Open Europe press summary: 27 October 2008

Europe

Hutton backs Sarkozy's efforts to create EU army
The Sunday Times reported that John Hutton has become the first UK Defence Secretary to call for a European army - a long term French ambition for the EU. Under the EU Presidency, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has sought to develop Europe's military structures with new headquarters and rapid reaction forces, each consisting of 1,500 troops from member countries.

The Telegraph notes that when asked about the plans Hutton said, "I think we've got to be pragmatic about those things. I think that's perfectly sensible. France is one of our closest allies, and the French believe very strongly in this type of role. If we can support it, we should. I'm not one of those EU haters [who think] anything to do with the EU must by definition be terrible. There's plenty of them around. I think frankly those kind of views are pathetic."

A leader in the Telegraph argues that Hutton has failed to recognise Sarkozy's plans as "the politics of posturing". The paper notes that, with reference to Nato's mission in Afghanistan, "The performance of the French and the Germans has been particularly disappointing" and that a European force "heavy with political symbolism but light on military muscle" would undermine Nato and the transatlantic relationship.
Sunday Times Telegraph Telegraph Leader EUobserver

Grid connection hurdles could mean Britain missing EU renewable energy targets
The Times reports that the EU renewable energy and climate change targets for 2020 will be missed by Britain unless the National Grid speeds up the rate at which new generators are connected, according to leading industry figures. The grid is undergoing its biggest upgrade since the 1960s as part of a £14 billion investment project by 2012 and up to £13.5 billion more by 2020. William Law, Chairman of Lunar Energy, which is developing tidal generators, described the state of the grid as the single biggest problem facing the renewables industry.

Open Europe Research Director Hugo Robinson has a piece on Conservative Home arguing that the EU's climate and energy package "threatens the mother of all migraines for an incoming Cameron government. During his first term, he will need to deal with the double whammy of a looming and unavoidable electricity supply crunch (in which about a third of Britain's total generation capacity will be made redundant within a decade) and the 'challenge' of simultaneously implementing a massive expansion in intermittent generation sources - predominantly wind - to meet the EU renewables targets. Because of its unpredictability, wind cannot substitute for the 20GW of baseload conventional capacity that will come offline by 2020. All this makes it quite likely that a future Conservative Government will need to choose between blackouts and ditching the EU targets."

Chris Booker had an article in the Sunday Telegraph criticising wind energy, arguing that "What is dangerous is that even contemplating such a mad waste of resources is diverting attention from the genuine need to build enough proper, grown-up power stations to keep our lights on."

The EUreferendum blog focuses on the problem of intermittency in wind generation: "However much you mess about with the statistics, you cannot overcome those very simple facts: that wind is both intermittent and unpredictable."
Telegraph Booker Conservative Home Robinson Times EUreferendum

Czech President: Sarkozy wants to "siphon off our presidency"
Nicholas Sarkozy has come under attack over the weekend from Brussels diplomats and the Czech Republic following his proposal to remain in the EU Presidency beyond December, when France's Presidency ends, according to the Telegraph. In the FT, Wolfgang Münchau writes that Sarkozy may succeed in his attempts to form an "economic government" for Europe, as the tide turns in favour of increased leadership by the eurozone in the wake of the financial crisis. The Telegraph reports that one Brussels diplomat has suggested that "Mr Sarkozy is trying to become, by the back door, President of the EU".

Meanwhile the Czech President, Vaclav Klaus, has argued that Sarkozy wants to "siphon off our presidency", while arguing that the EU Presidency was "meaningless...It is prestigious for the few politicians who go to Brussels 12 times per month", reports EUobserver. The Czech Foreign Minister, Karel Schwarzenberg, has argued that the Czech Republic is unfairly being painted as an "EU villain" ahead of its presidency next year. In an interview with Le Monde, Schwarzenberg argues that the Czech Republic is "no more eurosceptic than other countries in Europe".

