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Europe
German Foreign Minister calls for European army under the Lisbon Treaty;
"The EU Common Security and Defence Policy project will act as a motor for greater European integration"
Germany's Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called for a "European army" in a speech at the 46th Munich Conference on Security Policy on Saturday. He said, "The Lisbon Treaty opened a new chapter...Lisbon is not the end but, rather, the beginning. For instance, the Treaty outlines a common security and defence policy. The German Government wants to advance along this path. The long-term goal is the establishment of a European army under full parliamentary control."
He also said he was in favour of certain member states going ahead with a common defence on their own, if there was no possibility for all 27 member states to act together. He said, "[The EU] must also be able to pool resources, set priorities and distribute responsibility -- even in times of ever scarcer means. The 'permanent structured cooperation' instrument envisaged in the Lisbon Treaty provides the option of moving ahead together with individual EU member states in order to further develop Europe's vision. The EU Common Security and Defence Policy project will act as a motor for greater European integration."
Sunday's Bild reported that the Danish Defence Minister Søren Gade rejected Mr.Westerwelle's proposal, saying "When, how and how many soldiers are deployed must remain the decision of national Parliaments".
Irish Times German Foreign Office EUobserver Focus Sueddeutsche Bild Die Welt Stern Euractiv AFP
MEPs repay €3m in wrongly-claimed allowances over three years
The Telegraph reports that the European Parliament has reclaimed almost €3 million from MEPs in wrongly-claimed allowances over the last three years, but has refused to identify from whom the money was obtained, and how much was actually requested. MEPs were obliged to pay back £880,000 in 2007 and £1.6 million in 2008. Last year, 78 MEPs were asked to pay back £398,000 of public money, with one source indicating that "British colleagues contributed a substantial part of the reimbursement".
In a letter from EP President Jerzy Buzek, seen by the paper, he wrote that authorities would not "recklessly expose" the identity of the MEPs, adding : "Such delicate and sensitive matters must be treated with the utmost caution - avoiding undue haste that can unnecessarily and unjustly cause irreparable harm to members' reputations". Open Europe Director Mats Persson is quoted saying, "If the European Parliament was serious about cleaning up its act it would name and shame the MEPs who have misused their allowances and conned the taxpayer, just as the UK Parliament is currently doing."
MPs say that the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme is failing
The Guardian notes that a report from MPs has today warned that the European Union's Emissions Trading System (ETS) is failing to deliver vital green investment after a collapse in carbon prices. The Environmental Audit Committee is calling on the Government to introduce measures such as a new carbon tax to push the price of carbon from its level of €15 (£13) a tonne to what the MPs see as a more credible price of €100, in order to encourage the investment needed in new technologies.
Tim Yeo, Chairman of the Committee, said: "Emissions trading should be helping us to combat climate change, but at the moment the price of carbon simply isn't high enough to make it work. The recession has left many big firms with more carbon allowances than they need and carbon prices have collapsed." He added, "If the Government wants to kick-start serious green investment, it must step in to stop the price of carbon flat-lining. Ministers should seriously explore the possibility of a carbon tax and must press the EU to tighten up the overall caps in the Emissions Trading System."
Reuters notes that the Committee also urged the EU to commit to a tougher emissions cut target of 30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, instead of 20 percent.
Guardian Reuters Mail Today Programme Committee report Open Europe research Open Europe press release
G7 insists there will be a 'European' solution to eurozone problems;
Paul Krugman: "What's happening to Spain reflects the inherent problems of the euro"
The WSJ reports that G7 leaders have sought to downplay the threat Greece's debt woes pose to the financial system amid growing concern of contagion across the eurozone, with officials saying Greece's relatively small size means that it doesn't pose a serious risk. Ministers and officials at the G7 insisted there would be a "European" solution to the problems affecting Greece, Portugal and Spain, and no need for an IMF rescue, reported the Sunday Times.
ARD quotes incoming German Commissioner Günther Oettinger saying that "the euro threatens to become instable", while a leader in Die Welt argues that "Greece should leave the Eurozone."
Handelsblatt quotes German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble saying: "I believe, and all of our partners have that impression, that the Europeans will solve this problem and can handle it." Another article in the paper reports that the European Central Bank wants to investigate candidate countries for eurozone membership more closely, as a result of the crisis. Open Europe Director Mats Persson was quoted by the Observer asking whether Greece should have ever been allowed to join the eurozone, arguing: "The question is whether Greece can ever compete as a middle-rank eurozone country without some proper structural reform, and whether that is possible without its own monetary policy." Mats was also quoted in Saturday's Express, and Open Europe's Pieter Cleppe is quoted in L'Expansion in an article looking at how a eurozone bailout might happen.
