Europe
EU budget report to be published today amid accusations of waste
The European Court of Auditors will today publish its annual report on the EU's accounts. As in previous years, the Auditors are expected to highlight widespread problems with fraud and mismanagement in the EU's spending programmes. The News of the World reported on Open Europe's briefing published yesterday detailing 100 examples of misuse of EU money. Examples include projects popularising the tango in Finland and a "school for TV starlets" in Italy. Open Europe Director Lorraine Mullally was quoted in the article, arguing "Families struggling through the recession will be outraged the EU is squandering their money."
Open Europe Research Director Mats Persson is quoted in the Mail arguing that, "EU funds are supposed to help create jobs and boost Europe's competitiveness, but far too often money is being wasted on projects ranging from the inefficient to the downright bizarre...Surely, while facing a recession, we can think of better ways to spend £100 billion a year."
Taxpayers' associations from across Europe have an open letter in the Telegraph, calling it "disgraceful" that EU accounts have never received the "declaration of assurance" that has been required since 1994.
The Mail writes that many of the problems of mismanagement stem from the Common Agricultural Policy and the Structural Funds programme. Dutch Member of the Court of Auditors Maarten Engwirda is quoted on the Dutch news website NU arguing that, "mistakes in the agricultural spending have been reduced, but with regards to regional funds the margin of mistakes in 2006 was still 12 percent". The site also reports that European Commissioner Siim Kallas had set the goal in 2004 for the accounts to be approved by 2007.
Marta Andreassen, writing in the Times, argues that auditors have been saying for years that "most of the payments made by the Commission from its £70 billion-a-year budget cannot be deemed legal or regular."
Open Europe Press Release Mail Nu.nl Times Telegraph Open Europe briefing: "100 Examples of EU Fraud and Waste"
France to push for coordinated economic strategy for Europe after "stormy" talks
EUobserver reports that EU leaders have agreed on a set of principles that should guide future talks on the reform of the global financial architecture, urging more regulation. "No financial institution, no market segmentation and no jurisdiction must escape proportionate and adequate regulation or at least oversight," states the document adopted at an extraordinary summit on Friday (7 November). European Voice notes that, according to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, credit rating agencies and hedge funds are particularly likely to be targeted by new regulation.
Revised accounting standards, an early warning system to tackle risks and a central role for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) "in a more efficient financial architecture", and an overhaul pay policy for company executives. EU leaders also endorsed a statement that within 100 days of the G-20 talks in Washington on 15 November, measures to implement the principles desired by Europe should be drawn up.
In Volkskrant, Sarkozy is quoted as saying "the world will have to get used to it that the EU now speaks with one voice".
Saturday's Guardian reported that Nicolas Sarkozy said on Friday that the European Commission would table proposals on a coordinated economic strategy for Europe by next month. He insisted however, "If by economic government, you mean a federal Europe ... that's not what I would be saying."
The article notes that a more detailed French statement for EU action had to be watered down in the face of opposition from Britain and others. European Voice adds that Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek said it had been a "very stormy discussion". Among the leading critics was Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who said he had signed up to the statement only after proposals for new regulations were amended.
Open Europe's Hugo Robinson appeared on BBC Westminster Hour on Sunday arguing that there was no political or democratic legitimacy for the large-cross border transfers and more centralised European economic governance envisaged by Nicolas Sarkozy, which explains why there is resistance to such measures from many member states. Gideon Rachman of the FT, also speaking on the programme, argued that the crisis could herald a move towards a more inter-governmentalist approach in Europe. He added that economic government for Europe would be resisted by Germany in order to protect independence of the European Central Bank from political interference, something Berlin views as "sacrosanct".
In an op-ed on Project Syndicate, former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer argues that Sarkozy's proposals for an economic government on the eurozone "was nothing but a hidden attack against EU members' annual fiscal-deficit ceiling of 3% of GDP and worse, against the ECB's independence."
