Created on Friday, 12 March 2010 18:03

Written by Martin Callanan

Martin is the first ever Conservative Member of the European Parliament for the North East Region. He was elected in June 1999 and reelected again in 2004 and 2009. Before his election to the European Parliament Martin worked as a project engineer at Scottish and Newcastle Breweries and holds a BSc degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

As a Member of the European Parliament, Martin sits on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee. The parliamentary committees meet once or twice a month in Brussels. They draw up, amend and adopt legislative proposals and own-initiative reports. They consider Commission and Council proposals and, where necessary, draw up reports to be presented to the plenary assembly. Martin also sits on the Political Affairs Committee for the Joint Parliamentary Assembly of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

Most of Martin\'s working week is spent in Brussels, flying out from Newcastle on Monday and returning on Thursday. The monthly Strasbourg sessions are when the Parliament meets to vote \'in plenary\' on legislation and for contributions to be made on the floor of the parliamentary chamber. Martin is a member of the Campaign for Parliament Reform which is a large group of MEPs who are, as the title suggests, campaigning for reforms within the Parliament. The manifesto includes ending the Parliament’s monthly relocation from Strasbourg to Brussels, reforming MEPs expenses, and improving debate within the Parliament. The group’s membership consists of cross national and cross party MEPs.

Martin has also been instrumental in the setting up of the new political group - the European Conservatives and Reformists - to which the British Conservatives belong , and since the start of the 2009 session he has been the group’s Chief Whip. In 2011 Martin was elected leader of the Conservative group of MEP's.