Travelling light

DJ Nozem has Joseph Daul (the Chairman of the EPP in the Parliament) bang to rights:

Today:

French MEP Joseph Daul argued that those in the ‘close Strasbourg’ camp are ducking certain realities: “A Euro-MP wanting to sit solely in Brussels is not being honest. An MEP is obliged to travel. If I want to see the European Central Bank, I go to Frankfurt. I have to go to Luxembourg if I need to see the European Court of Justice. For veterinarian affairs, it’s Dublin. The food safety agency is in Parma… So a European deputy can’t only work and be based in Brussels.”

Flashback to 2006:

"Why have all these agencies in London, Frankfurt or Parma?" he asks. "They too cost a lot of money. Why not relocate them too in Brussels?"


PS - we liked this peculiar snippet from his biography:

In 1997, when the 'mad cow' crisis arose, he was chair of the National Federation of Beef Producers in France and of the 'beef' group in Europe. The management of the crisis required diplomacy, perspicacity and faith in the future of the sector in order to juggle with the scientific realities, media impact, the despair of producers and the psychosis among consumers.

Psychosis? Guess mad cow was worse than we thought.

We also learn that he is a trade unionist as as well as a farmer - which explains a lot about the centre right in Europe...