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Europe
UK "storms out" out of negotiations over new EU financial regulator;
Sarkozy: For the first time a French Commissioner is in charge of the City of London
EU Finance Ministers will today discuss the formation of a new EU-wide system of financial supervision, including the creation of three new EU authorities with the mandate to overrule national regulators on issues such as shortselling and the recapitalisation of banks. The authorities would also have the power to supervise and intervene in individual firms - moves which the UK is said to resist.
The UK stalled negotiations in October on the three new authorities as Alistair Darling wanted the EU to clarify exactly what powers the new authorities would have if a member state failed to implement decisions taken by the bodies. The UK also wanted all decisions taken by unanimity, Euractiv reports. However, the site reports that EU diplomats believe that Britain is isolated and that the remaining 26 member states will give the new authorities their full support. "Mainly ministers will be asking what kind of majorities will be needed in the new supervisory bodies," one EU diplomat is quoted saying.
Comments made yesterday by Nicolas Sarkozy have added to fears that the proposed architecture, in combination with the appointment of French protectionist Michel Barnier as the next Internal Market Commissioner, will damage the City of London. Sarkozy said yesterday: "Do you know what it means for me to see for the first time in 50 years a French European commissioner in charge of the internal market, including financial services, including the City [of London]? I want the world to see the victory of the European model, which has nothing to do with the excesses of financial capitalism".
Dutch daily NRC reports that "the British are so angry about Sarkozy's triumphalism that they are blocking negotiations on EU banking supervision...The atmosphere has been so poisoned that the British, who think that supervision damages their City, have stormed out of the negotiations, according to an eye witness".
Writing in the Times, Alistair Darling argues, "We must resist measures, however superficially alluring, that could undermine the effective functioning of our cherished single market. National supervisors, such as the FSA, must remain responsible for supervising individual companies. Making companies directly accountable to more than one authority is a recipe for confusion."
In a debate in the House of Commons last night, Shadow Treasury Minister Mark Hoban criticised the Government for not being more active in the formulation and scrutiny of the new proposals. He said: "I'm not optimistic of the Government's chances in insisting on its red lines because I think the Government has repeatedly left debating these matters until too late in the process."
Times Times: Leader Times 2 Times: Bremner Times: King City AM EurActiv Telegraph Mail Spectator: Coffee House blog Times: Darling BBC Guardian NRC Open Europe press release
Unions threaten ECJ action over attempts to block pay rise for EU civil servants
Swedish Radio reports that 15 member states want to stop the 3.7% pay rise proposed for the 38,000 civil servants in the Commission. The countries, led by Germany and France, want to use a clause in the EU treaties which would stop the rise with reference to the economic crisis. However, several unions, representing the civil servants, have threatened to take the issue to the ECJ if the pay rise is blocked. One of the unions writes in a letter to members, "the member states are misusing the economic crisis to rob us of our fundamental right to preserve the purchasing strength of our salaries." A Director-General in the Commission can make up to €212,372 a year in addition to a number of perks and allowances.
Die Welt reports that the Committee in charge of setting Commission officials' salaries, consisting of representatives of all 27 member states, has defended the pay rise saying the EU is following a trend of raising salaries, started last year in several EU countries, but that it is just introducing the change a year later. German CDU MEP Inge Gräßle is quoted saying: "This pay rise will be really expensive for tax payers" and she dismissed the Committee's defence of its policy as "crocodile tears".
Meanwhile, FAZ features an article on the pay and perks of EU civil servants, reporting that "European civil servants are doing well". The article notes that they earn "between €2,556 and €17,697", a month adding that "the 60 Director Generals make about double the money of those with comparable functions in Germany". It adds that "university level graduates without any professional experience make at least €4,190 a month when they start". On taxation, it clarifies: "they are not being taxed in their home countries, but they have to pay the Community tax, which goes from 8% to 45%, with the highest tax bracket applying on wages above €6,700 per month."
