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15 Most Recent Press Articles
EU roads are too dangerous
Written by Diana Wallis MEP and published in New Europe on Mon 29th Jan 2007
The best place to start is with some statistics. In one year; 2004 and in one Member State; Germany, 50,200 foreigners were involved in road traffic accidents. In one year a large British law firm reckons to open 6,000 new cases involving British citizens injured whilst in other EU member countries. No conclusive Europe-wide figures exist but from those stated above one can imagine that applied across twenty seven countries the numbers are persuasive. All these people will have to use national legal systems and laws that were set up to deal with national problems, occurring within their own borders. Once a cross border element is introduced into any legal case, and despite the activities of the European legislator, it is still an expensive minefield for our citizens.
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Read "EU roads are too dangerous" in full (606 words).
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Brussels e-commerce regulations already set
Written by Diana Wallis MEP and published in Financial Times (full text) on Thu 28th Sep 2006
Mr Roebuck (Letters, September 21) confuses the issues relative to cross border sales. The European legal framework dealing with jurisdiction (which country's courts an action is tried in) is already set in the Brussels 1 Regulation and is not likely to be changed. The right of a consumer to have an issue dealt with in his or her own country's court having been recently reaffirmed and underlined both by the European Parliament and the Council in their respective votes and positions on the Services Directive.
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Read "Brussels e-commerce regulations already set" in full (277 words).
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Time runs out for rulers keeping power from the people
Written by Diana Wallis in the Yorkshire Post and published in 18 September 2006 on Mon 18th Sep 2006
FOR politicians, it is that time of the year when we pack our bags and head for the party conference at the seaside. This week the Liberal Democrats are in Brighton which, perhaps surprisingly, will be an important few days for the party. I say surprisingly because we are probably 30 months away from a General Election (unless Gordon Brown decides to have a snap election next year which I do not rule out).
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Read "Time runs out for rulers keeping power from the people" in full (830 words).
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Is it time for an Arctic Charter? Perspectives on governance in the Arctic Region
Written by Diana Wallis MEP and published in Speech to the Seventh Conference of Arctic Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region, Kiruna, Sweden, 3 August 2006 on Thu 3rd Aug 2006
I attended my first meeting of this conference six years ago in Rovaniemi, Finland. At that conference one of the important presentations was the one by Professor Oran Young on Arctic governance. Even then he made it clear that all was not as it should be if we were properly listening and ready to protect this fragile area of the globe and to heed the warning signals it was giving off in relation to our world. His words and the description by Sheila Watt-Cloutier, from the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, of the subtle changes to the nature of her homeland remained with me for long afterwards.
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Read "Is it time for an Arctic Charter? Perspectives on governance in the Arctic Region" in full (2575 words).
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Letter: British citizens must be allowed to benefit from EU divorce laws
Written by Diana Wallis and published in The Independent on Mon 24th Jul 2006
Sir: Franco Frattini, the European Commissioner for Justice, is right to argue that the proposed legal reform on applicable law and jurisdiction in divorce matters will simplify life for couples in the EU ("EU plans legal reforms to end divorce shopping", 18 July). But will UK citizens be allowed to benefit from it?
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Read "Letter: British citizens must be allowed to benefit from EU divorce laws " in full (289 words).
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Coherent European Contract Law, Political Tendencies
Written by Diana Wallis MEP and published in LECTURE AT THE CENTRE FOR EUROPEAN PRIVATE LAW, MUNSTER, 6 JULY 2006 on Thu 6th Jul 2006
Thank you for inviting me here to speak as the only politician on your programme, although of course I was previously a lawyer. I hope I can bring a slightly different view to your discussions.
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Read "Coherent European Contract Law, Political Tendencies" in full (2119 words).
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Power to the people is the way forward in Europe
Written by Diana Wallis and published in Yorkshire Post on Tue 20th Jun 2006
IN his first domestic keynote speech, Geoff Hoon, the Europe Minister, in his words, said he wanted "to restart the debate in this country - and in particular to rekindle interest in the European Union". This is to be welcomed yet he has no practical suggestion for just how this will happen.
