The coming USE -Former German President Roman Herzog: "The EU harms the European ideal"
Europe
Former German President Roman Herzog: "The EU harms the European ideal"
In an article for FAZ under the headline "the EU harms the European ideal", former German President Roman Herzog writes that the EU faces an "existential crisis". He argues that the EU "must regain the public's trust....otherwise they will reject the founding ideal of European integration, which would make the complete dissolution of the EU a possibility."
He notes that the overarching impression is that Brussels "decrees over people's heads, over traditions and cultures, and regulates things that could be regulated far more effectively on a national level".
He criticises EU over-regulation and calls for the 27 member states to emphatically reject Brussels' interference in national jurisdiction. Amongst his examples of "grotesque" EU over-regulation, he cites the Commission's decision to make benefits available to single women in Germany, a regulation that was heavily contested by the German government but ultimately overruled. Herzog suggests that this flouts the subsidiarity principle, which states that the EU can only interfere in national jurisdiction during an irresolvable cross border issue. Herzog argues, "National governments must establish a culture of categorically saying 'no' to EU legislation which jars with the subsidiarity principle."
Herzog notes that as it is in the interest of both the EU judicial system and the European Parliament to broaden EU power, "increased vigilance from member states - in politics, the public and the media - is essential".
Meanwhile, the Economist's Charlemagne blog argues: "I think much closer [EU] integration will not work, and after five years in Brussels, talking endlessly to politicians, officials, diplomats, think-tankers and the like, I am convinced I sense no mood out there for much deeper integration. And when I say the current system is not working well, it is not Brussels-bashing for the sake of it. I am a European, it pains me to see my continent falling behind. But there it is. I cannot pretend the emperor is wearing lovely robes. I cannot say I think the European Parliament can be fixed with lots of new powers, because I go there, and see a place that has gained huge amounts of new power in recent years, but remains dominated by mediocrities, and just as obsessed with gaining new powers as ever."
FAZ Economist: Charlemagne blog
Charlemagne on the Lisbon Treaty: National leaders had no real idea what they were signing
The Charlemagne column looks at the Citizens' Initiative, introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, and argues, "Euro-cheerleaders spent years banging on about the need for Lisbon, saying its new rules would make Europe simpler, more efficient and more democratic. Now they have the treaty, many of the same people are muttering and wailing about unresolved problems hidden in its leaden prose. Interview senior Brussels types about Lisbon, and the same phrases come up again and again: 'we have no idea how this bit will work' and 'of course, national leaders had no real idea what they were signing.'"
Meanwhile, Spanish Deputy Prime Minister María Fernández, whose country holds the rotating EU Presidency, has said that "The Lisbon Treaty has made the EU decision making process more complex", according to Belgian daily De Tijd. Economist: Charlemagne Tijd
LET THE AXE FALL ON EUROPE
DAVID CAMERON: Fiscal concessions [] Friday January 15,2010
By Frederick Forsyth
Comment Speech Bubble
Have your say(1)
IT IS simply not fair to blame David Cameron and George Osborne for withdrawing one by one the fiscal concessions made even a couple of years ago.
Sharing the produce of financial growth? (It’ll all have to go to pay off Brown’s debts.) Favouring marriage over co-habitation? Not possible.
Easing inheritance tax? Ditto. Maintaining the defence budget? sorreeeeeee. OK, they could not know two years ago that Brown and his mediocrities would bankrupt us all. Draconian cuts are now inevitable.
But Dave has laid down four exemptions to any budget cuts: NHS, education, “green” expenditures and overseas aid. But half a dozen investigative think tanks have revealed that our membership of the EU on present terms (the vital phrase) costs £80-£100billion a year.
On this issue all that comes out of tory Headshed is a thundering silence. Is this the fifth and unspoken exemption? Do we go on mutely subsidising half the continent? And if so why?
EU EXPENDITURE
15.01.10, 9:59am
I expect this is about to increase.
While Germany is supposed to be responsible for ensuring the economic stability of the Eurozone, I bet that it will attempt to coerce other member states into contributing in order to bail out Greece and possibly Spain. This should be resisted. It is one thing paying heavily for obligations which are certainly ours and quite another, for those that are certainly not.
