Home » Bulletin 2009
What ECBR is doing
As soon as ECBR learned the identity of the Rapporteur, we organised a meeting to discuss the issues that concerned us and how we would like to see the draft directive amended. We submitted our formal proposals for amendments in early January. We hope that many of these will be incorporated into the Rapporteur’s report, so that they could be adopted and become part of the amendments proposed by the European Parliament.The General Secretary of ECBR has been invited to give evidence to the Agriculture Committee at their meeting on 16th February, as one of a handful of experts representing the major interest groups concerned with the directive.As soon as the Rapporteur’s draft report is available, we will be lobbying members of the Agriculture Committee to support or oppose particular amendments. This is when the individual members of all the associations within the ECBR can be most effective, by writing to the MEPs from their country, to urge them to support or oppose these amendments. We will be contacting all member associations to ask them to pass this information to their members.After the Agriculture Committee has adopted its report, the whole Parliament will debate it and consider any further amendments that have been proposed, voting on whether to adopt the key ones and then voting to adopt the entire report. Once again, the ECBR will be lobbying MEPs at this stage but the real power lies with the tens of thousands of scientists who are members of all the many scientific associations within the ECBR. MEPs will pay much more attention to scientists from their own country.