The Telegraph reports that crisis talks in Brussels this week will be attended by PM Gordon Brown, where he will urge Greece to slash its spending over the next three years. They will be presented with an agreed plan which will demand that the deficit has to be cut from 13 percent to 2 percent by 2013. There is also speculation that leads will discuss possible ways to bailout Greece at the meeting.
Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman looks at the problems in Spain, writing: "The point is that this has nothing to do with a spendthrift government; what's happening to Spain reflects the inherent problems with the euro, which now more than ever looks like a monetary union too far."
Saturday's Express reported that British banks have nearly £100billion staked in debt-laden Greece, Spain and Portugal, and if any of those countries defaulted on their debt, it could create a black-hole in those banks' balance sheets.
Meanwhile, the Mail reports that bailing out Greece could cost €30billion, quoting experts from Credit Suisse. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard writes in the Telegraph: "if you are betting that Germany must forever more efface itself for the European Project, be careful. Berlin hawks might prefer to lance the Club Med boil sooner rather than later."
Writing in the Independent on Sunday, Hamish McRae argued, "My own view remains that while the eurozone will hold together through this downturn, the balance of probability is it will break up during the next one."
WSJ Handelsblatt Handelsblatt 2 Mail ARD Paul Krugman blog Die Welt Leader Die Zeit Bild FAZ Expansion WSJ: Leader Independent: King Le Monde Le Monde 2 WSJ: Stelzer WSJ: Annunziata Independent: O'Grady Observer Telegraph IHT FT Brussels blog Telegraph: Evans-Pritchard Paul Krugman blog FT: Munchau FT: Dizard Economist: Charlemagne notebook Weekend FT Weekend FT: Leader Independent on Sunday: McRae Observer Sunday Times: Leader Sunday Telegraph: Leader Express-leader Mail-Oborne Saturday's Independent-leader Saturday's Independent-McRae Saturday's Telegraph-Warner Weekend FT 2 Express Saturday's Independent Saturday's Independent2 Mail
Commission looks into possible EU 'bin tax'
The Sunday Express reported that control of Britain's bin collections could be taken over by the EU under controversial new moves to set up a European waste watchdog. A European Commission report recommends the creation of a Waste Implementation Agency to enforce EU laws on kerbside collections, illegal dumping, tips and landfill sites. But EU officials have also commissioned research on EU bin taxes, fuelling fears that a 'pay as you throw' levy will be aimed at British families.
Shadow Local Government Minister Bob Neill said: "Now Eurocrats are trying to muscle in and seize control of Britain's bins. I fear that this will be a backdoor route to the introduction of EU bin police, German-style bin taxes and tiny Euro bins collected once in a Blue Moon. Conservatives will oppose these plans."
An article in the Washington Times looks at US President Barack Obama's relationship with the EU, following his decision not to attend an annual summit this year, and quotes Open Europe's Mats Persson commenting: "Until the EU comes up with something actually worth talking about, it's not surprising that Obama thinks that it's more important to travel to Asia, South Africa and to attend NATO summits."
French accused of 'smear campaign' against Ashton
The Sunday Times reported that French politicians have been accused of orchestrating a smear campaign against Baroness Ashton, the UK's Commissioner and EU Foreign Minister, claiming she is "lazy", incompetent and in the pocket of Britain. Officials in Paris are said to be upset that Ashton is not able to speak French, has surrounded herself with British advisers in Brussels and returns to London every Friday to be briefed by the Foreign Office.
A British source is quoted saying, "Some of the criticism may be justified, but I don't know how the French think that relentlessly criticising the EU's first foreign minister is going to ensure the EU's credibility on the world stage and give substance to that new role."
Meanwhile, the front page of the FT reports that senior officials, including former French PM Jean-Pierre Raffarin, are mounting a campaign to defend the use of French at the UN and other international institutions. It notes that this has been partly prompted by the appointment of Lady Ashton, whose "faltering French" reflects concerns in Paris that the EU's External Action Service she is building will be Anglophone.
Commission suggests reclassifying biofuel plantations as 'forests' in order to get around sustainability criteria
Saturday's Telegraph reported that a leaked document from the Commission to ministers and the European Parliament proposes getting around measures to limit the use of biofuels from deforested land by classifying dense biofuel plantations as "forests", thus pretending that no destruction has taken place. "This means," the document says frankly, "that a change from forest to oil farm plantation would not per se constitute a breach of the [sustainability] criteria".
