European liberals will admit Fianna Fáil MEPs to their ranks

FIANNA FÁIL’S four MEPs are expected to be admitted to the federalist Liberal group in the European Parliament today together with independent MEP Marion Harkin.

At least one of the Fianna Fáil members, Sean Ó Neachtain, has said he would not be happy with the Liberal grouping and indicated he would be prepared to sit on his own if necessary.

During the last Parliament they sat with the small right-wing anti-federalist UEN (Union for a Europe of Nations) group, which is down to just 27 members.

The Liberals, of which outgoing Parliament President Pat Cox was a member, is the third largest group with 67 members at present. It hopes with new comers to expand to just less than 90 in the Parliament of 723.

A spokesperson said they plan to form a new centrist group that will support European federalism a more united Europe than has been achieved so far.

Next week at a meeting in Bath in England, representatives of the new and current members will discuss a new name, their policies and the strategy they want to adopt.

Some want to retain the current title of Liberal in their name while others want pro-Europe Federalist in the title, he said.

In two weeks time the new group will know how many seats they have on the Parliament's all-important 17 committees and which three they can expect to chair. These positions will be distributed to their members provided they are represented at the meeting, a spokesperson said.

Europe Minister Dick Roche, who had discussions with the Liberal group and with the party's MEPs, said they had not applied to join the Liberals but the new group that they will form.

He refuted suggestions made by MEPs Sean Ó Neachtain and Brian Crowley that the Liberals supported abortion and would be against Ireland's interest in agriculture.

"Abortion is not within the powers of the EU and at any event there is no whip in issues of conscience. There is a diversity of views on issues including the CAP. After all Pat Cox was leader of the Liberals a little logic would go a long way here," he said.

Mr Roche denied that the MEPs had not been consulted about the move and said he had spoken to them on numerous occasions, including in the past ten days.

The newly elected Fianna Fáil MEP for Dublin, Eoin Ryan, said that he would abide by what the party ultimately decide on what group they should join.

Since joining the EU, Fianna Fáil MEPs have been members of small groups made up of people with a variety of beliefs including euro sceptic, neo-fascist or who have been turned down by the other larger groups. They have fewer seats on committees and less speaking time in the Parliament.

Fine Gael is a member of the largest group in the Parliament, the European People's Party, while the Labour MEP Proinsias de Rossa is a member of the second largest group, the Socialists.