Europe
Second Irish referendum unlikely before European elections
The FT reports that a second Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty appears unlikely to take place before the European Parliament elections in June 2009. Following Irish Europe Minister Dick Roche's comment earlier in the week - in which he said that a second vote was "appropriate" - the Greens, members of the Fianna Fail-led coalition, as well as Fine Gael and Labour, the main opposition parties, have ruled out the possibility of a second referendum in the short term. Several EU leaders, including Nicolas Sarkozy, had hoped for the Treaty to enter into force before June so that the European elections could be carried out under the new rules. The FT notes that "Irish officials and some diplomats privately concede that the timetable looks increasingly unrealistic and it is more likely any second vote will now take place in late 2009." The EUreferendum blog notes that delaying the vote may "give Declan Ganley, Chairman of the 'no' group Libertas, the opening he needs to set up his EU-wide political party to take on the Treaty." A piece in Le Monde mentions Open Europe's recent poll showing 71% of people do not want a second referendum.
FT Irish Times McKenna EUreferendum Irish Independent Irish Independent2 Le Monde
Russia warns of "new Cold War" - Germany unwilling to suspend energy treaty talks with Moscow
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev yesterday raised the stakes in the Georgia crisis with his decision to recognise the breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. "We are not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a Cold War," he said.
The US has said that its humanitarian aid mission to the port of Poti would also have a military element. A US diplomat in Tbilisi announced that two guided missile warships would be docking at the port despite the Russian military presence. Mr Medvedev accused the Americans of trying to smuggle weapons into Georgia.
President Saakashvili of Georgia described the Russian declaration as an annexation, and accused Moscow of seeking to provoke renewed fighting that would allow Russian armoured divisions to move around Tbilisi, the capital, and wipe Georgia off the map. Saakashvili told the Times that Russia was trying to build up forces near Akhalgori, only 32km from Tbilisi. From there, he said, they could control the hills around the capital in the same way the Serbian forces ringed Sarajevo in the Bosnian war. Asked if he feared a fresh Russian invasion, Mr Saakashvili said: "If there is no strong reaction from Europe, at any moment."
EUobserver notes that in an interview on France's LCI channel, Russian President Medvedev dared the EU to impose diplomatic sanctions at next week's EU summit. "If they want a degradation of relations, they will get it," he said. "The ball is in the European camp." On the Arabic Al-Jazeera network he spoke of using "military means" against a future US missile base in Poland.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner accused Russian troops of "ethnic cleansing." Germany continued to sound a calmer note throughout the day, indicating that suspension of EU-Russia treaty talks is not on the cards. "We will not solve conflicts if we do not talk to each other," Chancellor Angela Merkel said on a visit to Lithuania. Ms Merkel's visit to the Baltic states and Sweden is aimed at promoting a new Germany-Russia gas pipeline - Nord Stream - which Germany calls a "strategic European project," but which the Baltic states fear will strengthen Russia's energy leverage against eastern European countries.
Euractiv reports that Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the West had made a "mistake" by humiliating Russia over ten years, asking Moscow to be "a supplier of energy and welcome our investments" without being given a "political role" in return. "Russia has nourished a frustration which today exploded," Frattini said.
EU Observer Johan Norberg Sun Sun 2 Times Times 2 Spectator IHT Telegraph Guardian FT FT2 FT3 Euractiv
Deaths to outnumber births in EU by 2015
A new study from Eurostat released yesterday showed that within seven years deaths in Europe will start outnumbering births. The Eurostat report details the ageing population of the continent and the individual states - Britain is expected to have only two adults of working age for every pensioner by 2060. The report also shows that the populations of Germany and many eastern states are likely to reduce in size, whilst countries such as Cyprus, Ireland and the UK (expected to be the most populous EU state by 2050) are expected to grow rapidly.
IHT Daily Mail European Voice Telegraph Guardian AP
EU regulation sounds "death knell" for Irish agricultural shows
The Irish Times reports that new EU regulations have banned the consumption of cakes and confectionary entered at country fairs and agricultural shows immediately after baking competitions. Under the rules adjudicators of bakery sections in local shows are only permitted to taste the cakes and tarts, and once the judging is over, the produce must be immediately destroyed. As a result, only bite-sized versions of the cakes will be entered in shows. The Chairman of Mayo County Council, Cllr Joe Mellett, said the new rules were the "death knell" for the Irish agricultural show. The directive has already been made law in Scotland.
Only 5 percent of Spanish and 8 percent of Germans said the ECB had responded appropriately to worsening economic conditions, while 56 and 48 percent respectively in both countries felt it had not.
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