European Parliament: how the system really works

I WISH to make several clarifications as to the work of the European Parliament cited in your report headlined ‘MEPs miss one in five sessions of parliament’ (August 25).

Firstly, there was a blank space left beside the speeches section in my profile. In fact, the official records of the parliament show that I have spoken on 32 occasions since September 2007.

The table accompanying your report represents a compilation of figures and percentages since September 2007. The actual truth is that these figures encompass MEP activity since the beginning of the 2004 parliamentary term.

To give an example: your table says Proinsias de Rossa MEP has spoken in the parliament on 172 occasions since September 2007. This is completely inaccurate. He has spoken on this number of occasions since the beginning of the five-year parliamentary term in 2004.

As I have said, I have spoken on more than 30 occasions since September 2007, which is probably above the average number of times that an Irish MEP speaks per annum in the parliament.

Unfortunately, your report shows an even deeper misunderstanding of how the European Parliament works.

The distinction between parliament reports and parliament motions for resolution is clearly not understood. I have been involved in 19 motions for resolution since September ‘07.

This is not recorded accurately in the table in question.

Finally, it is not true at all to say that Fianna Fáil has been more active in tabling motions for resolution. It is a fact that most resolutions are initiated by the bigger political groups of the parliament, ie, the European People’s Party-European Democrats Group (EPP-ED) to which Fine Gael belongs, and the Socialist Group.

Members of the marginal UEN Group (to which Fianna Fáil belongs) have co-signed many such texts, but that does not necessarily mean they were the initiators of such resolutions.

Fine Gael’s EPP-ED Group is the main initiator of parliamentary texts, being the political group with the most number of members in the parliament.

I hope this letter serves to clarify most of the inaccuracies in the report so that readers may have a clearer understanding of the nature of MEPs’ work in Brussels and Strasbourg.

Colm Burke MEP

20 Washington Street

Cork