Open Press summary - 29 Septemeber 2008

Europe

Hague: Conservatives may hold 'retrospective' referendum on Lisbon Treaty
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said that the Conservatives may hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, even if the Treaty has been ratified before the party can form a Government. He assured that if the Treaty is unratified before the Conservatives take office then, "of course, we would hold a referendum." He then went further and suggested that if the Conservatives inherited a ratified Lisbon Treaty, they could still hold a referendum because without a public vote, the document will 'lack democratic legitimacy'. He said, "We haven't made the decision. I certainly haven't ruled that out." It is reported that the wording has also yet to be decided, but the aim would be to give the new Conservative government a mandate to go to Brussels demanding a looser relationship with the EU.
Sunday Times

EU states attack ECJ judgement on married couples' residency;
UK Immigration Minister warns of "a risk of injustice that we are not prepared to see"
European Voice reports that a group of EU member states led by Denmark, including the UK, Ireland, Austria and Germany, have attacked a recent judgment by the European Court of Justice, saying that it could encourage 'sham marriages' and 'marriages of convenience'.

The so-called 'Metock' judgment concerned several spouses of EU citizens who had been denied residency in Ireland because they came from non-EU countries. The European Court of Justice found in July that the Irish courts' refusal to allow the couples to live together in Ireland contravened both the EU's 2004 directive on freedom of movement and the EU's founding treaty. Although the ruling specifically concerned the Irish government, it also means that Denmark must change its tough rules on family reunification and that Austria must change how it applies its residency law.

Denmark's Interior Minister, Birthe Rønn Hornbech, said during a meeting of EU ministers last week that she wants the EU to find a way to undo the effects of the Metock ruling. The UK's Immigration Minister, Liam Byrne, said following the discussion that "some extremely strong views were expressed by member states", adding that "we are crystal-clear that there is a risk of injustice that flows from this judgment and that we are not prepared to see".
European Voice

EU to unveil proposals for maternity leave to be fully paid
On Sunday the BBC Politics Show ran a feature on the new EU Commission proposals to extend maternity leave and introduce full pay for the entire maternity period. The proposals, which will be unveiled on Wednesday, have been criticised by some small businesses. Open Europe Director Lorraine Mullally was interviewed, warning that once the proposals have been decided - by majority vote - at EU level, it will be impossible for future UK governments to deregulate, should they decide they need to.
Politics Show

Libertas funding under European Parliament spotlight
EU Commissioners are due to visit Ireland this week for the first time since the Irish electorate rejected the Lisbon Treaty. Commission sources deny that the trip is designed as a 'love-bomb' to influence a future adoption of the treaty, and the EU Commission office in Dublin is quoted in the Irish Times claiming that the trip was organised "a long time ago".

Meanwhile, in the Sunday Times, Nicola Smith looked at the calls by some MEPs for an inquiry into whether Declan Ganley, Chairman of the Libertas group that campaigned against the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland, received funding from US intelligence and defence services. She writes: "First it was the sheer ingratitude of the Irish, then it was the failure of the Dublin government to mount a successful yes campaign. Now Brussels has found a new explanation as to why Ireland voted down the European Union treaty in June - a CIA and Pentagon-backed plot, devised by American neoconservatives to weaken the EU." A CIA spokesman is quoted saying, "The suggestion is not only wrong but ludicrous."

In a separate piece, Matt Cooper argued that "Ganley is being painted as a neocon loon." He writes, "There is far more innuendo and supposition than proof at this stage but Dick Roche, the European affairs minister, has been asked by the European parliament to 'investigate' Ganley... It's difficult to remember a more determined effort to render someone useless in future political debate, or to take retribution." He says: "I'm sure if you dug far enough you'd find that many Irish businessmen, including some on the Yes side in the Lisbon debate, have profitable relationships with the American establishment too. Peter Sutherland, one of the most vocal proponents of Yes, is treated with a degree of reverence in polite circles in Ireland. He is not just a director of Goldman Sachs, a "blue chip" Wall Street investment bank, but is a member of the Bilderberg Commission, an organisation devoted to exactly the type of right-wing policies Ganley is being damned for supporting."
Irish Times Sunday Times Times-Cooper Spiegel

ECB approves Benelux governments to bail out Fortis Bank - UK Government bails out B&B
The Belgian, Dutch and Luxemburg governments have partly nationalised Belgo-Dutch banking and insurance giant Fortis in an 11.2 billion euros bailout for a 49% stake. The rescue of Fortis makes it the biggest casualty of the banking crisis in continental Europe, where banks have largely avoided the wave of collapse and takeover that has affected their British and US counterparts since the start of the credit crunch. Reportedly, the presence of ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet at the bank rescue talks was unprecedented.

