Open Europe press summary: 31 October 2008

Europe

Former Irish PM calls for new Lisbon referendum;
Cowen: there may be little room for renegotiation
The Irish media reports that former Taoiseach John Bruton - now the EU's Ambassador to the US - has called for a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. In an appearance at the newly formed Oireachtas Lisbon sub-committee he said that a re-run referendum needed to be preceded by a better information campaign, adding "It is fair to say that the Lisbon Treaty was written in such a fashion to make it unreadable". He said that "The timing of that [a second referendum] is a matter for fine political judgement, best made by those living in the country, and I'm not one of those." Bruton also called for the Oireachtas to pass legislation to clarify if future EU treaties would need to be put to a referendum in the first place.

Meanwhile, Brian Cowen yesterday told a business conference that there will be little room for renegotiation of the Lisbon Treaty after 26 other member states ratify it. He said, "We need to come back and say to the Irish people honestly, here is what is on offer from the European Union, do we wish to revisit this question or do we not? (European partners) indicated they can be helpful in some respects ... but they're also making it very clear they don't have an interest in re-ratifying or amending the treaty in a substantive way."

Euractiv notes that Laurent Pech, a lecturer at the EU-funded Jean Monnet Chair of EU Law at the National University of Ireland, has said that a 'Danish scenario' based on opt-outs from the Lisbon Treaty seems to be the most likely outcome of the Irish No vote. He argues that from a legal point of view, the option of passing the Lisbon Treaty via parliamentary ratification is perfectly valid, but "politically unacceptable" following the No vote. It is noted that the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Constitution is already exploring the option of passing the Lisbon Treaty via parliament. Meeting on October 23, the Committee agreed to "examine whether referendums are constitutionally required or if a supra-majority of both Houses of the Oireachtas could change the Constitution".

The Irish Daily Mail looks at how the EU is spending hundreds of millions of euros on new agencies which are only supposed to come into existence once the Lisbon Treaty is ratified. Open Europe is quoted as saying, "The EU are arrogantly assuming that they will be able to force the treaty through regardless of the Irish No vote."
Irish Independent Irish Times Reuters

EU to send ballot box into space as part of £21m PR stunt
Bruno Waterfield writes on his Telegraph blog that "Brussels spin doctors are planning to put a ballot box into orbit" in an attempt to raise the profile of next June's European elections. The stunt forms part of a £21million PR contract to come up with a "campaign concept and visual identity" for the European Parliament, which also includes adverts highlighting the EU's role in combating climate change. Waterfield also notes that a new EU body, the Inter-Institutional Group on Information, is now up and running to coordinate efforts to publicise the elections, and climate change has already been identified as the key issue for a propaganda offensive that will open in January.
Telegraph Waterfield blog Open Europe blog

French Senate urges French government to oppose EU discrimination directive proposal
Le Figaro reports that the French Senate is opposed to a draft EU discrimination directive that aims to extend existing EU discrimination regulations. The Social Affairs Committee of the French Senate, which has called upon the French government to oppose the EU proposal, is reported to be "worried" by the definition of discrimination in matters of access to goods and services. They believe that the proposed European law contravenes a fundamental principle of French law which states that differential treatment is not necessarily discrimination.

As an example, the Committee cited the fact that Friday is a holy day for Muslims and should be devoted to prayer, and that under the Directive Muslims could claim to be suffering discrimination because the opening of public services on Friday could for them constitute "a particular disadvantage".
Le Figaro

Czech Republic and Sweden reject plan to "swap" EU Presidency between the two countries
Euractiv reports that both Sweden and the Czech Republic have dismissed suggestions that their countries could exchange EU presidencies next year. The idea was first put forward by German MEP Ingo Friedrich to "minimise the risk of a weakened Czech government leading the Union when Prague takes over the bloc's helm in January".

Swedish daily Aftonbladet criticised the leadership style of current EU Council President Nicolas Sarkozy following his reported claims that the Czech Republic and Sweden, are "lightweights". The paper argues: "Sarkozy is completely ignoring EU regulations and practice: the countries billed for presidency are being pushed to one side and the authority of the ECB undermined. The three dominant EU powers are setting the agenda."
Euractiv Aftonbladet

Commission accuses Italy of 'playing politics with climate change'
The European Commission is angry over Italian opposition to the EU's carbon emissions targets, reports the FT. At a summit earlier this month, Prime Minister Berlusconi threatened to veto the package, claiming it would cost Italy 18bn euros a year to implement. That figure is contested by the European Environmental Commissioner, Stavros Dimas, who claims it will cost about half that. Other members of the Commission are apparently "fuming", and consider Italy to be "playing politics" with the EU's climate change initiative.

