| Open Europe |
Europe
Pat Cox attacks EU Commissioner for "sweeping, false and entirely groundless" comments on Lisbon Treaty;
€4.2 million to be spent on second Irish referendum PR campaign
The Irish Times reports that former President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, has said that EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy's claim that people in most EU countries would have voted No to the Lisbon Treaty is "sweeping, false and entirely groundless". McCreevy recently said that 95 percent of EU member states would have voted no like Ireland did, had the Treaty been put to a vote in other countries.
The paper also reports that Ireland's Referendum Commission has reappointed the same public relations firm that ran the marketing and communications campaign for the first Lisbon referendum without running a tender process for the second referendum. The original contract was worth approximately €3.5 million out of the referendum's total allocated budget of €5 million. The total budget allocated to the Referendum Commission for the second Lisbon campaign is €4.2 million.
A clause in the original tender document stated that the Referendum Commission had the option to retain the same communications consultant if a further referendum took place within three years.
Irish Times Irish Times 2 OE blog
France and Germany exit recession;
French Finance Minister: Britain joining the Euro would be a "great adventure"
There is widespread coverage of the news that France and Germany have exited recession ahead of the UK. EUobserver reports that Greece, Portugal and Slovakia also reported a GDP rise for the quarter. However, writing in the Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard warns that "there is a sting in the tail of yesterday's data. The eurozone's 'Club Med' remains mired in slump and likely to slip further behind if recovery gathers steam. Italy shrank 0.5pc, and has now suffered seven quarters of contraction. Spain shrank by 0.9pc."
He reports that David Marsh, author of "The Euro: The Politics of the New Global Currency", has said that the North-South chasm in the EU will test the European Central Bank's ability to manage a one-size-fits-all policy for the eurozone.
In an interview with Le Monde, Laurence Boone, Economic Chief for Barclays says that, although figures show that France has come out of recession, it "doesn't mean much" because the motors of growth, consumption and industrial production, are "fragile".
Meanwhile, speaking on last night's BBC Newsnight, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said that the French banking sector was somewhat stronger than in other countries. With regards to bonuses for bankers she said, "that is clearly an issue that needs to be addressed and needs to be addressed not only at the national level in France, and in the UK, but at the regional level in Europe and also at the international level certainly during the Pittsburgh conference of the G20 meeting...I certainly hope that the British government, together with the French government, and other governments concerned, will actually set new terms, new grounds for all operators, be they traders or otherwise, to be compensated properly."
When asked if she thought the news of the French and German economic recovery might reopen debate about Britain joining the euro, she said, "It would certainly be a very, very interesting and great adventure to embark the UK in the Euro. Something worth considering."
BBC: Newsnight Mirror WSJ City AM Mail Times Telegraph Telegraph 2 Telegraph: Evans-Pritchard FT FT FT: Leader Irish Times EUobserver BBC Independent El economista.es AFP
Icelandic banking crisis threatens to derail Icelandic government and its EU membership application
The Economist notes that Icelandic PM Johanna Sigurdardottir needs to convince the Icelandic parliament to take on a loan of almost €4 billion, at an annual interest rate of 5.5%, from the British and Dutch governments to cover lost deposits when Landsbanki, the owner of Icesave, was nationalised. The article argues that "critics say the government has allowed itself to be bullied by the British and Dutch governments just because it is so keen to join the EU." The article concludes that the loan deal "may jeopardise not only Iceland's EU application--public support for joining has dropped sharply--but also Ms Sigurdardottir's shaky coalition".
Economist FT: Sigurðardóttir EUobserver FT DN
Head of German Green Party advocates EU wide referendums
In an interview with the Stuttgarter Zeitung, the Head of the German Green Party Cem Özdemir calls for EU wide referendums in order bring citizens closer to the European project. He argues that referendums could for instance be applied in questions about future EU enlargement. He also said that "so far the European project was merely a project of the elitists, now it needs to become a project of the citizens".
Philip Whyte: Britain could conclude that France and Germany are exploiting the crisis to weaken London as a financial centre
Philip Whyte, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Reform, writing in E!Sharp magazine about the EU's AIFM directive to regulate hedge funds and private equity firms argues, "If French and German politicians are not careful, the scenario which they paint of a recalcitrant Britain at odds with the rest of Europe could become a self-fulfilling prophesy... the British may be forgiven if they conclude that France and Germany are exploiting the crisis to promote some of their longstanding objectives and to weaken London's position as a financial centre."
German government introduces strict rules for bank remuneration
A few weeks before the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, the German government is introducing strict regulations on the remuneration system at its banks, according to Handelsblatt. The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) in conjunction with the German Central Bank developed a set of rules which will prevent banks linking salaries to short-term returns.
EU Directive on pesticides to cost potato industry £50m a year
The Scotsman reports that up to a sixth of the UK's potato production could be lost as a result of an EU directive on pesticides, an expert said yesterday. Rob Clayton, of the Potato Council, said that the loss of pesticides as a result of the directive could cost the industry more than £50 million a year in reduced production.
Economist: Energy is Turkey's greatest asset in relationships with east and west
The Economist reports that Turkey and Russia are working together on the planned South Stream gas pipeline, yet Turkey has also signed up for an EU pipeline designed to reduce the EU's dependence on Russian oil. The article questions where Turkey's loyalties truly lie and concludes that it is acting in self-interest, benefiting from closer ties to Russia (its biggest trading partner) whilst exploiting energy is also its greatest asset in negotiations for future EU membership.
Michael Freedman: What's so bad about Europe?
Newsweek's Michael Freedman looks at the US healthcare debate and asks why Barack Obama is coming under such heavy criticism for attempting to "turn the United States into Europe". He looks at the higher life expectancy, noting that it is a year higher in Europe and two years higher if you are 'lucky enough to be born in France', as well as other areas of healthcare where Europeans have the advantage.
The Evening Standard's Londoner's Diary Notes questions whether Lord Patten is serious about wanting to be the first EU Foreign Minister, after telling the column two years ago "that his political future was behind him".
Shadow Defence Secretary Liam Fox has told the Evening Standard: "There is a lot of resentment that our European partners are not doing more and spending more" in Afghanistan. He said "While we and the Canadians have been under such strain, with the exception of the Dutch and the Danes too many of our European allies have not stepped up to the plate and there will be strains within Nato if we don't get a great commitment."
A leader in the Economist reports that the World Trade Organisation is about to give a preliminary ruling on a US complaint regarding subsidies to Europe's commercial aircraft industry, specifically Airbus. The US alleges that this support was worth $200 billion over 20 years. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has reportedly described the dispute as the biggest, most difficult and most expensive in WTO history.
The EU has criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia saying that it did not consider the visit helpful to stability in the region.
The Swedish Farmers' Business Paper reports that the increased EU subsidies for diary production threaten to decrease subsidies for non-dairy farmers as the EU's agricultural budget cannot be further increased.
El Mundo reports that the upcoming Spanish EU Presidency has analysed its goals for the first term of 2010, saying that it will focus on promoting a "joint" solution to the economic crisis. The establishment of the Lisbon Treaty, climate change, and social rights are among other goals for the Presidency.
Colpisa La Voz de Galicia El Mundo
World
The Telegraph's Environment Correspondent Louise Gray writes that the Australian parliament's decision to block climate change legislation does not bode well for a global agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol at the end of the year in Copenhagen.
Telegraph: Gray Telegraph European Voice FT Irish Times
Posts
