Welcome to my postbag report for July.

People write in to me every day with queries about how Europe runs, requests for advice about dealing with European institutions, information, or their opinions on an issue passing through the European Parliament.

I try to answer everyone who writes in to me, though this has been difficult until recently with staff changeover at my UK offices. These days, however, I'm able to respond to most of the letters and emails I get.

I find much of the correspondence I receive extremely interesting and useful - it's important to know what your constituents are most concerned about, so in Brussels you can act with those concerns in mind.

Telecoms

The new Telecommunications package has raised important questions about internet freedom and security

Top of the agenda in July was the 'Telecoms Package', a proposal to reform the EU's regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services.

The issue sounds rather innocuous on the face of it, but has been the focus for a storm of controversy over fears that the bill could be used to threaten free use of the internet with a so-called 'three strikes' system, whereby users could see their IP addresses permanently banned if they continued to download copyrighted material after two warnings from their ISPs.

Even though there was nothing in the proposal, or any of the amendments attached to it, that could have possibly been interpreted as a 'three strikes rule', these fears gained remarkable currency. A number of influential campaigning organisations, which seemed to wilfully interpret the legislation in a very strange and selective manner, managed to run an effective campaign that played on legitimate fears about the desire of governments and content producers to adopt draconian measures to control the industry.

The idea that the 'three strikes rule' has appeal to governments and the entertainment industry is not a fantasy: the French government has been a vocal supporter of the scheme, though it failed to pass the French Assembly. In a different report, the European Parliament also voted in April not to accept such a scheme, to underline that such a measure will not be introduced at a European level.

I would be stridently opposed to any such measure, and I was glad that the European Parliament voted against it. I was also pleased that so many of my constituents wrote in to defend the liberty of the net - it's abundantly clear that this is an issue that people feel strongly about.

Old favourites

As with last month, the issues of biofuel production, animal research and the Europe-wide missing child alert system were of major concern. You can see my take on all these issues in the June Postbag, at www.sharonbowles.org.uk/pages/postbag.html .

Since last month I have launched a petition on my website to convince the Justice Secretary to use the UK's influence on the European Council of Ministers to push the missing child alert system through. You can find the petition at http://www.sharonbowles.org.uk/petitions. Please sign it if you can, and hopefully together we can help to get this important measure adopted.

Spearfishing

Enthusiasts for spearfishing, which has a large following in the South East, have been able to breathe a sigh of relief this month after the European Commission confirmed to me that it was not their intention to ban the practice.

Sloppy wording in a Proposal for a Council Regulation on the conservation of fisheries resources meant that restricted practices included fishing with 'any kind of projectile' - wording that could have been interpreted to ban spearfishing, a popular, sustainable and non-destructive traditional pursuit that encourages respect for maritime environments.

I was concerned at the possible implications, and made my feelings known to Joe Borg, the Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs. He has written back and acknowledged the sloppy wording, and assured me that it can be improved. He has also stated categorically that the Commission has no intention of outlawing spearfishing.

Motorists' issues

Car emissions are an important target for improving Europe's environmental record

Cutting Emissions

Another issue that has generated a great deal of correspondence over the past few months has been the issue of the EU's leadership in combating car emissions. This in some ways returns back to the issue of biofuels I wrote about last month. Simply put, more and more people are beginning to accept that, with 28% of all European emissions coming from transport, major action has to be taken at this level in order to help safeguard the planet.

My Liberal Democrat colleague Chris Davies has done some sterling work in the European Parliament's environment committee on this issue. He has recently produced an ambitious report to the committee, which will set the terms of the debate in Parliament. Among other things, the report is calling for a reduction in emissions to 95g CO2/km by 2020 - which, if achieved, will represent a significant victory in combating climate change. Needless to say, I support this, and I am glad that so many of those who wrote in to my office did as well.

Defending independent garages

The 'Right to Repair' campaign was set up last year to protect independent garages and preserve the motorist's choice of service providers. I have been receiving messages from motorists and servicers regarding the upcoming decision by the European Commission on whether to renew Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulations.

The MV-BERs mean that vehicle assemblers are obliged to make the technical information necessary to make repairs to various models freely available to the independent market. This has long been encouraged as necessary for competition in the market and to keep a thriving servicing industry.

The European Commission has begun reviewing how the car block exemption has affected the market; its report has found that competition has improved. However, the report has not made any recommendations with regard to any future MV-BER regime. I will be monitoring developments in this area in order to make sure that competition is preserved and the interests of motorists are protected.

The Economy

The British government's handling of the economic crisis has generated a great deal of criticism, particularly over the securitization of mortgage debt with taxpayers' money. Many people have written in to express their frustrations with the bail-outs of risk-taking banks.

Though this is a national issue primarily, financial pollution does not stop at borders, and much action is being taken at the European level, particularly with the revision of the Capital Requirements Directive, which will soon come formally to the Parliament's Economic Affairs Committee. I have already had several meetings on this topic in advance.

The Directive concerns the management of risk, and the amount of capital that banks must hold to cover their risks. Some of the recent risks taken by banks have not had appropriate treatment because they were 'off balance sheet'. Changes are also being made to the way bodies such as the FSA oversee these risks.

Other issues people have got in contact with me about a number of individual and wider issues. I am always happy to be of help or information where I can. If you have a query about any kind of European issue that you think I could help with, you can write to me at info@sharonbowles.org.uk, and I'll be in touch soon.

Best wishes,