Europe
Austrian Chancellor calls for referendum if Lisbon Treaty is changed
EUobserver reports that Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer has said that if any changes are made to the Lisbon Treaty then it should be put to a referendum in his country. In a letter to daily Kronen Zeitung he said: "We think any future changes to the treaty that affect Austrian interests must be decided in Austria by a referendum. A lot of people are under the impression that the EU is not concerned with their real problems but that it is interested above all in looking after itself... There is also in Austria widespread scepticism about the EU at the moment. After the vast majority of Austrians voted in favour of EU membership in 1994, today we see a mood of uncertainty and sometimes also rejection."
The letter was also signed by the President of the Social Democrats, Werner Faymann. The Social Democrats are part of the ruling coalition, along with the centre-right Austrian People's Party. The letter says that if a new-look Treaty has to be ratified again in Austria, then the social democrats "want to convince" their coalition partner to take the referendum route. Austria's parliament has already ratified the Treaty. Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik reacted saying the call for a referendum was a "big mistake".
According to Hannes Swoboda, Vice-President of the Socialists in the EU Parliament, similar discussions are being had in Greece and the Netherlands and the Social Democrats' move would put other member states under pressure to make such a promise. Until now, among Austria's political parties, only the far-right FPOe and BZOe had called for a referendum.
Comment: In one sense this is irrelevant, as the plan is to have a second referendum on the same Treaty, with an Agreement for Ireland which does not affect the Treaty for other member states. Even the plan to go back to one Commissioner per country can be made compatible with the Lisbon Treaty, which provides for the European Council to unanimously decide to alter the number of Commissioners (and such a decision could be taken before its entry into force). The Austrian move seems mainly to be to do with domestic politics, and perhaps a desire to stop the Irish from asking for any further changes to the Treaty ahead of the second referendum.
The German TV channel RTL features a report on corruption in the European Parliament.
YouTube (English subtitles)
Giscard d'Estaing: referendums will be ignored; the EU will elect its President
The Telegraph reports that former French President and chief architect of the EU Constitution Valery Giscard d'Estaing has said that referendums will be ignored whether they are held in Ireland or elsewhere. Giscard d'Estaing told the Irish Times that Ireland's referendum rejection would not kill the Treaty, despite a legal requirement of unanimity from all the EU's 27 member states. He said, "We are evolving towards majority voting because if we stay with unanimity, we will do nothing. It is impossible to function by unanimity with 27 members. This time it's Ireland; the next time it will be somebody else."
He also admitted that the Lisbon EU Treaty had been carefully crafted to confuse the public: "What was done in the [Lisbon] Treaty, and deliberately, was to mix everything up. If you look for the passages on institutions, they're in different places, on different pages. Someone who wanted to understand how the thing worked could with the Constitutional Treaty, but not with this one." He also said "there is no alternative" to a second Irish vote, saying, "Everyone agrees it has to be sorted out by the time of European elections."
According to the Irish Times Giscard d'Estaing also ruled out the possibility of Ireland keeping its Commissioner. He said, "Everyone decided that there would no longer be permanent commissioners. It's not negotiable, for anyone... Ireland is 1 per cent of the EU. You're not going to have your own commissioner. It isn't reasonable. There will be Irish commissioners, but by rotation." Meanwhile in an interview with L'Express, Giscard d'Estaing laments the fact that majority voting is not already the rule in Europe, meaning that Lisbon "would already be adopted". He also says that "in one or two generations" time Europe will be ready to elect its President by direct universal suffrage.
Telegraph Irish Times L'Express
Lisbon Treaty: Comment round-up
An article in the Economist looks at how, despite claims from EU leaders ever since the Irish no vote that 19 of the 27 EU members have ratified the Treaty, "The truth is fiddlier: strictly, the correct number is only ten." Another piece looks at "Sarkozy's determination to press ahead with his pet projects" during the French EU Presidency.
The Charlemagne column looks at the fallout in Brussels following the Irish no vote, noting that Sarkozy's statement that further EU enlargement is impossible without the Lisbon Treaty is "legally untrue... But it is an effective political threat, even so." Looking at the various reactions to the no vote, it notes, "EU politicians understand perfectly well that the Irish have said no. The real question for them is whether the machinery of Europe can cope if a no vote is allowed to stand. Devout federalists have their answer: unanimity is the enemy of progress in an EU of 27 countries... Many politicians and commentators, notably in Germany, have demanded that a second Irish referendum on Lisbon must ask voters a tough question, namely: do you want Lisbon, or do you want to leave the EU? But as any Mafia foot soldier would know, this is not a question at all: it is a demand with menaces. Is that the kind of union European leaders want? It seems a high price to pay for Lisbon."
