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Ofgem warns of power blackouts and soaring energy bills to meet EU rules
The Times reports that energy regulator Ofgem has warned of power blackouts and spiralling consumer prices, and raised the prospect of partial renationalisation of the industry in order to maintain the UK's energy security. Alistair Buchanan, Ofgem's Chief Executive, said that the crisis had been compounded by an "unholy trinity" of factors - including the impact of the recession on energy industry investment, Britain's growing reliance on imported gas as North Sea supplies are depleted and the closure of nine ageing coal-fired and oil-fired power stations by 2015 in order to meet EU pollution laws, a move that will scrap almost a third of UK generating capacity.
The FT notes that Ofgem's report concludes that European targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and developing renewable energy will create a huge demand for investment over the coming decade. The £200bn needed to achieve the most ambitious goals for renewable energy would mean doubling the rate of investment seen over the past 10 years.
The Ofgem report notes that investment in low carbon technology is being hampered by uncertainty over the carbon price. The EU's emissions trading scheme is supposed to achieve the right price to encourage investment and reduce carbon emissions but Ofgem has suggested that the UK may have to introduce its own minimum price in order to promote the required investment to meet EU renewables targets: "Although a minimum carbon price would best work as part of a European wide scheme, if this did not happen it may be necessary to consider a minimum GB carbon price. By reducing uncertainty about the price of carbon it would encourage investment in low carbon technologies."
The Mail reports that Ann Robinson, of the price comparison website uSwitch.com, said energy bills could reach around £5,000 by 2020 in order to cover the required investment.
Meanwhile, the FT reports that, after a power struggle between the Commission and member states, the EU has reached an agreement that the Commission and the European Investment Bank will have a final say as to which projects receive funding to test carbon capture and storage technologies across Europe. Although it is not compulsory, member states are expected to contribute to the test projects, potentially resulting in billions of additional euros.
Le Figaro Ofgem press release Ofgem report Open Europe research Sun Express Express: Leader Telegraph Guardian WSJ FT City AM Times Mail Mail 2 FT 2 EUobserver EurActiv
Commission places Greece under close scrutiny and uses new Lisbon Treaty powers to demand reforms
Following the approval of Greece's budget deficit plan, outgoing EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia has demanded quarterly updates on progress towards reduction targets, as well as a first report on 16 March, saying: "This is the first time we have established such an intense and quasi-permanent system of monitoring". Mr Almunia has also said that Greece, Portugal and Spain have suffered "a permanent loss in competitive capacity, since becoming a member of EMU", according to Het Financieele Dagblad.
An article in the Telegraph describes Greece as "now a protectorate" in its headline, and notes that Brussels has invoked new EU powers under Article 121 of the Lisbon Treaty, allowing it to issue recommendations for reforms to the structure of Greece's pensions, healthcare, labour markets and private commerce - which the paper describes as "a step-change in the level of EU intrusion." The BBC reports that the Commission also wants Greece to set aside 10% of current expenditure to create a reserve in case of future budgetary problems. The EU is also launching legal proceedings against Greece over past falsification of budget figures, notes the FT.
Open Europe's Pieter Cleppe argues in an opinion piece in Swiss daily Le Temps that the 'no bail-out' clause of the EU Treaties is superior to the article that has been cited as granting the EU the legal power to rescue Greece with a bailout.
On his Coulisses de Bruxelles blog Jean Quatremer argues, "It must be said that its European partners have been put off by Greek lies. People are asking themselves whether Greece 'isn't hiding another skeleton in the closet'". He adds, "The second weak link is Portugal, whilst Spain, Ireland and Italy are next on the list. To avoid a domino effect, Greece has to be stabilised quickly."
In an interview with Quatremer, Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates rejects the notion that Portugal might be a weak link in the eurozone, saying: "I completely don't understand the suspicion towards my country...Portugal, like France, was one of the first countries to technically exit the recession, in the second trimester of 2009."
Meanwhile, Spain presented its stability programme to the Commission yesterday, outlining a timetable to rein in an excessive deficit that reached 11.4% of GDP last year.
