Since it was only last week that I presented my first Opinion to the European Parliament on the issue of Life Long Learning, I am particularly pleased to be here today speaking to the University of the Third Age. In every respect this University is a glowing example of the principle of Life Long Learning being put into practice here in Wales.
I will return to the issue of Life Long Learning and the input which I, as an MEP representing Wales can have on this issue later in my talk, but I will start with an over view of what I myself and Plaid Cymru have been doing in the European Parliament, how Europe affects our lives here in Wales, and ways in which we in Wales can influence the decisions taken on our behalf in Brussels and Strasbourg.
Following the momentous results of last June, Plaid Cymru now holds two out of the five Welsh seats in the European Parliament. The historic Assembly and local government elections, in the European Election Campaign, Plaid polled 30% of the total vote.
The introduction of a new system of Proportional Representation and the creation of one all-Wales constituency means that Plaid Cymru MEPs now represent every person and every community in Wales - from Alun & Deeside to Monmouth. It means that the old distinction between the North Wales Euro Seat, the Mid Wales Euro Seat and the three South Wales Euro Seats no longer applies. This is good news for electors. You now have a choice of 3 parties to promote the interests of Wales. This gives Wales a strong voice in Europe.
In the European Parliament, your two Plaid Cymru representatives are member of the fourth largest political group which is called the Green / European Free Alliance Group. It is comprised of 38 Green MEPs from across Europe and 10 MEPs from nationalist or regionalist groups who share the same vision of an Europe of the people and an Europe of the Regions as Plaid Cymru.
The European Free Alliance section of the group is comprised of two MEPs from Plaid Cymru´s sister party the Scottish National Party, 2 from Flanders, 1 from Galicia, 1 from Andalucia, 2 from the Basque Country plus Eurig and myself. The Green / EFA Group brings together the two major issues facing us - environmental sustainability and more democracy through decentralisation.
In the Parliament itself, Plaid Cymru covers a wide range of issues. I sit on the Employment & Social Affairs Committee, the Environment & Public Health Committee and I am also Vice-President of the Women's Rights & Equal Opportunities Committee.
Whilst my Plaid Cymru colleague is a member of the European Parliaments Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee and Culture, Youth & Sport Committee and the Petitions Committee.
In the first 6 months for Plaid Cymru in Brussels and Strasbourg we have made a good start on the task of fighting for the best for the people of Wales. More importantly, we are answerable to the people of Wales and nobody else unlike the other parties who are restricted by their party machines in London and by their Groups in the European Parliament.
The biggest single issue that has dominated politics in Wales over the past year, and a classic illustration of where a truly Welsh voice has made a difference, has been on the question of European Structural Funds - Objective 1 and 2 - and the granting of match funding from the British government - which is not money which is already allocated for projects in Wales - for Wales´ Objective 1 areas.
Objective 1 should bring in £1.2 billion of much needed aid to the most economically deprived areas of Wales - the South Wales Valleys including Islwyn and West Wales. This is potentially more than double the aid that we have received from Europe thus far.
However, unless the British government can come up with money to match the funding that comes from the EU which is in addition to the public money (as set out in the spending limits for Wales), then the benefit to areas such as Islwyn of Objective 1 status will not be maximised and the one shot which we have to get our economy up off its knees will have been missed.
Additionality occurs when the money made available by Europe leads to extra spending in the places for which it is intended. Non-additionality happens when Euro funds simply displaces an equivalent amount of domestic expenditure. This is what will happen in Wales if the Government gets its way.
If Labour does not make this additional money available, two things will happen :
Firstly, the match funding comes from within Wales´existing spending limits - in practice this will mean that to make way for European match funding that other much needed schemes will have to be ditched with money earmarked, for example, for education, health, social services being redirected by the government so that it can be used for EU funded roads or trading estates. This would undermine the whole purpose of Objective 1 which is to target poverty and improving areas so that handouts to areas like Islwyn will not be needed after 2006.
The only other alternative - if additional match funding is not made available by the powers that be in London - is that Objective 1 money goes unused. Plaid Cymru on all levels is fighting tooth and nail to prevent this from happening - in the National Assembly, in Westminster and in the European Parliament. The very fact that Plaid Cymru is now represented on all these levels makes us far more effective in our campaign to force the Labour government into delivering this money for the valleys and for Wales. Voluntary Organisations, local authorities, and so on have all played their part - it is now up to the government to do the same.
Another recent example of only Plaid Cymru in the European Parliament speaking up for Wales was had in a recent debate on the budget issue of the UK government rebate which Margaret Thatcher secured at Fontainbleau. The Welsh MEPs from the London based parties all voted to keep this rebate despite the fact that the Institute of Welsh Affairs amongst others have published conclusive proof that Wales looses out as a result of this arrangement. It was only Plaid Cymru that voted for the interests of Wales.
On a completely different issue, I have recently been arguing within the Parliament for the retention of the EU subsidy for school milk. This is an issue which affect the health of school children across Wales, and the removal of the subsidy to farmers which produce this milk would be a bitter blow to the dairy industry across Wales.