Project Syndicate FT Le Monde WSJ Guardian Guardian 2 European Voice EUobserver EUobserver2 AFP European Voice FT NRC Volkskrant Euractiv WSJ BBC Westminster Hour
Wallstrom: We must respect No but all eyes are on Ireland
In an interview with the Sunday Business Post, the Commissioner for Communications, Margot Wallstrom, who will be visiting Ireland this week, said that the Irish No to the Lisbon Treaty should be respected. She said, "You cannot just say, 'okay, let's vote again'. But, at the same time, the eyes of the rest of the European Union are on Ireland, seeking a way out. But it is not helpful for me or the commission or other countries to tell Ireland what they should do." Wallstrom also said that the EU's response to the global financial turmoil may persuade voters of the benefits of the Treaty. ''If we had Lisbon in place already, it certainly would have helped us deal with the financial crisis and [the] Georgia, Russia [conflict] better, she said.
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Ban on votes for prisoners is illegal and could invalidate next elections under European Convention on Human Rights, say MPs
The Government must give prisoners the right to vote at the next general election or the poll will be illegal under the European Convention on Human Rights, the Observer reported. The Observer quotes Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights, who have warned Ministers that there is a "significant risk that the next general election will take place in a way that fails to comply with the convention" and that prisoners will be "unlawfully disenfranchised" without a change in the law.
Since the law was implemented Ireland has given all prisoners the right to a postal ballot, although the European Court of Human Rights stipulates that only a blanket ban is illegal. Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Herbert is quoted in the Observer as saying that "sweeping new entitlements for prisoners is a classic example of over-reaching human rights laws" and that "Parliament should make these decisions, not European judges".
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said: "Prisoner voting rights is a sensitive and complex issue, and we need to look very carefully at what the right approach to prisoner enfranchisement in the UK is and at how it would be implemented."
Observer
EU renewable targets meet fresh challenges and higher costs in Britain
The Times reports that BP announced last week that it was abandoning the domestic wind energy industry altogether in search of higher returns in the United States. Other renewable energy projects are struggling under the twin burdens of high costs and a lack of finance.
The paper on Saturday reported the projected cost of one project, the London Array, has soared from £1 billion in 2003 to £3 billion. It noted that the Government wants to build an unprecedented 33 gigawatts of wind power capacity by 2020 to help to meet targets set by the EU, but questions are arising over whether the 15,000 turbines will ever be built.
Times Times 2
Mandelson did discuss EU policy with Russian oligarch
According to a report in the Telegraph, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson "did discuss European Union trade policy with the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska" during his time as EU Trade Commissioner. EU Commission spokesman Peter Power confirmed that "the subject of timber duties came up in conversation" and that Mandelson's claims that he never discussed EU policy with the Russian businessman referred only to their meeting in Corfu.
Although there is still no evidence that aluminum tariffs were discussed, Deripaska does own a wood processing and lumber company, so Mandelson is still open to accusations that a conflict of interest arose as a result of their relationship.
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Czech ratification of Lisbon: ODS challenger opposes ratification
Czech news agency CTK notes that the Mayor of Prague Pavel Bem, who is also the first deputy chairman of the ruling Civic Democrats (ODS) and a contender for the party's chairmanship, has said that he is against his country ratifying the Lisbon Treaty. Although "pro-European", Bem said that "this does not mean that I will be pushing through at any cost a contractual document that no one has even properly read".
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France wants the EU to "get more closely involved" with reconstruction in Iraq, according to confidential documents acquired by FT Deutschland.
Elsevier
European Commission compromises over EU-wide telecommunications regulator
The WSJ reports that the European Commission has agreed to curtail its plans to create a pan-European telecommunications regulator. The paper notes that resistance from the European Parliament and the European Telecommunications Council has led to a revised plan from the Commission. The body will only have competence over telecom regulation, with no oversight of spectrum or network security as previously proposed.
WSJ
Irish government to resist reform of the CAP
The Irish Times reports that the Irish government has told the EU that a radical change to the common agricultural policy (CAP) would risk undermining Europe's security of food supply. The paper notes that the Irish government has called for changes to the post-2013 framework to be "gradual in nature".
Irish Times
A leader in the FT argues that intervention from the EU could save the UN's failing mission in Congo.
FT Leader
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