Telegraph: Leader Telegraph Guardian WSJ FT FT 2 FT: Leader FT: Letters EUobserver BBC BBC 2 BBC: Hewitt blog EurActiv European Voice City AM IHT FT 3 Die Welt Die Welt 2 Spiegel Handelsblatt Focus FTD Sueddeutsche EUobserver LeFigaro Coulisses de Bruxelles LeFigaro 2 Coulisses de Bruxelles 2 Standaard De Morgen AFP Les Echos Le Figaro Euronews Coulisses de Bruxelles ANSA La Stampa Il Sole 24 Ore Bloomsberg Europe Kathimerini Irish Independent: McWilliams El Pais El Pais editorial DPA FD Trouw Leader Le Temps: Cleppe Open Europe blog Open Europe blog 2
Bank of England: AIFM Directive could lead to "systemic failure and widespread market disruption"
The Bank of England's Financial Markets Law Committee has warned that the EU's proposed AIFM Directive could create significant legal uncertainty and potentially lead to "systemic failure and widespread market disruption". The Committee highlighted the "inconsistencies and inherent conflicts" between the draft and existing financial services directives.
Meanwhile, the first compromise text tabled by the Spanish Presidency has re-inserted tough restrictions on offshore funds and managers - which previously had been dropped by the Swedish Presidency. In its report published in September, Open Europe found that these restrictions could severely limit choice for European investors, such as pension funds, charities and universities, and cost investors billions of pounds each year.
Open Europe research Open Europe research-investment trusts FMLC report Spanish compromise text Telegraph City AM WSJ
Sweden refuses to implement EU data directive despite EU fines
Swedish Radio reports that the ECJ is today expected to rule against Sweden for failing to implement the EU's Data Retention Directive. The Swedish centre-right government has refused to implement the Directive, amid fears that the law would undercut its citizens' right to privacy. Justice Minister Beatrice Ask is quoted saying that she's prepared to accept the fines imposed by the EU for non-compliance. "It's possible that it will cost a bit. But other countries have difficulties as well in figuring out whether this directive is compatible with their constitutions, so I don't think it's that big of a deal", she said.
EP Civil Liberties Committee expected to call for rejection of data sharing deal with US
European Voice reports that centre-left and liberal MEPs are leading the calls for the European Parliament to next week reject an EU-US deal to share data about bank transfers, known as the SWIFT agreement. The Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee is today expected to back a report drafted by Dutch MEP Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert that says the EU should veto the deal and renegotiate a new accord with better privacy and data protection guarantees.
European Voice AFP DPA OE research
UK cuts funding for places at college for 'eurocrats'
The FT reports that the UK is to cut funding for scholarships to the College of Europe, a long established training ground for Brussels 'eurocrats'. In the move, only 2 of the 28 scholarships annually awarded will survive the axe.
The Mail reports that Margret Hodge, the Culture Minister, has called for measures requiring that migrants 'earn' the right to benefits and council housing over several years. However, she conceded that some measures aimed at EU, rather than non-EU migrants, might need agreement from other countries, adding: "If we have to argue about this to get action at an EU level, then that is what we must do."
German poet: EU's democratic deficit has been a problem since birth
German author and poet Hans Magnus Enzensberger has criticised the "democratic deficit" of the EU in an article written for FAZ, under the headline: "Resist the banana bureaucracy!" Mr. Enzensberger writes: "The Democratic deficit, although a serious disease, is no medical puzzle. It is a well known birth defect. From the EU's inception, eurocrats have ensured that citizens have no say in their decisions."
He adds, "There is no division of power in the organisational jungle that is the EU; only a handful of experts know who the countless presidents, vice-presidents, commissioners and committees actually are....the same goes for the Lisbon Treaty, which no ordinary citizen could have read...It is a governance that rules on the sly."
