Dr Caroline Jackson MEP
Caroline Jackson is one of the Conservative MEPs for the South West region of England. She was first elected MEP for the region in 1999 and was re-elected in June 2004. She has been an MEP since 1984 and previously represented the constituency of Wiltshire North and Bath
Born in 1946 in Penzance, Cornwall, she was educated in Penzance and at St. Hugh's College and Nuffield College Oxford. She studied Classics and History and holds an Oxford Doctorate in Philosophy with a thesis on 19th century politics. She is a former research Fellow of St. Hugh's College
Between 1984 and 1999 she was Conservative spokesman on the Environment committee of the Parliament and responsible for reports on directives on landfill policy, product safety, food additives, better protection for package tourists, and the use of live animals in experiments.
From 1999 to June 2004 she was chairman of the Parliament's committee on the Environment, Consumer Protection and Public Health. This is one of the largest committees of the Parliament, with 60 members, and one of the main committees involved in negotiating the final form of EU legislation in such key policy areas as GM foods, and measures to prevent global warming.
She continues as a member of the Parliament's Environment committee and is giving a high priority to investigating the reasons for the poor implementation of EU law throughout the Member States and to ways of putting this right. In 2006 she became the Parliament's rapporteur on the draft waste framework directive which she steered to final agreement in summer 2008.
Outside the Parliament she is Chairman of the Institute of European Environment Policy , which has offices in London and Brussels.
Outside politics her principle interests are archaeology, gardening, music, painting and walking the long distance footpaths of England.
She is married to Robert Jackson former MP for Wantage.
