EUseless - EFDD Group in the European Parliament · are either ridiculous – like telling people...

An insight into EU Parliamentary Committees

Louise Bours MEP

Member of the EFDD Group

In the European Parliament

EUseless: A view from the mad house

European Parliament committees are increasingly not fit for purpose.

Louise Bours has been a member of EFDD since 2014. She was elected as an MEP for the North West of England in 2014. Prior to entering politics she had a successful acting career on television and in the West End.

Louise Bours MEP

Contents Page 1

European Parliament CULT & FEMM

Introduction

Employment: A level playing field

Forced marriage and human trafficking

Household chores

Female genital mutilation and

‘honour’-based violent attacks

Multiculturalism and political correctness

Political indoctrination in schools

Conclusion

References

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While not every conversation that takes place there is entirely without merit, very often it invokes Nero fiddling while Rome burns. All politicians are accused of spouting hot air. Within the European Parliament building in Brussels it’s like a furnace. While not every conversation that takes place there is entirely without merit, very often it invokes Nero fiddling while Rome burns. Too often the parliamentary committees find themselves bogged down in needless debate about issues the EU has no control over, need not have control over, and, more importantly, should never have control over. This booklet looks at some of the recent work of two European Parliament committees – the Committee on Culture and Education and the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality.


The Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) describes itself thus: “Our Committee is responsible for all the cultural aspects of the Union such as the dissemination of culture, cultural heritage, cultural and linguistic diversity, as well as for education, the audio-visual policy, the cultural and educational aspects of the information society, youth and sports. (Costa) “The European Parliament plays an equal role with the Member State governments in adopting new laws and supervising the Union's programmes in these areas. In that regard, our Committee is responsible for the ‘Erasmus +’ programme for education, training, youth and sport, ‘Creative Europe’ which supports European cultural and creative sectors and the ‘Europe for citizens’ programme.” (Costa) The Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality discusses “numerous issues [that] still exist in our social, cultural, political, and economic life where women are not equally treated. Our general concerns are voiced namely over pay gap, women's economic independence, female poverty, women's underrepresentation in decision making, sexual and reproductive health rights, trafficking and violence against women and girls. We want to bring a change and mainstream gender into all EU policies.” (Garcia Perez) It is my contention that whilet both these committees do address some serious subjects, they waste a lot of time discussing issues which are either ridiculous – like telling people who should do the washing up in private family homes – or are failing to tackle root causes because of political strangulation. In this booklet I will address some of what I consider to be issues that should be beyond any EU remit, and several of those more serious issues where we are failing to deal with them effectively.

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Introduction

Employment: Level playing field

You do not fight discrimination with discrimination.


As a feminist, I believe in equality. However, I also believe in meritocracy, where the best people for the job are the people who actually get the job, and not someone who is imposed upon an employer simply because of their gender. At the plenary session at Strasbourg in June, a resolution was put forward urging the adoption of a directive for the balanced representation of men and women on company boards. Before describing the resolution as “dangerous and anti-business”, this was my response during the debate: “This is a piece of EU legislation that allows for sanctions such as the dissolution of a company just because it has not succeeded in reaching the arbitrary target imposed by the European Union. “You do not fight discrimination with discrimination. Bringing in quotas is demeaning for women – the women who have worked hard and made it to the top of their professions. “It should not matter what gender you are or what your ethnic background or religion is: if you are the best qualified person for that job, you should get it. “But with the instigation of these policies, people could look around the boardroom and question whether a colleague is the best person for the job, or if they simply obtained their position because their gender ticked the right boxes on the EU checklist.”

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EU checklist - Glass ceilings

and pink quotas in

boardrooms

EU justifying

their own existence with

reports that are nothing more than pie in the

sky, offering no practical help

to women whatsoever.