The Czech Prime Minister, Mirek Topolánek, has considered stepping down as leader of his party, after suffering heavy defeats in local elections at the weekend. The Social Democrats made large gains in the Senate, which potentially signals an easier passage for ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, should it be deemed compatible with the Czech constitution by the Constitutional Court, reports the Irish Times.
EUobserver IHT Irish Times FT-Munchau FT Telegraph

Commission proposes tough new regulation on derivatives trading
The Guardian reports that EU Internal Market Commissioner, Charlie McCreevy, is calling on bankers and the finance industry to agree to tough new rules on credit default swaps (CDOs). The proposed rules, that were set out at high level talks last week between the EC, bankers, regulators, investors and exchanges, would see a central body clear the trading of the complex products. Although McCreevy is seen to be an "avowed supporter of free markets and reluctant to regulate", the Guardian reports that he is under pressure from the Commission President Barroso and EU leaders including Gordon Brown to encourage the derivatives industry to come up with its own proposals by next month, or have legislation imposed on them from the EU.

The new regulation emerges as the financial crisis continues to hit Eastern Europe, with the WSJ reporting that Ukraine in particular is suffering due to the lack of credit that once flowed freely from the EU. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard argues in the Telegraph that the currency crisis is "spreading like wildfire across the former Soviet bloc", and also reports that Western European nations including Sweden, Spain and Austria are massively exposed to the problems faced by emerging economies due to the amount lent to Latin America, for example.

Meanwhile, at the EU-Asia summit in Beijing there were further calls from European leaders for a coordinated response to the crisis, although the summit fell short of offering specific solutions to the current economic troubles, the FT and IHT report.
Guardian Sunday Telegraph WSJ leader IHT FT European Voice EUobserver

UK Government fined £230m by EU for financial irregularities
The UK faces fines of up to £230m from the EU due to "irregularities" in funding for regional development projects in the North East and North West, the Telegraph reports. The potential fines are reported to be due to the funding of ineligible projects, and could have a "major impact" on the businesses and communities for which the funds are targeted, the Telegraph reports.
Telegraph

Rate of EU regulations skyrockets
A report from TaxPayers' Alliance has found that that there are currently 16,980 EU laws and regulations in force in the UK and they are increasing at a rate of 2,000 a year. The study also argues that the UK Government's tendency to 'goldplate' EU regulations lead to unnecessary high costs to British businesses. A leader in the Sun argues, "It's not just the astonishing 9,500 new laws imposed by Brussels over the last ten years. It's the gleeful fanaticism with which Whitehall's Euro-fundamentalists enforce every new edict, no matter how petty or patently potty. Not to mention the absurdly disproportionate penalties they dish out to transgressors."

Meanwhile, Andrew Roberts argued in the Sunday Telegraph that the quality of debate and oratory in the UK Parliament has declined, noting that "The fact that so many of our day-to-day laws come from Brussels today, rather than being originated at Westminster, has also impoverished political discourse."
Sun TPA PA Daily Mail Sunday Telegraph

EU secretly preparing GM push after lobbying campaign from biotech industry
Gordon Brown and other European leaders are secretly preparing an unprecedented campaign to spread GM crops and foods in Britain and throughout the continent, confidential documents obtained by The Independent on Sunday reveal.

The article notes that the biotech industry has been conducting an aggressive PR and lobbying initiative. Lobbyists have boasted of having "excellent working relations" with the European Commission.
Independent Sunday

EU emissions caps on airlines could cost 5.3bn euros - US considers legal challenge
AFP reports that EU member states on Friday agreed to impose emissions caps on airlines from 2012, upsetting airline associations as well as the United States, whose carriers will be included. From January 2012 all airline companies operating in or out of an EU country, including non-European carriers, will have to limit emissions to 97 percent of 2005 levels. Carriers are reported to be "furious" over the plans which they say threaten their very survival as they struggle to cope with recent high fuel prices and have warned that it could spark trade wars with other countries.

