Open EuropeCross-party alliance on Lisbon Treaty breaking down in Ireland
29 July 2008
There is continued coverage of a Red C poll commissioned by Open Europe showing that Irish voters are strongly opposed to a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, and would vote no by a larger margin than the last time around if a second vote was held.
The Irish Independent, in an article discussing Open Europe and its business supporters, reports on the opposition of the Irish Labour Party to a second vote. Labour TD Joe Costello is quoted as saying that “the latest Red C poll indicates the extent to which there has been a further hardening of attitude against a rerun of the Lisbon Treaty”.
The Irish Election blog argues that the shift in the Labour position against a referendum re-run reflects growing strain within the ‘Grand Alliance’ over Europe in Irish politics. Meanwhile, the Irish Times reports that opposition parties Fine Gael and Labour are to oppose the formation of a special parliamentary committee to analyse the no vote and propose a way forward. The paper notes that “The development fractures the cross-party unity that has existed on European Union issues between the major parties, as both main Opposition parties adopt a slightly more distanced attitude towards the treaty… The significance of the Fine Gael move is a strong signal that it is less likely to be as supportive to the Government on EU issues in future, particularly since half of its declared support voted No in June. The Labour Party leader, Eamon Gilmore, who has already said that he would oppose a second referendum, is faced with the reality that a strong majority of his party's support base voted No.”
The Irish Daily Mail picks up on comments made by Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin yesterday, who dismissed the poll as outside “interference”, and said Open Europe was “using Ireland as a battleground, as the pawn if you like, to manipulate the situation and to achieve their wider agenda of undermining the European Union itself.” Open Europe’s Lorraine Mullally is quoted saying the government was trying to divert attention away from the poll. A separate piece looked in detail at Lorraine’s Irish background and argued that the Foreign Minister “was making a fool out of himself yesterday on Morning Ireland, attacking the think tank Open Europe and its director of research Lorraine Mullally.”
A comment piece by Richard Waghorne in the paper, argues that while Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel went to Ireland to campaign in favour of the Lisbon Treaty, “Open Europe did almost the exact opposite – they came here to ask our opinion. The first got the red carpet, the second the red mist. It is an unhappy irony that funding a listening exercise is chalked up as an act of foreign sabotage when threatening reprisals for the No vote and demanding a second is not. The finding of the Open Europe poll, that a second referendum would be roundly trounced, is far less revealing than the reaction it provoked. Is there not something deeply contradictory about a government that continually emphasises the merits of integration with Europe but then brands mere interest in our views from our next-door neighbour as ‘interference’?”
Mike Fealty’s ‘Brassneck’ Telegraph blog also picks up on the Irish government’s criticism of the Open Europe poll. The piece notes that “There have been accusations from Dick Roche, the Minister of State for European Affairs, that the questions were 'extraordinarily skewed' on Newstalk yesterday morning. That is, perhaps, a line the Minister would be well advised not to pursue too rigorously.”
He argues that the “selective leaking” to the press of the EU Commission’s Eurobarometer poll, conducted in the week after the no vote, exposes supporters of the Treaty to the accusation of bias, and that the Open Europe poll “seems purer than the driven snow by comparison”. He notes that “there was, as Open Europe reports on it its own blog, some serious discrepancies in detail between these briefings and the actual results when they were finally came out.”
Open Europe is quoted saying, "How is it interfering to ask people how they might vote in a future re-run referendum? It's not as though it hasn't happened before, look at Nice. It's clear that people don't want a referendum. The truth is the government is panicking, since its strategy of taking the country back to the polls is in trouble".
Open Europe’s Lorraine Mullally was interviewed on Irish radio station Q102 yesterday, discussing the poll. The poll was also mentioned in Le Monde, Danish daily Politiken, Swedish radio, Gideon Rachman’s FT blog and EU news service Euractiv.
UK Shadow Foreign Minister William Hague had an article in the Irish Times over the weekend, arguing that “If Lisbon remains unratified by all EU member states, a Conservative government will put Britain's ratification of the treaty on ice and hold a referendum, recommending a No vote to a document we believe represents an outdated centralising approach to the EU. So the chances are growing that Ireland's voters will not be alone in saying No to Lisbon for long.”
Irish Independent Mail (Ireland) Mail (Ireland) Waghorne Euractiv FT Rachman Telegraph Fealty IrishElection.com Irish Labour party statement Irish Times Irish Times Hague Open Europe Blog Swedish Radio Vasabladet
Recriminations begin as hope for world trade deal dims;
Nine EU states urge tougher line from Mandelson in WTO talks
Hopes of a deal in the current talks of the WTO Doha round are fading, with relations between major trading blocs breaking down and fractures opening within the EU over Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson’s negotiating position.
Meanwhile Mr Mandelson has been criticised by nine EU member states (including France, Italy and Germany) who are demanding he take a tougher line against developing countries in order to protect Europe’s agricultural sector. The French in particular distrust Mr Mandelson and fear he would be happy to make concessions that hit French agriculture hard in return for any deal; French President Nicolas Sarkozy has demanded an immediate meeting with Mr Mandelson. The nine states, each with large agricultural sectors, have formed an alliance to push for better terms for the EU in any deal that emerges.
