Energy firms taxing UK consumers to keep continental prices down
The front page of the Telegraph reports that Gordon Brown's consumer advocate, Ed Mayo has said that a lack of competition in the European energy markets means that British consumers are being overcharged on energy bills to subsidise customers in continental countries. Mayo said households were suffering because foreign companies - often owned by the state - faced no competition at home. "Closed and protectionist European energy markets end up picking the pockets of consumers in this country," he said. French consumers are protected by a state price cap, meaning that British consumers end up subsidising lower bills in France.
Neil O'Brien of Open Europe is quoted, saying that the price of gas flowing to Britain from France was "kept artificially high" by French operators restricting supplies. He added that, "People in Britain are paying more because other EU countries are rigging the market." Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader and former oil economist, said, "Even people who are supportive of the European Union are embarrassed at its failures over energy. The failure to liberalise energy markets and the extreme reluctance of the French and, to a lesser extent, the Germans and the Dutch, has prevented the free flow of energy and especially gas, in a way that is very damaging to the interests of consumers."
The Economist notes that prices will have to rise even further if the UK is to meet proposed EU targets from renewable energy: "Even coming close to the European targets, say government advisers, would mean a sevenfold rise in onshore wind capacity and a 46-fold rise in offshore. Subsidies for renewables (£634m in 2006-07) currently add only slightly to bills, but a big expansion of renewable energy would mean higher prices."
Telegraph Sun Sun 2 Mirror Economist
US may be reluctant to share intelligence with 'EU CIA'
The Sun reports on the response of UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, to EU plans for pooling intelligence information. Ms Smith stated she would not agree to any plans that would jeopardise British security. Some critics have argued that the US would no longer share privileged intelligence information with the UK if the UK was forced to share that information with the rest of Europe. Shadow Europe Minister Mark Francois said that the plans went "well beyond" current well-established mechanisms for sharing sensitive information.
The Mail notes that some EU intelligence services are notoriously indiscrete, with secure information often being subject to leaks. Open Europe's Neil O'Brien was quoted in the Mail as saying, "Moves towards a Euro CIA are not a good idea... The US will not share intelligence with us if we are going to pass it on to an organisation which leaks like a sieve. We could find ourselves putting a lot into such an organisation and getting very little back". He also suggested that the proposals contained in the EU's report, which call for a Europe-wide police force, were part of Franco-German plans to push through aspects of the in-doubt Lisbon Treaty rejected last month by Irish voters.
On his Telegraph blog, Bruno Waterfield has labelled the plans part of a growing "Securocracy". He writes, "The security agenda is a technocrat's dream. It is based on assumptions of threat or risk premised by an unconstrained mistrust of people and daily activity such as travel. In practice, it is about checks and surveillance. Systems, that spawn their own terminology, and officialdom, bringing individuals, you and me, into new set of relationships with the state".
Daily Mail Sun Bruno Waterfield blog
PANA: Irish government not interested in listening to the people
Edward Horgan writes in the Irish Times today in response to a leading article on 2 August which he believed wrongly suggested that he and other members of his organization PANA (Peace and neutrality alliance) sat on the sidelines and criticized the military decisions of the Irish government. He compares this misunderstanding to the poor interpretation of the Irish 'No' vote to the Lisbon Treaty. He writes: "There appears to be a lack of comprehension, and resultant anger, in Irish political and media circles, at the decision by a mixed coalition of Irish civil society to reject the dictates of Irish politicians and Eurocrats during the Lisbon referendum. Instead of seeking to understand the message(s) that a majority of Irish people are trying to communicate to their political and European servants, it seems that discrediting the messengers is the preferred response".
Sarkozy's plans could see Ireland and Britain share Commissioner
The Irish Independent reports that Nicolas Sarkozy's plans for cutting the size of the EU Commission, by having member states "with common cultural heritage" sharing a Commissioner have come under criticism. Ursula Plassnik, the Austrian Foreign Minister, is quoted saying, "The idea of combi-commissioners or half-half commissioners is not even a bad summer joke." A Commission official said, "Can you imagine an English commissioner for the British Isles with all the history that exists between Ireland and the UK? Or a German representing Austria? It is a total non-starter." The Irish government dismissed the claims as "speculative", while the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs said it was unaware of the plans. The Telegraph quotes a Foreign Office source saying, "This is not the time for institutional navel gazing, the EU should be getting on with it".
Most EU leaders stay away from Olympic ceremony
Just nine European Union leaders plan to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing today, with France officially represent the EU. However, Poland's President, Lech Kaczynski, and Czech Prime Minister, Mirek Topolanek, have both boycotted the event.
Irish Lisbon vote not hampering EU, report suggests
A report published yesterday by the Centre for European Reform, a London based think-tank, suggests that the EU is working fine without the Lisbon Treaty and that if it was never fully implemented it would not be the catastrophe which many European leaders claim. The paper says that the EU is continuing the process of European integration and achieving results by building intergovernmental bodies at EU level such as Eurojust, the European Defence Agency, and the intelligence-gathering body, the Situation Centre. The report claims that EU initiatives such as the European arrest and evidence warrants, the emissions-trading scheme and the liberalisation of energy markets are further evidence for the continuing feasibility of the current EU setup.
The report looks at the three potential scenarios to save the Lisbon Treaty. The first being a second Irish referendum won by the 'Yes' camp; the second is where the Irish government declines to hold another referendum, a decision which is eventually respected by other member states and results in the Treaty being buried; the final and "most poisonous" scenario is one where the Treaty is voted down in a second referendum which causes a split in the EU with Britain, the Nordic and Baltic countries and some central European countries fighting to keep Ireland in the EU. The paper does suggest that whatever happens to the Treaty it is likely to be the last of its kind in the EU.
Legrain: EU's asylum policy doesn't work
Writing in the Guardian, Phillipe Legrain, has criticised Europe's asylum and immigration policies. He argues that European countries are not doing enough to help "poor and vulnerable" immigrants. He notes that the EU's increasing restrictions on legal migration have backfired by forcing many individuals into the clutches of people smuggling gangs and the shadow economy where they may be exploited.
Abolition of 35 hour week in France is approved by the country's Constitutional Court.
More than 80 per cent of Macedonians support EU membership.
World
Violence escalates in South Ossetia
The Caucasus may be on the brink of war after Georgian troops launched a military assault against Russian-backed rebels in the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Just hours after Georgian President Saakashvili made a dramatic appeal for a ceasefire, fighting broke out again around the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali. In New York, members of the U.N. Security Council held a late night session to discuss a Russian-drafted statement calling on all sides "to cease bloodshed without delay and to renounce the use of force", however the Council failed to reach a consensus. Georgia has urged the EU to step up its role in the region, although so far the EU under the current French presidency has merely expressed "grave concerns" about the situation in South Ossetia.
Telegraph Le Figaro Le Monde Independent IHT European Voice BBC - Today Programme BBC Times FT Economist
Despite ongoing talks and the imposition and threats of sanctions over Iran's nuclear ambitions, EU exports to the country have risen.
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