Tuesday, 22 February 2011

Open Europe

Europe

Hague warns of dangers of “instability and extremism” on EU’s frontiers
Since Sunday, EU embassies have been coordinating EU citizens’ departure from Libya. EU Foreign Ministers convened an emergency meeting yesterday and discussed plans for a new “partnership” with its “southern neighbourhood”, which could see EU aid funds transferred from post-Soviet countries to the region.

PM David Cameron arrived in Egypt yesterday, in what is the first visit by a world leader since the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak, ahead of EU Foreign Minister Catherine Ashton. Foreign Secretary William Hague said yesterday, "If we can succeed in bringing more democracy and more stability…that will be the greatest achievement for the EU since its enlargement…If we don't succeed, the dangers for the EU of instability and extremism on our frontiers are immense." However, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said, “In these kinds of situations we should be realistic and acknowledge that our opportunities to concretely influence the developments are relatively limited.”

Concerns are mounting over a possible wave of immigration from the Middle East to the EU. Over the weekend a representative from Libya warned the Hungarian rotating Presidency that “Libya is going to suspend cooperation with the EU on immigration issues if the EU keeps making statements in support of Libyan pro-democracy protests”, reports Reuters. EU border agency, Frontex, initiated a special mission at the weekend to support the Italian borders. The Tunisian authorities have reportedly stopped policing their borders, notes El Pais.

De Morgen reports that European Council President Herman Van Rompuy yesterday said, "We have closed our eyes for too long to the internal situation in Arab countries", however, he refused to answer a question on whether Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi should resign. Finnish Foreign Minister, Alexander Stubb is quoted in the Guardian saying, "How can we on one side look at what's going on in Libya, with almost 300 people shot dead, and not talk about sanctions or travel bans...and at the same time put travel bans and sanctions in Belarus?".
Europaportalen De Morgen El Pais El Pais 2 Le Monde Maerkische Allgemeine Le Figaro WSJ Irish Independent: Waterfield Irish Times: Beesley Irish Times Stern Le Figaro Euronews Le Point Le Figaro Standaard Reuters Guardian

Judges warn of new UK clash with the European Court of Human Rights
The Times reports that Britain’s top judges have warned of another imminent battle with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg over the admissibility of evidence which allows the use of statements from witnesses who cannot be present at a trial. The ECHR says such evidence breaches defendants’ right to a fair trial but the Government is appealing. Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge has warned that if the ECHR prevails it will “have huge implications for the way in which the entire criminal justice system in this country works.”

Meanwhile, in a letter in the Evening Standard, Open Europe’s Stephen Booth argued that withdrawing from the ECHR “would not make the issue of ‘European interference’ go away” as the combination of both the ECHR and the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights mean that “The ECHR itself is only one aspect of the patchwork of European rights legislation which can now be ruled on by judges outside the UK.”
Times
Open Europe press release Open Europe research

Weber opposes extending bail-out find, Eurobonds and low interest rates
Writing in the FT, Axel Weber, President of the Bundesbank, argues against a decrease in interest rates on bail-out loans, an expansion in the bail-out fund, the introduction of Eurobonds and an ECB debt buyback scheme. He concludes that any decisions on eurozone governance should adhere to the principles of: “responsibility of individual member countries and no-bail-out”. FAZ reports that the Bundesbank has echoed Weber’s views in its monthly report.
FT Comment: Weber
FT European Voice WSJ Bundesbank Monthly Report FAZ El Pais El Pais 2 Le Monde Le Monde 2 Le Monde 3 Handelsblatt FTD Irish Independent Wiwo 1 Wiwo 2

In the Irish Independent, columnist Thomas Molloy looks ahead to the Irish national election arguing, “[Fine Gael’s Enda] Kenny has unwisely staked a large amount of his prestige on wringing concessions from Germany at a time when Germany’s leaders are least able to deliver these concessions without appearing weak and triggering a series of cataclysmic electoral disasters”.
Irish Independent: Molloy
Irish Times: O’Toole

Portuguese woes bump ECB bond buys to €711m
The ECB announced yesterday that it bought €711m in bonds last week, with the majority thought to have been from Portugal. Meanwhile inflation fears increased at the ECB as eurozone output price inflation has seen the biggest jump in almost a decade on the back of record manufacturing growth and soaring business confidence in Germany.

WSJ covers the Bank of Spain declaration yesterday that the cajas are holding about €100bn in "potentially problematic" real-estate assets, the first time it has put a number on the extent of those holdings. According the Bank of Spain the cajas have provisions to cover 38% of this exposure, meaning their funding requirements are likely to be higher than the government’s previous estimations of €20bn.
Times
FT Money Supply WSJ Times 2 FT FT 2 FT 3 WSJ 2 Maerkische Allgemeine Diário Económico Jornal de Negócios

The Mail reports that foreign squatters, who broke into and occupied a house in London, have been given hundreds of pounds of taxpayers’ money in legal aid to fight eviction because they are EU citizens and unemployed.
Mail

Barroso defends EU bureaucrats against ‘populist’ criticism of perks
After it emerged that 2000 Brussels officials, earning from €124,000 to €185,000 a year, were entitled to three months off work on full pay last year, The Parliament reports that European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has said, “The European civil service is often attacked for its apparent 'privileges' when this is not the case and I am always defending this.” He added that he “cannot accept populism against the European civil service.”
The Parliament
Open Europe blog

The Parliament reports that an accredited reporter from the French news channel BFM TV managed to get past security in the European Parliament in Brussels with a fake gun. The TV report was filmed on the same day that Prince Charles visited, to whom the journalist is said to have got “very close".
The Parliament

The EU will announce the methodology of its bank stress tests on 2 March. Reuters quotes a European Banking Authority spokeswoman saying that, “The results of the liquidity risk assessment will not be published”. The other contentious point is whether a possible future sovereign restructuring or default scenario will be included in the tests.
Open Europe blog
Reuters Irish Times Bloomberg

Reuters reports that Canada has threatened to scrap a trade deal with the EU if the Commission and member states persist with plans that would block imports of Canada's oil rich tar sands on environmental grounds.
Reuters

EU officials are set to vote today on whether to allow trace amounts of unauthorised GM material in animal-feed imports, a move which could see a relaxation of the EU's long-standing zero-tolerance rules.
WSJ

The EU has denied that a special “English-only” entrance exam will be offered to UK citizens to work for the EU. "We said on behalf of the Commission that one language was not an option as it would be illegal”, said EU spokesman Olivier Bailly.
WSJ Brussels Beat

The Commission is considering initiating legal action against the German government for allegedly obstructing the liberalisation of its rail network.
Handelsblatt

EU’s murky ‘comitology’ procedure is ‘shifting power’ to bureaucrats
Euractiv notes that the EU's new “comitology" procedure, introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, is causing legal uncertainty. “Comitology” decisions, in which specialised committees decide how EU legislation should be implemented, are often taken behind closed doors. The article quotes political consultant Daniel Guégen saying that, as a result, power in Brussels “is shifting from the political level to the bureaucratic level.”
Euractiv Open Europe blog

New on the Open Europe blog

Stress tests for banks: Ostrich banking tests
Open Europe blog

Commission President Barroso and EU officials’ pay: Mean journalists ganging up on Brussels
Open Europe blog