I have presented a petition signed by Welsh parents to the EU Director of Livestock Products. This petition and Plaid Cymru`s representations will now be included in a report on the future of the subsidy. If Plaid Cymru was not in the European Parliament, it is questionable whether the plight of the dairy industry in Wales would have been heard on this issue.
School Milk subsidies also proves the point perfectly that, very often, the most important issues come from the grass roots, from the public and from outside organisations. The issue was first drawn to my attention by concerned parents and farmers from Pembrokeshire.
Other issues which I have been working on recently which have a direct impact on Wales include :
1. PVC baby toys
2. Junior doctors working hours
3. Water quality;
4. Landfill
5. The ozone layer.
And so, as promised, Life Long Learning. This issue is as good an illustration as any of the European Union at work. The Opinion or report which I presented to the Parliament´s Employment Committee last week is an evaluation of the European Year of Life Long Learning, which was held in 1996.
The aim of this European Union initiative was :
* to promote personal development and sense of initiative of individuals
* to help to integrate individual into working life and into society
* to promote individual participation in the decision making process
* and to help people to adjust to social, economic and technological change
These are almost exactly the ideals of the University of the Third Age, and ideals which are a key ingredient in regenerating communities here in Wales, especially in the south Wales valleys were we have suffered more than most areas from the decline of heavy industry.
The European Parliament had a significant input in deciding the priorities and structure of the Year of Life Long Learning programme which was enthusiastically embraced and promoted by member states, and more importantly, by voluntary and community organisations within the member states, not least here in Wales.
The importance placed on life long learning right across the Community, is illustrated by the fact that over 2000 projects were submitted of which 454 were funded by the EU. In addition to this, a further 88 projects were funded which concentrated on Europe wide activities. A further indication of the growing importance of Life Long Learning is illustrated by the fact that two thirds of the 1996 activities continued after the end of the year itself.
My report on the initiative is a critique of the conclusions which the European Commission have reached from this year. I have criticised the lack of detailed analysis on the quality of the projects undertaken and the follow up work on an European and local level.
My hope now is that the Parliament accepts my assessment so that we can get this crucial information which would prove invaluable in developing the idea of life long learning throughout Europe and, most importantly for me, here in Wales. The lessons of the Year of Life Long Learning - the failures as well as the successes - need to be presented in such a way that we can all learn from them.
Unfortunately, because of the way that Europe is completely ignored by the British media, very often people don't realise that these decisions affect all aspects of our life in Wales. In all honesty, how many people know what the European Commission, the Council of Ministers or the European Parliament is doing, say, on the Life Long Learning issue?
People in Wales only get to hear about "Europe" at times of crisis - the French ban on British beef, the Commission resigning and so on. Europe is seen as something distant and irrelevant. Plaid Cymru has pledged to work to brush away misconceptions by, for example, raising awareness in meeting such as this, or by having information points, displays and an Euro post box for the public in every Plaid Cymru Office in Wales.
Awareness of European issues is becoming more important than ever and ignorance often means loosing out.
On the question of enlargement for example, it is estimated that the present EU could double in size over the next few years. This will have a profound effect on Wales.
First of all, despite the fact that by current EU standards Wales is a poor country, when expansion occurs, as it inevitably will, we will be comparatively well off compared to the new members from Eastern Europe.
Secondly, the question of how to ensure that the voice of nations and regions such as Wales, and Scotland is not further weakened once new members come in has to be addressed. The institutions of the EU were drawn up to accommodate the original 6 member states, it is already completely overloaded, and in desperate need of modernisation before further enlargement can take place. If the EU appears distant now - how much more distant and irrelevant will it be with 30 members and 500 million citizens?
Plaid Cymru is fighting with allies from all over Europe to turn this this situation into an opportunity for small nations and regions, and to make Europe genuinely accountable to its people. The Commission - the civil service of Europe needs to be reformed from top to bottom, and the Parliament - which is the democratic voice of the people of Europe - needs to develop into an institution which can hold the Commission to account and which can assert its authority.
An example of why this needs to happen is the European Parliament building itself. The European Parliament must be the only Parliament in the world which moves around and which does not have the power to decide where it should sit. Despite the fact that the Parliament works from Brussels, once a month for a week, all the MEPs, their staff, the civil servants, and Parliament staff from caterers to Parliament travel shop workers trek across Europe to the new Parliament in Strasbourg at a cost of £100 million to the tax payer. All because of a Treaty agreement with France.
Most MEPs would vote tomorrow to scrap this time consuming and ludicrously expensive nonsense but unfortunately at present we do not have the power to do this. All we can do is register our disapproval - as we did in December by signing a motion and boycotting the opening ceremony for the new Parliament building.
There is a lot to do. Europe has to gain the trust and confidence of people. Europe must clean up its act, the gravy train must be derailed and people must be involved in Europe. The European Parliament is a Parliament for Wales as much as for any other nation and we must all work together and play a full part in shaping the Europe of the future.
Jill Evans ASE/MEP
