 n the five years since I was elected as
one of the UK’s
first Green Party Members of the European Parliament – five
years that sometimes seems to have gone in a flash. In those
five years issues, campaigns, debates and directives have
come and gone, but one thing has remained constant: serving
as an MEP has allowed me to introduce the Green perspective – the
twin goals of social and environmental justice necessary
for a sustainable society – into debates on everything
from animal welfare to xenophobia, agriculture to economics.
With 42 MEPs, our collective Green voice can be an influential
one, a voice that is respected and often considered. The
Parliament’s inquiry into the Government’s disastrous
handling of the foot and mouth epidemic, on which I served
as vice-President, is a good example. Despite Labour MEPs’ attempts
to block the inquiry, I was able to ensure scientific evidence
on the folly of the Government’s cull policy and arrogant
bullying of rural communities was heard, considered and acted
upon.
Being an MEP also helps in other areas of my campaigning
work: by asking the right question I secured a ruling by
competition commissioner Mario Monti that the Government’s £650m
bail-out of failing nuclear generator British Energy constituted ‘unlawful
state aid’ – a ruling which the courts may now
use to order repayment of the loan and force the firm into
financial meltdown. The cash should have been used to invest
in renewable energy production - £650m could have built
enough offshore wind turbines to power 15 per cent of the
country – if it is repaid to the public purse it can
be.
I also continue to actively campaign against Genetically
Modified Organisms (GMOs). Greens at Brussels were able to
defeat Government calls for the onus of labeling GM content
in foods to fall on the very producers who refuse to use
them. I supported the European ban on testing cosmetics on
animals; commissioned a scientific report on the health effects
of mobile telephone masts and have intervened regularly on
debates on human rights violations as well as the illegal
and immoral UK-US calls for war on Iraq. For me these are
all campaigns which work towards a sustainable society that
is both socially and environmentally just.
I’m also busy trying to get the Green message onto
as many platforms as I can. Last year, for example, I spoke
to thousands of anti-globalisation activists at the European
Social Forum in Florence. I debated the failure of globalization
to meet the needs of the world’s poor with billionaire
financier George Soros and I have contributed to the hugely
well-supported Stop the War demonstrations in central London.
We’ve had some notable successes, but there’s
much more to be done. And one thing’s clear: we need
more elected Greens at every level to build on this momentum
and ensure the principles of environmental sustainability
and social justice inform the debates that shape the world
in which we live.
Dr Caroline Lucas is Green Party MEP for South-East England |
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