Open Europe press summary: 24 November 2008

Europe

German conservatives ask Merkel to water down EU climate pact
Following Warsaw's rejection of a set of compromise measures offered on the EU energy and climate package, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will today meet his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk to discuss the plan. Le Figaro notes that "marathon" negotiations are underway to try and secure agreement for the controversial package within the next two weeks.

AFP reports that German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced calls from fellow conservatives yesterday to water down the EU package until the economy gets moving again. "The carbon dioxide reduction targets at the EU level must be organised so they do not endanger jobs," said Bavarian premier Horst Seehofer, whose state is home to such German automakers as BMW and Audi.

Meanwhile, German Finance Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, in an interview with Le Monde, said of the climate package: "It is good to take into account what is being asked of the big industrial sectors in Europe. It doesn't do anyone any good if companies, and along them jobs, leave Europe, only because overseas there are no climate protection directives."

The UK is closer to facing major power shortages than at any time for 20 years, a report from the consultancy CapGemini will warn today, according to the Independent. The report notes that, while there has been some modest investment in renewable power, most of the money has been spent on wind technologies, which do not produce reliable supply at peak hours. This is one reason, warns CapGemini, why the security of power supply has now begun to deteriorate.

In order to meet the proposed EU targets for 20% of energy to come from renewable sources by 2020, the UK will need to implement a huge expansion in wind capacity.
Independent Spiegel AFP AFP Open Europe blog Le Monde FT El Pais Open Europe blog 2 Mail

Irish told: keep Commissioner only after ratifying Lisbon
On Saturday the Irish Independent reported that Ireland could keep its EU Commissioner but it will first have to ratify the Lisbon Treaty in a second referendum. Senior European Commission officials have said that member states could agree to change the number of Commissioners, but this could only happen if the Treaty was passed. "You could, if there was a referendum, give assurances on changing the number of Commissioners," the paper's source said. "There's a desire to help Ireland, but not to renegotiate. The EU wants to solve this as quickly as possible."

Dutch daily Trouw reports that the leader of the centre-right EPP-ED group in the European Parliament, Joseph Daul MEP, has threatened that countries that do not ratify the Lisbon Treaty risk losing their Commissioner.

The Irish Times reports that anti-Lisbon campaigners have warned of court action against a second referendum on the Treaty: "Forging ahead with such a plan would almost surely run the risk of a constitutional challenge," said Ms McKenna, speaking on behalf of the People's Movement.

Czech news agency CTK, reported on Saturday that the Czech Constitutional Court's Deputy Chairwoman Eliska Wagnerova told Czech television that it is a very difficult task for the Court to reach a verdict on the Lisbon Treaty because it may influence the whole politics of the EU. The Court will hold an open debate on the Treaty on Tuesday, deciding whether the Treaty is in accordance with Czech laws.

The Irish Independent reports that the head of Libertas Declan Ganley is taking legal action against politicians that made allegations about his links to the US military. Ganley was accused of receiving US funding for Libertas' No campaign in the Lisbon Treaty referendum.
Irish Independent Irish Times Irish Independent 2 Irish Independent-Coleman Trouw

Fitzgibbon: How Irish Times lost the Lisbon plot
In the Irish edition of the Sunday Times, Editor Frank Fitzgibbon argued that the claims that the paper had "single-handedly 'silenced' the Yes side in last summer's referendum on the Lisbon treaty" was "an outlandish suggestion". The claim was made in the Irish Times last week.

Fitzgibbon said that the Sunday Times had decided to support a No vote to Lisbon in its comment section, "conscious that just about every other media outlet was strongly supporting the Yes side and unconvinced by any of the arguments put forward by its proponents". He noted: "Having digested a guide to the constitutional treaty published by the Open Europe think tank, it was clear that Lisbon contained all sorts of booby traps for unsuspecting voters. It was our job to bring these to the attention of readers since no other Irish media outlet seemed interested in doing so." Fitzgibbon concluded that "The Irish Times has every right to be pro-Lisbon but it should drop the pretence that it is an objective participant in this debate."
Sunday Times

EU's £1 billion translators bill "spiralling out of control"
The Sunday Express reported that the EU is spending almost a quarter of Britain's annual contribution to the EU on translating documents that "hardly anyone reads". The paper reported the EU's own figures that say that each page costs £150 to translate, double the commercial rate. The article quotes an EU official who says that that the translation budget represented "good value".
No link

The Sunday Times reported that UK MEP David Sumberg has been receiving more than £40,000 a year for office expenses despite having no office in his constituency, and pays his wife £54,000 as a secretary. The paper reports that he has only made two speeches in the European Parliament since 2004.
No link

German national television ZDF had a feature based on Open Europe's briefing "100 examples of EU fraud and waste". Open Europe's Pieter Cleppe appeared on the program, criticising the EU for spending its money on wasteful projects. The briefing was also reported in Austrian daily Kurier and Estonia's Postimees.
ZDF Kurier Postimees Open Europe briefing

European Parliament proposes EU-wide procedure for residence permits for non-EU migrants
Agence Europe reports that the European Parliament has proposed a single EU-wide procedure for issuing residence/work permits to non-EU migrants. It will also grant equal social rights for legal migrants from non-EU countries. The draft directive, which is still under discussion in the Council, complements the "blue card" plan which was adopted on the same day.

