Working for a People's Europe
Article by George Stevenson MEP
It may appear that a Member of the Europen Parliament could be irrelevant and somewhat remote to the concept of local communities but I believe that this opinion is a mistaken one. Undoubtably the European Community is taking decisions that the are affecting everyone's daily life and that process will continue and increase as we establish the Single Unified Market in 1992, and develop policies that will increasingly influence the environment, our economy, and industrial matters as we continue to coordinate and integrate our national political activity within the framework of the European Community.
That process is reflected in dramatically increased contact made to me as a Member of the European Parliament by individual people. For some years now large organisations, business and industry have been in continuous contact on issues which concern them as Directives and Regulations are proposed in the European Community. Their obvious concern is to attempt to influence those policy proposals in a way that will benefit the particular interests of their own activity. We are now finding that increasingly large numbers of ordinary people and representatives in local communities are realising that developments in the European Community are of significant importance and could, and are, affecting their activities. This is certainly the case in Stoke-on-Trent and such increased contact and liaison is of course most welcome.
We hear a lot of talk in the European Community about creating a 'people's Europe'. Well, that 'people's Europe' if it is to be created will not be established by simply considering as a priority the interests of business and industry, albeit that they are very important, we need to consider the interests of people in their local communities and thereby develop policies and frameworks within the Europen Community where individual Member States would be obliged to promote the local communities within that framework policy. It is clear that a quite dramatic change in policy will be required, particularly in the United Kingdom, as I believe our concept of community will not only be increasingly concerned with local communities in our particular areas, but similar communities in other EEC Member States. I think a reflection of this desire is seen in the dramatically increased incidence of town twinning and of course Stoke-on-Trent has recently been actively engaged in establishing twinning arrangements with Erlangen in Germany. I'm sure this is a wholly healthy process and will reflect the increasing contact between local community groups in the UK and those elsewhere in the European Community that we as MEPs should be actively encouraging.
I think for any of these processes to be successful and meaning ful to local people, a great responsibility is placed on the individual Member of the European Parliament to ensure that they have a strong local presence within their constituencies, even though the European Constituencies are very large and the problems of establishing and maintaining individual contact are therefore much greater. But this is a vital element of our activity because it is very clear that if we as Members of the European Parliament are to become meaningful to individual people in our constituencies then a local presence and contact needs to be developed, not only through individuals but through local community groups sucha s those in Bentilee and many other areas of the City and throughout my Euro-Constituency. It is that element, I think, that we need to develop to a far greater degree so that the concept of a 'people's Europe' and the role that communities can play in these vital policy developments that will affect all our lives and those of our families, both now and in the future, can be developed with an input from local people that is so vital if we are to increase not only positive policies in the European Community but a most important awareness that issues and problems facing local communities in the UK are very similar to the problems facing local communities elsewhere in Europe. It is to that end that Members of the European Parliament can play a positive role and I certainly welcome the increased contact from local community groups and individuals and look forward to that developing, particularly in Stoke-on-Trent, in the future.
Editor's Note: Being issue one of "The Bentilean", I thought a local worthy's name amongst the contributors might help belie the mag's amateurish appearance (dot-matrix printed and typed) and help it to be taken seriously. Only the local MEP above, and a local councillor, Cllr Terry Crowe ("The Fight for Berry Hill"), replied in time to be included.
Copyright The Bentilean, 1990, 1999
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