The Lisbon Treaty contains a swathe of objectives which will be costly. Has anyone costed them to see what the UK's contribution will be?
Whatever it is, we should attempt to make do with the organisations and budgets that we already have and refuse to institute more.
Spain calls for single EU voice in UN
Diego López Garrido, Spanish Europe Minister, announced yesterday: "the central objective [is] to make the EU a powerful global actor in the world, with a single voice on political and economic issues, in the international forums, in the United Nations and in the G20." ABC reports that Lopez "considers it necessary to create common spaces of interest, like the area of justice, so that a citizen feels that if they go to another country, their civil rights will go with them."
Meanwhile, at a meeting with the European Round Table of Industrialists, Spanish PM Jose Luis Zapatero guaranteed leaders that a central objective of the Spanish Presidency for the industrial sector will be to put into action a common strategy to develop an electric car, reports El Pais.
El PaÃs La Razón ABC EFE AFP Open Europe briefing: Spanish EU
Italian MP Denounces Bilderberg Influence During European Parliament Meeting
Kurt Nimmo Infowars November 14, 2009
Mario Borghezio, an Italian member of European Parliament, dropped a bomb shell at the EU this week. In the video below, during a session of the parliament in Brussels Borghezio questioned the nominations of Bilderberg and Trilateral attendees and cohorts for the posts of EU President and EU foreign minister.
“Is it possible,” Borghezio asked, “that no one has noticed that all 3 frequently attended the Bilderberg or Trilateral meetings? I believe we need to apply the principles of transparency, so often mentioned here in our institutions. We need to establish clearly whether these are the candidates of their own countries’ political forces, or whether they are simply the candidates of these occult groups that meet behind closed door to decide matters over the heads of the people.”
The candidates in question are Jan Peter Balkenende, David Miliband, and Herman Van Rompuy.
Dutch Prime Minister Balkenende attended the Bilderberg meeting held at the Westfields Marriott hotel in Chantilly, Virginia on June 5-8, 2008. As Paul Joseph Watson noted on May 22 of that year, the Dutch embassy went out of its way to hide the fact Balkenende had attended the elite confab.
Balkenende and his European Affairs Minister Frans Timmermans were formally petitioned over their involvement with Bilderberg by Dutch MP Harry van Bommel. Timmermans referred directly to research conducted by Watson and Bilderberg researcher Daniel Estulin.
“Prime Minister Balkenende attended the Bilderberg Group conference in Washington DC last year, before meeting with President Bush, along with Queen Beatrix and her son William-Alexander. Queen Beatrix is a regular attendee of the elitist confab and was photographed by our reporters arriving at Bilderberg last year,” Watson noted on May 15, 2009.
David Miliband, the current Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of Britain, is an EU operative pushing “environmental reform” and the globalist climate change agenda. In
2006, he pushed the idea of carbon trading “credit cards” for everyone. He is considered “ideal material” for the post of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy for the European Union. Miliband went to Oxford and was a Kennedy Scholar at MIT, a scholarship with intimate ties to Anglo-American elitism. His father, Ralph Miliband, was a noted Marxist intellectual.
Herman Van Rompuy is the current Prime Minister of Belgium and a member of the King’s Crown Council. Van Rompuy also pushes the globalist “green” agenda, as Flanders Today has reported.
Van Rompuy “showed his hand” at a Bilderberg meeting when he “told the elite club that the European government leaders are increasingly becoming proponents of Europe tapping off green income,” in short fleecing the plebs under cover of the climate change ruse. “Van Rompuy accepted the invitation of Etienne Davignon to address the gathering because the discretion of the Bilderberg Group has attained legendary status, and what is said at its meetings has never leaked out,” the newspaper added. In fact, thanks to Bilderberg sleuths Jim Tucker and Daniel Estulin, much of what the Bilderbergers have in mind for us has
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gZ7gDBs5WY&feature=player_embedded
The European Public Affairs Directory 2010
The essential guide to the public affairs community in Brussels
Available now!
