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Edward Hugh Christian McMillan-Scott (born 15 August 1949) is a British Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and one of the Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament. He was re-elected as a Conservative Party representative for the Yorkshire and the Humber constituency in the 2009 election. He subsequently stood and was re-elected as one of the Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament in opposition to the official candidate of the European Conservatives and Reformists group to which he belonged. As a result of his candidature he had the whip withdrawn and subsequently was expelled from the Conservative Party and is now seated as a non-attached (Non-Inscrit) MEP. McMillan-Scott is noted for several high profile campaigns that he has been involved in. He founded the European Democracy Initiative for developing democracy and civil society in the ex-Soviet bloc countries. He drove forward the European Union (EU)–China relationship and campaigned for an EU political boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. He also campaigned for children's rights and the establishment of an Amber Alert system in EU countries.
[edit] Early lifeMcMillan-Scott was born 15 August 1949 in Cambridge, England.[1][2] He was one of seven children of Walter and Elisabeth McMillan-Scott. He was educated privately by Dominican friars.[3] Both his parents were active Conservatives and he became a member of the Conservative Party in 1967.[2][3] [edit] European ParliamentMcMillan-Scott was elected as the MEP for York from 1984 to 1994,[4] the MEP for North Yorkshire from 1994 to 1999,[4] and the MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber from 1999 onwards.[5][6][7] [edit] Roles and responsibilitiesMcMillan-Scott was leader of the British Conservative MEPs between September 1997 and December 2001.[2] On 23 July 2004 he was elected fourth of the 14 Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament.[2][8] He was re-elected a Vice-President in 2007.[8] McMillan-Scott's special responsibilities as Vice-President include relations with national EU parliaments[2] and the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly,[9] which brings together 280 MPs from the EU, North Africa and the Middle East.[10] He was elected chairman of the European Parliament's largest-ever election observer missions, 30 MEPs, to the Palestinian territories in January 2005 and January 2006. These observers monitored the Palestinian National Authority's presidential and parliamentary elections.[2][11] [edit] CampaigningIn 1992 McMillan-Scott was the founder of the European Democracy Initiative, [12][13] which was an initiative originally aimed at developing democracy and civil society in the ex-Soviet bloc[14][15] countries, and which is now directed towards the reforming Arab world and countries resisting reform such as China, Cuba and Russia.[3] He wrote a key report for the European Parliament's foreign affairs select committee on a new EU–China strategy in 1997.[16][17] Following subsequent visits to China and pre-Olympic crackdowns he initiated a campaign aimed at an EU political boycott of the August 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.[18] In the event, the Presidents of the European Parliament and European Commission boycotted the Games, as did the EU's external affairs Commissioner.[18] He campaigns for improved children's rights across the EU[19] and has dealt with a number of cross-frontier child abduction cases.[20] He began campaigning for an EU-wide missing child alert, similar to the Amber Alert system in the USA, with Kate and Gerry McCann, parents of missing Madeleine.[19][21] A resolution to this effect, in the summer of 2008, was sponsored by McMillan-Scott and gained the support of a majority of MEPs.[19] In the USA, the Department of Justice's Amber Alert has recovered 400 abducted children since 2003, 80% within the crucial first 72 hours.[19][21] France has an identical system but other countries, including the UK, rely on a patchwork of police schemes and children's charities.[19] His 'Golden Fleece' campaign against fraud and malpractice in the Costa villa and timeshare market won wide support, leading to the EU Timeshare Directive in 1994.[22][23] He has continued to campaign for more secure property rights in the EU's neighbouring states, as buyers move into the Balkans, Turkey and North Africa, where the legal framework is less secure.[22] [edit] ControversyPrior to the European Elections of June 1999 the British Conservative MEPs were allied members of the European People's Party (EPP).[24] After the election, jointly with the then leader of the Conservative Party William Hague, McMillan-Scott negotiated the 'Malaga Agreement' which provided for a more detached relationship between the 36 British Conservative MEPs and the newly formed European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP-ED) coalition.[24][25] This agreement remained in force until the 2009 elections when the Conservatives broke links with the EPP and formed part of the new European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group.[26][27] Following his re-election to the European Parliament he left the EPP group and joined the new ECR group in accordance with the Conservative manifesto for the election.[28][29] He attended the inaugural meeting of the new group, in Brussels on 24 June, where he expressed the view that he was uncomfortable with some members of the group having possible links with extremist groups.[30][31] In July 2009 he successfully stood for re-election as Vice-President of the European Parliament against the official candidate of the new ECR group, Michał Kamiński a Polish MEP from the Law and Justice Party.[32][33] As a result of his candidature the whip was withdrawn by Timothy Kirkhope, the leader of the British Conservative delegation.[32][33][34] McMillan-Scott is now seated as a non-attached (Non-Inscrit) MEP in the European Parliament,[35] though he remained a member of the British Conservative Party.[35] On 10 August 2009 William Hague wrote a letter to McMillan-Scott outlining the conditions of the restoration of the whip and saying failure to comply would result in further action being taken.[36] On 15 September 2009 he was expelled from the Conservative Party without further notice having failed to undertake any of the conditions requested in William Hague's earlier letter.[37] Shortly after this he accused the Conservative Party of attempting to alter pages on Wikipedia "to airbrush the embarrassing past" of Michał Kamiński chairman of the ECR. He also stated that his own article had been edited in this way. An article published in The Observer newspaper reports edits to the articles made on 25 June 2009 from an IP address originating in the United Kingdom House of Commons.[38][39] [edit] References
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