According to Point Carbon, the Italian government has said that the EU climate package would cost Italy 40 per cent more to comply than other member states.
FT Point Carbon

Economist: state intervention could undermine "one of the greatest achievements of the European project"
The Economist has warned that increasing amounts of state aid in the wake of the financial crisis will likely benefit "politicians' favourites, not European citizens." The paper writes that increased intervention could undermine a core EU principle banning subsidies which distort competition and lead to the disintegration of the EU level-playing field, which has been "one of the greatest achievements of the European project". EU Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, has also warned of a potential "subsidy race" between EU neighbours as state aid increases.
Economist

MEPs quash debate on ending the European Parliament "travelling circus"
In the Parliament Magazine, British MEP Glenis Willmott criticises the European Parliament for stifling debate on the issue of whether to stop the £200m "travelling circus" between Strasbourg and Brussels. She said she is "dismayed by what not only appears to be the unjust treatment of those of us campaigning for a one-seat solution, but also a lack of respect for those one and a quarter million EU citizens who have so far signed the petition at www.oneseat.eu for parliament to have a single seat in Brussels. So far, requests for a serious debate on this issue in plenary have been ignored and the recently launched written declaration 75 on holding all parliament plenary sessions in Brussels has faced seemingly discriminatory measures against its promotion to MEPs."She notes that "[Last month], a poster promoting the written declaration was removed by parliament's authorities under the pretence that MEPs 'should avoid activities on parliament's premises which might be regarded as controversial'. I find this wholly ridiculous. Most dictionaries define controversial as 'causing disagreement or discussion'. Should a modern parliament such as ours really be seeking to restrict disagreement or discussion?"
Parliament Magazine Open Europe blog

Czech court postpones debate on Lisbon Treaty
The Czech Constitutional Court has postponed the discussion of the EU Lisbon Treaty by two weeks on Czech President Vaclav Klaus's request, court spokesman Michal Spacil told CTK yesterday. Originally, the judges convoked a court open meeting to debate the treaty on November 10. However, they have changed the date to November 25, at Klaus's request, Spacil said. The Czech Constitutional Court is to decide on whether the Lisbon treaty is in line with Czech legislation.
No link

Investors see widening risk of eurozone governments defaulting on debts
The front page of the WSJ notes that "Investors are upping their bets that as the $12.2 trillion euro-zone economy heads into recession, costly bank-bailout plans could drive some European governments to default on their debt." It notes that the cost of insuring the government debt of Italy and Greece has doubled in the past month. For Ireland, the cost of insuring against debt default has risen eightfold since the start of the year. The article notes that another indicator of rising investor concern is the gap between the yields on the bonds issued by Germany and countries with lower credit ratings, such as Italy and Greece. Those have widened to levels not seen in about a decade, before the launch of the euro.

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard notes in the Telegraph that "The interest spread between Italian 10-year bonds and German Bunds has reached 108 basis points, the highest since the launch of the euro. Traders say it is nearing levels that risk setting off an unstable chain reaction."
WSJ Economist Telegraph Evans-Pritchard

Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen says he now considers a referendum in 2011 on joining the euro a possibility.
FAZ

Commission slackens stability and growth pact
FAZ has details on how the EU Commission will handle the newly reformed stability and growth pact, as several countries are certain to record excessive deficits. These are France, Italy, Portugal and Ireland. The paper says that the effective ceiling would be lifted to 3.5%, provided that the deficit is caused by cyclical factors. Otherwise, an excessive deficit procedure would commence.
FAZ

Central Europeans accuse Britain of betraying Georgia
The Telegraph reports that a "senior central European diplomat" has said that Britain has changed its stance towards Russia. In the wake of the Georgian crisis, Gordon Brown helped persuade other European leaders to punish Russia by postponing talks on a new "Partnership and Cooperation Agreement" with the EU. However, British officials are said to have privately told other governments they will back French plans to resume talks with Moscow.

The senior diplomat has reportedly said of Foreign Secretary David Miliband: "Miliband was so strongly in favour of us from the first days of the conflict. Now he is making a U-turn within two weeks just to please Sarkozy. What happened in this world that caused this change?"
Telegraph

Icelandic minister: EU membership needs to be discussed "in weeks rather than months"
The FT notes that Iceland's ruling Independence party is starting to split on EU membership after its vice-chairman broke with party policy and said the crisis-hit nation should start thinking about membership now. Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, minister of education, said an application for membership needed to be discussed "in weeks rather than months".
FT

WSJ: EU is giving with one hand and taking with the other for car industry
A leader in the WSJ argues "European taxpayers already have a meaty hunk of bank bailouts to swallow. Now they're getting something green on their plates as well. Just weeks after EU lawmakers passed strict new carbon-emission regulations despite warnings that they would cost auto makers dearly, Brussels called Wednesday for 40 billion euros in loans to the industry so that it can comply with the new rules. The EU taketh away, the EU giveth."
WSJ leader

Deutsche Bank has reported better than expected third-quarter profits, attributed to a relaxing of the EU's mark-to-market accounting rules.
IHT