and was among the Conservative candidates at that election who declared their personal opposition to the single European currency. 1999 European election At the 1999 European Parliament election, Foster was selected by Conservatives in the North West as fifth on their list. She won the last seat available on the list system. Work as MEP During this first mandate (1999-2004), she was elected annually as the chairman of the Backbench Committee of MEPs. Her political responsibilities were as the Conservative Spokesman on Transport and Tourism and as a Member of the Industry Committee. She specialised in the aviation sector, with other responsibilities including maritime, road and rail. Following 9/11 Foster was the Rapporteur/draftsman for the Regulation which introduced minimum standards of security at airports across Europe. This included new rules which required airport staff to be security screened airside, when entering secure areas, as was the case in the United Kingdom. She supported moves to require airlines to compensate passengers 'bumped' off flights. Other areas she focused on included: Single European Sky, ATM, GNSS, Galileo (new satellite systems); The creation of the European Air Safety Agency (EASA); Occurrence reporting Slots, Noise Ground-handling and Pax rights; Crew operations and Open Skies agreements. She was also a member of the Sky & Space Parliamentary Intergroup. As a was a member of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Joint Parliamentary Assembly (ACP) she became the spokesman for the European Parliament on Zimbabwe, following which she was subsequently banned from entering the country. She was also a Member of the Animal Welfare Parliamentary Intergroup. Defeat in 2004; re-election in 2009 Foster was re-selected as a candidate for the 2004 European Parliament election in fourth position on the Conservative list, so was not re-elected when the Conservatives won only three seats. Having specialised in the aviation sector, she became an adviser to Airbus on EU legislation following which she was appointed Head of European Affairs for the Aerospace, Space and Defence Industries of Europe (ASD), based in Brussels (2005-2009). In 2009 she was placed third on the Conservative list for the North West in the European Parliament election and was elected as an MEP, with the Conservatives winning three seats for a second time. She was, again, appointed as the Transport Spokesman and also served as a Vice President of the Sky & Space and Animal Welfare Parliamentary Intergroups and as a Member of the EU-US