The European Public Affairs Directory 2010 is your one-stop resource for accessing 20,000 top public affairs decision-makers in Europe. Comprehensive and up-to-date, each entry comprises full contact details and contacts are indexed by person and organisation.
New for 2010, The European Public Affairs Directory includes information on all the recently elected MEPs, profiles with biographies of top European public affairs personnel and details for events, training and polling companies.
Please click here for further information and to order.
£125/€165 (Europe)
£115 (UK)
Copyright 2010 Dod's Parliamentary Communications Limited Registered in England under Company number 01262354 Registered Office: 4 Grosvenor Place, London SW1X 7DL Europe
EU's new Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier: "No territory can go without relevant regulation"
French Internal Market Commissioner Designate Michel Barnier faced MEPs for a hearing in the European Parliament yesterday. With Barnier's brief including financial services, the FT notes that he was challenged by some British MEPs over whether he would take an "overly zealous regulatory approach that could damage prosperity in financial centres, such as the City of London."
Under the headline "Michel Barnier pleads with the European Parliament for more regulation", Le Monde quotes Barnier saying "We have to draw a line under the era of irresponsibility and put transparency, responsibility and morality back into the heart of the financial system." Le Figaro quotes him saying, "This crisis is so serious that we can't just pretend to reform. We will reform." He added, "No market, no actor, no product and no territory can go without relevant regulation and efficient supervision."
Barnier tried to play down the Franco-British 'spat' over his appointment saying, "I'm not going to be taking orders from Paris or London or anywhere else. I can give you a cast-iron guarantee." He added, "I have a British director-general whose name I put forward myself - but he is not there as a Briton but as a Community official. These are people who are committed to defend the general European interest," according to PA.
UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom attacked EU over-regulation and warned against harming the City. Mr Barnier responded: "It is in the interest of the European financial sector and of the British financial sector to be regulated properly and effectively. We have to learn the lessons from the crisis and we will do so." The Telegraph reports, that in a letter to UK Conservative MEP Syed Kamall, Barnier wrote "I believe in a strong City at the heart of jobs and growth - for London, the UK and Europe as a whole."
When asked by Conservative MEP Vicky Ford whether he would consider redrafting the AIFM Directive, aimed at regulating the alternative investment sector, Barnier said that he would not withdraw the current text but would work on improving it. The WSJ quotes him saying, "Those who manage hedge funds shouldn't be afraid of this legislation. It's in their interests." He added a commitment to evaluate the impacts of all the legislative texts currently tabled under his portfolio. He also said he would move to regulate derivatives and wouldn't "shy away from [difficult topics such as] sanctions and short-selling."
Euractiv notes that Barnier pledged to bring down SME expenditure as a result of the EU's administrative burden by €7 billion.
When asked how financial institutions would "pay" for the recent crisis, Barnier said he favoured a tax on transactions. He added that he believed the revenue should be used to promote development and combat climate change in the developing world.
Meanwhile, on his FT blog, Tony Barber looks at the Commissioners' confirmation hearings, noting they bear no resemblance to those in the US. He writes, "The questions asked in the European Parliament's committees are far less probing, and the nominees are able to get away with answers that are at best platitudinous, at worst utterly incoherent." Barber concludes, "The European Parliament is obviously a work in progress, rather than the finished product, so one shouldn't carp too much. But the hearings, combined with the fact that this legislature was elected last June on the lowest turnout since direct elections to the European Parliament started in 1979, do not convince me that what is going on here is the best possible expression of European democracy."
Guardian Telegraph FT IHT WSJ EUobserver EurActiv European Voice EP press release Reuters Independent Le Monde Le Figaro FT: Brussels blog Reuters Open Europe press release OE research: AIFM Directive
Social Affairs Commissioner says Commission will revisit EU working time rules
In his hearing with MEPs, incoming EU Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner Laszlo Andor said that there was a "compelling case to revisit" the EU's Working Time Directive, negotiations on which collapsed last year over MEPs' attempts to remove the UK's opt-out from the 48 hour week. When asked about various member states' opt-outs from the Directive, he said that "The opt-out itself is not an abuse. I think the opt-out is a reflection of different realities in different member states and we have to take that into consideration when the discussion next comes up."
