Ms Banotti, MEP:

I turned to a more experienced colleague, Hanja Maij-weggen, a famous Dutch politician who is also retiring, and asked her what to do about the chocolate directive. She gave me the best political advice ever, that I had to find the political point.

Ms Banotti, MEP:

I wondered what was the political point of a bar of chocolate. I was very inexperienced so I did the only thing I could, which was to ring Cadburys in Coolock. I asked the girl who answered the phone if anybody there knew anything about a directive. She put me through to the office upstairs and I repeated the question. The person who answered the phone told me: "There is a man here who thinks about nothing else but the chocolate directive". I knew I was onto a winner so I made an appointment to see him. I drove out to Cadburys in Coolock and fulfilled another lifetime dream. I spent the day in a chocolate factory. I watched the Milky Way bars go past on conveyor belts. I realised that Ireland is the Flake capital of the world. I saw cement mixers full of Smarties of all colours, which reminds me that there is another directive on colourings. I had the best time and came home loaded with free samples, something everybody hopes to get when they visit a chocolate factory.

Ms Banotti, MEP:

I returned to Brussels and discovered that the British and the Irish make their chocolate in the same way so I knew I had some allies there. However, the main rapporteur on that report was a man called Mr. Nordmann, who lived next door to the biggest, best and most expensive chocolate factory in France. While I was getting my briefing from Cadburys he was getting his briefing from this factory, which wanted nothing more than to ensure that only chocolate made in the same way as it was made in this factory could be labelled as chocolate.

Ms Banotti, MEP:

I arrived at the committee weighed down with free bars of Cadburys Fruit and Nut for every member. They thought it was my birthday and that I was celebrating it by giving them a free bar of chocolate. I met Mr. Nordmann in the corridor and I had a particularly big bar of Fruit and Nut for him. However, he stood with his hand held up in refusal and said: "A piece of that chocolate will never cross my lips until this debate is over". I thought it was hilarious. However, the next group to arrive was the development committee. Chocolate is a major issue for some of the west African countries because cocoa butter is one of their main exports. We therefore found ourselves dealing with an industrial issue, a consumer issue and a development issue.