What Sharon Did Last Week (12th - 16th December 2011)
Monday
At 07:00, Sharon took a flight from Heathrow to Frankfurt as she had to lead the ECON Committee's visit to the European Central Bank (ECB). Among the topics of discussion during the visit were the ECB's role in the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).
After the visit, at 14:00, Sharon caught a bus to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The Parliament sat in Strasbourg that week as it was a plenary week. After arriving, Sharon attended an ALDE Group meeting ahead of the votes that would take place that week. Of particular importance was a report from the Legal Affairs Committee on a coherent European approach to collective redress, given by Sharon's Liberal Democrat colleague Diana Wallis.
At 16:00, Sharon left the ALDE Group meeting to attend a trialogue on EMIR. After the trialogue, at 19:00, Sharon chaired a session of the ECON Committee during which Benoit Coeuré was officially appointed as a new member of the ECB's executive board.
Tuesday
At 08:00, Sharon went to a breakfast meeting of Liberal Democrat MEPs to discuss the UK line on the week's upcoming votes. After this, at 09:30, Sharon attended a key debate in the European Parliament on the conclusions of the meeting with the European Council from 8th - 9th December. Sharon was allotted 1 minute speaking time during this debate.
At 11:30, Sharon made her way to the Members' Bar for an Interparliamentary Committee meeting on the European Semester with Pervenche Berès, Chair of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee, and Alain Lamassoure, Chair of the Budgets Committee.
At 12:00, Sharon made her way to the Hemicycle for the voting session. After voting, at 14:00, Sharon attended the Conference of Committee Chairs. Nicolai Wammen, Danish Minister for European Affairs, joined the meeting for an exchange of views on the priorities of the Danish Presidency.
At 16:00, Sharon attended an ALDE Bureau meeting to follow up on the plenary debate of earlier in the day on the conclusions of the European Council. After, Sharon attended an ALDE Group meeting where they had an exchange of views with Diana Wallis, the ALDE candidate for the Presidency of the European Parliament.
At 20:00, Sharon took part in a shadows' meeting on Eurobonds.
Wednesday
At 08:00, Sharon attended and ALDE ECON breakfast to discuss the resolution on the feasibility of introducing Stability Bonds, the report on Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB), and the report on the impact of the Omnibus Directive on Financial Supervisory Architecture.
At 09:00, Sharon attended the plenary session of the European Parliament. During this, Sharon was given 5 minutes speaking time and spoke on the disasterous decision by David Cameron to veto the EU treaty change. The session came to a close at 13:30, after votes took place for the final hour and a half.
After, at 13:30, Sharon returned to her office to meet personally with Nicolai Wammen, the Danish Minister for European Affairs, to discuss the work of ECON ahead of the Danish Presidency of the European Union.
At 16:00, Sharon received a call from Mark Hoban, Financial Secretary to the Treasury.
At 18:00, Sharon went to an ALDE Group meeting to discuss the voting agenda for the next day, and for an exchange of views with Nirj Deva, the ECR's candidate for the European Parliament Presidency. After this, Sharon attended the ALDE Christmas party.
Thursday
At 09:00, Sharon attended an Open Coordinators meeting with a delegation of French MEPs. The discussion focused upon the G20 priorities and achievements regarding financial regulation. After, at 09:30, Sharon attended a shadows' meeting on the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), to discuss options for a compromise on the European Securities and Markets Authority's (ESMA) powers.
At 12:00, Sharon again went to the Hemicycle for a voting session of the whole European Parliament. After the conclusion of the votes, Sharon flew back to Brussels.
Friday
On Friday Sharon travelled back to London by Eurostar at 08:52 and met with colleagues at Liberal International in Londonon her way back to the constituency.