However, he also said that "Since we have economic and monetary union, I think that opt-outs are, in general terms, never the best solution. We always have to think first about what rules can be or in principle could be applied in every country."
European Voice notes that Andor conceded that there was a "fundamental problem" with the interpretation of the directive on the posting of workers - the subject of last year's strikes over foreign labour at the Lindsey oil refinery. He promised to undertake a thorough impact assessment before revising either directive - but he also stressed that existing directives should be transposed into national law and properly implemented.
European Voice OE blog OE research: Working Time Directive OE research: Posted Workers Directive
EU: TURKEY; ENLARGEMENT COMMISSIONER, YES TO MEMBERSHIP
(ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, JANUARY 12 - In the opinion of Commissioner Designate for Enlargement, the Czech Republics Stefan Fule, the future of Turkey lies in the European Union and not in partnership, as requested by several countries who oppose Ankaras membership, including France, Germany and Austria.
In a speech today in the European Parliament, which will vote on the new Commission, Fule explained that he was in favour of membership, but not forgetting the issue of Cyprus.
The EU will continue to support Ankara and its negotiations, but the substantial progress made remains tied to the normalisation of relations with Cyprus. Turkey has still not applied the so-called Ankara protocol to Cyprus, that is, it only allows ships and flights from North Cyprus to enter the country.
Turkey is the only country to recognise the Republic of North Cyprus.
Until the Turks resolve the Cyprus issue I will fight to convince them that it is the only solution, said Fule, explaining that he sees Turkey in Europe in the future. 47-year-old Fule is the former Czech Minister for European Affairs.
His Communist past and his studies at the Soviet Institute for International Relations in Moscow have been the cause of controversy. Everyone has a personal history, and mine is linked to the era I grew up in, says the Commissioner. (ANSAmed).
2010-01-12 19:38
http://www.ansamed.info/en/news/ME01.XAM19375.html
Europe
EP Socialist leader: "The Internal Market portfolio has gone to a French left-wing Gaullist, which is the same as a Socialist obtaining the portfolio"
The FT reports that Internal Market Commissioner designate Michel Barnier will have his European Parliament hearing later today, and suggests that his answers "will be poured over by banks and insurers as they try to gauge the likely direction of EU policymaking in the financial sector during the next five years." FAZ quotes Martin Schulz, leader of the Socialists in the European Parliament, saying that with the appointment of Barnier, "Barroso has come towards us [the Socialists]", adding: "The Internal Market portfolio has gone to French left-wing Gaullist Barnier, which is the same as a Socialist obtaining the portfolio".
The FT also reports that "asset managers in France and the UK have joined forces to urge that national private placement regimes should be maintained for hedge funds, private equity funds and other alternative funds", in the face of the EU's proposed Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive to regulate the industry.
FT Open Europe research
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:48:04 +0100 From: "T. D. Erikson" User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.23 (Windows/20090812)
Subject: EGF - one more step towards a single uniform for the armed police of the single EU state.
An update from the website www.eurogendfor.eu :
_____
*European Gendarmerie Force Activation Ceremony in *
Col. Jorge Esteves (far left), European Gendarmerie Force commander, initiates the donning of the blue beret during the European Gendarmerie Force reflagging ceremony at Camp Eggers, Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. >24,
2009.
_________
The uniforms worn by armed forces are highly significant. Hitherto the contributing national gendarmeries and military police forces >have kept their own national uniforms, wearing just an EGF armband >with the logo. Some however had shoulder-flashes with the EU stars around the >flaming grenade. Now they have adopted a single uniform headgear. The website says:
______
"The ceremony also included 24 representatives of the EGF personnel >in Afghanistan under the NTM-A umbrella that were reflagged by >changing their national headdress for the EGF blue beret."
_____________
It will surely not be long now before they are issued with a complete European uniform.
That will constitute the effective, open, proclamation of the EU single state.
