Open Europe press summary: 5 January 2009

Europe

EU spends £2 billion a year on propaganda
Open Europe has published new research which shows that the EU is spending billions of euros a year on initiatives to promote itself and its central aim of 'ever closer union'. In 2008 alone, it spent more than 2.4 billion euros, which is more than Coca Cola's global advertising budget. The book, "The hard sell: EU communication policy and the campaign for hearts and minds" shows how EU information policy is geared not towards providing neutral, balanced information, but towards trying to convince people to support EU integration.

As well as a sophisticated information and communication strategy designed to 'sell' the EU and its political message, the EU also spends billions of euros a year on efforts to engender a common European culture and citizenship, with the explicit aim of increasing people's attachment to the EU project. The EU pours hundreds of millions of euros a year into think-tanks and lobby groups which promote its policies and campaign for further EU integration, and many of its efforts are directed very deliberately at young people.

Open Europe's research was covered in the Telegraph and the Mail on 27 December, and in the Sunday Times on 28 December. Open Europe Director Lorraine Mullally was quoted saying, "Taxpayers should not be footing the bill for vain PR exercises to make us love the EU. The EU needs urgent and radical reform, not expensive campaigns to improve its image. People certainly need to know more about the EU, but the EU has proved unable and unwilling to provide neutral, factual information. This senseless spending on dubious PR projects has got to stop." The research also appeared in several European titles, including Courrier International, General-Anzeiger and ANSA.
Telegraph Mail Sunday Times The hard sell: EU communication policy and the campaign for hearts and minds OE press release

Czech Republic assumes EU Presidency
The Czech Republic took over the EU Presidency on 1 January. Open Europe has published a new briefing note which looks at the likely developments in the EU in 2009. It examines the agenda of the Czech EU Presidency, and looks ahead to the second Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, and other key events such as the European elections.
Open Europe Briefing BBC Independent-Lichfield Mail FT Telegraph Irish Times Le Monde

EU foreign policy chief admits a "failure of diplomacy" in Gaza crisis
The Independent reports that European efforts to broker a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel were in disarray last night with the Israeli ground offensive striking deep inside Gaza amid internal EU disagreement on how to respond to the crisis.

The Guardian notes that Javier Solana, the EU's High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, admitted there had been a "failure of diplomacy" in response to the Gaza crisis so far. The paper notes that an EU delegation, led by the Czech Republic, the holders of the EU Presidency, is due to meet the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank.

However, in a sign of the EU's failure to coordinate a united response, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is due to arrive in Jerusalem today conducting his own "freelance" mission, the Times reports. De Standaard quotes Sarkozy saying it was "the calling of France" to "seek ways for peace everywhere", while reporting that the Élysée Palace has declared that the French initiative is "fully coordinated" with Prague.

The Times notes that the Czechs have already caused confusion by first calling the Israeli move defensive, then insisting later that this was a misunderstanding and joining the general call for a ceasefire. Gordon Brown called for an immediate ceasefire, while the Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said Israel could not be condemned as long as Hamas was firing rockets.

A leader in the Times describes the EU's response as "especially lamentable". The paper argues that "Hostilities in Gaza demanded a mature and united diplomatic response...But behind the perfunctory call for a ceasefire issued on Saturday, what it saw instead was an unseemly squabble."
Times: Leader Times IHT BBC New Europe Independent Guardian Guardian-letters De Standaard Telegraaf Nouvel observateur

Poll shows 71% of British against joining the euro
On New Year's Day, the BBC Radio 4 World at One programme published an ICM poll which showed that 71% of British people are against joining the euro, and 23% are in favour. Meanwhile, a YouGov poll for Business for New Europe, reported in the Independent, showed that 56% of small business leaders believed the euro had succeeded since its launch, compared with 14% who thought it had failed. 61% thought it was a sustainable currency in the long term, while 18% disagreed. 41% of small business leaders said the crisis had strengthened the argument for British membership and 32% said it had weakened the case.

An FT/Harris poll reported on 29 December showed that just 22% of British people liked the idea of the euro replacing sterling, while majorities in France, Italy, Spain and Germany were opposed to returning to national currencies. The poll also found a widespread belief that the euro could overtake the dollar in global importance within five years, but more than half of Italians and Spanish and 47% of Germans and 44% of the French thought that the ECB's inflation-fighting performance was "bad" or "terrible."
Independent Times Telegraph Telegraph: Hannan blog Guardian

Economist: euro is heading for its trickiest moments in its short life;
The Euro's 10 year anniversary
A leader in today's Times argues that the "euro remains wrong for Britain. The issue arises now not because of inherent problems with a system of monetary independence, but because UK policymakers have made mistakes." It goes on to say that the biggest argument against the euro is that "monetary union is a stage towards political union. Political union is neither desirable nor democratic."

A feature in the Economist noted that "From the standpoint of economic stability, the euro has been a success" but argued that a common currency has "not fostered faster economic growth" and that "existing members are struggling with the rigours of a currency union". A leader in the paper argued that "it would be wrong to infer from the birthday celebrations that the euro's troubles are over. In truth the single currency is heading for the trickiest moments of its short life." A leader in the Independent noted that "It is high time for the Government to consider the merits of euro membership in the present circumstances."

In the Mail, William Hague promised that the Conservatives will never take Britain into the euro, and in the Times, Oliver Kamm argued that "Detractors of the single currency have been proved wrong. We would be much better off in the eurozone." In the Telegraph Ambrose Evans-Pritchard warned, "We are too close to events to draw definitive conclusions about EMU or the crash in sterling."

