Europe
Sarkozy: "The Irish will have to vote again"
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said Ireland must hold a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. "The Irish will have to vote again," he told MPs of his party at a meeting in his office. An official in Paris confirmed Mr Sarkozy made the comment during the private meeting. EUobserver reports "the phrase was repeated to journalists by several deputies leaving the meeting". Mr Sarkozy also threatened to "veto any enlargement until a new treaty had been pushed through". The French President's office declined to comment.
Ireland's Europe Minister Dick Roche claimed on RTÉ this morning that: "The line from the Elysée couldn't be clearer. What President Sarkozy has said is that he is coming here to listen, he is not coming here with a pre-cooked formula." However Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said the comments meant Sarkozy had "seriously put his foot in it".
The French government's plan is confirmed by other sources. A piece in Le Monde entitled "The plan to make the Irish vote again" says that when Sarkozy meets Brian Cowen in Ireland next week "He will try to persuade him to organise a new vote." It notes that the key to getting a second referendum is the clause in the Lisbon Treaty which states that the Commission will be made up of members from one third of the member states, "unless the European Council, acting unanimously, decides to alter this number." So "the 27 could decide that the Commission will be composed of one Commissioner per country. The Irish will therefore have an ultimatum: it's Lisbon and a Commissioner, or the Nice Treaty will apply."
Le Figaro also reports that "The French President will on Monday try to persuade the government in Dublin to organise a new vote."
A leader in the Sun argues, "Orders from a tinpot pocket Napoleon like President Sarkozy are only likely to encourage a second resounding NON!"
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Jim Murphy: "We remain wedded to Lisbon Treaty... the solution has to be seen to be made in Ireland";
Reveals that "substantial" work has already taken place to implement EU diplomatic service
Speaking in front of the Lords EU Select Committee yesterday, Europe Minister Jim Murphy said: "We have no intention of reopening the Treaty text". He said, "We will consider whatever reasonable suggestions the Irish government wish to make, which wouldn't require the UK having to reopen our processes," adding, "Whatever the solution, it has to be seen to be made in Ireland." He insisted: "We haven't given up on Lisbon."
He claimed that the only issue debated during the Irish referendum which had anything to do with the Treaty's content was the issue of Ireland losing a Commissioner, saying, "This issue of enlargement, and consequential reorganisation because of enlargement, was perhaps about the only issue of actual Treaty content that was part of the debate in the Irish referendum, which was about Ireland losing a commissioner". He added, "It is a difficult thing to accurately grasp why the result ended up the way that it did", saying it would be "difficult to get a declaration on an issue that isn't contained in the Treaty."
Murphy also directly contradicted Nicolas Sarkozy's position by saying that on the issue of further enlargement without Lisbon, "On a legal basis and on a Council conclusion basis the Irish referendum and the situation with the Lisbon Treaty has no effect whatsoever, none whatsoever."
Lord Tomlinson asked him: "As we're stuck with the Irish referendum as it is, do you consider there are any parts of the Lisbon Treaty [...] which can be applied, whether legally or in spirit, despite the possible failure to ratify the Treaty within the desired timescale? A sort of salami slicing of the Treaty to take bits of it, which could be introduced by consent?" Murphy replied that one of the options would be a "Nice plus" - taking bits of Lisbon and putting them into Nice, "but our general view is that the Lisbon Treaty was a package, and we don't wish to unpick it.... For the time being certainly, we are wedded to the Lisbon Treaty". He said that if the EU started cherry-picking bits of Lisbon, "I think the argument would be allowed to go that London, the UK Government, has accepted the demise of the Treaty, which we haven't - it's up to Ireland to suggest a way forward, and proof of the acceptance of the demise of the Treaty is if we start to implement parts of it on the fringes."