NB What they are building is more like a United State (singular) of Europe, than a United States (plural) of Europe. Under Lisbon they are now able to squeeze the powers of the member states to far lower levels than those enjoyed by the member states of the USA.
This information must be broadcast far and wide. It will certainly constitute a wake-up alarm call to the British people.
--
Torquil
UKIP - Brits "tricked" into buying in Spain News - Spain - 09 January 2010
Nigel Farage leader of the UKIPNigel Farage, MEP and ex-leader of the UK's anti-European Union party "UKIP" (United Kingdom Independence Party), has told The Reader that in UKIP's opinion "British citizens were tricked into buying property in Spain by EU propaganda [..] making them think they were as safe in Spain as they were in the UK, when, in fact, this is far from true".
Mr Farange's office have said that "UKIP is attempting to precipitate some action, in the EU's consultative assembly, which might assist property-owners, in Spain, who are suffering this kind of treatment from the authorities there" in conjunction with other political groups.
Britain cannot defend British rights in Spain
Speaking via his office, Mr Farage said that the British government is unable to defend the rights of British subjects in Spain because "both Britain and Spain being part of the EU, their international relations are absorbed into an EU-policy, controlled by the Council, Commission and Court of the EU, which, in turn, find themselves unwilling, or unable, to offend Spain, by taking any punitive action themselves".
This, in UKIP's view, is why the British government refuses to intervene on behalf of British pensioners who are loosing their homes in Spain.
Brits "tricked" into buying in Spain by EU propaganda
"In our view, these owners have been effectively tricked into investing in Spain, by propaganda - from the EU and its client-governments - which has led such investors to believe that they would be as safe in Spain as in Britain, when, in fact, this is far from true.
Secondly, successive British governments, having fostered the myth of "freedom and justice" throughout the EU, have also incapacitated themselves with regard to redressing the lack of freedom and justice, which they have, at the same time, allowed to come into existence." said Mr Farage.
When asked about the possibility of Spain obeying the Auken report or paying attention to EU demands that they respect British homeowners in Spain, he replied that:
"The EU's "parliament" is little more than camouflage for the autocracy of the EU's legislative processes, and is unlikely, under almost any circumstances, to rouse itself ever to use such theoretical powers, as the ability to hold up the entire EU-budget or to sack the entire Commission. Nevertheless, it can make noises, which might shame the authorities of the EU and Spain into drawing back from the worst excesses of their policies. "
Mr Farage's office has confirmed that they are working with other EU groups to attempt to "make noise" about the issue and "attempt to shame Spain into doing what it must".
Mr Farage, until recently leader of UKIP currently remains a UKIP MEP and is co-chair of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy grouping.
* Nicole Sinclaire MEP: Change of Group*
With effect from 18 January, I shall move from the EFD Group in the European Parliament to the Non-Attached Group. The latter is composed of non-aligned MEPs, independent of each other.
I have decided to move to this non-attached group as I have found it increasingly difficult to justify sitting alongside one or two of the European parties within the EFD Group who have a variety of extremist views which includes anti-Semitism, violence and the espousal of a single European policy on immigration. One of these parties, Liga Nord which was expelled from the previous Ind Dem Group, currently holds the Group Presidency jointly with UKIP.
In addition, a particular difficulty has arisen for me with the prospect of EFD joining a PAN-European Party whose aim is Party enhancement within the EU rather than extraction from it, to which I am implacably opposed.
My working relationship and trust with EFD Co-President, Nigel Farage has broken down since his personal admittance to me recently that he wished I had not been elected. The comment "I wish I had only 12 not 13 MEP`s" was made to many people in the aftermath of the European Elections. I have found this personal animosity difficult to work with.
I would also like to point out that on a pre arranged interview on the BBC West Midlands Politics Show, Mike Nattrass and I had to spent two thirds of the time defending our membership of the EFD Group and Nigel's public remarks made about leadership candidates 'not being credible'.
I have discussed my position at length with the Leader of UKIP, Lord Pearson, who understands my viewpoint and has assured me of his support both now and in the future in my continued work for UKIP. My move to the non-attached group therefore will not affect in any way my position as a UKIP MEP for the West Midlands.