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Read "Power to the people is the way forward in Europe " in full (786 words).
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Well just who is undermining the Lisbon agenda?
Written by Diana Wallis on Thu 8th Jun 2006
The week started with a breakfast meeting about 'late payments'. By that I do not mean you and I missing paying our credit card bill, but late payments to firms, usually by governments who have contracted with them. Governments are the worst payers, these very governments who have begrudgingly signed up to the EU Late Payments Directive then can't keep to it.
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Read "Well just who is undermining the Lisbon agenda? " in full (342 words).
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European contract law and the review of the acquis
Written by Diana WAllis and published in Opening Speech at the Austrian Presidency conference on Fri 26th May 2006
First of all I would like to thank the Austrian Presidency. Its commitment and focus on civil and commercial law issues has been unsurpassed and is most welcome. Civil justice has a great impact on daily lives of our citizens and enterprises. As a member of the European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee, this is my fourth visit here during the presidency; that in it's self speak volumes. Vienna begins to feel a bit like home now so I am sorry that your Presidency is ending.
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Read "European contract law and the review of the acquis" in full (1808 words).
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EU opt out concern
Written by Catherine Baksi and published in Law Society Gazette on Thu 11th May 2006
The UK has opted out of proposed EU legislation on maintenance obligations and is set to do so on proposed changes to contract law regulations, moves which could deprive UK citizens of better legal redress, it has been claimed.
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Read "EU opt out concern" in full (314 words).
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Diana says...
Written by Diana Wallis on Thu 27th Apr 2006
The issue of millionaire donations to political parties in return for honours has rather diverted discussion away from how we should fund our politics.
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Read "Diana says..." in full (315 words).
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Has the Court of Justice overstepped its role?
Published in Published in E-Sharp on Wed 1st Feb 2006
In response to recent criticisms levelled at the Court of Justice aiming to question or even limit its role in the context of the debate on the Constitution, it must be emphasized that the EU legal order is by nature constantly evolving. Despite attempts to have us believe otherwise, EU law has now for sometime and will continue to have supremacy over national law and confers rights which individuals can invoke before their national courts. However, this does not mean that the Court can be accused of exceeding its function, namely "to ensure that (...) the law is observed" (Article 220 EC). It has in recent years refused to take on the task of enlarging the individuals' access to itself, a matter which it explicitly left to the Member States to agree upon in the context of the Constitution. The judgment on criminal penalties for violation of Community law does of course not permit the Commission to impose sanctions on citizens. Rather, it ensures that such sanctions, which are crucial in ensuring the uniform application of Community law, are decided upon by the Council and the European Parliament, subject to full judicial control. The red thread running through the entire case-law of the Court is the desire to give full effect to the text of the Treaties and to uphold the Rule of Law, not to usurp legislative powers.
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Read "Has the Court of Justice overstepped its role?" (229 words).
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Cracking the Code
Written by Diana Wallis and published in The European Lawyer on Wed 1st Feb 2006
Over recent months there has been much speculation, debate, accusation and even alarm that the European Commission's European Contract Law Initiative and the accompanying Acquis Review are a cover, or Trojan horse, for the development of a full blown European Contract Code. It may be that this has to some extent distracted attention from the more laudable and stated aims of the project as a mammoth exercise in better law-making, which was how the UK presidency presented it at their conference at London's Guildhall European Contract Law conference: Better Lawmaking through the Common Frame of Reference held on 26th September 2005. In his opening address, the Lord Chancellor sounded the note of alarm and made it clear in no uncertain terms that as far as he was concerned English contract law was not up for amendment or discussion through this process; it was a definite hands-off warning to the Commission. The point is was it necessary? Is the whole debate about is it a code or not, a distraction? What should be the real concerns or preoccupations in this process?
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Read "Cracking the Code " in full (897 words).
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