My first reply

[kay]

I finally plucked up the courage to write to all my MEP's over the weekend and got this reply !! I can't find anywhere to put it on the ECCA site. Is it just the MP's letters that there is a list for?


Dear Ms H

Thank you for writing to me to express your concerns over the Commission's
proposal for Article 18 of the Tobacco Products Directive. I understand your
worries of how e-cigarettes will be affected if limits are placed on
flavours, refillable cartridges and the strength of liquid available.

The Conservative Group in the European Parliament voted to reject the
medicinal route proposal and opted to keep e-cigarettes accessible to the
public. Now that the Parliament has voted, we have entered the Trialogue
stage in which the Parliament, the Council and the Commission work to find
compromises between our differences.

In order to try and find common ground, the Commission staff put together a
non-official paper. This paper has not been authorised by the Commission as
an official proposal, and so could still be subject to change.

My colleague, Martin Callanan MEP, has been working on this file on behalf
of the Conservative Delegation and, with our support, I can assure you that
he will continue to push for the availability of e-cigarettes. He has made
his position clear to the Lithuanian Presidency team who are leading the
Council negotiations, as well as to the British Government. I would
encourage you to contact your local MP and the Department of Health to urge
the UK Government to support e-cigarettes in Council meetings.

Please rest assured that we will continue to defend e-cigarettes in the
Trialogue meetings and I hope this explains the current situation and how my
Conservative colleagues and I are working to protect e-cigarettes.

Yours sincerely

Robert Sturdy MEP

[markm]

Great reply,
And so the battle continues.

[skyjay]

Well done Kay.......very good reply

[kay]

I found this in my junk folder !!



Dear Ms H

Thank you for your recent email, addressed to Stuart Agnew MEP. I am
replying on his behalf.

Mr Agnew and his fellow UKIP MEPs were elected on a platform of withdrawal
from the EU and thus have no mandate for supporting EU legislative proposals
and would not, therefore, support this directive or its revisions. They are
opposed, as a matter of principle, to unelected members of the European
Commission being the sole originators of all new EU legislation, much of
which is binding upon the British people.

Electronic smoking devices are already well regulated in this country. We
do not need the EU sticking its nose in.

Rest assured that the UKIP MEPs will vote against this legislation when it
comes before the Parliament. It should be a matter for our elected
Government and Parliament at Westminster, not unelected officials in
Brussels. However, do bear in mind that there are 754 MEPs and the UK has
just 72. Many of the latter are EU supporters and will not vote against
this nonsense.

Unfortunately, while we remain members of the EU, we will be subject to rule
by Brussels diktat. Sadly, much of what emanates from the Brussels
legislative sausage machine is extremely damaging to the best interests of
the British people and to our business sector.

UKIP was created in 1993 to campaign for our country's freedom from the EU
and we will continue to campaign for exactly that outcome. I do hope that
we can rely on your support at future elections, both domestic and European.

Best wishes,

Stuart Gulleford
Political Advisor to Stuart Agnew MEP

[kay]

And from the Liberals.



Dear Ms H

Thank you for contacting Andrew about this matter. He has been contacted by hundreds of individuals about the Commission's proposals for regulating electronic cigarettes as pharmaceutical products.

In Andrew's view regulation of this kind is expensive and in some EU countries would make it impossible to buy e-cigs except in a pharmacy. He can't see the sense of restricting the sale of e-cigarettes when tobacco cigarettes - which have a far more harmful effect on health - can be bought everywhere.

For this reason Andrew has been working with his Liberal colleagues and MEPs of other parties in recent weeks to put forward an alternative that would attract majority support in Parliament. The compromise amendment that we finally tabled was designed to ensure that e-cigarettes are safe devices to use, but objected to the proposal that they be regulated as pharmaceutical products. The amendment also stated that e-cigs had a major role to play in reducing tobacco-related deaths.

Several weeks ago the Parliament supported this position by 362 votes to 298. The compromise amendment was therefore adopted.

This is good news. Although a year ago Andrew could not have told you what e-cigarettes were, today he regards these electronic devices as a potential game-changer in the fight to reduce smoking-related disease.

Now attempts must be made to find a compromise between the European Parliament and national governments in the EU Council of Ministers.

You might also be interested to know that a 65% combined health warning size was adopted for tobacco products, and a health warning will now be displayed on the top of the package, not the bottom.

In Andrew's view the adoption of the Directive is a clear success against the tobacco lobby which wanted to see this Directive postponed into the next legislature.

The press release which you refer to does raise some serious concerns. Andrew is trying to follow these up with his colleagues on the relevant committees to understand better the nature of the compromise that the Commission is putting forward. It does appear to be more consistent with that of the UK Government than the European Parliament.

Thank you once again for contacting Andrew to raise your concerns about this issue.

Yours sincerely,

Kilian Bourke
Caseworker to
Andrew Duff
Liberal Democrat MEP for the East of England