It goes to report that "on top of that there are a lot of tax free benefits: living allowances of 2% of the wage plus €160, a child allowance of €350 per child, an educational allowance of €240 and diverse other special allowances...they benefit from a place for their children in a highly subsidised European school. They get much better health care than normal Belgians for a contribution of only 2% of their wage. They benefit from an annual travel expense allowance so they can travel home. Year after year this has cost about €45 million. On top of that many shops, banks and car dealers give EU civil servants special reductions of up to 30% when they buy something."
On their working hours, the article reports: "the working week is 37.5 hours, and cannot be more than 42 hours. They can only do overtime "in urgent cases or exceptional workloads". For every hour of overtime they get between one and a half and two hours compensation." An anonymous but senior EU bureaucrat is quoted saying that living abroad, which is the rationale behind the generous compensation, is "really not such a pain any more", adding that "actually it's hard to get most bureaucrats to leave Brussels these days".
Cameron pledges clear-out of health and safety legislation
The Telegraph reports that David Cameron yesterday vowed a clear-out of "over the top" health and safety rules and legislation that have become "a straitjacket on personal initiative and responsibility". In his speech, Cameron highlighted Open Europe's findings that, over the last ten years, the cost of complying with EU employment, health and safety regulation has amounted to over £35 billion - 25 percent of the entire regulatory cost for that period. Open Europe's study found that UK laws derived from EU social legislation will cost the UK economy more than £71 billion between 2010 and 2020, even if no new laws are adopted in the meantime.
Mr Cameron said former Conservative Trade Secretary Lord David Young is to lead a review into how the health and safety culture could be reformed.
Telegraph Telegraph: Leader Times Cameron's speech Open Europe press release Open Europe research
German MEP hails "day of joy" for those who want a federal United States of Europe
The Telegraph reports that European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, and the newly appointed EU President and Foreign Minister, Herman Van Rompuy and Catherine Ashton last night celebrated the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty in the Portuguese capital.
Open Europe's Lorraine Mullally is quoted in the Express saying, "As of today, there is virtually no area of policy the EU cannot now touch. Unaccountable, unelected EU politicians and judges have sweeping new powers over everything from our criminal justice systems to asylum policy."
Speaking at an event hosted by the Union of European Federalists, Lady Ashton admitted that her earlier career as leader of the House of Lords had not prepared her for the senior EU foreign affairs post, according to the Telegraph. She said, "Less than two years ago I took the Treaty of Lisbon through the House of Lords, if I had known what was going to happen to me, I might have paid more attention to my speeches on the (role of) High Representative." She added. "I have a lot to learn."
Jo Leinen, a senior German Social Democrat MEP said the day was a "day of joy" for those who wanted to build a federal United States of Europe. "The Lisbon Treaty is better than reported, with it Europe is going forward towards political union," he said. However, German daily Die Welt questions whether the Treaty will make the EU more democratic and efficient. The text of the Treaty is described as being: "cold, technical, curt and only comprehensible to experts". The article notes that the increase in qualified majority voting will mean that member states have less opportunity to block measures they do not want.
El Mundo's Brussels correspondent María Ramírez reports that the introduction of the Treaty saw the staff of the EU institutions react with "disenchantment, discretion and a certain confusion." In an opinion piece in El País columnist Andreu Missé notes that the Lisbon Treaty includes about 95% of the content of the original Constitution rejected in 2005. The main difference is that the text of the Lisbon Treaty is "practically unintelligible."
Express BBC Irish Times Telegraph El Mundo Die Welt El País
Lib Dems abandon campaign for referendum on EU membership
The BBC reports that the Liberal Democrats have abandoned their campaign for an "in or out" referendum on EU membership. Former leader Sir Menzies Campbell said there was no "public appetite" for a vote now that the Lisbon Treaty was ratified. On his blog, Iain Dale comments, "Surely if you believe in giving people a say by means of an 'in-out' referendum, the argument for that is the same today as it was the day before the Lisbon Treaty came into force."
Iain Dale's Diary Express: Leader BBC OE blog
Lord Mandelson: EU trade policy credibility would be "set back" by delays in the European Parliament
In a debate in the House of Lords on EU Trade Policy Lord Mandelson said, concerning the European Parliament's new role in trade policy: "I think that it is good: we need to engage colleagues in the European Parliament...I think that it would be damaging to our trade policy if we were to lose sight of our objectives and the urgency of what we are trying to do in the corridors and committee rooms of the European Parliament. It would set back the credibility of Europe's trade policies and standing in the world if we were to find our mandates being blunted and feet being dragged in the European Parliament when it came to endorsing the results of our negotiations."