The Irish Times reports that the Irish Farmers Association has continued to accuse EU negotiators of selling out farmers. However EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has responded that the IFA’s claims were in, “bad faith” and were, “nothing to do with reality… the figures [used by the IFA] are clearly misleading."
AFP 1 AFP 2 Deutsche Welle FT Irish Times Irish Times 2 IHT IHT 2
Government’s deal with trade unions pledges to fight EU single market for health
The three-day meeting at Warwick University over the weekend to agree Labour policies has led to public sector unions winning a pledge to fight any moves by the European Union to create a single market in health care. A press release from Unison notes that the agreement “opposes any attempts to create a single EU market for healthcare which could undermine the NHS.” This is a sensitive topic given that the European Commission has recently re-launched its proposed Health Directive. The controversial Directive means that the UK Government must choose between the proposed EU Directive and the NHS model of funding.
Open Europe briefing - Health Services Directive Times Unison press release
Emissions Trading auctions to net £2bn for Government
The FT reports that auctioning off the right to emit carbon dioxide is likely to net the Government nearly £2 billion over the next four years under the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme. The terms on which the emissions permits will be sold for the first time this year will be set out by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Treasury. Under the second phase of the ETS, power companies will have to buy up to a third of their permits although they will still receive the rest free. Other sectors in the scheme, such as steelmakers and cement-makers, will continue to receive all of their permits for nothing, at least until 2013.
Yesterday’s price for this year’s permits stood at about 25 euros, with permits for 2012 selling in the forward market at nearly 30 euros. At these prices, the permit auctions would yield the Government between 2.1 billion euros and 2.4 billion euros in total by 2012. Once all the bids are in, the Government will calculate a single settlement price for all the permits available.
FT
Greece rebuked over migrant care
Medecins Sans Frontieres, a French charity, has accused the Greek government of detaining up to 800 migrants in “horrible” conditions and branded the situation a “humanitarian crisis”.
Le Figaro reports that French Immigration Minister Brice Hortefeux yesterday met with the ambassadors of 32 African countries to discuss the European pact on immigration and asylum. Agence Europe reports that it seems likely that the pact will boost immigration patrols and result in more people being expelled from the EU. With only one major sticking point left, the creation of a pan- European border guard, it is expected that the pact will be approved by mid-October.
BBC Irish Times Le Figaro
Danish immigration law under fire after EU court ruling
A recent EU court immigration ruling may force the Danish Government to revise its immigration policies- which are amongst the most restrictive in Europe. Numerous couples have appealed the decision made by the Danish government to reject their application to settle in Denmark.
EUobserver
Hannan: Don’t hold Bosnia together artificially
The BBC reports that Serbia is preparing to make a bid for entry into the EU before the end of the year, as the pro-EU leadership believes the arrest of Radovan Karadzic will strengthen the case.
In The Telegraph, Daniel Hannan rejects Paddy Ashdown’s claim that the EU needs to “wake up” to the idea that Bosnia may divide along ethnic lines following the Karadzic saga. Hannan argues that denying the national principle in the 1990s created just as many, if not more of the horrors that would have come about if independence was allowed. As a result, he says that Bosnia should not be artificially held together. Peter Murtagh writes in the Irish Times that due to the fragmented and divided power structure, the only real signs of unity in Bosnia at the moment are the currency and the car number plates. A mass rally against the arrest of Karadzic is due to take place in Belgrade later today.
Telegraph BBC Irish Times
Low university spending behind Europe’s poor growth record?
Compared to US higher education institutions, universities in the EU are poor relations, argues Tony Barber on the FT’s Brussels Blog. Whereas the US spends around 3.3% of GDP on higher education (36,500 euros per student), the EU spends only 1.3% of GDP (8,700 euros per student), which may explain why European universities fail to match their US counterparts in terms of quality research output. In a report published by Breugel, a Brussels-based think-tank, it is argued: “European growth has been disappointing for the past 30 years, remaining persistently lower than in the United States. There is now much evidence that this situation is closely linked to the state of innovation and higher education in Europe.” Breugel stresses the need for more money, more autonomy and more competition to improve the situation.
FT Brussels Blog
Swedish Radio reports that Coca Cola receives millions in EU export farm subsidies.
Swedish Radio
Turkish court considers ban on ruling party
Turkey is facing a political crisis as the Constitutional Court meets to decide whether or not to ban the current ruling Justice and Development party (AKP). The AKP has been accused of stealthily seeking to Islamise the country and erode secular values. Since the 1960s a number of pro-Islamist and pro-Kurdish parties have been shut down by courts for allegedly seeking to undermine the state’s core secular values, but this is the first time allegations have been made against a ruling party with a huge parliamentary majority, says the BBC's Pam O'Toole. Whilst it is true that the party has pursued an Islamic agenda, such as allowing women to wear headscarves at public universities, it is argued in the FT that the charges it faces are based on flimsy evidence.
FT leader BBC
No comments:
Post a Comment