Graham's blog Friday 14 May 2010

Published on Fri 14th May 2010

The beginning of my week was dominated by the suspense involved in the outcome of two series of late night meetings. As with all the best stories, both had happy outcomes. The EU's finance ministers agreed in the early hours of Monday morning on a EUR 750 bn standby package to support the euro against the international speculators. And at around the same time the UK's Liberal Democrat MPs agreed nem con to the proposed coalition agreement with the Conservatives. In neither case were the circumstances those we would have chosen; yet in both cases imaginative leadership and a shared sense of responsibility led us to a successful conclusion.

I have commented on the Greek debt situation in previous newsletters, so let me dwell now on the UK's coalition agreement from an EU perspective. William Hague as foreign secretary and a commitment not to join the euro in the lifetime of this parliament are hard to swallow for a Liberal Democrat; but the Tories' agreement to 'positive participation in the EU' and to continue to participate in the EU's justice and home affairs co-operation must be equally hard for them. What I admire in the coalition agreement drawn up by Clegg and Cameron is that it involves genuine compromise. With goodwill and foresight it can be made to work.

Otherwise, it was a busy week for the EU's three main institutions. In Council, the EU's development aid ministers met on Monday and approved plans for food security and humanitarian food aid in developing countries. High world food prices remain a serious threat to survival. More money will be made available for programmes to tackle malnutrition, support and train small scale farmers and fund programmes for crop research such as those I saw on a recent visit to ICRISAT (International Crop Research Insitute for the Semi Arid Tropics) in India. They also discussed how to meet the Millenium Research Goals in health care, particularly combating infant mortality and improving maternal health, and signed off new plans.

European Council President Herman van Rompuy came before Parliament's Liberal Group this week and acquitted himself well. He may look as if he has been pulled through a hedge backwards, but he has a sharp brain. We quizzed him mainly about the turmoil in the money markets.

At the Commission this week there was tough talking. A series of infringement procedures was launched on Wednesday against member states which fail to abide by the rules they have set at EU level in areas such as public procurement, taxation, the environment and consumer protection. France in particular has been instructed to recover unjustified state aid paid to over 200 businesses.

Apart from the demands of French, German and Italian TV and radio for comment on the UK election outcome, my week was marked by meetings with the team from Moldova negotiating the new Association Agreement with the EU. They are pushing hard for rapid progress; and while there are no major obstacles I felt obliged to warn them not to court us with too much ardour. The EU is committed to helping the new democratic government which ousted the Communists a year ago, but given the sensitive security issues in Transnistria, where there is still a Russian presence, we need to tread carefully.

I will be working in my constituency office today, at home tomorrow and at the Party's special conference in Birmingham on Sunday to support the coalition agreement with the Conservatives. I have never taken the view that Liberal Democrats are closer to Labour: if we sup with either we should - as with the devil - choose a long spoon.