The Economist's Certain Ideas of Europe refutes French Europe Minister Jean-Pierre Jouyet's recent claim that "American neo-cons" were behind the Irish no vote, saying, "Mr Jouyet's outburst is frankly embarrassing, and only makes sense if you live in a world of Lilliputian Euro-narcissism, imagining that each raincloud that opens over Brussels was sent by dark forces from far away, intent on stopping the EU from becoming a mighty superpower."
On his blog on the Telegraph site, Dan Hannan looks at the possibility of a second Irish referendum, noting that, "The risks and gains to Brian Cowen are asymmetrical. If he were to win, he'd be slightly better off than he is now. But if he were to lose again, he might well have to resign, and the European cause would be irreparably damaged... In any case, why risk a referendum when Brussels can get what it wants through executive fiat and judicial activism? Euro-integrationists are very good at occupying terrain stealthily, house by house, field by field. But when they draw up the phalanxes and offer pitched battle, they almost invariably lose. They won't be in a hurry to repeat that mistake."
On his blog, BBC Europe Editor Mark Mardell looks at David Cameron's Europe policy, and notes that "he could also be heading for a first-term referendum on Britain's relationship with the EU." He quotes William Hague saying, "If this treaty is ratified in this country without a referendum, and if it is ratified in all other countries and comes into force before a general election, in our view not only would political integration have gone too far but the treaty would lack democratic legitimacy in Britain. So as we have already made clear, that situation would not be acceptable to an incoming Conservative government and we would not let matters rest there".
In an article in the Guardian former Labour MP David Marquand argues that "In voting against the treaty, the Irish were voting for Europe to remain a fat, rich political pygmy, in a world dominated by potentially predatory giants."
In a piece in the IHT, Robert Kagan argues that the failure of the Lisbon Treaty "is bad news for the United States. In a world of rising great powers, of which two happen to be autocracies, the United States needs its fellow democracies to be as strong as possible... The danger of this latest blow to European confidence is that America's allies, including Britain, could gradually sink into global irrelevance."
Economist Economist 2 Economist 3 Guardian IHT Economist blog BBC-Mardell Telegraph-Hannan
EU energy target could cost every family £260 a year
The Mail, Express and Telegraph report that the Government's wind farm plan will cost every family £260 a year, according to the Government, who said the sacrifice is needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet EU targets for green energy. The Independent reports that over the next 12 years, 7,000 win turbines will spring up around Britain to help meet the target.
It is widely reported that a market trader has been banned from selling a batch of 5,000 kiwi fruits because they are 1mm smaller than EU rules allow.
EU includes airlines in emissions trading system
EU ministers yesterday agreed to include airlines in the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme. Beginning in 2012, all airlines using airports in Europe would be obliged to buy some pollution credits. The International Air Transport Association, the airline industry's biggest lobbying group, said that consumers would have to pay the price in higher airfares and warned that the cost for the industry of buying permits to comply with European emissions regulations would be more than $4 billion. US officials said that including non-European airlines in the system probably would be illegal under the convention governing international civil aviation.
EU-Russia talks could drag on for years
Several papers report on today's EU-Russia summit in the Siberian oil town of Khanty-Mansiisk. The summit marks the opening of negotiations of a new EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, primarily focused on trade. Analysts say negotiations could drag on for years. It is noted that energy will be at the top of the agenda, with the EU hoping to open up Russia's oil and gas reserves for European investment, while Moscow demands better access to European energy markets. According to the Commission, the summit talks will also cover financial market stability, the rise of sovereign wealth funds, climate change and the current food crisis. A point of contention is Russia's relations with Georgia.
In the Times, Bronwen Maddox looks at tension within the EU over Russia, noting that this shows "how the row over the Lisbon treaty has been a preoccupation with form at the expense of content. It is a distraction to mourn the lack of a common foreign minister for the 27 countries (one of the creations of the treaty) while there is so little agreement on what that policy should be towards Russia, the single most important question facing the EU."
The Telegraph reports that David Cameron has been hailed as a "brilliant friend" of France by the head of Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party, Jean-François Copé, despite their differences over the EU.
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Spanish MPs have ratified the Lisbon Treaty.
New figures have shown that the tax burden in Europe is nearly 40% of total GDP.
Tony Blair has an article in the IHT, advocating a set of international and national measures to deliver low-carbon economies.
UK
Conservative candidate John Howell has won the Henley by-election, with Labour's Richard McKenzie coming in fifth place, behind the Lib Dems, Greens and the BNP, losing his deposit.
Two thirds think Brown a liability for Labour
A YouGov poll for the Telegraph puts the Conservatives on 46%, Labour on 28% and the Lib Dems on 15%. It shows that when voters were asked who they think will win the next election, 67% said the Conservatives and only 16% said Labour. Almost two thirds think Brown is a liability to Labour.
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