Caroline Jackson MEP under fire

GAIA said: “Jackson is accepting money from Shanks plc, a waste company with a terrible record of pollution and financial interests in landfills and incinerators. The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, (GAIA) is calling on the president of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, to reject MEP Jackson's text for the WFD and launch an inquiry into her conflict of interest with the waste industry.”

The Alliance claims that this makes Ms Jackson biased towards the waste industry's position in the Waste Framework Directive (WFD). It said: “The WFD is a directive which will clearly benefit the waste industry and not the communities which will have incinerator companies like Shanks as their neighbours.

“Because of its pro-industry, anti-environment content, and the flawed process through which it was created, GAIA is calling for the EU Parliament to reject the WFD proposal,” it added.

The alliance also accused Dr Jackson of failing to declare her interests at Waste Framework Directive meetings.

Caroline Jackson's spokesman in the UK, Martin Perry, said the claims were “nonsense”. He added: “She has always declared her interests.” Mr Perry said her relationship with Shanks PLC was in the directory of interests.

Ms Jackson admitted, in today's edition of the Financial Times, that she is paid £6,000 a year to advise Shanks plc but denied ever receiving “instruction or advice from them.”

She said her interest with Shanks was always available on her website but admitted she was unable to recall if she had told fellow parliamentarians when she was originally appointed to draft the WFD. She is quoted as saying that she will “do so at the next available opportunity.”

Final debate on the directive is due to begin next Monday (June 16).

Dirk Hazell, chief executive of the Environmental Services Association said today: “As Rapporteur, Dr Caroline Jackson MEP has secured the governments' agreement to a broad package including recycling targets.

“This is welcome and is among the European Parliament's improvements to the Directive which governments have accepted and which mark real progress in building Europe's Recycling Society.

“The package secured by Dr Jackson will make Europe more economically and environmentally sustainable. We believe this opportunity should be taken and we hope MEPs will support the package on Tuesday,” he concluded.

The fresh storm comes the day after a European group of doctors asked MEPs not to vote for the Waste Framework Directive because of concerns about incineration having a negative effect of public health (see letsrecycle.com story).