Dutch TV NOS reports that the Lisbon Treaty has been invoked to prevent a former member of the SS being extradited from the Netherlands to Germany, as he had been convicted by the Dutch justice system in 1949. The Charter of Fundamental Rights in the Treaty prevents someone for being tried twice in the EU for the same crime.
Prince Charles warns EU rules are threat to alternative medicine
The Evening Standard reports that Prince Charles is urging the Government to protect the future of alternative medicine and ensure the safety of patients ahead of a crackdown by the EU that could prevent anyone who is not a registered health practitioner from selling remedies. The Government is consulting on the EU directive, due to come into force in April 2011, and campaigners are calling for a licensing system to be established earlier amid fears that small practitioners could be forced to close under the rules.
EU air pollution fines could mean council tax rise
The Telegraph reports that strict EU air pollution standards mean that the UK could be fined £300 million in the next 18 months. The Local Government Association said the fine would add £15 to the average annual council tax bill.
Commission may abandon proposal for EU Health Directive
European Voice reports that at least nine EU health ministers, led by Spain and Hungary, yesterday blocked agreement on the cross-border Healthcare Directive which would allow patients to receive healthcare in another EU country, paid for by the health care provider in their home country. The European Commission said it may now abandon the proposal, leaving the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to decide when patients are entitled to be reimbursed for healthcare treatment in another EU country.
The FT reports that Israel has criticised Sweden for its draft resolution, due to be discussed by EU foreign ministers next week, to divide Jerusalem between Israel and a Palestinian state, accusing them of trying to push through an important shift on EU policy.
FT Euobserver Irish Times Independent Guardian El País
The WSJ reports that Airbus' A400M military transporter is ready to fly but various financial and political problems could keep it grounded. The project is one of Europe's most ambitious but the article notes that while countries like France and Britain want the planes up and running urgently, countries such as Germany are more concerned about its cost.
No link
In an article in Handelsblatt, David Marsh argues that the German government and Bundesbank "comprehensively reject any idea of showing solidarity with the other members of European monetary union by devices such as common European bond issuance. Instead, we will see increasing intra-Euro competition for the best credit terms. Germany has no wish to unfurl its fiscal umbrella over deficit countries such as Greece, Ireland or Spain."
AFP Eurointelligence
EUobserver reports that Malta is to host the EU's Asylum Support Office, due to open some time next year, with a budget of €50 million and a staff of 100. 22 out of 27 member states backed awarding the agency to Malta.
Argentinean President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has protested at the inclusion of the Falkland Islands in the Lisbon Treaty, which declares them to be territory associated with the EU. El País quotes Kirchner saying "we must remember international law and also that the UN has instructed Argentina and the UK to sit down at the negotiating table."
The Telegraph reports that the German government is rushing through a fresh package of measures to shore up ailing banks and prevent a second wave of the debt crisis suffocating large parts of manufacturing industry. The move comes days after the Bundesbank revealed that German banks face a further €90bn (£82bn) of likely write-downs over the next year.
Telegraph
EurActiv reports that Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker looks set to be re-elected next month as Chairman of eurozone finance ministers for a term of two-and-a-half years.
The European Central Bank is expected to announce tomorrow steps to slowly absorb some of the hundreds of billions of euros it pumped into banks since the peak of the crisis, starting with an end to cheap one-year loans next year.
The BBC reports that the climate economist Sir Nicholas Stern has said that the EU should impose a unilateral cut in greenhouse gas emissions of 30% by 2020. The EU has pledged a cut of 20%, but has said it will increase the target to 30% if there is a strong agreement at the Copenhagen climate change conference
Le Monde reports that President Obama is sending 30,000 more American troops to Afghanistan, and has asked for more European troops, particularly from those countries that have not made a relatively large contribution, such as Germany, Italy and France. A leader in the Mail argues that eastern European countries will have to take up the burden, if neither France nor Germany contribute more troops.
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