In an interview with Spiegel, outgoing EU Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen has said that "The EU is not a global player", adding: "Many questions remain unanswered in the EU: no one knows where the journey should go. There is no consensus on where the borders of the EU should one day be or on how our global role should be defined."
Lord Mandelson: The EU has failed to show strong leadership on banking reform
As the G7 ministers met over the weekend in Canada, UK Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph that "[There has been] a surprising lack of internationalism displayed by the US administration [on global banking regulation]...But also and equally importantly a failure in the European Union to show stronger leadership." He added, "I think that both the European Council and the European Commission have to play a much stronger leadership role. Heads of government need to set the direction and pace and the Commission needs to be a much more active, implementing body than we've seen in recent months."
He also admitted that Britain had been at an advantage during the financial crisis because it had retained sterling rather than being in the euro, but added: "But it doesn't necessarily mean that being out of the eurozone will always play to Britain's advantage."
Sunday Telegraph Sunday Telegraph 2
US increases pressure on European Parliament over Swift agreement
Following the recommendation from the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee to reject the interim 'Swift' agreement on bank transfers between the EU and US, Stuart Levy, the US Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, has warned that a no-vote would be "a regrettable and potentially tragic error". U.S. Ambassador to the EU, William Kennard also warned that a 'no' "could endanger our partnership to defeat terrorist networks."
MEPs are due to vote on the agreement on Thursday, and are able to block the deal using new powers under the Lisbon Treaty. Liberal Dutch MEP, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, responsible for drafting the recommendation, denounced the "pressure, blackmail and lobbying" of the US.
Irish Times BBC EUobserver LeFigaro LeMonde OE blog
EU officials' children head to the Alps courtesy of the taxpayer
Saturday's Times noted that the children of EU officials will head to the Italian Alps next week for a subsidised ski holiday thanks to the European Parliament's €234,000 annual budget to pay for staff outings, which include one ski trip and four summer camps every year. Daniël van der Stoep, a Dutch MEP who has called on the European Commission to analyse the use of these funds, said: "I am a new MEP here and I am amazed every day by some new way they have of spending money."
Conservative MEP warns AIFMD would restrict funding of start-up firms
City AM reports that Conservative MEP Syed Kamall has said the EU's proposed Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive will starve Google and Amazon-style start-ups of funding. He said the plans to restrict European investors from putting money into Asian or American funds could result in retaliatory measures, reducing the flow of European money to venture capitalists around the world.
Times City AM Open Europe research
The Observer reported that large amounts of confidential personal information held about British citizens on the Schengen Information System (SIS) could be accessed by more than 500,000 terminals, raising privacy concerns. In 2003, there were 125,000 computer terminals with access to the system, but following EU enlargement, the number of computer terminals with access has risen.
Exit polls indicate that opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych is heading for victory in Ukraine's Presidential election, held yesterday. The BBC reports that current Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is expected to challenge the result.
Times IHT Irish Times Telegraph Guardian FT BBC EUobserver EurActiv WSJ WSJ: Karatnycky Independent
City AM reports that incoming EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier has made a series of special pledges, extracted by Lib Dem MEP Sharon Bowles, vowing to assess the cumulative impact of new rules on topics such as derivatives and capital requirements, and saying he would involve the European Parliament at an early stage in drafting crucial legislation.
Writing on Conservative Home's Centre Right blog, Daniel Hamilton notes that MEP and former French Justice Minister Rachida Dati has brought forward a proposal in the European Parliament calling for the establishment of a carbon tax on imports into the EU.
The FT reports that new opinion polls in Spain indicate that support for Spanish PM Jose Luis Zapatero is falling. Polls published in both El Pais and El Mundo show support for the Popular Party increasing at the expense of the government.
Le Figaro reports that Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso wants to restart the approval process for the cultivation of two controversial GM crops.
A £3 million project co-financed by the EU to cull the entire population of ruddy ducks in Britain has been a failure, according to critics.
Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen has said he wants the EU to become the sole representative in the UN Security Council and the G20.
World
G7 ministers move closer to global levy on banks
Saturday's Guardian reported that UK Chancellor Alistair Darling believes plans for a new global levy or tax on banks could be agreed within 18 months, with G7 ministers insisting that financial institutions should bear the cost of taxpayers' bailouts. French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde was quoted saying, "We were all in agreement that it had to be a universal taxation or universal levy or instrument to avoid the risk of arbitrage [taking advantage of a variation in prices in different markets]."
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