforms established by the Treaty, the EP has adopted a series of adjustments to its own regulations, taking into account (for instance) the wider legislative powers assigned to the Parliament itself (power of co-decision) and the new budgetary procedure. During the debate in the chamber, the rapporteur, David Martin (UK), said: “With the Single Act of 1986 the Parliament passed from neonate to infancy; Maastricht, 1992, admitted us to puberty; Nice and Amsterdam led us into adulthood; and Lisbon now assigns to us the full rights of an adult Parliament”.Internet is a right. An eagerly awaited decision was the final vote on the “Telecom package”, aimed at a global revision of common regulations in the field of telecommunications. The main objectives of the reform are to reinforce the rights of telephone and internet users and encourage competition between telephone companies. “The new rules – declared the rapporteur, Catherine Trautman, French MEP -, will guarantee greater rights for consumers, safeguard internet freedom, protect personal data, and permit greater competition and more modern use of radio frequencies”. “We have wished to guarantee that the rights of citizens be never depreciated or ignored; among other things this is the first time that a legal text has referred to the use of internet as the exercise of a right and a fundamental civil liberty”. The President of the EP, Jerzy Buzek, added: “This is an excellent example of how the work we perform as legislators has an impact on the daily life of citizens”.Real benefits. “The reform of the European sector of telecommunications will reinforce competition on international markets and permit the provision of better and less expensive internet services, both mobile and fixed”, commented Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Telecommunications. She emphasized the “great result” of the “Telecom package”, which ought to ensure “reduced tariffs, more extensive provision of broadband internet connections and greater protection of private life from telecommunication operators themselves”. “Consumers will enjoy new rights, such as the right to change their mobile or fixed telephone operator within one working day while maintaining their own number”. Member states now have an 18 month moratorium within which to incorporate the new European regulations into their national legal systems.Stockholm Programme. During the plenary, MEPs also approved a resolution that expresses the EP’s position on the Stockholm Programme, which establishes European priorities in the field of justice and internal affairs for the next five years. The matter will be discussed at the summit of 27 heads of state and of government on 10-11 December. The resolution adopted in the chamber bears the signatures of MEPs Carlo Casini, Luigi Berlinguer and Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar, respectively chairmen of the parliamentary committees for constitutional affairs, legislation and civil liberties. The various chapters of the resolution focus on the rights of citizens, the fight against organized crime and racism, and the defence of women, children and immigrants. The Parliament approved an amendment inviting member states, “without prejudice to national legislations in the field of family law”, to “guarantee the free circulation of EU citizens and their families, including registered unions and marriages”, and “avoid any form of discrimination for whatever reason, including sexual orientation”.