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		The EU Commission's Jo Moore moment Lincolnshire Echo - August 8 2002 Two men went for a trip in a hot air balloon, but the weather closed in, they lost sight of the ground and got totally lost. Then through a gap in the clouds they saw the top of a tall building, with a man standing on it. Getting out their megaphone, they shouted "WHERE ARE WE?". Cupping his hands to his mouth, the man on the tower shouted back "IN A BALLOON!". Then the clouds closed in again. One of the balloonists was shocked that they were still lost, but the other said "Never mind. I know exactly where we are. That was the European Commission, and we're over Brussels". "How can you tell?" asked the first man. "I recognise the style of the answer", said the other man. "It was quick, accurate and courteous, and it told us nothing at all. It has to be the European Commission". The sad truth is that we Euro-MPs have rather little power in the Brussels machine. One of the things we can do, however, is to ask questions of the Commission, and to be fair, we always get an answer. I have been astonished, however, to see how sterile and defensive the answers are. Frequently I have planned to do something interesting with an answer, only to find it so lacking in substance as to be worthless. However, a recently leaked e-mail, Jo-Moore-style, helps explain the problem. (You will remember that Jo Moore worked for Steven Byers - her leaked e-mail saying that September 11th was "a good day to bury bad news" contributed to Byers' downfall). I had received a report on the "European Information Centres". There are over two hundred of these offices across the EU, and they aim to provide information, for example on access to EU funding and so on. But they also cost a lot of money, they frequently duplicate services offered by Chambers of Commerce, and they could be regarded as a propaganda machine for the EU project. So I wrote to the official who sent me the report, raising some of these issues. A minion in the Commission, named Lucy, sent on my query to her boss. In a covering note, she advised him that I had published two books critical of the EU project (which is true), and that I was anti-European and Euro-phobic (which is not). And she concluded by urging that I be given a minimal reply. The very idea of being anti-European is slightly absurd. How can you be against a continent? You might as well be anti the weather. In fact I'm rather fond of Europe - the cultures, they countryside, the cooking - which is a good thing, as I spend much of my working life there. As it happens, I am against the current model of EU governance, but that's an entirely different thing. Nor am I Euro-phobic. A phobia, by definition, is an irrational fear. I have serious concerns about the European project, but they are entirely rational concerns, and I am always happy to debate them with rational people. Lucy's boss tried to reply to her, but as so often happens with e-mails, he hit the wrong button and sent the whole correspondence to me. Jo Moore would entirely understand Lucy's consternation when she realised what had happened. I have now received a very downbeat apology from a Mr. Timo Summa in DG Enterprise (part of the Commission), assuring me that Lucy's opinions were entirely her own, and promising me all the information I want. But then they would say that, wouldn't they? My experience of earlier answers, plus the mind-set revealed in Lucy's leaked memo, suggests that the Commission is determined to obstruct the work of any Euro-MP who is not a whole hearted supporter of the federalist project. In my view, that attitude is an affront to the democratic process. And it is an insult to the voters of the East Midlands, who elected me as Number One among their six MEPs.