Europe
23 May: Senior MEPs block expenses transparency reforms in secret meeting
The FT reports that MEPs have blocked moves to force them to account for how they spend their expenses. British Liberal Democrat MEP Diana Wallis complained that the proposals were scrapped by senior MEPs in a closed-door meeting without warning. Parliamentary sources said that the leaders of the two biggest political groupings, the centre-right European People's Party and the leftwing Socialists, had lobbied for changes just hours before the crunch meeting. Both are dominated by German MEPs implacably opposed to sweeping reform. "It was chaotic. It is no way to run even a local parish council. There were handwritten notes in Italian being exchanged in the meeting," said Mrs Wallis. She also said that there was no definitive draft of the conclusions.
Mrs Wallis served for several months on a working party that produced an exhaustive report on proposed changes for Monday's meeting of the group of senior MEPs who govern the Strasbourg assembly. Instead Hans-Gert Pöttering, the speaker, tabled his own two-page, 10-point plan which he said took into account criticisms.
Political insiders poll: Government will fail to stop EU agency workers law
A Politics Home survey of 100 political "insiders" finds that by two to one they do not think the Government will succeed in heading off EU legislation on agency workers by preemptively coming to a UK agreement. 40% thought the legislation on agency workers would be a significant issue at the next general election, but two thirds thought that the Conservatives would not promise to repeal the legislation if elected.
Brown's VAT reform going nowhere?
Mark Mardell reports that Gordon Brown's headline grabbing initiative to cut VAT on environmentally friendly goods is going nowhere in Brussels. He reports that many in Brussels believe that EU "leaders and the Commission were willing to give him the headline, but precious little of real value."
EU diplomatic service starts to take shape
European Voice reports that "Ambassadors from the EU's member states have reached broad agreement on the future scope of the Union's diplomatic corps, which is being created by the Treaty of Lisbon. But recent discussions have revealed significant differences of opinion over the size of the future European External Action Service (EEAS) and over its relationship with the European Commission and the secretariat of the Council of Ministers." The article reports that "The EEAS is to serve the high representative for foreign and security policy, with staff drawn from the Commission, the Council secretariat and the foreign ministries of the member states. Diplomats report consensus that it should incorporate all posts from the external relations departments of the Commission and Council secretariat dealing with geographically specific and horizontal issues. The Commission's trade department would remain outside, as would the Commission departments for managing development aid and humanitarian aid. The fate of the directorate-general for enlargement is uncertain, with some member states arguing that negotiations on accession to the EU should be outside the EEAS."
It reports that the service will start with a core group of a few hundred staff focusing on strategic areas "and then build up, allowing hard choices to be postponed." The legal status of the EEAS is still under discussion, with Commission officials and some member states warning that the new service should not be an institution or an agency, but a "body". The legal status of individual staff remains to be decided, with some governments favouring the use of temporary agents paid from the EU budget, while others prefer seconded national experts with a line of accountability to their capitals.
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Giscard d'Estaing blasts "semi-cladestine" appointment of EU President
Agence Europe reports that Valery Giscard d'Estaing is worried about the "semi-clandestine" nomination of the future EU President, and the fact that while Europe's leaders say Europe must be brought closer to its citizens, the same leaders are well on the way to designating the President "without any consultation." He told a meeting of the European Movement in Paris: "If nothing is done, and it looks as though that will be the case, then this will be the worst appointed leader in the world. There will be nothing to be proud of."
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Lib Dems defend decision not to back EU membership referendum
In the Guardian Lib Dem Lord Wallace defends his party's decision not to back a referendum on EU membership which his party previously claimed to want. He writes, "we will promote a wider debate on how EU membership serves Britain's interests over the next few months."
McCreevy: Hard to sell the Lisbon Treaty to the Irish - I have not read the Treaty
In an interview with EUobserver, Irish EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy notes that there is a lack of "energy" among Irish voters in the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. He notes that arguments such as the Treaty is "improving the situation" or giving Ireland "a bigger say in a better organisational structure" are not as grabbing as "we're going to get a whole lot of money through the Common Agricultural Policy or we're going to get a whole lot of money from structural funds."
