AS your representative in the European Parliament it is my job to bridge the gap between Brussels and Wales. But in such a large institution trying to find an answer or pin down someone to ask a question is near impossible.
If I have a grievance I wish to be addressed, the most effective way of getting a response is by penning a letter to the relevant committee or commissioner and wait for a response.
I have submitted written questions to the Commission on a number of issues lately. One concern is the increasing encroachment of gagging orders in UK courts under legislation from the European Courts of Justice, the final legal recourse for all EU member states. Over the last five years there has been a surge in super injunctions bought by wealthy parties to prevent their identity being revealed to the media in relation to scandals.
Due to the European Court of Justice acting as the Supreme Court, the UK is unable to formulate domestic privacy legislation to prevent such injunctions being awarded. Enough money can buy an individual the right to bypass domestic legislation and attain a gagging order.
Yet multi billion pound companies can also spend vast sums protecting their reputation, even when that information is within the public interest. I have what would be the Commission’s reaction if the UK public made clear they wanted the domestic judicial system to be the final resort in UK law with regards to freedom of press.
You are probably not aware that from May 1, hundreds of thousands of EU migrants are now able to apply for full UK benefits after only three months of residency. Jobseekers allowance, council tax and housing benefit were previously only available after a year of UK employment.
Since 2004, despite predictions only 13,000 workers would come, more than a million officially registered with 650,000 still here.
The change in rules means migrants will be able to claim welfare benefits for children back at home. Currently 32,000 children in Eastern Europe are paid maintenance from Britain. That number will multiply. The UK system is far more generous than domestic welfare payments in most EU countries.
Yet nothing prevents welfare tourism or restricts mass migration from one part of the EU to another. I have addressed the Commission and expect an answer that will help me to fight the exploitation of the UK by foreign migrants.
Yet the very term migrants could itself be foreign if EU plans to merge the Brussels empire progress. You may have read in the press at the start of the week a story by the Express claiming the EU want to merge England with France. No sniggering at the back please! Although the story used a lot of editorial license to come up with such a bold statement, there is truth behind the headline.
Under EU Interreg Community Initiative, proposals to redraw territories into transnational regions sees Southern England and Northern France lumped together in a new territory called the Arc Manche.
Eric Pickles, the Conservative Local Government Secretary condemned the previous government for colluding with the EU to “wipe England off the map.” Again, please refrain from chuckling. The proposals include a £1 billion a year project to increase cooperation across national borders, including shared economy, shared transport infrastructure and shared cultural ventures.
It may seem harmless, but underlying the initiative are EU intentions to reduce the influence of national borders which underscore the diversity and differences that keep the EU a bloc of countries rather than a federalist union.
There are 12 cross border regions including a new territory incorporating Wales. Yes, now you are concerned! Under Interreg we are adjoined to Ireland. You may be surprised to learn that the EU Wales funding office WEFO have received £45 million to spend on projects with East Ireland such as a Celtic Enterprise and Business support network, a Celtic Countryside Partnership, and the Celtic Connections project. We certainly share a lot with our neighbours, including an indigenous language and a love of seeing England beaten in rugby.
But most people in Wales and Ireland alike are fiercely proud of their country and do not want to see national borders dissolved in order for new territories to be created. The Commission are not shy about underlining the purpose of Interreg as “designed to strengthen economic and social cohesion by fostering…cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation.”
You have an EU driving license, an EU passport and you probably have a few Euros from your last holiday somewhere in your kitchen drawer.
But are you ready to stop being Welsh? No, I didn’t think so.