Open Europe press summary: 29 October 2008

Europe

EU Commissioners fail to disclose holidays or perks
The Times reports that EU Commissioners have registered 216 gifts, worth more than 150 euros each, received during their four-year term. However, in line with the code of conduct, they have not been forced to reveal details of any holidays or perks received.

The paper notes that pledges made in 2005 to tighten the code following an "outcry" over yacht hospitality received by José Manuel Barroso have "fallen by the wayside". When asked if they would be prepared to provide more information beyond the strict limits of the code, spokesmen for all the Commissioners said that they believed the code was "sufficiently clear and precise".

However, a leader in the paper argues that the disclosure of such private hospitality remains "vital", particularly with regards to Europe's trade, industry and competition Commissioners, who are more influential than all but "a handful of national ministers", yet there remains "shocking laxity of rules governing the gifts and hospitality lavished on Commissioners."
Times Times: Leader

EU Commission adapts data to benefit European biofuel producers
According to EUobserver, the European Commission has changed the criteria for measuring greenhouse gas emissions saved by biofuels in order to allow more European-produced biofuels to be used to meet the EU's proposed target of 10% use in transport fuel by 2020. Although European produced biofuels are amongst the most expensive and inefficient in the world, the move will benefit the European biofuels industry.

The new data is reported to be from the Commission, car manufacturers and oil companies. The report that explains how the figures were arrived at remains secret, and will not be available to MEPs scrutinising the biofuel target.

Environmental NGOs have complained that the Commission is ignoring the critical issue of extra emissions from land-use change, which occur when land that would have been used to grow food or animal feed is used to produce fuel. The UK Government's review has shown that these additional emissions far outweigh any greenhouse gas savings from biofuels.
EUobserver Open Europe research

China asks EU for $160bn in return for cooperation on emissions cuts
According to the FT, China has "raised the price of its cooperation in the world's climate change talks" by demanding that developed countries spend 1% of GDP on transfer funds to poorer nations to help them reduce emissions. For the EU, this would equate to $160bn. The Chinese conceded that even such large funds "might not be enough".
FT

Poland moots possibility of a referendum on euro membership
Poland's government set out plans yesterday for adopting the euro by 2012, as the Polish zloty continues to be "buffeted by the global financial crisis", the FT reports. The report suggests that Poland could amend its constitution as early as 2009 and join the European exchange rate mechanism later that year. The BBC reports that widespread opposition to the euro would force the Polish government to hold a referendum on joining the currency.

Meanwhile, another FT report says that the new found enthusiasm for the euro in the Polish government is "finding echoes across the continent", with nations such as Denmark and the Baltic states becoming more open to the idea of the single currency. Greg Hands MP argues on the ConservativeHome blog that even in the UK, euro membership is "likely to re-enter our domestic political debate". Similarly, European Voice reports on a poll in Sweden that suggests opposition to the euro is 'waning', with 47% of respondents "willing to replace the Swedish krona". Meanwhile, the Coulisses de Bruxelles blog reports on a new poll from Iceland which shows that 68.8% of people want to join the EU, with 72.5% of those willing to join the euro.
BBC EUobserver FT FT 2 European Voice Conservative Home Hands

Sarkozy calls for more EU crisis funding;
Brown looks to Asia and Middle East to bolster IMF
The Guardian reports that Gordon Brown will this weekend call on China and the Gulf states to inject hundreds of billions of dollars into the International Monetary Fund to prevent the "contagion" of the global financial crisis from destroying vulnerable economies. The paper notes that Brown hopes to make progress on boosting the IMF ahead of a meeting of the G20 group of world leaders in Washington next month, designed to pave the way for a major restructuring of global financial institutions.

Brown met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday to discuss the plan ahead of an informal EU summit to be held next Friday, one week before the Washington meeting. Sarkozy described the new close relationship with Britain as an "entente formidable" and said the two countries were working "hand in hand".

Meanwhile, EUobserver reports that Sarkozy has called for an EU crisis fund for member states to be extended from the current 12 billion euro figure to "at least" 20 billion. "I will propose on 7 November ...that the EU itself, which has at its disposal 12 billion euros to support a certain number of member states, passes to at least 20 billion euros in order to increase our ability to respond to the [financial] crisis," the French President said shortly before meeting Brown.

Writing in the IHT Steven Erlanger notes that Sarkozy's recent pronouncements about what the EU should be doing, in regards to an EU sovereign wealth fund and "economic government" without prior consultation with his allies, "has rubbed the Germans and the British the wrong way". Director of the German Marshall Fund in Berlin Constanze Stelzenmüller said, "Sarkozy has what is traditionally considered a 'superpower attention deficit disorder'".

Meanwhile, EUobserver reports that Hungary is set to receive 20bn euros in a rescue package agreed by the EU, the IMF and the World Bank. A leader in the Independent notes that the bailout of Hungary "is part of a broader test for the EU" and argues that "If the EU is not at the forefront of bailing out its members when financial calamity strikes, it is difficult to see the point of the union."
Independent EUobserver Guardian EUobserver 2 Independent-leader BBC Times IHT

UK moves to bar "preachers of hate" from entry - but will the EU allow it?
The UK is to strengthen rules to deny entry to individuals who promote extremism. The new measures will shift the burden of proof onto individuals to provide evidence refuting accusations made against them, reports the FT.

The Home Office anticipates that the new rules, which could even prevent UK nationals from returning to Britain after stints abroad, including the European Union which requires free movement of all the bloc's citizens - will result in the barring of a larger number of people suspected of Islamic extremist links.
FT

The European Commission's competition authorities have approved Germany's 470bn euro bailout of its financial institutions and system.
European Voice

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said his government will add 100,000 subsidised job contracts to the previously agreed 330,000 it will finance in 2009.
WSJ Le Figaro Le Figaro 2

Bulgaria risks losing billions in EU subsidies
The Bulgarian government has only a few weeks to avoid losing billions in EU subsidies, and could face "unprecedented sanctions" from the EU. EU officials are due in Sofia this week to conduct an audit, after a report in July concluded that EU money was vulnerable to fraud, reports IHT. If the audit shows irregularities, Bulgaria stands to lose 220 million euros of frozen aid, because of a deadline due to expire next month.
IHT

Tisdall: Baltic states vulnerable on Europe's fringe
The Guardian's Simon Tisdall reports on unease in the Baltic states following the Georgia crisis and recent financial crisis, which has highlighted the Baltics' vulnerability on Europe's fringe, and shown that "EU membership is not quite the panacea some may have once imagined."
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