From an Irish perspective, he says he would have preferred all European countries to hold a referendum on the Treaty to take off the "pressure" from Irish voters. He admits that the Lisbon Treaty was hard to comprehend, adding that he himself has not read it in its entirety. "I have a document that puts together what it would look like and I have read most of that," he says, adding "I would predict that there won't be 250 people in the whole of the 4.2 million population of Ireland that have read the treaties cover-to-cover. I further predict that there is not 10 percent of that 250 that will understand every section and subsection."
Regarding a possible 'no' in the referendum, he says, "We have to live with that too. Having debated the issues thoroughly, months of everyone having their say, all types of issues being dragged into it, the Irish people go to the polls and they must say 'Yes' or 'No.' After it's over, you shouldn't complain about it."
Economist: EU farm ministers should cut CAP while prices are high
The Charlemagne column in the Economist looks at the Common Agricultural Policy, arguing "Rising prices and incomes should mean that bigger cuts in the CAP (as in the farm bill) are possible when the EU comes to review its budget later this year. But the furious defence of the CAP sends a quite different signal. If, even when farming is profitable, ministers still want subsidies to boost production, it seems fair to guess they do not have cheap production in mind." The article discards the idea of a "community preference" - higher food standards that European consumers supposedly are willing to pay for. Citing a study by the Swedish Board of Agriculture, the article argues "Defenders of this 'community preference' claim to be working for consumers. But that is unconvincing. If food were genuinely unfit for consumption, it should be banned, not taxed at the point of entry to make it expensive."
"Europe house" moves into Smith Square
EU referendum reports that the EU Commission has bought former Conservative Central Office in Smith Square.
Bulgarian corruption
The Times looks at the problems of corruption in Bulgaria. It quotes Asen Gagauzov, the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, saying: "I am not worried that organised crime will have access to European funds because it is no different here to organised crime in other parts of the world. It is to do with drug trafficking and prostitution -- it is nothing to do with European funds." The EU has demanded 25 changes by June 16 to the way that Bulgaria handles EU funds and has frozen about 400 million euros of aid.
Times
Danish government prepares for referendums
The Danish government has asked the Folketinget for an extra 30m kronor in 2008 to promote "a public debate on the EU opt-outs" - seen as further proof that Denmark will hold one or more referendums on its opt-out arrangements in September.
EU ministers agree detention limits for migrants
The IHT reports that Schengen zone countries yesterday agreed that illegal migrants within the bloc should be detained no longer than 18 months. The move will mostly impact countries such as the Netherlands and Sweden, which currently have no formal limit on detention.
DW IHT European Voice Euronews
An EU overhaul of consumer laws will force fortune tellers and astrologists to put up disclaimer boards telling customers that what they offer is "for entertainment only" and not "experimentally proven".
Times
A leader in the Telegraph praises Nicolas Sarkozy, saying, "The president has been criticised for procrastinating over reform but, a year into his mandate, he appears to be winning the battle."
EU Commissioner Margot Wallstrom has an article in the FT calling for more top EU jobs to be given to women.
The FT looks at EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding's attempts to force mobile companies to cut the cost of cross border text messages and downloads.
A report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington notes how European spending on defence is declining.
In an article in Le Figaro representatives of Notre Europe and the Fondation pour l'Innovation Politique announce the launch today of "Think Global, Act European" - a project bringing together 13 think-tanks with the aim of making recommendations to future trio of French, Czech and Swedish EU Presidencies.
The German upper-house has voted through the Lisbon Treaty despite opposition from the Left Party.
Jonathan Steele looks at attempts to sign the EU's next 10-year partnership agreement with Russia and calls for pragmatism from the EU.
A UN OECD report has called for a review of global biofuels policies.
Times
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