• Jean's work in the European Parliament

• Jean's work in London

• Main Interests - press releases, speeches, reports, opinions

Jean's work in the European Parliament

Jean spends on average three weeks of each month working in Brussels and the fourth week in Strasbourg. The Committee and political group meetings in Brussels and the Parliamentary meetings in Strasbourg normally last from Monday to Thursday, after which Jean comes home to meet constituents and attend public events in London on Fridays and at the weekends. Because Jean works on similar issues in Parliament and in the constituency, like sustainability, immigration and asylum and social inclusion, there is a lot of continuity between her Brussels and London work.

In the Parliament, Jean is a full member of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee, a full member of the Petitions Committee, and a substitute member of the Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs (Civil Liberties) Committee. She is also a substitute member of the temporary Committee on the ECHELON interception system, and sits on the Parliamentary Delegation to Russia. (For more information on how the Committees work, see The European Parliament section)

Jean's Committees

Out of all her Parliamentary Committees, Jean spends the most time working on this Committee. Apart from being the Rapporteur for a report on the coordination of social security systems in Europe (see below for more info), there are many other aspects to her work in this area. In 1999/2000, for example, she was heavily involved in a report on anti-discrimination in employment (Article 13) and one on a European Refugee Fund.

More recent contributions include travelling to Stockholm to speak at the spring summit on "Economic and social aspects of sustainable development" (March 2001), and, also on the sustainability theme, writing an Opinion on behalf of the Committee on "Environment and sustainable development" (April 2001). She has also followed the issue of disability closely, in April 2001 tabling amendments on a Committee report entitled "Towards a barrier-free Europe for people with disabilities".

April-May 2001, she worked on an Opinion on the employment and social angle of a report on the Common Immigration Policy, which is going through the Civil Liberties Committee. She is also in a Contact Group on the European Social Agenda.

Petitions Committee

This Committee deals with petitions which are sent to the Parliament by either individuals or groups of citizens, requesting intervention by the EU on any of a whole range of issues where EU legislation is not properly implemented - from silicone implants to the treatment of waste water, from hunting permits to the use of community funds in a particular member state. Jean attends regularly and speaks on a whole range of issues, though concentrating particularly on issues of special interest to her or relating to her committees - free movement of workers, for example, immigration, or social security. More information about how to submit a petition.

Jean is a 'substitute' member on this Committee, so she has less time to devote to it than she does to her main ones, but she keeps up to date on what is going on in it and gets involved on issues which are particularly important or of special interest to her - for example, by tabling amendments or by attending Committee to vote. Recent work as a member of this Committee includes giving an 'explanation of vote' to the plenary session of Parliament regarding a proposal to fine carriers for transporting illegal immigrants.

Echelon

Parliamentary Cooperation Committee for Russia

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Ongoing Projects in the European Parliament:

1408/71 Report on the Coordination of Social Security Systems - Rapporteur in Employment and Social Affairs Committee

One of the fundamental principles of the European Union is freedom of movement - of capital, of goods and of people. However, despite the dismantling of many border controls since 1992, real freedom of movement for people is not yet a reality. One of the major impediments is the problems faced by people moving between different social security systems - if you have a pension scheme in one country, for example, what happens to this if you move to another? What employment benefits can you claim if you move to a new country - do your tax contributions in the first country count? Many people fall between the gaps and lose out when they move.

Jean is the Rapporteur for the Employment and Social Affairs Committee on this report, which aims to sort out difficulties like these. There are already rules which are supposed to coordinate social security schemes across the European Economic Area - but they are huge (1300 pages), confused and often out of date. The massive exercise which Jean is involved in will, firstly, update the rules to take account of recent changes in members states' social security rules, a task which has been regularly carried out over the past 30 years. Secondly, it will 'simplify and modernise' the scope and application of the rules - basically, try to make a coherent and workable Regulation out of what currently exists, which is relevant to today's European Union. Not an easy task, given something which is often politically sensitive on top of being very complex.

In February 2001, the first report by Jean was voted in by the plenary session of Parliament in Strasbourg, dealing with technical updates to the Regulation. The technical amendments are necessary for clarity in the administration of the Regulation. For example, some of Jean's amendments in this report deal with changes in specific countries' security systems, such as the UK's move to the 'Working Families Tax Credit' which replaces the old 'Family Credit'. All changes like these need to be included in the Regulation. Other technical points include things like definitions - who is considered to be self-employed, for example - or legal bases for the Regulation.

The Commission proposal to simplify and update the scope and application of the Regulation as a whole is currently under lengthy discussion at the Member-State (Council) level.



Common Immigration Policy - Opinion for Employment and Social Affairs Committee

In 1997, the Treaty of Amsterdam gave the EU competence to legislate on immigration and asylum issues; in 1999, the European Council agreed that a common EU policy on these issues was necessary. In November 2000, the European Commission published a proposal for a Common Immigration Policy (as well as one for a Common Asylum Policy).

This proposal has recently been considered in the Parliament. It was given to the Civil Liberties Committee for a report, but the Employment and Social Affairs Committee prepared an Opinion on it. Jean is responsible for this. She prepared by, for example, talking to relevant organisations in London to hear their views on the document the Commission has produced, and possibly what they would like to see included or taken out of the document.

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