The Times reports that the UK Government officially nationalised large shares of Bradford & Bingley this morning, seizing £50 billion of assets and has provided funds for a "permanent lifeboat scheme" to ensure that 2.6 million depositors will not lose out. Spanish bank Banco Santander has bought the £20 billion deposit business and the network of 200 branches. Meanwhile, US congressional leaders yesterday reached an outline agreement on a $700 billion bank bailout after days of negotiations. The proposal will head to the House of Representatives for a vote as early as today.

The EUreferendum blog argues that plans by the Conservative Party to respond to the financial crisis by giving the Bank of England "sweeping new powers to rescue failing banks" and "a new role of monitoring both consumer and company debt" would likely to be in breach of EU law on financial regulation.
Independent Times Times Independent-Osborne Guardian DW Telegraph EU Observer EU Referendum FT

Cameron promises end to fortnightly bin collections
Saturday's Mail reported that David Cameron has promised to reinstate weekly bin collections if the Conservatives win power. He said he will tell councils to end fortnightly collections and offer them millions of pounds to do so. The Mail reports that the cost of moving back to weekly collections will be £121 million.

Comment: fortnightly bin collections have come about as a result of the EU's Landfill Directive, which obliges the UK to reduce the amount of landfill waste by 25% from 1995 levels by 2010, a 50% reduction by 2013 and a 65% reduction by 2020. Failure to meet the regulations will result in fines estimated by DEFRA at more than £200 million if targets are not met by 2013. In order to meet the regulations, and avoid EU fines, some local authorities in England have adopted an 'alternate weekly collection' system whereby waste is collected one week and recyclables the next. Whatever solution the Conservatives are proposing will have to conform to EU rules, otherwise the cost of moving back to weekly bin collections may be even higher.
Mail

EU seeks funding for Space Research Programme; Lib Dem MEP wants EU to search for aliens
At a recent meeting of the European Space Council, member states agreed to provide central EU funding for space exploration and research, although no figures were agreed in a so-called 'Statement of Ambition'.

The statement said that the EU intended to provide 'long-term financing for space infrastructures, particularly in the field of observation'. Liberal Democrat MEP, Bill Newton-Dunn, went further and argued that the EU should make the search for alien life a key part of this future budget, and was quoted by the European Voice saying that it was 'the next step for humanity'. Previously funding of the ESA was provided by individual member states.
European Voice

Far right parties win votes in Austrian elections
In the Austrian elections yesterday, the two far-right parties have won almost 30% of the national vote in sweeping gains. Both the established Freedom Party and the relatively newer Alliance for the Future of Austria campaigned on an anti-immigration and anti-EU platform, according to the Times. The two mainstream parties, the Social Democratic Party and the conservative People's Party suffered significant losses in the wake of their collapsed coalition which saw their combined popularity sink to its lowest level in the post-war period.
International Herald Tribune Times Independent EU Observer Irish Independent BBC Guardian

CSU loses long time absolute majority in Bavaria
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative allies in the southern state of Bavaria suffered heavy losses Sunday as the absolute majority held for decades by the Christian Social Union was swept away in a result that could have far-reaching consequences for the federal parliamentary poll next year. Big gainers from the CSU's defeat were the pro-business Free Democrats as concerns among CSU voters have been the high tax policies by the federal government coalition.
FAZ IHT
FTD: "euroscepticism" on the riseIn Financial Times Deutschland, political editor Andreas Theyssen argues that "euroscepticism" has become mainstream in Europe, as is shown by the election victory of the Austrian social democrats, the actions of Czech President Klaus and the success of Declan Ganley in Ireland and his plans to bring together likeminded partners in different member states. He calls for a reenergised defense of the EU project, ditching "petty" claims of "too much bureaucracy" and presenting the EU as a peacemaker, potential superpower and protector against "the excesses of globalisation". Theyssen also argues that if Declan Ganley has funded his campaign with US money it shows that "neocons in Washington take the EU more seriously than its own citizens". FTD
Russia calls for EU security pact
EUobserver reports that Russia has reiterated its call for a pan-European summit aimed at creating a "reliable collective security system" in Europe, arguing that existing structures "did not pass the strength test" during the conflict in South Caucasus last August.
EUobserver

EU gives extra 10 million euros aid to Zimbabwe.
EUbusiness

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson will join the US in challenging Chinese export taxes on key raw materials.
Times

In the parliamentary elections in Belarus, all 110 seats went to pro-government candidates, in what the opposition immediately labeled a flawed election. President Lukashenko maintains the vote was free and fair.
BBC News EUobserver

The Irish Justice Department is investigating whether the EU's 629m euros 'Return-Fund' can be used to encourage economic immigrants from within the EU to return to their country of origin.
Irish Independent