Earlier in the year in March, again speaking at Strasbourg, I commented: “We have another lengthy report calling for the EU to do absolutely everything under the sun. These numerous EU initiatives and campaigns have not done one thing to help gender equality. “But, of course, MEPs calling for gender equality, to stop violence against women and demanding tougher legislation on discrimination is great public relations, is it not? “No one would, or could, argue with that. But the reality is that none of us here have the power to initiate anything. So what about the report in front of us? “You called for positive discrimination in respect of listed companies. This is demeaning to women. We are perfectly capable of competing for positions of responsibility in business. We do not need the EU making us look inferior or weaker. “Then you state you want gender clauses for public procurement contracts: classic EU bureaucracy. If I want a job doing, I want it done well; I want the best company with the best plan for the best price, irrespective of how many men and women work in that company. “Once again, it is the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) and the EU justifying their own existence with reports that are nothing more than pie in the sky, offering no practical help to women whatsoever.”


I share the view of the late American Professor Louis Pojman, who in 1998, in an article titled The Case Against Strong Affirmative Action for the International Journal for Applied Philosophy, commented: “By giving people what they deserve as individuals rather than as members of groups, we show respect for their inherent worth. “We will be ‘better off’ if we employ the best leaders, teachers, policemen, physicians, generals, lawyers, and airplane pilots that we can possibly produce in society.” (Pojman) The reality of life often appears to be at odds with the discussions taking place in the European Parliament. According to the statistics: The number of women on boards almost doubled in last 4 years

in the UK (Gov.uk 2015) Now almost a quarter of all FTSE 100 board positions are being

filled by women (Gov.uk 2015) Each year we see a rise of women in degree courses and

occupations in which traditionally there were few (Browne 2014)

These new trends are not reflections of genetic warping in the

female population but rather a change in culture, opportunity and, crucially, expectation (Browne 2014)

Rising employment for women and falling employment for men

over 40 years (ONS) The number of women working within managerial roles slightly

higher than the EU average (ONS)

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Forced marriage and human trafficking

Modern day slavery on the rise


Forced marriage does not just affect children living on the African and Asian continents. It is happening across Europe, and the silence surrounding it has many parallels with the exploitation and trafficking of young girls across many towns in Northern England. UK law imposes a maximum sentence of seven years on the perpetrators of this crime, and it is simply not a strong enough deterrent. Girls are afraid to speak out, others dismiss it as a cultural practice, and our social services in England, the police and politicians dare not speak up for fear of being labelled racist. With open borders, human traffickers have free rein to exploit children. In 2013, over 600 children were trafficked into Britain for exploitation and forced marriage. This modern-day form of slavery is on the rise, and the EU has given the perpetrators a helping hand: by not allowing Member States to control their own borders and check criminal backgrounds, the EU is enabling this crime to escalate. The UK can at least check an individual’s passport. Mainland Europe is prevented from even doing that. Criminal trafficking gangs operate with impunity due to EU free movement rules, so whilst members are very good at voicing their outrage at these crimes, they are fundamentally unable to implement anything practical to actually stop them.

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Criminal

Trafficking

gangs operate

with impunity

due to EU free

movement rules

Forced marriage and

human trafficking

According to London based charity Asia House (2014): There was a recent incident of a young Pakistani origin British

girl who got a FMPO (Forced Marriage Protection Order) against her family when she was aged 15 telling them they could not force her into marriage. But the wedding still went ahead when she was 16. (Sanghera quoted by Canton 2014)

More than 1,000 guests attended and she was raped on her

wedding night. Mr Justice Holman did not perceive that to be a breach of the FMPO and threw out the case against her mother and aunt. (Sanghera quoted by Canton 2014)

One real issue is that many of these victims are returned back to

the perpetrators (family) with little monitoring and can be placed under great pressure to withdraw the Order. (Sanghera quoted by Canton 2014)

According to the Home Office Forced Marriage Unit 2014 statistics, Muslim countries dominate the list of origin: Pakistan (38.3%) India (7.8%) Bangladesh (7.1%) Afghanistan (3%) Somalia (1.6%) Turkey (1.1%) Iraq (0.7%) Sri Lanka (1.1%) Iran (1.0%). The origin was unknown in 3.5% of cases. 23% of the cases han-

dled by the FMU were domestic and had no overseas element. Asia House says it takes approximately 1,200 phone calls per month on their hotline.


11 Household

Chores

Household chores The EU bizarrely wants to interfere in the distribution of housework within family homes, with the FEMM committee actually having the debate.

