Press release – Court of Auditors: Parliament endorses Ildikó Gáll-Pelcz as member for Hungary

The appointment of European Parliament Vice-President Ildikó Gáll-Pelcz as a member of the European Court of Auditors (ECA) was endorsed in plenary on Thursday by 326 votes to 126, with 193 abstentions.

As a candidate ECA member, Ms Gáll-Pelcz (EPP, HU) was given a hearing in the Budgetary Control Committee on 12 April. Her appointment still needs to be confirmed by the Council of the EU.

 

Ms Gáll-Pelcz, who has university degrees in economics and engineering, was a Member of the Hungarian National Assembly from 2006-10. From 2009 she also served as its Deputy Speaker. She became an MEP in June 2010 and was elected Vice-President of the European Parliament in July 2014 and again in January 2017.

Ms Gáll-Pelcz will take up her new duties in the Luxembourg-based court once her appointment is approved by the Council.

Background

The Court of Auditors has 28 members, one from each member state. They are appointed for a renewable term of six years. The Council, after consulting the European Parliament, decides on the candidate presented by each country.

 

To prepare for a hearing in Parliament, a candidate is asked to answer a questionnaire prepared by the Budgetary Control Committee. At the hearing, candidates may make a five-minute opening statement, followed by a question and answer session with committee members. The committee votes on the candidate in a secret ballot. If approved in committee, the nomination is then put to a vote by Parliament as a whole.

Procedure:  2017/0802(NLE)



Press release – EU’s farthest-flung fisheries need funding, say MEPs

Young fishermen and fish farmers in the EU’s outermost regions (ORs) need financial help and incentives, including money for new boats, said Parliament on Thursday.

The non-legislative resolution was passed by 428 votes to 64, with 118 abstentions. An amendment to allow EU and national funding to renew the OR fleet was passed by 358 votes to 240, with 16 abstentions.

Commenting on the resolution and the amendment, rapporteur Ulrike Rodust (S&D, DE) said “I have tried to work out the best proposals for a possible solution. And I deplore the fact that the amendment has raised hopes which in my opinion cannot be fulfilled. This result does not correspond to the coherence of the Common Fisheries Policy and the European Maritime Fisheries Fund, respectively, and I doubt that it will pass legal scrutiny. Emphasis should be put on the aim of the Common Fisheries Policy to reach sustainable stocks and fisheries”.

EU and national funding to renew fleet

The renewal funding amendment calls on the Commission to “allow the funding (at EU or national level) of the ORs’ artisanal and traditional fishing vessels which land all their catches in ports in the ORs and contribute to local sustainable development, so as to increase human safety, comply with European hygiene standards, fight illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and achieve greater environmental efficiency”.

MEPs nonetheless stipulated that “this fishing fleet renewal must remain within the limits of authorised capacity ceilings, must be restricted to the replacement of an old vessel by a new one, and must allow sustainable fishing and reaching the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) objective”.

New financial instrument for OR fisheries

MEPs ask the EU Commission “to look into the possibility of establishing, as soon as possible, an instrument specifically dedicated to supporting fisheries in the outermost regions, along the lines of the POSEI scheme for agriculture”. 

Programmes of Options Specifically Relating to Remoteness and Insularity (POSEI), governed by POSEI Regulation No 228/2013, include specific measures for agriculture in the outermost regions, such as production and import subsidies.

Aquaculture and young fishermen

 

MEPs stress that the potential of aquaculture should be better exploited in the ORs, as it might result in new production possibilities and high-quality products, with strong support from the EU. They call on the Commission to encourage and support aquaculture development projects.

Better incentives should be created under a future European Maritime and Fisheries Fund to encourage young people to work in the maritime economy, particularly by means of vocational training and promoting measures which improve the incomes and job security, and improve overall sustainable organisation of the maritime economy in the ORs, says the text.

Background

 

The EU’s nine “outermost regions” include are parts of France (Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Réunion, Martinique, Mayotte and Saint-Martin), Portugal (Madeira and Azores) and Spain (Canary Islands). Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union sets out their defining features, which include remoteness, insularity, small size, difficult topography and climate, and economic dependence on a few products.

Procedure:  non-legislative resolution



Liberal Democrats commit to ending rough sleeping in Britain

The Liberal Democrats have committed to ending the scandal of rough sleeping in Britain, as the Homelessness Reduction Bill enters into force today.

Following a campaign visit to the Hundred Houses Society, a charitable housing association in Cambridge, Tim Farron announced a series of measures the party would put in place to help end rough sleeping.

These include introducing a Housing First provider in each local authority, to put long-term homeless people straight into independent homes rather than emergency shelters. Other policies include increasing funding for local councils for homelessness prevention, reinstating housing benefit for under-21s and reversing planned cuts to Local Housing Allowance rates.

The number of people sleeping rough rose to 4,134 in 2016, up 16% on the previous year. The Government has estimated that homelessness costs the state up to £1 billion a year.

The news comes as a coalition of charities, including Centrepoint, Crisis, Homeless Link, Shelter and St Mungo’s, have called on political parties to commit to end rough sleeping in Britain.

Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron said: “It is a national scandal that so many people are sleeping on the streets in 21st century Britain.

“By increasing support for homelessness prevention and properly funding emergency accommodation, we can end rough sleeping across the country.

“We will also ensure each local authority has at least one provider of Housing First services, to allow long-term homeless people to live independently in their own homes.

“The evidence suggests that supporting people and giving them long-term, stable places to stay is far more successful in tackling homelessness than constantly moving them to different temporary accommodation.

“Under this government, homelessness has soared and the stripping of young people of housing benefit threatens to make matters even worse.

“This election is a chance to change the direction of this country and stand up for a Britain that is open, tolerant and united.”



Labour will stand up for the many by prioritising neighbourhood policing and bearing down on crime – Diane Abbott

Diane Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, commenting on Office
for National Statistics (ONS) figures showing an increase in crime over the
last year, said:

“These figures are a stark reminder of Theresa May’s record of
failure on policing and crime.

“Almost every force in the country recorded an increase in crime
over the last year, with worrying rises in some of the most violent offences,
including gun and knife crime and homicide.

“There is a real choice at this election on policing and crime.

“Theresa May recklessly cut police budgets as Home Secretary, with
the loss of over 20,000 officers, and plans to cut even further if re-elected.

“Labour will stand up for the many by prioritising neighbourhood
policing and bearing down on crime.”



Today’s IFS analysis reveals the stark choice in this election – John McDonnell

John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow
Chancellor, commenting on today’s Institute For
Fiscal Studies (IFS) analysis of the impact of tax and benefit changes since
May 2015 on the incomes of different kinds of households, said:

“Today’s IFS analysis reveals the stark choice in
this election.

“The Tories pose a clear threat to working people’s
living standards. Under Tory proposals cuts to in-work support will leave
working families with children an average of £2,500 a year worse off.

“This General Election is a choice between a Labour
Party who will stand up for the many and a Tory Party which only looks after
the privileged few.”