Graham's Week
|  |
July 2002
|  |
|
June 2002
| |
|
May 2002
| |
|
April 2002
| |
|
March 2002
| |
|
February 2002
| |
|
January 2002
| |
|
December 2001
| |
|
Back to main page
| |
|
Published and promoted by Graham Watson MEP, Bagehots Foundry, Beards Yard, Langport, TA10 9PS. Printed and hosted by Nextra, Global House, Ashley Avenue, Epsom, KT18 5AD.
|
|
|
March 2002
|
| 05 - 09 March |
| 11 - 15 March |
16 - 23 March
|
05 - 09 March
|
TUESDAY, 5 MARCH
Graham Watson will be in London for talks with Liberal Democrat party leader Charles Kennedy.
Graham will also have meetings with Lord Tordoff, Chairman of Committees in the House of Lords, and with Lord Roper, the chief whip.
Graham will be guest of honour at a lunch held by Parliament magazine to thank him for his work as editor of the magazine until the beginning of this year.
WEDNESDAY, 6 MARCH
Graham Watson will be speaking about the challenges of enlargement of the EU at a seminar for leaders of the political groups in the European Parliament. Graham is leader of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform group. There are currently 13 applicant countries, including 10 Central and Eastern European states and three Mediterranean countries. As many as 10 of these applicant countries may join in 2004.
Graham will later be discussing enlargement issues with Commissioner Michel Barnier.
In the evening, Graham will be meeting the US ambassador where he will discuss latest moves in the fight against terrorism.
THURSDAY, 7 MARCH
Graham Watson will be chairing a meeting of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Group of the European Parliament. They will discuss group priorities for the coming year and focus on ways to reform the EU to make it more accountable and to prepare the way for enlargement.
Graham will later be receiving a group of Eastern European Liberals to discuss enlargement issues.
FRIDAY, 8 MARCH
Graham Watson will be in Amsterdam for meeting of the ELDR bureau before travelling to Manchester for this weekend's Liberal Democrat Spring Conference.
In Manchester, Graham will speaking at the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference rally, hosted by the Local Government Association Liberal Democrat Group. He will discussing the need for the EU to be more democratically accountable and about the benefits of regional government.
SATURDAY, 9 MARCH
At the conference in Manchester, Graham Watson will be championing a call for the UK to take more of a lead in developing an EU benchmark for defence capability and conflict prevention and resolution.
|
Back to top
|
11 - 15 March
|
MONDAY, 11 MARCH
Graham Watson will be travelling to Strasbourg for a week-long session of parliamentary debates and committee meetings. On the agenda is a proposal to allow national governments to give financial support to postal companies which could benefit rural postal services.
As leader of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Group, Graham will be holding meetings with Francis Wurtz, leader of the Confederal Group of the European United Left, and Jens-Peter Bonde, of the Europe of Democracies and Diversities Group.
TUESDAY, 12 MARCH
In Strasbourg, Graham Watson will be closely monitoring reports to parliament on proposals for a directive on the establishment of rules and procedures with regard to the introduction of noise-related operating restrictions at community airports, and on proposals concerning the exposure of workers to noise.
Graham will be opposing any measures that might threaten the future of the health food industry when proposals for an EU directive on food supplements receive a second reading. However, he will welcome consumer protection measures including more detailed labelling.
He will also hold a series of separate meetings with Commisioner Loyola de Palacio, Competition Commissioner Mario Monti, Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Pedro Solbes Mira, Danish Foreign Minister Peer Stig Moller, Daniel Cohn-Bendit of the Greens Group of MEPs, and Enrique Baron Crespo, leader of Group of the Party of European Socialists.
WEDNESDAY, 13 MARCH
Graham Watson will receive a group of Liberal Democrat party members from Weston-super-Mare and Wells constituencies who will be visiting Strasbourg.
Graham will hold meetings with Commissioner for Trade Pascal Lamy and with Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom.
THURSDAY, 14 MARCH
Graham Watson will be in Barcelona for a meeting of EU Liberal party leaders on the eve of the European Council summit of heads of state where enlargement and EU reform will be on the agenda.
FRIDAY, 15 MARCH
Graham Watson will be debating the merits of the euro with Roger Berry, Labour MP for Kingswood, at a Business Forum meeting being held at the Business and Conference Centre at Filton College, Bristol, starting at 12.30pm.
Graham will later be touring areas in Bristol which qualify for Objective 2 and Urban 2 EU funding.
Graham will then attend a meeting of the South West Constitutional Convention which will take place at Gloucester City Council Council House.
|
Back to top
|
16 - 23 March
|
SATURDAY, 16 MARCH
Graham Watson will be in Brno in the Czech Republic where he will meet leaders of ODA, the Czech Liberal Democrat party. He will be explaining his priorities as leader of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform group in the European Parliament and discussing the challenges of enlargement of the EU. The Czech Republic is an applicant country.
MONDAY and TUESDAY, 18/19 MARCH
Graham Watson will be in Sofia, Bulgaria, where he will meet political leaders and government officials as well as business leaders and representatives of a cross-section of organisations. Graham will be discussing the progress of negotiations towards the country's membership of the European Union. There are currently 13 applicant countries, including 10 Central and Eastern European states and three Mediterranean countries. As many as 10 countries may join in 2004 if they meet political and economic criteria.
WEDNESDAY, 20 MARCH
Graham Watson, leader of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform group in the European Parliament, will take part in a debate on the results of the European Council heads of state summit in Barcelona. On the Barcelona agenda are economic and social reforms in the EU, including the liberalisation of labour and financial markets, as well as international issues ranging from Iraq to Zimbabwe.
Graham will be speaking at a meeting to discuss relations between Europe and China organised by the Hanns Seidel Foundation which promotes international contact and co-operation.
Graham will later be meeting the US Ambassador and will be protesting at President Bush's decision to impose tariffs on steel imports which he feels may harm EU/US relations.
THURSDAY and FRIDAY, 21/22 MARCH
Graham Watson will be in Budapest, Hungary, where he will be speaking at a Liberal International conference. Graham will be discussing the anti-terrorism measures that he steered through the European Parliament in his role as chairman of the Justice and Home Affairs Committee. Hungary is likely to be one of the first Central and Eastern European states to be join the European Union.
SATURDAY, 23 MARCH
After a busy two months as new leader of the ELDR group in the European Parliament, while continuing to fight for the interests of his South West constituents, Graham Watson will be starting a welcome short Easter break with his family.
|
Back to top
|
|
|
