Open Europe press summary: 17 November 2008

Europe

G20 'rejects protectionism'; EU puts fresh import duties on Chinese goods
Leaders of G20 countries agreed a joint statement this weekend stating: "We underscore the critical importance of rejecting protectionism and not turning inward in times of financial uncertainty", committing themselves to not raise new barriers to investment or trade in goods and services over the next 12 months. Gordon Brown described protectionism as a "road to ruin", citing the experience of the 1930s.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that the Commission put anti-dumping duties on Chinese-made candles and non-alloy steel products on Saturday. The British Retail Consortium described Saturday's move as "worrying". Alisdair Gray, BRC Director, said: "The EU must show some sensitivity and understanding of the impact of the global recession on hard-pressed customers before Christmas".

According to the Times, the Commission said it would take WTO action against the US is aid to the car industry is judged illegal.
Reuters AP IHT WSJ WSJ 2 Independent Independent-leader Guardian EUobserver AFP DW

10p in every £1 of British taxpayers' money paid out incorrectly by EU
The Sunday Telegraph had a feature on EU waste and fraud, following last week's report from the European Court of Auditors showing that more than 6bn euros were wrongly paid out by the EU. The article notes that much of the money is unlikely to be returned, having either been obtained fraudulently or "squandered on white elephant projects around Europe". The feature cited examples contained in Open Europe's briefing note, '100 Examples of EU Fraud and Waste'.

It is noted that around 11 per cent of the £36bn budget for "regional and social'' funds - more than 10p in every £1 handed to Europe by British taxpayers - should not have been disbursed in the first place.
Open Europe research

Irish would vote for Lisbon if given assurances over neutrality, abortion and taxation, says poll
An Irish Times/TNS mrbi poll has found that if there were certain assurances made on a number of issues relating to the Lisbon Treaty, 43% would vote 'Yes', 39% would vote 'No', and 18% say they don't know. In the poll, people were asked how they would vote if the Treaty was modified to allow Ireland to retain an EU Commissioner and other Irish concerns on neutrality, abortion and taxation were clarified in special declarations.

Meanwhile, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin, told RTÉ that the government will decide in advance of the next European summit on December 11 and 12 whether to hold a re-run referendum. When asked if the government would hold another referendum if it got the necessary assurances, he said: "The Government will make that decision in advance of the December meeting. We haven't made that decision as of now . . . We have looked at a variety of alternatives and we've also consulted with our political parties here at home. We do want to genuinely make it a societal effort here, it is not just the Government."

Asked if there was a case for doing nothing, Martin replied: "Absolutely not, that would leave us at the margins in terms of Europe."

In the Irish Sunday Independent, Bruce Arnold looked at the Irish government's criticism of Czech President Vaclav Klaus over his meeting with Libertas' Chairman Declan Ganley. Arnold noted, "What Martin did was significantly worse than bad manners. Politically, it was grossly biased. As Declan Ganley said in his speech at the dinner he gave for the Czech president, 'When the current president, Nicolas Sarkozy, visited Ireland in the summer, after our referendum, he was outspokenly on the minority losing side. Yet we ensured he talked freely to those he wanted to meet, including those who had won and represented the majority.'"

The Irish edition of the Mail features a list of the Irish Government's 'worst gaffes'. It includes "Attacking an Open Europe researcher for meddling in Ireland's Lisbon campaign who turned out to be Irish".
Bloombeerg PA Irish Times Irish Independent Irish Times Irish Independent Editorial - Irish Times EUobserver

EU's fraud watchdog investigated for fraud
The EU's own anti-fraud watchdog OLAF is now under investigation over its staff nomination procedures, following an appointment to OLAF's staff selection board of a woman who was herself under investigation.

Paul van Buitenen, the Dutch MEP, whose revelations on fraud helped bring down the Commission ten years ago, said, "There are many irregularities in Olaf... Normally it is Olaf which investigates but this time the Commission is investigating Olaf. It's very unusual."
Telegraph

Sarkozy suggests freezing US missile defence project in Europe
Nicolas Sarkozy has called for the formation of a "European security system", to be discussed next year. He said that US plans for an anti-missile system in eastern Europe should be frozen, arguing that it would do "nothing" for security on the continent. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Barack Obama said last week that the president-elect "supports deploying a missile-defense system when the technology is proved to be workable."

According to European Voice, Sarkozy said on Georgia, "If you consider the strategy of some of the 'friends of Georgia' and the strategy of the EU, the EU one is far better". The Coulisses de Bruxelles blog describes the EU/Russia summit as "Game, set and match for Moscow."
Le Monde European Voice WSJ Welt Coulisses de Bruxelles

WSJ: EU's reversal on Russia is "embarrassing"
The EU has announced that it is resuming economic co-operation talks with Russia, only 10 weeks after they were suspended over the Georgia crisis. A leader in the WSJ argues that, "Europe's reversal is embarrassing on a number of levels", particularly because the rationale offered for their resumption by French President Sarkozy and Commission President Barroso was that the negotiations were only ever "postponed".

