Should EU confront fishermen?
The blockade of Calais, halted for the moment as I write, is a very European affair. The trigger for the protest is the EU agreement on the number of cod that they are allowed to catch. This was agreed by ministers from the EU's 27 countries at a by now traditional pre-Christmas, overnight wrangle.
But now a couple of British MEPs are saying that the European Commission should get tough with the French for not making sure people enjoyed the EU right of free movement between countries.
The Conservative MEP Richard Ashworth says: "The French government continues to ignore its obligation to provide free passage for Britons travelling in the European Union.
"France continues to turn a blind eye to this kind of deliberate disruption to a crucial trade route and it is totally unacceptable."
Peter Skinner, a Labour MEP, thinks action should be taken because "for too long organised groups of protesters have been able to flaunt the law and breach European rules on the free movement of goods and services, with the French government seemingly unable or unwilling to do anything about it".
"The Commission should take action as they have done in the past when Labour's Neil Kinnock, who was the commissioner for transport, pursued the French authorities in the European courts."
Of course it is not only "Labour's Neil Kinnock" who has taken action against countries. It happens on an almost weekly basis: just the other day the transport commissioner issued a warning to Poland and Spain over port safety.
But in this case, so far, not a peep. There's not the whisper of a warning or a news release on their website and MEPs are finding it difficult to get an answer out of anyone. This may be just post-Easter sleepiness on the Commission's part or a desire not to get into a rumble with Sarkozy. I will update you if there is a response.
In the meantime, should the "guardians of the treaty" show a bit of muscle or keep their noses out of this dispute?
I’m Mark Mardell, the BBC's North America editor. These are my reflections on American politics, some thoughts on being a Brit living in the USA, and who knows what else? My 
Comments
Sign in or register to comment.