Stephen Hughes

Stephen Hughes, MEP

Stephen Hughes (born 19 August 1952, Sunderland) is a British MEP for North East from theLabour Party since 1984.

Affiliations

• Member, Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
• Member, Special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis
• Member, Delegation for relations with the People's Republic of China
• Substitute, Committee on Culture and Education
• Substitute, Delegation for relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Former Affiliations

• Member, Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
• Member, Delegation for relations with the countries of Central America
• Substitute, Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection
• Substitute, Delegation for relations with the People's Republic of China

Record and Controversies

Declaration of Financial Interests

• Free Car Parking Card for Newcastle Airport (est. value: £1000)
• Free Car Parking Card for Durham Teesvalley Airport (est. value: £1000)
• GMB Member
• Free Pass for SNCB (Belgian Railways)

I employ the following staff:

• Head of Staff, Research and Media Relations (full time)
• Constituency Secretary/ Administrator (full time)
• I employ my wife, Cynthia Beaver, as my full time Head of Staff, Research and Media Relations. Ms. Beaver receives in the band GBP 30,000-40,000.
• My parliamentary assistant has opted for a service provider contract for provision of his services and Ms.Beaver acts as paying agent responsible for coordinating professionals who provide advice on PAYE, NIC, Pension contributions and other social contribution deductions for my office staff.
• Jointly with other MEPs, I also employ a political liaison officer based in London, who is line managed by the EPLP Secretary General
• Finally, most years, I employ a stagiaire (intern) in my Brussels or Strasbourg offices on a short term contract.

Former Declaration of Financial Interests

• Free Car Parking Card for Newcastle Airport (est. value: 1000£)
• Free Car Parking Card for Durham Teesvalley Airport (est. value: 1000£)
• GMB Member
• Free Pass for SNCB (Belgian Railways)

I employ the following staff from my secretarial allowance:

• Head of Staff, Research and Media Relations (full time)
• Constituency Secretary/ Administrator (full time)
• Parliamentary Assistant (full time)
• I employ my wife, Cynthia Beaver, as my full time Head of Staff, Research and Media Relations. Ms. Beaver receives a payment in the band GBP 30,000-40,000.
• My parliamentary assistant has opted for a service provider contract for provision of his services and Ms. Beaver acts as paying agent responsible for coordinating professionals who provide advice on PAYE, NIC, Pension contributions and other social contribution deductions for my office staff.
• Jointly with other Labour MEPs, I also employ a political liaison officer based in London, who is line managed by the EPLP Secretary General.
• Finally, most years, I employ a stagiaire (intern) in my Brussels or Strasbourg offices on a short term contract.

Record of Parliamentary Votes

• Voted in favour of the directive on "establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy" (A5-0027/2000). The directive covers all water management aspects in order to achieve a 'good status' of all waters by 2015.
• Voted in favour of the directive on "national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants" (A5-0063/2000). The amendment allows setting less ambitious national emission ceilings for sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ammonia (NH3) and volatile organic compounds (VOC), which would result in more damage to human health and the environment.
• Voted against the Commission White Paper on "Strategy for a future Chemicals Policy" (A5-0356/2001). The amendment helps avoid the necessary precautionary approach towards some chemical substances that are not proven to be completely safe.
• Voted in favour of the directive on "waste electrical and electronic equipment" (A5-0100/2002). The amendment sets higher reuse and recycling rates for IT and telecommunication equipment. Rejected due to lack of absolute majority.
• Voted in favour of the report on "Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network" (A5-0135/2002). The Trans-European Network of Transport (TEN-T) is a network of so-called 'transport corridors' through Europe. This amendment calls for a full Strategic Environmental Assessment of these transport corridors and calls on the Commission to improve methods for analysing the environmental and economic impact of the TEN-T.
• Voted in favour of the regulation concerning "traceability and labelling of genetically modified organisms and traceability of food and feed products produced from genetically modified organisms" (A5-0229/2002). The amendment allows customers the right to choose GM free food.
• Voted in favour of the report towards a "thematic strategy on the sustainable use of pesticides" (A5-0061/2003). The amendment proposes to ban or severely restrict use of pesticides in areas around sources of drinking water and nature protected zones.
• Voted in favour of the directive on "environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage" (A5-0145/2003). According to the amendment, polluters have to pay for environmental clean-up, and it supports an EU-wide regime which makes polluters liable for the damage they cause to wildlife, water and land.
• Voted against the directive on restructuring the "Community framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity" (A5-0302/2003). The amendment aims at giving tax benefits to environmentally friendly sources of energy, which would make them cheaper and more competitive to conventional (more polluting) sources of energy. It also gives tax benefits to environmentally friendly uses of energy for transport, for instance trains. Rejected due to lack of absolute majority.

Personal Information

Curriculum Vitae

• Diploma in Municipal Administration (1975). Local government officer (1972-1979; 1982-1984).
• Assistant to Roland Boyes MEP (1979-1982).
• In the Labour Party: from the early 1970s onward successively held chairmanships/secretaryships of several Labour Party branches; other posts from the late 1970s into the 1980s included: a period as constituency party secretary, Chester-le-Street; election agent for all elections held during that period and agent to Giles Radice MP; Chair of district Labour Party; member of regional executive committee. Throughout 1970s and into early 1980s held a series of chairmanships/secretaryships of TU workplace branches for the NALGO and GMB trade unions; served as a workplace health and safety representative in various workplaces. PES delegate to the Socialist International.
• Member of the European Parliament (since 1984).
• Chairman of the Committee on Social Affairs and Employment (1994-1997).
• Chairman of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (1997-1999).
• Member of the Roberts Institute Management Advisory Committee (1993- ).

Contact

Address:

Parlement européen

Bât. Altiero Spinelli

13G242

60, rue Wiertz / Wiertzstraat 60

B-1047 Bruxelles/Brussel

Phone:

+32 (0)2 28 45408

Fax:

+32 (0)2 28 49408

Email:

stephen.hughes AT europarl.europa.eu

stephen-hughes AT btconnect.com

Website:

http://www.stephenhughesmep.org

This article is part of the MEPedia project of Spinwatch.

Resources

• European Parliament, Declaration of Members' Financial Interests: Stephen Hughes, 20 June 2008, accessed 06 February 2009.
• European Parliament, Declaration of Members' Financial Interests: Stephen Hughes, 24 June 2009, accessed 03 November 2009.
• European Parliament, MEP Directory: Stephen Hughes, accessed 06 February 2009.
• European Parliament, MEP Directory: Stephen Hughes, accessed 19 November 2010.
• Friends of the Earth, EU Vote Watch, accessed 06 February 2009.