The leader also suggests that, "with Europe in retreat, Moscow will be under no pressure to compromise" and that "thawing negotiations" so quickly after they were suspended will not likely produce a successful strategy.
WSJ Leader

Joschka Fischer: Barroso is incompetent
In an article published in Le Figaro last week, former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said that EU Commission President Jose Barroso is "incompetent." He said that the European Commission had "proven its almost total inaptitude" in economic and financial matters, and that if Barroso's mandate is renewed for another five years, it would be down to his "innocuousness." French Foreign Minister Jean-Pierre Jouyet has also attacked Barroso's response to the financial crisis.
Coulisses de Bruxelles

IHT: EU made an "astounding miscalculation" in bringing in Bulgaria and Romania so early
An editorial in the IHT highlights the "devastating" corruption in the EU's newest members, Romania and Bulgaria, and argues that the two eastern European nations were not ready for EU membership and that since joining corruption and fraud has not abated. Hopes amongst EU leaders that membership would be improve transparency was an "astounding miscalculation" and the piece notes that instead "the prospect of billions in EU subsidies only encouraged the criminals to diversify from smuggling and extortion and to burrow into the political and judicial systems - the better to siphon off EU money". The piece concludes that "The wrong conclusion would be to close the EU door forever. The right one would be to ensure that those who pass through it are ready".
IHT: Leader

Breakthrough 'very close' on climate package: Poland
Point Carbon reports that EU talks on the bloc's controversial climate package are making headway, according to Poland's prime minister.

The FT on Saturday noted that the rising costs of offshore wind, essential to meet the UK's obligation under the EU targets, are beginning to "alarm" Centrica.

European Report notes that "The European Parliament will vote sooner than expected [on the climate package], on 3 December 2008, before the next EU summit, on 11-12 December. The Parliament has decided to advance its voting schedule in order to combat the decision taken by Mr. Sarkozy by pressuring the European Council into considering its position and thus preventing a possible watering down of the text by the European Council."
Point Carbon FT FT Independent-letters

The News of the World reported that Peter Mandelson is on a £202,778 a year salary, which puts him ahead of Gordon Brown. Mandelson receives a £78,000 a year "transitional allowance" and £15,200 in "resettlement expenses" from the EU.
No link

Catholic Church urges Irish to obey their "European responsibilities"
Ireland's destiny and identity are "clearly and irrevocably bound with that of Europe", the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Most Rev Diarmuid Martin, has said, according to Satuday's Irish Times. "Ireland cannot evade its European calling nor shrink from its European responsibilities," he added.
Irish Times

Pro-euro commentators revive calls for Britain to join the euro
In the Evening Standard, Roland Rudd Chairman of Business for New Europe: "While at present the political risks of putting the euro back on the agenda outweigh the possible economic benefits, if the fall in sterling not only continues but leads to a slump then the Prime Minister may find the euro being considered as it was in the run-up to 1997." He claims that his view is shared by an unnamed "newspaper magnate". Will Hutton argues in the Observer that the UK must join the euro now.

Dan Hannan writes on his Telegraph blog in response to the articles: "Hang on, chaps: weren't you arguing that we should join eighteen months ago, when the pound was more than 30 per cent more valuable than now? What if we had taken your advice then? The financial crisis in Britain could not have been cushioned by the exchange rate; it would instead have been felt in output and jobs."

Writing in Frankfurter Allgemeine, Joachim Fels makes the point that the crisis has the potential both to weaken and to strengthen a monetary union, and his take is that the euro area is strengthened as a result.

Writing in the FT, Wolfgang Munchau argues "Judged from a narrow economic perspective, which is how the British looked at this, they were right to stay out during the euro's first 10 years. The tangible economic benefits that came with an independent monetary policy outweighed the much less tangible economic benefits of membership." He argues however, that the financial crisis may have changed this situation.
FAZ Eurointelligence Hannan Evening Standard FT Munchau FT Atkins WSJ-editorial Observer

MEPs propose specific new treaty on security and defence
European Report notes that MEPs Andrew Duff and Karl von Wogau have proposed a new security and defence treaty. Duff's suggestion, made at the European Parliament's Defence Subcommittee, recommends having a new treaty or a specific protocol on security and defence signed by the member states "that want to go further with the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) and including at least the core of the system" contained in the Lisbon Treaty, which would allow "the possibility of having permanent structured cooperation".
No link

The European Commission imposed tough conditions on German bank bailouts, according to FT Deutschland. The German bailout scheme is regarded in Brussels as too generous, and potentially distortive
Eurointelligence

Jean-Pierre Jouyet, the French European affairs ministers, and one of the Socialists Sarkozy invited into his government, will quit his post after the next EU summit in December to take up the job of head of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, the French version of the SEC.
FT

Agence Europe reports that the European Commission has threatened to take action at the WTO over US plans to aid its motor industry.
No link

Polish PM: President "has no intention" of signing Lisbon Treaty
According to the PAP News Agency, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk complained on Saturday that President Lech Kaczynski has refused to sign the Lisbon Treaty despite his public promises to do so. Tusk suggested that the Kaczynski's decision not to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy on his visit to Poland on December 6 is evidence of President's intention not to sign.

Previous reports have suggested Sarkozy wanted to use the occasion to persuade Kaczynski to sign the Treaty. Kaczynski's chancellery said it had warned that the date was unsuitable because the president is unable to postpone his trip to Asia between 1 to 7 December. However, Tusk said, "It is not that the date is inopportune. The truth is that Lech Kaczynski has no intention to sign the Treaty, even though he negotiated it and then publicly declared he would sign it."
No link

Iceland drafts plan for 2011 EU entry
An application for EU membership could be made by Iceland as early as 2009, following an announcement from the country's prime minister of a commission to investigate membership, EUobserver reports.
EUobserver

French Socialists squabble over challenge to Sarkozy
France's Socialist party, at a conference this weekend, failed to agree on a new leader or a policy platform to oppose the leadership of President Nicolas Sarkozy. Former presidential candidate Ségolène Royal was at the centre of the controversy, and despite plenty of opposition within the divided party, is likely to be elected leader of the main opposition party in France.
IHT Times

UK Foreign Secretary David Milliband has called on other European nations to tighten up on customs procedures when importing Israeli goods into the EU, to ensure that produce from controversial West Bank settlements does not benefit from trade deals negotiated for Israeli goods.
FT Haaretz