Tory disarray grows in Brussels

12.37.00pm GMT Mon 15th Feb 2010

Bill Newton Dunn MEP tells us that Tory disarray grows in Brussels as Tory councillors are also isolated now. "Last year, Cameron pulled his MEPs out of the big centre-right alliance in the European Parliament - a stupid move which damages Britain's ability to win votes. Now he has made matters worse - by forcing his Tory councillors to pull out of their alliance in the Committee of the Regions against their wishes. The Committee of the Regions is a part of the Council of Ministers, totally powerless but noisy." Read on:

"Here are details of what happened :

• Unlike the European Parliament, where Tory MEPs knew that they would have to leave the EPP, it was anticipated that the Tory councillors could remain within the EPP Group in the Committee of the Regions (where the four political groups were, until last week, the EPP, the Socialists, ALDE and the UEN).

• Last week however Cameron ordered the Tories to leave the EPP in the CoR.

• Under CoR rules, the requirement to establish a Group is 6 parties, with 9 full members and 9 alternate members.

• The Tories have been unable to do this as several of their ECR partners in the Parliament are not represented in the CoR and the Polish Law and Justice Party had committed to stay within what was the UEN.

• The UEN held its constitutive meeting last Thursday, where it changed its name to the European Alliance and chose the Polish Law and Justice Party representative as its Leader.

• This Group has many protectionists in it and for that and other reasons the Tories, while having had discussions with them, have not applied to join it.

• The EPP then held its constitutive meeting and confirmed in a press release that the Tories had left.

• This means that the Conservatives are currently unaligned within the CoR; they do not belong to any Group.

• It is not impossible that they will join the European Alliance or seek to create another splinter group later (if they are able to find the numbers which they have until now been unable to do).

• Other non-aligneds in the CoR include the Greek Marxists and the Spanish Mayor of Cordoba (who comes from the United Left party which brings together communists, anti- capitalists, republicans and radical greens)."

Bill Newton Dunn MEP

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