I shall continue to work closely with my West Midlands colleague, Mike Nattrass, MEP and with UKIP's other MEPs for the promotion of UKIP's cause in the forthcoming General Election and thereafter. And I will support Nigel Farage's fight for the Buckingham seat which would be a breakthrough for UKIP and our cause. I am committed to support the West Midlands and the Party financially, as previously outlined, and indeed, hope to increase this support in the near future.
I would sincerely hope that the usual process of disinformation does not ensue. We have bigger battles to face. I would be most grateful if you would kindly contact me directly to discuss any concerns you have.
Kind regards
Nikki Sinclaire MEP
*UPDATE:*There are now rumours circulating that Nikki Sinclaire's office has now been 'raided' by UKIP officials to remove all UKIP equipment and that she will not be allowed to continue as a UKIP MEP, by order of the NEC. Apparently either the support of the leader may not mean as much as she thought or UKIP is heading for a major bust up between the new leader and the NEC.
Isn't it amazing that Ms Sinclair finds it better to sit alongside Nick Griffin than amongst Farage's fascist friends within the EFD group????!!!!
MEP and Norfolk farmer blasts Benn on egg policy
MICHAEL POLLITT, AGRICULTURAL EDITOR - 09/01/2010
Norfolk free-range egg producer and eastern region MEP Stuart Agnew has issued a scathing attack on environment secretary Hilary Benn's 2030 food strategy.
He said Mr Benn, who launched his vision for UK food production at the Oxford Farming Conference, ignored the role of the European Union in his keynote speech.
"It is ridiculous to urge farmers to produce more, whilst at the same time enacting EU legislation that bans various pesticides whose absence will increase the cost of prod-uction, reduce yields or deter production altogether," said Mr Agnew.
"He failed to mention how the implementation of EU NVZ (nitrate vulnerable zone) rules are going to make agriculture less able to achieve its potential. These rules are not based on sound science, and there is nothing he can do to change them."
The former NFU county chairman and county delegate, who runs a
22,000-bird egg unit at Helhoughton, was particularly critical of the Defra secretary's approach to the egg industry. Mr Benn, who spoke of his desire to encourage the free-range production, did not appear to understand the political difficulties, said the Ukip MEP.
Mr Agnew said planning applications for new free-range egg units were very costly. It could take 18 months to achieve consent and some were rejected after the expense has been incurred. The situation was aggravated by Europe's IPPC (intregrated pollution control) rules that cut in with a swathe of expensive red tape when more than 40,000 birds were farmed by one producer.
"This is creating a barrier that deters expansion above that level," Mr Agnew added.
"Mr Benn also failed to mention the EU ban on battery cages, which takes effect on January 1, 2012. The UK will lose at least 5pc of its egg production on that date and with it a domestic market for some of our wheat. He has given producers who have invested in expensive 'colony' systems no assurance that he will resist RSPCA pressure to ban these as well.
"While the European Commission has refused to allow financial assistance to be given to our own producers to change away from cages, the situation is quite different elsewhere in the EU. The commission has allowed many new member states to give a 25pc grant towards this cost, which the EU then doubles up with another 25pc. The UK, as a net contributor to the EU, will find its taxpayers funding a disproportionate share to this largesse.
"To make matters worse, the EU is allowing these new member states to continue to keep birds in cages after the ban and is letting them export the eggs to other EU countries as long as they are in the processed form.
"Two large egg producing countries, Spain and Italy, will be well short of installing alternative systems by the deadline. As things stand, this production will be replaced by battery-produced eggs from outside the EU."
'Judges worse than Milan assailant' Berlusconi likens prosecutors to man who attacked him
13 January, 16:03
Guarda la foto1 di 1
(ANSA) - Rome, January 13 - The prosecutors Silvio Berlusconi says are hounding him are worse than the mentally unstable man who attacked him in Milan a month ago, the Italian premier said Wednesday.
"The judicial attacks are on a par or even worse than Piazza del Duomo," Berlusconi told a press conference.
