ECR Vice-Chairmen speak at Heritage Foundation

The European Commission's decision to rewrite its own damning impact assessment on proposals for a Financial Transaction Tax - so that it is more favourable towards the proposal - is a clear indication it is putting its political agenda above jobs and growth, Dr Kay Swinburne MEP, European Conservatives and Reformists group economics spokesman, warned today.

"What's most important is the fact that this legal analysis by the EU Commissioner for Environment does not call for any legal changes. It shows a rather tough interpretation of Union law, which may be quite difficult to be implemented in many places in Poland" - says Konrad Szymański, European Conservatives and Reformists' shadow on shale gas in the industry and energy committee, after reading the analysis.

Speaking in the European Parliament this afternoon on the outcome of Monday's EU summit, Martin Callanan MEP, Chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists group, said that the best way to create jobs in the EU is for Eurocrats and MEPs to get out of the way and allow employers and businesses to grow.

The EU's trade waiver for Pakistan - initially proposed to assist Pakistan following the devastating 2010 floods - is finally near realisation after all opponents dropped their opposition at the WTO today. Robert Sturdy MEP, vice-president of the European Parliament's trade committee, has been a strong advocate of the waiver proposal and has called for the EU to implement the waiver as soon as possible after next month's formal approval by the WTO ministers.