A sweet moment for Poland and its first-time EU presidency

The Polish presidency and the Gaza flotilla were high on the parliament’s agenda

THE POLES filled the European Parliament during the week with strawberries as their farmers used the occasion of their country taking the European presidency for the first time to promote their products.

“Poland tastes Sweet” was the slogan they used. Punnets of the largest strawberries I have ever seen were being handed out to everyone in the maze of buildings which make up the parliament here.

On Wednesday, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk presented his government’s programme for the coming six months to the MEPs and made special reference to the fact that he hoped there would be a conclusion to the farm package negotiations.

Baroness Catherine Ashton, the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, brought parliament up to date with what the European Union has been doing in relation to north Africa and the Arab Spring.

She said the EU office she had promised to locate in Benghazi was now open and the EU flag was flying over it on the newly named Freedom Square. The union had provided €140 million in humanitarian aid to Libya and stepped up sanctions against the regime.

Her wide-ranging address covered relations with Egypt and Tunisia and Syria but it was the issue of the Freedom Flotilla, and the sabotage of two of the boats in the convoy, which excited most interest here.

Irish Socialist MEP Paul Murphy was one of three MEPs who failed to make it to Gaza when it was alleged the Irish boat was sabotaged by Israeli agents in Turkey and then Greece imposed a ban on boats sailing from there.

He and his MEP colleagues, Kyriacos Triantaphyllides from Cyprus and Nikos Chountis from Greece claimed they had been placed in real danger by the act of sabotage.

He admitted to a packed press conference it was “very unlikely” it could be proven the Israeli government had ordered the attack because the propellers could have damaged the hull at sea.

Mr Chountis accused the Greek government of breaking not only international maritime law but also Greek domestic law, by preventing the boats from moving in Greek territorial waters. He said this was not the will of the Greek people but its parliament.

The three MEPs announced they had written to the presidents of the European Commission, European Parliament and European Council, José Manuel Barroso, Jerzy Buzek and Herman Van Rompuy, and Ms Ashton, who represents the EU, demanding support for the flotilla.

They also wanted an inquiry into the affair and support from the commission for the flotilla. They said two boats were still in international waters, from France and Canada, so the issue was still a live one.

Financial news and the threat to the future of the euro were high on the agenda, with many MEPs condemning Moody’s reduction of Portuguese debt to junk status.

MEPs called on the commission to create an independent European ratings agency and for measures to regulated the activities of ratings agencies in general.

Fine Gael MEP Mairéad McGuinness was not in Strasbourg this week and asked to be taken off the payroll for the week. She was concentrating on getting her party’s nomination to run for the presidency.

Her rival for the Fine Gael nomination, Gay Mitchell, was keeping a low profile but the talk on the streets put the Louth-based MEP ahead of the Dublin man in the political hustings.

While Fianna Fáil has been keeping its powder dry on the presidential race, there was no sighting in Strasbourg of Cork MEP Brian Crowley.

Mr Crowley had been the top contender for the Fianna Fáil nomination for the Áras until the collapse of the party’s vote in the general election.