On December 13 a 32-year-old engineer with mental health problems, Massimo Tartaglia, threw a replica of the spiked duomo at Berlusconi from close range, breaking the premier's nose and two teeth.
Since his return this week from plastic surgery in Switzerland and convalescence in France, the premier has relaunched several bills to reform the justice system and restore his immunity from protection, stripped by the Constitutional Court in October.
On Wednesday he said there was no need to put a widely touted 'stop trial' measure into a decree because the measure was already "immediately applicable" on the basis of a recent Constitutional Court ruling.
However, a bill to quicken Italy's snail-paced justice system would continue apace along with others the centre-left opposition claims are tailor-made to shield him from two trials.
The first measure, dubbed the 'short trial' bill, would put a cap on trial lengths to about ten years in Italy's three-tier system.
"Instead of short trial they should still call it long trial because Italy's trials are the longest in Europe," the premier said.
He also said the government would again try to stop prosecutors appealing lower-court verdicts, reinstating a 2006 law that was ruled unconstitutional in 2007.
"We believe we must insist to make sure that citizens found innocent cannot be called to appeal by prosecutors," he said.
He claimed prosecutors were wont to appeal "just to prove their theory was right or even because they don't like someone or have something against their politics".
"For citizens and their loved ones it is a tragedy".
Berlusconi has consistently claimed he has been the victim of a witch-hunt by politically biased prosecutors.
The premier has sometimes won trials on appeal and on other occasions benefited from law changes approved by his government, despite appeals by prosecutors.
His remaining two trials, which appear likely to be scotched by the measures his government is ramming through parliament, are for bribing British tax lawyer David Mills to commit perjury and for tax fraud in the sale of film rights.
The premier has been in typical form since his return to Rome on Monday when he quipped that ''replicas are so cheap these days they throw them at you''.
photo: the December 13 attack
http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2010/01/13/visualizza_new .html_1673055058.html
ITALY-CROATIA: NAPOLITANO, FULL SUPPORT FOR EU MEMBERSHIP
(ANSAmed) - ZAGREB, JANUARY 13 - Italy's staunch support for Croatiàs rapid integration into the European Union was reiterated by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, who stressed the intensity and energy that characterises Italy and Croatiàs bilateral relations. In a congratulatory message sent to Croatian President-Elect, Ivo Josipovic, issued today in Zagreb by the Italian Embassy, Napolitano observed how Croatia has made "extraordinary progress in recent years that allowed them to become a member of NATO at the summit in Strasbourg/Kehl last April, and to begin the definitive conclusion of negotiations for EU membership." "Zagreb," added the Italian head of state, "will be able to continue to count on Italy's friendship and support, which remains a firm and convinced supporter of the prospective entrance of Croatia into the EU in a rapid timeframe." Croatia, in Napolitanòs view, "has made significant steps, which at times were not easy, in its path to bring it closer to European and Atlantic institutions." "Now it is necessary to pursue the final stretch to crown the legitimate European aspirations of the Croatian people with similar determination." President Napolitano, in his message to Josipovic, stressed how on a bilateral level "relations between Rome and Zagreb are experiencing a phase of pronounced intensity in all sectors thanks to productive dialogue that finds an ideal framework in which to develop our collaboration in the memorandum of bilateral cooperation signed in Zagreb in 2009." "Bilateral relations, strengthened also through the recent visit by President Mesic," concluded Napolitano, "will be able to continue to expand and deepen, contributing at the same time to a further reinforcement in regional cooperation." (ANSAmed).
2010-01-13 18:13
http://www.ansamed.info/en/news/ME01.XAM18132.html
The Future Reserve Currency Is the Euro: Strategist
Published: Thursday, 14 Jan 2010 | 4:06 AM ET By: Constance Faivre d'Arcier
Special to CNBC.com
The euro will become the world's favorite reserve currency because Europe has a better growth strategy than the US, David Roche, global strategist at Independent Strategy told CNBC.