However, despite insisting back in February that "There have not yet been any discussions on the detailed organisation and functioning of the EEAS," (Hansard, 5 February), Murphy revealed that "a substantial" amount of work had already taken place on implementing the EU External Action Service, which has now been suspended. He said, "As a consequence of the no vote in Ireland, one of the things we did do, is that our work on the external action service has now been suspended. A substantial amount of work, a substantial amount of planning on capacity, on civil service transfers [...] And on the basis of this Treaty at the moment implementation is being delayed or suspended, then we thought it was only right to respond to the Irish referendum by postponing that work, until such time as either the Irish suggest a way forward on the Treaty, or until such time as the French as the Presidency of the EU suggests a way forward on the external action service. So it's important to acknowledge that work has now stopped."
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Libertas set to run candidates in 2009 EU elections
The Irish Times reports that Libertas founder Declan Ganley has confirmed the group is raising money to fund candidates in next year's elections to the European Parliament. Speaking before news emerged that President Sarkozy of France wanted a second Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, Mr Ganley said, "there is going to be a need to address this democratic deficit and, if the only mechanism available is the 2009 European elections across Europe, somehow the people of Europe need to be given the opportunity for a say on the Lisbon Treaty."
Mr Ganley added that making the Irish people vote again would be "ridiculous" and "anti-democratic". If there was a second referendum, Mr Ganley predicted an even higher 'no' vote.
Time for Ireland to ditch the Euro?
In a piece in the Irish Independent, David McWilliams suggests that there may be a dramatic option to ease the burden of the imminent recession in Ireland: pulling out of the Euro. He argues that Ireland's currency arrangement is likely to worsen the recession, becoming "part of the problem, not part of the solution". Unable to boost the economy by printing or borrowing money, and without the ability of the UK and US to allow the currency to fall, Ireland finds itself without the macro-economic tools to improve the situation. Thus, McWilliams concludes, the government may be forced to re-consider the currency question.
Spain's Senate has ratified the Lisbon Treaty and it now awaits Royal Assent.
Commission to give Polish shipyards 'breathing space' in return for Lisbon ratification
Reuters reports that the European Commission will rule today that Polish shipyards must repay more than 1 billion euros of state aid, but will delay execution for three months in order to give Warsaw more time to find a restructuring plan for the shipyards. The article notes that the decision appears to be "an attempt by the EU executive to avoid blame for forcing the shipyards into bankruptcy." Yesterday, Gazeta Wyborcza reported that the Polish government planned to make the deal on the shipyards issue a condition for ratifying the Lisbon Treaty.
Croatia's President has said that his country's EU membership will not be delayed by the Irish No vote.
Madrid backs biofuels; blames recent criticism on 'big oil'
El Pais reports that Spain's Government has come out in favour of biofuels, with Environment Minister Josep Puxeu arguing that recent criticism of biofuels from numerous NGOs, the IMF, European Parliament and the European Environment Agency was "a campaign on behalf of oil companies, who see a threat to their business." The article notes that "Spain has an interest in the plans going ahead. Two of the biggest companies in the sector are Spanish, Abengoa and Ebro Puleva."
EADS, Europe's largest aerospace company and owner of Airbus, says it may move production from Europe to Brazil, Mexico or North Africa because of the high price of the Euro.
An emergency aid package comprised of around 1.4billion euros from the European Fisheries Fund and a further 600 million euros from the European Commission has been pledged to European fisherman struggling in the face of the current fuel crisis.
EIB plans to invest in Central Asia criticised
European Voice has criticised the EU for allowing its house bank, the European Investment Bank, to expand its activities into Central Asia. European Voice argues that such a move shows scant regard for the human rights and political problems prevalent in the area.
The EU have explained the investment as necessary to secure energy supplies, "But what is 'stability' without standards? The answer in Central Asia is: a strengthening of authoritarian regimes. The effects, frequently, are a worsening of the environmental, social and human-rights situations in those countries."
Second World War transport planes DC-3 are being forced to stop carrying passengers due to EU safety regulations, PA reports.
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World
EU backs Chinese entry to ivory trade
The Independent reports that the UK and Bulgaria have voted on behalf of the EU to allow China to take part in an ivory auction. The vote took place at a meeting of the UN's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). A spokesman for Defra said that the EU had come to a joint decision on the issue. Campaigners said the move was, "a death warrant for thousands of elephants".
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