€1bn of corporate lobbying gets “traffic light” food labelling rejected
The European Parliament voted to reject a proposed change to nutritional labels on food packaging in this session. The proposed change from the commission would have introduced a compulsory “traffic light” labelling system on food packaging. The levels of fat, saturated fats, sugars and salt would have been shown on the front of food packages with green for low levels, orange for medium levels and red for high levels.
Such a system was supported by consumer and health organisations as it would have given very clear and understandable information to consumers about the content of the food. Independent studies have shown that people are five times more likely to be able to identify healthier foods when such a system is used when contrasted with the current system.
The food industry spent an estimated €1bn to lobby against these proposals. MEPs have been bombarded with visits, phone calls, emails, personal letters from CEOs. Many corporate sponsored “information events” were also organised in the Parliament by the industry.
This campaign was able to win over sufficient MEPs to ensure that these proposals did not go through. This is a very clear example of the role that lobbyists play in the EU. This proposal would have benefitted consumers in allowing them make informed choices about what foods to eat, and would have resulted in people eating more healthily with subsequent positive impact on people’s health. Despite this, a majority of MEPs decided to put the profits of the fast food and snack food industry ahead of the health of working class people.
Language rights in court
The Parliament this month voted in favour of giving greater interpretation and translation rights for those facing trial. Recent reports have shown how the lack of these facilities in Irish courts has lead to potential miscarriages of justice. Joe Higgins also voted in favour of amendments that would have strengthened the rights for speakers of regional and minority languages.
Parliament critical of sports agents
For many years, sports fans have seen big business interests get stronger and stronger in sport. The underbelly of the glamour of the big leagues is the exploitation of many young players, often coming from poorer countries. Agents and big clubs can make millions on the backs of these young people. The Socialist Party stands for sports that are not run in the interests of profit but in the interests of the communities as a whole with the big money being invested to provide sports facilities for all. Joe Higgins voted in favour of this report as it highlighted the corruption in sports and with many agents and associations.
Longer working time for lorry drivers rejected
This session of the Parliament saw it support the “Bauer report”. This report was seeking an exemption for self-employed lorry drivers from the Working Time Directive which would restrict the amount of hours they could work. Lowering the amount of hours that could be worked clearly has an impact on road safety. Giving this exemption for self-employed drivers would have also meant that haulage companies could re-designate their drivers as self-employed in order to make them work longer hours.
Israeli attack on aid flotilla
The Parliament voted for a motion in this session that condemned the attack by the Israeli army on the aid flotilla to Gaza on 31 May. The motion also called for an end to the blockade of Gaza. It was positive that such calls were in this motion. However, the motion was extremely one sided in that it called for an end to attacks against Israel and the release of Israeli Sergeant Gilad Shalit (currently held by Hamas), without demanding a halt to the daily brutal attacks against Palestinians and the release of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. While we call for the release of Gilad Shalit and oppose individual terror attacks on Israeli, in simply condemning one side, the motion placed the blame for the conflict at the door of the Palestinians rather than Israeli capitalism and international imperialism. Therefore Joe Higgins abstained, as the report was not sufficiently critical of the Israeli regime, the EU that sells arms to the Israeli army or the US government for its refusal to condemn the attacks. The report also did not put forward a viable solution to the conflict. The Socialist Party believes that it is on the basis of a common struggle of workers and poor in Palestine and in Israel that the problems of the region can be resolved. Joe Higgins spoke in the Parliament to explain his vote on this motion. You can watch the videos of this here (in English) and here (as Gaeilge).
Joe Higgins votes of retraining fund for ex-Waterford Crystal workers
Joe Higgins voted in favour of the Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Waterford Crystal. The fund will give funds for retraining of those workers laid off in Waterford Crystal. Joe Higgins voted for this and welcomed the funds. These funds however are not a replacement for the jobs that were lost. The Socialist Party argued at the time of the workers’ occupation of the factory that the company should be nationalised and brought under workers control to save jobs in the company
How the Irish MEP’s voted
Click here to see how the MEPs voted
Situation in Nepal
Joe spoke on the wave of revolutionary struggles by workers and poor in Nepal against brutal poverty and repression. You can watch Joe’s speech here.
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