In a speech to plenary at Strasbourg in June, I commented: “What kind of organisation interferes to this extent in the private lives of people, their marriages and their partnerships?

“It is up to adults in the privacy of their own homes to decide who does what. It is not the place of any government, and it certainly is not the place of EU bureaucrats to decide who does and who does not do the dishes.

“In 1975 the UK voted to join a Europe of free trade and friendship, not a European Union of political control and social engineering. This is yet another reason to vote ‘no’ in the upcoming UK referendum. Let us regain our freedom and independence from these meddling EU bureaucrats.”

Female genital mutilation and ‘honour’ based violent attacks


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There are tens of thousands of cases of FGM in the UK and not one person has been brought to justice. It is the failed policy of multiculturalism which has given rise to this abomination. In the UK, elected officials and representatives have turned a blind eye to this practice in order not to offend minority communities and avoid being labelled as racist. Lack of integration within these communities and a political class too afraid to speak out are allowing this practice to continue. It is these people who have let down the thousands of young girls and women butchered in the name of a backward cultural custom. According to the End FGM European Network, this barbaric action is carried out for the following reasons: Control - To reduce a woman’s sexual desire Hygiene - In some FGM-practicing societies,

unmutilated women are regarded as unclean and are not allowed to handle food and water

Gender - The removal of the clitoris and labia - viewed by some as the “male parts” of a woman’s body

FGM predates Islam and is not practiced by the majority of Muslims (End FGM European Network)

This evil practice must end. Politicians and the justice system must have the courage to act. Protecting children has to take priority over zealous and outdated political correctness.

There are tens

of thousands

of cases of FGM

in the UK

Female genital mutilation and

‘honour’ based violent attacks

Multiculturalism and Political correctness


More than

85 Sharia

courts in

England

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There are now estimated to be no fewer than 85 Sharia courts across the country - from London and Manchester to Bradford and Nuneaton. They operate mainly from mosques, settling financial and family disputes according to religious principles. (Baroness Cox quoted in the Daily Mail, 2014) Islamic law is to be effectively enshrined in the British legal system for the first time under guidelines for solicitors on drawing up “Sharia compliant” wills. Under ground-breaking guidance, produced by The Law Society, High Street solicitors will be able to write Islamic wills that deny women an equal share of inheritances and exclude unbelievers altogether. (Telegraph) According to the president of the Islamic Sharia Council in Britain: "In Islamic sharia, rape is adultery by force. So long as the woman is his wife, it cannot be termed as rape. It is reprehensible, but we do not call it rape." (Sheikh Maulana Abu Sayeed quoted by Hughes and Taylor 2010) These are issues taking place in the UK and across Europe right now. Yet other than acting as a talking shop, the CULT committee fails to do anything about it. In 2011, 65 percent of Europeans polled by Ipsos Mori agreed that there were too many immigrants in their countries. (Bolongaro)

Multiculturalism and

political correctness

The Ipsos Mori report, called Perceptions and Reality Public Attitudes to Immigration 2014, reveals that: UK is the most sceptical country in Europe

regarding benefits of Immigration 64% of people surveyed in the UK believe

that immigration is a problem for the country.

In Slovakia, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Netherlands and Portugal 41% - 52% also believed that immigration is a problem for their countries. (Ipsos Mori 2014)

Interestingly, while the EU promotes freedom of movement, some of its member state leaders have in the last spoken out against the “failure” of multiculturalism. Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking in

Munich in 2011, said: “Under the doctrine of state multiculturalism, we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and apart from the mainstream. We’ve failed to provide a vision of society to which they feel they want to belong. We’ve even tolerated these segregated communities behaving in ways that run completely counter to our values.” (Cameron quoted in .gov.uk 2011)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel,

speaking at an event in Potsdam, near Berlin, in 2010, said: “At the beginning of the 1960s our country called the foreign workers

In 2011, 65 percent of Europeans polled by

Ipsos Mori agreed that there were too many

immigrants in

their countries


“The approach [to build] a

multicultural [society] and to live side by side

and to enjoy each other …

has failed, utterly failed.”

