Glenis was elected as Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party in January 2009 and re-elected following the European elections in June 2009.

Glenis is a full member of the important and influential  Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee. She is in the thick of the action to combat climate change, as it is increasingly acknowledged that environmental measures need to be co-ordinated at the European level because climate change and pollution don't respect our national borders. Responsibilities of the committee include environmental protection measures, regulating pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, and taking measures to ensure our food is safe and properly labelled.

Glenis is also a member of the Delegation to the EU-Croatia Joint Parliamentary Committee.

She is a substitute member of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee, which deals with the fundamental rights of citizens, discrimination, migration and judicial matters.

In Committee MEPs are able to work on the detail of legislation and submit amendments, which, if accepted in Committee, will go on to be voted on by the whole Parliament in plenary.


Glenis's Speeches in the European Parliament

2006-2009

from June 2009

View Glenis speaking in the European Parliament on video

Glenis's Parliamentary Questions

2006-2009

from June 2009

Current legislative work - updated February 2010

Environmental  issues

The Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) directive is under review. The Directive obliges operators to apply for a permit in order to carry out certain major industrial activities. The aim is to prevent and control emissions to air, water and soil from industrial installations in the EU.  The national governments in the Council of Ministers have accepted many of the amendments which Glenis proposed at first reading regarding certain agricultural and energy security concerns, and she will be working to ensure the Parliament maintains these amendments in the final legislation.

Food labelling and information to consumers

Glenis has been appointed as Shadow Rapporteur for the Socialist and Democrat group on the ongoing food labelling legislation. This revision of existing legislation will bring together disparate directives and regulations into one document and set clear rules for the information provided on food and drink packaging, including ingredients, nutritional information, allergens, country of origin information and interpretative schemes for presenting key nutritional information (such as colour coding or guideline daily amounts as a % of recommended daily intake).

Glenis is attempting to strike a balance between as much information and clarity for consumers as possible, with not overloading the label and keeping things practical.

She supports the Traffic Lights system used by a number of UK retailers to show nutritional information and is calling for alcoholic drinks to be labelled with their ingredients and calorie content.  Glenis also wants to see improvements to country of origin labelling, so that consumers can tell exactly where their food comes from.

Information to patients about medicines

The Commission has come up with a proposal looking at the way information on prescription medicines is provided to patients. Glenis wants to ensure that this will not be used by the pharmaceutical industry to promote their products to consumers. At present any form of marketing is banned and this will continue, but there is a fine line between providing "impartial" information and influencing patients for commercial reasons to use a certain product.

Safety and Quality measures for organ donation

The Commission has proposed a directive providing a legal framework for organ donation and transplantation in the EU. It means Member States will have to create or designate a national authority to ensure compliance with EU quality and safety standards. This includes a traceability system of human organs and a reporting system for serious adverse effects and reactions. Data collection will be standardised, to facilitate exchange of human organs.