"We'll actually produce a much stronger fiscal balance, a much better debt-to-GDP ratio within the eurozone", Roche said. The German economy has recorded its fastest post-war contraction, at 5 percent in 2009, with exports falling by 14.7 percent, alongside investment. But this, paradoxically, brings opportunities for private investors, according to Roche. "It also means the government will have to shrink spending because you can't increase taxes to balance the budget in Europe, otherwise there won't be an economy," Roche said. "They're so heavily taxed anyway. So you have to shrink spending, which opens up a whole area of the economy for entrepreneurs to enter the act."
RELATED LINKS
ECB to Keep Rate at Record Low Greece Vows to Keep Euro The Bulls Are Naked: Currency Strategist
But concerns about highly indebted countries such as Portugal, Ireland and Greece put a drag on the eurozone and investors wonder if Europe will recover as fast as the rest of the world. A German Story "The Germans have become more assertive about the price which has to be paid and which they have paid heavily for establishing the euro and the eurozone and they are not prepared to put up with this sort of shenanigans and straight outright mendacity which they have had to endure from the likes of Greece," Roche warned. "So what they are doing is that they are hanging Greece out to dry. (...) It is actually to show that within the eurozone, errant nations will be told how to behave," says David Roche.
At 12.7 percent of GDP, Greece's deficit is far above the eurozone ceiling of 3 percent. Greece is also burdened with debt amounting to 113 percent of GDP - more than double the eurozone limit of 60 percent. The European Commission has already voiced its unwillingness to bail out the country, leaving the International Monetary Fund as the last resort for a potential lifeline. However, the country's Prime Minister said Wednesday that Greece will not quit the euro zone, nor will it resort to the IMF. Next week, the new Greek budget is to be presented to the Greek Parliament, a statement which will be closely watched by the markets. "The Germans are saying to everyone else: where is your exit strategy? You're going to have to have one, because we're going back to fiscal orthodoxy," said Roche. "I believe that's the right strategy to get growth going. I don't think spending money you don't have is the right strategy. So the American strategy is totally wrong. And I think the Europeans will be right. I think it (the recovery) will be governed by Germany in a very nice democratic way," he added. More European News and Analysis © 2010 CNBC.com
telegraph Germany can't lead the eurozone out of trouble The eurozone has a problem with its fragile Greco-Roman-Iberian-Irish periphery. The periphery has a problem with its solid German centre.
By Ian Campbell, Reuters Breakingviews Published: 8:40PM GMT 15 Jan 2010 Comments 3 | Comment on this article
The periphery needs a big, fast-growing, consumption-driven country to buy its exports. What it has is Germany: big, undoubtedly, but slow-growing and dependent on demand from foreigners. In 2009, unfortunately, Americans and other big spenders went missing. The result was the worst economic contraction in Germany since the World War Two. Export volumes fell by almost 15 per cent and investment in machinery by
20 per cent as German GDP shrank by 5 per cent.
The bad year is over. The economy may grow modestly in 2010. But the composition of that growth will not provide much solace for other members of the euro zone. Recent figures demonstrate the problem. Before the 2009 disaster, in the three years from 2006 to 2008, German households increased their spending by just 1.4 per cent in real terms. The increase in US household spending in the same period was 5.4 per cent – three times faster. The news is not new: Americans spend, Germans save. But the eurozone problem is that Greece, Spain, Ireland, Portugal and Italy could do with Germans that buy their goods rather than sell them Mercedes and machine tools on credit. Might Germans begin to spend more? The obstacles are many. A strong euro will deter a potent export revival. Unemployment, 8.1 per cent of the workforce now, may rise further in 2010 as government incentives to firms to retain staff wane. Meanwhile, the reforms that have made German workers and industry ultra-competitive have also reduced households' spending power. And profound demographic forces are at play. The population is expected to decline from over 80 million now to less than
70 million by 2050 and to become more elderly. In general, the old are not big spenders. For the euro-periphery all this is important. In the euro zone's first decade, periphery countries borrowed cheaply and grew on credit. Now they have to generate growth through production and exports. They may find the German-led eurozone does not offer the easy ride they expected.
Posts