New report: US sees EU summits like a "visit to the dentist"
Following the news that the EU-US summit in Madrid in May is to be cancelled because of President Obama's decision to not attend, El País reports on a research paper carried out by a group of think-tanks including the Real Instituto Elcano. The research argues: "U.S.-EU summits have never been popular with U.S. Presidents; in both the Clinton and Bush years they were likened to a dentist's visit: you knew you had to do it, but it was painful."
A separate report by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) also writes: "The European love of process means that, viewed from Washington, the annual round of US-European summitry has become an exercise in pantomime. According to one American official, Secretary of Defence Robert Gates only agreed to attend the 2009 NATO summit if he was provided with a sufficient supply of crossword puzzles to see him through it. US-EU summits are no more appealing."
OE blog OE blog 2 Real Instituto Elcano Research Irish Times FT: Leader BBC IHT El Pais ECFR Research Independent
Berlusconi: The EU is not about common identity but 'free trade, dialogue and geopolitics'
French newspaper Les Echos reports that Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi said he sees no barriers to Israel's accession to the EU, since the EU itself should only be considered as "a vast free trade, dialogue and geopolitical stabilisation area. A sort of more structured OSCE, but politically less important than NATO".
Banking committee calls on European Parliament to limit Commission's role in financial supervision
European Voice reports that the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS), which includes national supervisors and central bankers from member states, wants MEPs to amend plans for a new system of financial supervision in the EU, reducing the role envisaged for the Commission in drawing up binding technical standards for banks.
The current proposal would see technical standards drawn up by the European Banking Authority, but giving the Commission the power to reject or amend them. The CEBS' Secretary-General Arnoud Vossen says the Commission "should not have the ability to change binding technical standards," and its role should be limited to checking that the EBA does not exceed its mandate.
Ashton: "I don't do disaster tourism"
In an interview with the FT EU Foreign Minister Catherine Ashton gives her views on a range of key issues, but is described as being "guarded", "anxious" and "lacking the confidence of a trained diplomat." When asked about the criticism she faced in her response to the Haiti crisis, she said: "I don't do disaster tourism. I will go to Haiti when the noise has died down."
Van Rompuy's pursuit of Belgian palace for EU summit
There was more criticism today of EU President Herman Van Rompuy's attempt to host his first summit in the regal splendour of the 18th Century Palais d'Egmont in Brussels, resulting in one diplomat, quoted in the Times, declaring "Who does he think he is, some kind of king?" Following pressure from European capitals, the decision was made to switch the location to what the Telegraph describes as an ornate but badly equipped library.
Express Telegraph European Voice
Former Defence Minister: Increased military coordination between France and UK could be problematic
The Government's green paper on defence strategy has been widely reported in the press and was featured on BBC Newsnight last night. On the programme, former Defence Minister Michael Portillo warned that increased coordination between France and the UK could be problematic, considering that they do not have similar foreign policy objectives. The Guardian reports that the green paper was greeted with cautious optimism in France, though neither the Élysée nor the Defence Minister Hervé Morin, commented publicly on it. A spokesman for Morin said that "any move that leads towards greater European co-operation can only come as good news to M Morin, who is a convinced European".
Sun WSJ FT: Leader Irish Times Guardian Independent
Handelsblatt reports that the Weimar Triangle is being revived, with Poland, France and Germany pledging to coordinate their policies within the EU more tightly in future. Possible fields of cooperation reportedly include Security and Defence Policy, energy, the EU 2020 strategy and responses to the economic crisis.
French Diplomacy Press Release
Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir is in Brussels today to meet with Commission President José Manuel Barroso to discuss Icesave and Iceland's EU candidacy, reports Le Figaro.
EUobserver reports that Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy will today unveil their own economic and political strategy document, called the "Franco-German Agenda 2020", to include measures such as fiscal and economic initiatives, and proposals for common school books and simpler rules for Franco-German marriages. It will be published at the end of a joint ministerial council meeting in the Elysee palace.
UK
EU leaders to visit UK before election in bid to prop up Brown
The Independent reports that EU leaders are to give tacit support to Gordon Brown in the run-up to the General Election, over fears of what policies towards Europe a Conservative government might pursue.
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