As well as a change over in President last week and the beginning of the Danish Council Presidency, MEP's also had the chance to change committees if they so wished.
At this halfway point you have the choice to change Committees if you so wish, and the press release which you can find here, will explain that I have joined the Employment committee.
Joining Committees
Places on committees are allocated by each of the political groups. Each MEP generally has two committees but this is not always the case. If members change political group, or simply want to change which committee they sit on, this can be done at the halfway point. Which MEP gets which place is for negotiation between them and their group. Some groups do not give their members much choice over which committees that they sit on. As a non-attached MEP, Nikki negotiated her new places herself with the Parliament's administration.
When I became an MEP I promised to fight for jobs for people in my constituency. With growing levels of youth unemployment, I am incredibly worried about the job prospects for young people in the UK. I will fight EU legislation which will lead to less jobs being created.
I have spoken about the loss of jobs in the West Midlands in my speeches in Parliament, specifically noting the Peugeot Ryton Plant in Coventry
Nikki talks about youth unemployment and unemployment in the West Midlands in the above video, also referencing the Ryton Plant.
West Midlands MEP Nikki Sinclaire today takes her seat on the European Parliament's Employment Committee in Brussels.
Since her election in 2009, Nikki has spoken out strongly against EU policies and subsidies that have led to British businesses relocating to other EU member states. It was a £105 million grant from the EU that led to Peugeot closing its factory in Ryton and relocating to Slovakia in 2007 with the loss of 2,300 jobs.
Some of the main issues that Nikki will be addressing will include health & safety of workers, and tackling the problems of unemployment. Sometimes, said Nikki, EU policy is confused to say the least. "On the one hand, the EU wants to put more young people into employment, and on the other it wants to raise the retirement age as part of its active aging policy, whilst at the same time creating new taxes on business transactions. We need to remove all this political ideology and bureaucratic red tape and let our businesses get on and do what they are best at - creating jobs and prosperity".
Nikki has voted and acted consistently to protect British business and workers, and rejects what she describes as "EU interference and over-regulation" in British affairs.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
The Employment & Social Affairs Committee is responsible for:
employment policy and all aspects of social policy such as working conditions, social security and social protection;
health and safety measures at the workplace;
the European Social Fund;
vocational training policy, including professional qualifications;
the free movement of workers and pensioners;
social dialogue;
all forms of discrimination at the workplace and in the labour market except those based on sex;
relations with:
- the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop),
- the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions,
- the European Training Foundation,
- the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work;
- as well as relations with other relevant EU bodies and international organisations