Angela Merkel

17

to come to Germany and now they live in our country. We kidded ourselves a while. We said: ‘They won't stay, [after some time] they will be gone,' but this isn't reality. And of course, the approach [to build] a multicultural [society] and to live side by side and to enjoy each other ... has failed, utterly failed.” (Merkel quoted in The Christian Scientist Monitor 2010)

Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French

president speaking in 2011, said: “If you come to France, you accept to melt into a single community, which is the national community. And if you do not want to accept that, you cannot be welcome in France.” (Sarkozy quoted in CBN News 2011)

Former Spanish President Jose Maria Aznar,

speaking in Washington in 2011: “I believe that multiculturalism is a big failure. I’m against the idea of multiculturalism. Multiculturalism divides our societies, debilitates our societies, multiculturalism does not produce tolerance, nor integration. And this is one of the reasons of the great failures in several European societies at this moment. For me, to establish different laws is absolutely unacceptable in a free society. This is one of the reasons (that) multiculturalism is a very, very serious failure in Europe.” (Aznar quoted in Free Republic 2006)

Multiculturalism and

political correctness

It is illegal to spread political propaganda in schools

Political indoctrination

in schools


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Article 406 of the UK’s Education Act 1996 forbids any political indoctrination in schools. However this doesn’t seem to apply to the EU. Legislation 406 states quite clearly: (1) The local education authority, governing body and head teacher shall forbid (a) The pursuit of partisan political activities by any of those registered pupils at a maintained school who are junior pupils, and (b) The promotion of partisan political views in the teaching of any subject in the school (Gov.uk) But Judith Schilling, Publications Manager for the European Commission, says: “We will never succeed to convince people about the value of being a member of the European Union if we don’t start early enough with the young people before they have formed prejudices and are misinformed by other sources. “We have produced a booklet that explains how we benefit from membership in the European Union in your daily life. Everything between lower roaming charges to cleaner bathing water.” (Schilling quoted in the Express 2012) And Dennis Abbott, Education Spokesman of the EU Commission, said: “We see this as part of our role – to explain to our citizens – regardless of their age – not just schools and educators – how this thing works, why we have the EU, why it’s a good thing. But its aims are more information, not propaganda or a brainwashing exercise. That's not what we’re about at all.” (Abbott quoted in Russia Today 2012)

Political indoctrination

in the classroom

“explain to our

citizens – not just schools and

educators – how this thing works, why we have the

EU, why it’s a good thing.” EU Education Spokesman

Conclusion: European Parliament committees are Increasingly not fit for purpose.

My constituents in the North West of England would be appalled to know that the CULT committee spent €60 million on a house of ´EU history`, whilst thousands were forced to visit food banks in order to feed their families. Both CULT and FEMM are committees that debate issues of huge relevance to British voters, yet both seem more interested in tinkering around the edges – if they tinker at all – than actually tackling the very issues themselves. To read the words of people like David Cameron and Angela Merkel, admitting that multiculturalism has failed while they continue not to tackle that failure, should leave people in despair. These European Parliament committees – and many others – are increasingly not fit for purpose.