MEPs rejected an amendment which would have allowed member states to require migrants to prove that they had an adequate knowledge of the native language for access to education or training. It was decided that each member state should be able to determine how long permits should be valid, and the directive will not affect states' rights on admission of foreigners to their jobs market.
No link

MEPs encourage militarised EU space policy
Agence Europe reports that the European Parliament last week adopted a resolution on space policy. The EP has invited the Council and Commission to encourage synergy between civilian and security developments in space, underlining that the EU's Security and Defence Policy depends on the availability of satellite systems, and that the development of a European space policy makes a strong contribution to forming a European identity. The EP stressed the need to examine the possibility of creating a new specific budgetary line for space as part of the EU budget, should the Lisbon Treaty provisions on space policy take effect.
No link

Merkel unwilling to jeopardise Germany's balanced budget for EU economic stimulus plan
Le Figaro notes that the Commission will unveil on Wednesday its proposals for a support package for the EU 27 - a "packet" which will total 130bn euros. Chancellor Merkel is said to be "favourable" towards the package, but unwilling to pay out anything more than anyone else or to bail out other countries by tipping Germany's balanced budget into deficit spending. Merkel is also opposed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan for a 'European economic government'.

The article notes that "Paris and Berlin want to attack sectors that are not subject to regulation, which will focus on certain industries (hedge funds)".
Le Figaro El Pais FT FT Telegraph WSJ FAZ El Pais

Internal Market Commissioner: common EU tax base is ill-conceived
The Irish Times reports that Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has reiterated his opposition to a common EU corporate tax base. He argued it is not difficult to demonstrate that the proposal is ill-conceived -"I hope and expect that, before long, a broad consensus will emerge, both within the commission and beyond, on that fact," he said. He added that any benefits from such a system would be minimal and certainly not remotely comensurate with the risks involved.
Irish Times

EU to give 1bn euros to farmers in developing countries - but not from CAP budget
The FT reports that the EU ministers on Friday agreed to give 1bn euros to help poor farmers in developing countries. EU budget officials and MEPs reached an agreement late on Friday to make the payments over a three-year period. The funds are to help farmers in developing countries buy seeds and fertilizer to increase production.

DW notes that after complaints from other member some member states, including Germany and the European Parliament, the money will not come from unused EU farming subsidies. Instead funds from the external relations budget will be re-allocated.
AFP DW FT European Voice

On Friday the European Commission held a conference in Paris to celebrate 35 years of the Eurobarometer, at which Commission officials, MEPs and national politicians blamed the Irish 'no' vote on the EU's "communications problem".
Open Europe blog

WSJ: Lifting EU rules on vegetables not a big victory for deregulation
An editorial in the WSJ looks at the Commission's decision to lift rules dictating the appropriate size and shape of 26 different kinds of fruits and vegetables. The new rules met stiff resistance from 16 of the EU's 27 member states. The EU will also continue to set standards for 10 other fruits and vegetables that account for 75% of the value of EU trade, including apples and tomatoes".
WSJ-editorial

Booker: EU's fishery policy an "ecological catastrophe"
In the Sunday Telegraph, Christopher Booker looked at the EU's Common Fisheries Policy, noting that the "inevitable consequence" of the EU's quota system "was that it would create an ecological catastrophe, as fishermen were forced to dump huge quantities of fish which they couldn't avoid catching but for which they didn't have quota."
Sunday Telegraph

Austria's two main centrist parties have agreed on a coalition government, but divisions over the future ratification of EU treaties have not been resolved. Euractiv notes that the coalition agreement indicates that the government will fall if one party decides to push for a referendum on a new EU treaty.
Euractiv Irish Times BBC WSJ DW

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner praised EU troops stationed in Chad, saying that the mission "gives us an idea of what the EU common defence and security policy could look like"
Irish Times

Le Figaro reports that French MP Nicolas Dupont-Aignan has set out the stall of his party, 'Debout Le Republique', ahead of the European elections next year. The party will claim to represent the 16 million French people who voted 'No' to the EU Constitution in 2005, and will "offer the choice of a radical Plan B" for Europe.
No link

The FT reports that the European Commission is expected to announce this week that it will accelerate at least 6bn euros of structural fund payments and simplify red tape around applications, to help regenerate local economics in the recession.
FT

Polish president Lech Kaczynski has claimed that Russian troops fired on the convoy that he was travelling in with the Georgian president, and has called on the EU to "draw consequences" from the incident.
EUobserver Mail

EU Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, has warned Germany and France not to start a "subsidy race" with the US to save the auto industry.
BBC

The French Socialist party remains deeply divided after an inconclusive leadership election left both candidates claiming victory.
IHT FT Telegraph Telegraph: Leader FT

UK

Brown moves to kill off "Super Thursday" election speculation
Gordon Brown has apparently been considering calling a general election on 4 June next year to coincide with local and European elections, according to Friday's Evening Standard. However, the Mail reports today that he has now moved to "kill off" such speculation following a recent poll that gave the Conservatives an 11-point lead.
Evening Standard Mail