South West Hertfordshire Liberal Democrats

Reacting to the European Council Conclusions on Growth this evening, Guy Verhofstadt,
President of the ALDE Group in the European Parliament said:

"EU leaders have failed in the only area where they could have made concrete progress today. Instead of decisive action they again chose procrastination. After 40 years of waiting, an agreement was found last year on a European patent but we still have to wait another six months for Member States to agree on the seat of the court causing further delay and costing jobs across the Union at a crucial moment."

The first ever review of a County Council Cabinet decision, which had been demanded by the Liberal Democrats, ended in disappointment as the Conservative majority refused to refer the issue back to Cabinet for re-consideration. The one-day meeting highlighted the lack of information which had been given to local groups throughout the process. and raised concerns about the level of uncertainty faced by the groups, even as the County Council continues its plan to sell off the land at the Ariston Works site on Harpenden Rd, St Albans.

Attempts to prevent 12 staff from being made redundant to save just £41,000 were scuppered this week after the Conservatives voted to get rid of the Schools Library Service.

During the debate on the cabinet decision at a scrutiny meeting on Wednesday 25th January, the Liberal Democrat group highlighted that the closure of the service had been agreed without any reference to the County's own Education and Skills Cabinet Panel, despite the service being used exclusively by Hertfordshire's schools.

A pan-European constituency with transnational lists for European Parliament elections is among the proposals put forward by the Constitutional Affairs Committee on Thursday. MEPs called on the Council and the Commission to join in negotiations to reform the EU electoral system so as to boost voter turnouts.

Today in the Constitutional Affairs Committee a tied vote (11-11) meant that no decision was taken on Andrew Duff's report which recommended that the EU does not agree to the request of the former government of the Czech Republic to add a Protocol on the Charter to the Treaty of Lisbon.

The Czech Protocol was conceived in 2009 in order to persuade President Klaus to sign the Lisbon treaty. Mr Duff argues that an identical Protocol signed by the UK and Poland is a spurious and futile instrument which sows legal uncertainty and political confusion. He is supported in this view by the European Court of Justice and by the Czech Senate which threatens not to ratify the Czech Protocol.

In a report to be voted on by the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the European Parliament this Thursday (26 January), MEPs are recommended not to agree to the request of the former government of theCzechRepublicto add a Protocol to the Treaty of Lisbon. The draft Protocol was agreed by the heads of government at the time of the ratification of theLisbontreaty in 2009 in order to persuade President Vaclav Klaus to drop his opposition to the treaty. The Czech Parliament never agreed to the Protocol.

At meetings in Barcelona on Friday and Saturday (20-21 January), the European federalists took a stance on the emerging intergovernmental treaty on fiscal discipline.

The UEF took note of the circumstances which led up to the drafting of a new treaty outside the framework of the European Union, but welcomed the fact that the British bluff had been called and their veto by-passed.

With the Olympics just around the corner, the Liberal Democrats are fighting hard to ensure that a number of local sport groups aren't made homeless by a decision made at the County Council to sell off the land which they use: the former Ariston Works Site at Harpenden Road.

On Tuesday, members of Hertfordshire County Council's Overview & Scrutiny Committee visited the site to find out more about the site and the groups that use it. They were told that St Albans Judo Club has produced a number of national medal winners and the Pioneer Skate Park has hosted the Girl Skate Jam UK. Some of the councillors seemed visibly shocked when they heard how many young people used the facilities and the wide range of activities taking place there.