Interview with Diana Wallis MEP

Charlotte Gaughan: There have been huge economic benefits to Yorkshire and Humber resulting from the structural fund, and also, as Vice President, you've clearly been influential in the European parliament. How far do you think people are aware of the benefits of the European Union to Yorkshire, and the policy reforms that you personally have helped to achieve? Do you expect this to translate into increased votes?

Diana Wallis MEP: In my view the whole of our country benefits from European Union membership. However the case for Yorkshire and the Humber is quite special; we have historically always been an open and trading region. The Humber ports complex is the biggest such complex in the country; we depend on trade and indeed further simplification of trade. If the barriers, tariff or otherwise, went up, we would suffer, and perhaps suffer more than most. We also live in a very beautiful region which is a magnet for tourists. Especially through the port of Hull, free movement of people brings wealth to our towns and communities who depend on tourism.

Then when we had the terrible floods in the summer of 2007 both East and South Yorkshire benefitted from the biggest award of monies that has yet been made from the European Solidarity Fund. I would like to think people were aware of what I have been doing, but maybe the biggest challenge for the future is to help people in this region feel equally as proud of being Europeans as they do of being from Yorkshire and the Humber! I would underline that to me the two are absolutely complimentary and not at all exclusive. In the European Parliament I am proud of the region I represent and here in the region I am proud of our achievements in Europe.

CG: Clegg has launched a very pro-European campaign; however, recent polls suggest that 55% of the public are against the European Union. Do you think that such a fervently pro-European position is likely to damage support for the Lib Dems?

DW: A poll conducted by UKIP and published on 17th May indicated that 55% of the public believe that the UK should remain a full member of the European Union. The same poll revealed that 55% believe that the UK should leave the European Union but maintain close trading links, so there is clearly some confusion on this issue! That's why the Lib Dems feel it's about time we in the UK had a proper, fully informed and open debate about our membership of the EU and that we be given the opportunity to vote on this in a referendum. A referendum, no matter what the result, would leave us better informed and more relaxed about our relationship with Europe.

With regards to the campaign, I believe that we ought to be open about all our positions as anything otherwise would be to betray our voters. No matter what your position is on the UK's membership of the EU, we are at present members, and laws will be passed in the European Parliament over the next mandate that will affect UK voters. We need to elect politicians who are engaged in Europe and who are therefore able to represent the UK when decisions are being made. I believe that the blatant apathy for taking part in this democratic process that is demonstrated by some of the other political parties serves neither their voters nor the UK.

CG: Could you outline a few of your main policies, in particular any you think young people/students would be especially interested in?

DW: One of my main concerns is to increase transparency and accountability in the European Parliament, and as Vice President of the EP responsible for transparency issues and access to documents, I feel I have been able to push through a number of changes such as:

• public attendance figures for MEPs;
• public information about expenses and allowances for MEPs and their assistants;
• citizen summaries as an introduction to EU Directives.

These are concerns that benefit everyone, be they young or old, but I do feel that modernising and opening up the political system is something that young people tend to feel very strongly about.

To make sure that consumers of all ages benefit from being part of the EU, I was involved in reaching an agreement on the Consumers Credit Directive. This will make it easier for people to compare information about loans and will help to provide stronger safeguards to prevent irresponsible lending by banks. This is important for the future, especially after the difficulties Britons currently face to get loans faced with the crisis. My concerns for direct democracy have led me to sit on the petitions committee, where for the past years I have been involved with citizens' grievances from around Europe. These petitions came from citizens of all ages. I also work hard to defend those policies that the Lib Dem party holds dear for all UK citizens visiting the continent (and young people tend to be the most mobile):

• the right to healthcare abroad;
• lowering roaming charges (a recent EU deal means that UK operators will be able to charge no more than 11p for a text message sent whilst abroad by this summer);
• Europe-wide access to the Emergency Number 112 (this was one of my pet projects).

In addition, my group ALDE (the European Liberal Party), was in charge of a report on the Erasmus Mundus programme (2009-2013) aimed at promoting mobility of European and third country students and at improving the EU's reputation as a pole of excellence in higher education. Erasmus Mundus II, was funded to the tune of 950 million euros for the period 2009-2013, which is quadruple the previous budget, and aims to improve even further the increasing demand for student mobility between third countries and the European Union. The obstacles and administrative procedures, and in particular those related to visas, will have to be lifted.

And finally, as you are probably aware, the Lib Dems are the only party which believes higher education should be free. We campaign in the UK to scrap tuition fees for all students taking their first degrees.

Check The Yorker over the coming days for further coverage on the European elections.

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