References Page 3. Costa, S. (Date unknown). Welcome words. Available: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/cult/home.html. Last accessed 9th Aug 2015. Page 3. Garcia Perez, I. (Date unknown). Welcome words. Available: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/femm/home.html. Last accessed 9th Aug 2015. Page 7. Pojman, L. (1998) ‘The Case Against Strong Affirmative Action’, International Journal for Applied Philosophy 12, pp. 97-115. Page 7. Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, The Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable and The Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP . (2015). Women on boards num-bers almost doubled in last 4 years. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/women-on-boardsnumbers- almost-doubled-in-last-4-years. Last accessed 9th Aug 2015. Page 7. Browne. J. (2014). Corporate Boards, Quotas for Women and Political Theory. Available: http://kingsreview.co.uk/magazine/blog/2014/07/05/corporate-boards-quotas-for-women-and-political-theory/. Last accessed 9th Aug 2015. Page 7. Authour unknown. (2013). Full report - Women in the labour market. Available: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_328352.pdf. Last ac-cessed 9th Aug 2015. Page 10. Canton . (2014). ‘Forced marriages in the UK well above 100,000′ – Jasvinder Sanghera. Available: http://asiahouse.org/anti-forced-marriage-charity-founder-discusses-scale-problem/. Last accessed 9th Aug 2015. Page 10. Authour unknown. (2014). Statistics January to December 2014. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/412667/FMU_Stats_2014.pdf. Last accessed 9th Aug 2015. Page 13. Authour unknown. (Date unknown). Why is it practiced?. Available: http://www.endfgm.eu/en/female-genital-mutilation/what-is-fgm/why-is-it-practised/ . Last accessed 9th Aug 2015 Page 15. Webb. S. (2014). Sharia law to be enshrined in British legal system as lawyers get guidelines on drawing up documents according to Islamic rules. Available: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2587215/Sharia-Law-enshrined-British-legal-lawyers-guidelines-drawing-documents-according-Islamic-rules.html. Last accessed 9th Aug 2015. Page 15. Bingham. J. (2014). Islamic law is adopted by British legal chiefs . Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10716844/Islamic-law-is-adopted-by-British-legal-chiefs.html. Last accessed 9th Aug 2015.

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http://www.dean.usma.edu/english/pojman/publishedworks/aa.2000.pdf

Hughes M. and Taylor J.. (2010). Rape 'impossible' in marriage, says Muslim cleric. Available: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/rape-impossible-in-marriage-says-muslim-cleric-2106161.html. Last accessed 9th Aug 2015. Page 15. Bolongaro. K. (2014). Is multiculturalism good for Europe?. Availa-ble: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/12/multiculturalism-good-europe-2013123045413908478.html. Last accessed 9th Aug 2015. Page 16. Bobby Duffy & Tom Frere-Smith. (2014). Reality Public Attitudes to Immigration 2014. Available: https://www.ipsos-mori.com/DownloadPublication/1634_sri-perceptions-and-reality-immigration-report-2013.pdf. Last accessed 9th Aug 2015 Page 16. Cabinet Office, Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street and The Rt Hon David Cameron MP . (2011). PM's speech at Munich Security Conference. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pms-speech-at-munich-security-conference. Last accessed 9th Aug 2015. Page 17. Clark. M. (2010). Germany's Angela Merkel: Multiculturalism has 'utterly failed'. Available: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/1017/Germany-s-Angela-Merkel-Multiculturalism-has-utterly-failed. Last accessed 9th Aug 2015. Page 17. Authour unknown. (2011). France's Sarkozy: Multiculturalism Has Failed. Available: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2011/February/Frances-Sarkozy-Multiculturalism-Has-Failed/. Last accessed 9th Aug 2015. Page 17. Republicain. (2006). Multiculturalism 'a big failure' : Spain's ex-prime minister Aznar. Available: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1726950/posts. Last accessed 9th Aug 2015. Page 19. Authour unknown. (1996). Education Act 1996. Available: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/56/section/406. Last accessed 9th Aug 2015. Page 19. Little. A. (2012). EU brainwash our children. Available: http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/296361/EU-brainwash-our-children. Last ac-cessed 9th Aug 2015. Page 19. Authour unknown. (2012). Pushing EU values: Education or propa-ganda?. Available: http://www.rt.com/news/eu-education-propaganda-criticism-643/. Last accessed 9th Aug 2015. Creative Design by Harper Black & Associates Ltd.

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All politicians are accused of spouting hot air. Within the European Parliament building in Brussels it’s like a furnace. While not every conversation that takes place there is entirely without merit, very often it invokes Nero fiddling while Rome burns.

Too often the parliamentary committees find themselves bogged down in needless debate about issues the EU has no control over, need not have control over, and, more importantly, should never have control over.

This booklet looks at some of the recent work of two European Parliament committees – the Committee on Culture and Education and the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality.

An Insight into EU Parliamentary Committees

The Committee on Culture and Education

& Committee on Women’s

Rights and Gender Equality

An Insight into EU Parliamentary Committees

Louise Bours MEP

Member of the EFDD Group

In the European Parliament

EUseless - EFDD Group in the European Parliament · are either ridiculous – like telling people...

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