The Association of European Airlines has estimated that the cost could be as high as 5.3 billion euros annually in the first years of the scheme. Meanwhile, Washington has raised the prospect of launching litigation if Europe goes ahead with the targets. "It is an international, multilateral issue," one American official told AFP. "Doing something bilaterally or unilaterally on that issue could have unintended consequences for people who aren't in the room."
AFP

Tebbit: Western European republic inevitable
Former Cabinet Minister Norman Tebbit will tonight say that the creation of a new "west European republic" is inevitable after some of the chaotic reactions to the credit crunch. The remarks will come at a dinner to mark the 20th anniversary of former Premier Margaret Thatcher's speech in Bruges warning that EU integration had gone too far. Lord Tebbit will say, "In short the euro was exposed as a single currency with 15 Chancellors of the Exchequer and 15 Treasuries. In the long run there can only be one Chancellor, one Treasury, one tax system, one economic policy for any one currency - and that means one Government and one state." He will also call for a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU.
Telegraph

Mandelson under pressure from EU to release diary
Peter Mandelson is now coming under pressure from the EU to make a full disclosure about his relationship with Oleg Deripaska, according to the Times. However, EU officials do not believe they can force Mandelson to disclose his diary of engagements under the Freedom of Information Act, because it is not a public document. This claim has come under fire in the Telegraph, which writes that the Commission should make public details of meetings between their Commissioners and lobbyists, yet requests for details of meetings made under the EU's "transparency 1049 rule" have been repeatedly refused.

Following revelations that Mandelson initially misled the public about the date of his first meeting with Deripaska, the Spectator blog notes "There's a sense this weekend that the media hurricane has moved on from George Osborne - leaving him bruised and bloodied, but unbowed - and is now bearing down on Peter Mandelson."

Mandelson has declared that he would still consider meeting Deripaska in the future, despite the controversy, according to the FT. Trevor Kavanagh argues in the Sun, "The first thing to remember when considering Peter Mandelson's version of events is that he is a proven liar."
Sunday Times Independent on Sunday NOTW Le Figaro Sun Kavanagh Times Spectator Independent Independent-Anderson FT BBC Daily Mail Daily Express Telegraph: Johnston Times Telegraph

EU member states agree system to link criminal records
European Voice reports that the EU's 27 member states have agreed to establish a system connecting their national criminal records, making it easier for law-enforcement agencies to gain information from the registers of other member states. However, it would not create a pan-European database; criminal registers would be kept separate and would remain subject to national jurisdiction.
European Voice

African unions unite against controversial EU trade pacts
According to Ugandan paper the Monitor, the Organisation of African Trade Unions Unity (OATUU) has joined the campaign against the signing of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the EU. EPAs are controversial trade opening pacts being negotiated between the EU and developing countries. The African unions claim that the agreements will cripple the economies of member countries. "The tactics bordering on blackmail and corruption, that characterises the negotiation process of the EPA, makes the whole process unacceptable to the OATUU, and the African workers," a statement from the body noted.
Monitor

EU to enforce Europe wide child maintenance payments system
European Voice reports that EU justice and home-affairs ministers have agreed to legislation that will oblige governments across the EU to enforce child maintenance payment orders made by a court elsewhere in the Union. All EU member states will apply the legislation, with the exception of Denmark, which has an opt-out on justice and home affairs legislation. The UK effectively has a partial opt-out: it will continue to use the principle of exequatur, scrutinising orders before enforcing them. As a result, UK orders will not automatically be enforced elsewhere in the EU.
European Voice

EU split on Russian policy
A "vigorous debate" is taking place among European Union governments about how far, and how quickly, to restore the EU's relations with Moscow. The disagreements come after Russia's invasion of Georgia in August, according to an internal EU policy document, the FT reports. The Irish Times reports that Germany, France and Italy are keen to restore normal relations, whilst the UK, Lithuania and Poland oppose sending a positive signal to Moscow so soon after the invasion.
FT Irish Times

Croatian PM says organised crime will not stop country's EU entry
Following Thursday's car-bomb killing of Ivo Pukanic, a journalist - the latest in a string of presumed "mafia" attacks in Zagreb, Croatian PM Ivo Sanader vowed yesterday that the country would do everything necessary to root out organised crime in time to join the EU before Sanader's current term ends in 2011.
Weekend FT EUobserver

Abkhazian officials have criticised EU monitors in the breakaway province for ignoring "armed provocations" by Georgia along its boundaries.
IHT

The IMF says it will stand by its Managing Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, despite concluding that he had shown poor judgment in a sexual affair with a subordinate.
IHT FT