Harvard Economist Martin Feldstein, former head of the US National Bureau of Economic Research, has predicted that the possibility of one or more countries in need of looser monetary policy choosing to withdraw from the EMU cannot be ruled out.

In the Sunday Times, Michael Portillo looked at Peter Mandelson and the prospects of the UK joining the euro, suggesting that the Conservatives should "argue that if Gordon Brown wins another term many will conclude that Britain's only hope is to allow the European Central Bank to impose the discipline that the government has renounced."

Slovakia became the 16th country to join the Euro on 1 January, reports FAZ.
Monde FAZ FT-Cienski WSJ Times-Leader FT-Letters Economist Economist-Leader FT-Atkins Independent-Leader Times-Hasell Telegraph-Heffer Mail

Weak pound adds £3.6bn to UK's contribution to EU budget
The Independent on Sunday reported that the falling value of the pound has added £3.6 billion to the amount the UK Government must pay in to the EU budget over the next three years. This is on top of a trebling of the UK contribution to the EU budget revealed in a Pre-Budget report in November - from £2 billion this year to £6.5 billion in 2011 - figures that were calculated at a time when £1 was worth 1.4 euros.

Lib-Dem Treasury spokesman Vince Cable is quoted in the Independent criticising the Government for giving away part of the UK's rebate three years ago. He said, "Tony Blair should have insisted on much more far-reaching commitments on agricultural reform, and that failure is costing us in higher contributions now. When sterling was riding high, Britain appeared to be a rich country. Now we are a poorer country but, because of the currency movements, we are being asked to contribute even more to the EU budget. It is utterly perverse." The Conservatives added that the Government may now be forced to borrow even more to cover the bill.
Independent on Sunday Sunday Express

Fox: Lisbon Treaty will increase EU influence on defence policy
Writing in the Telegraph on 2 January, the Shadow Defence Secretary Liam Fox argued that the Lisbon Treaty will give the EU Commission increasing influence on defence issues. The Treaty will see qualified majority voting in the European Defence Agency, which will mean that Britain will lose its national veto. He also writes that "duplicating Nato structures will potentially create competition for the same scarce resources."

The Irish Defence Minister Willie O'Dea has said that voters will get guarantees on conscription and defence spending before a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, reported Saturday's Irish Times.

Writing in the Irish Times on 24 December, Dr Karen Devine, postdoctoral Fellow at the school of law and government in Dublin City University, argued that "a neutral state cannot legally or politically sign up to the Lisbon Treaty because it is an alliance commitment that violates neutrality." She argued that the mutual defence clause in article 28A (7) effectively constitutes a new EU military alliance and prejudices neutrality. She said: "Common defence can be interpreted as the EU term for collective defence. A neutral state cannot legally or politically sign up to this Article 28A(2) in the Lisbon Treaty because it confirms a definite, rather than a possible, intention to create a common/collective defence that involves going beyond military alliance commitments."
Irish Times Telegraph: Fox Irish Times 2

ECB Vice-President wants to expand bank's powers
In an interview with German business magazine Wirtschaftswoche, ECB Vice-President Lucas Papademos has proposed that the ECB should be given new powers to supervise large banks operating across national borders in the euro zone. He said that the ECB and the national central banks "could become the supervisory authority for cross-border banking groups. Such a structure could combine centralised decision-making at the euro-area level with decentralised implementation by the competent national authorities. I believe that we - the ECB and the eurosystem - would perform this task effectively."
Irish Times FT FAZ

Junior doctors may require exemption from EU working time rules
On 30 December the FT reported that the Department of Health has admitted that junior doctors could need an exemption from the EU's 48-hour working week. The admission came as the British Medical Association warned that many hospitals were insufficiently prepared for a change that doctors' leaders fear will hit training and patient care. The paper noted that the most recent survey of doctors' hours, from April, suggested that half of posts already complied with the rules but 46 per cent did not, potentially leaving hospitals open to fines.
FT

EU reluctant to act in Ukrainian-Russian gas dispute, while gas shortages threaten EuropeGazprom has cut the flow of gas to Ukraine after its existing contract expired and the two sides failed to reach agreement on a new deal. An EU fact-finding mission is being sent to Kiev in a bid to clarify the situation, and a meeting of EU diplomats in Brussels will take place today. The Czech EU presidency and the European Commission are reportedly reluctant to be dragged into what they say is a purely bilateral trade issue, while Le Figaro points out that "being a former Soviet satellite, the Czech Republic tries to avoid hiding its natural wariness towards Moscow while having to mediate a debate which is potentially devastating for EU unity."Times Irish Times FT Telegraph BBC Nieuwsblad WSJ Guardian Independent on Sunday Sunday Times Mail Earth Times Figaro

EU pesticides ban could "wipe out" carrot crop and double the cost of potatoes
The Observer looked at a report from the Pesticides Safety Directorate, which warns that the UK's carrot industry could be "wiped out" under the EU's new pesticide regulations, which are to be agreed by the European Parliament and the Council in January. The study also predicts that the cost of potatoes will double and bread will go up by 9p a loaf.
Observer

Hoon "gagging" for the position as European Commissioner
The Observer noted that Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon is likely to be offered the post as the UK's European Commissioner, taking over from Lady Ashton who has been filling in for Peter Mandelson. A senior Labour colleague said Hoon was "gagging" for the position. However, Ashton is believed to be "very keen" to have her temporary appointment made permanent, reports the article.
Observer

In an article in US magazine the National Interest looking at the attempts to push through the Lisbon Treaty despite the Irish 'No', Open Europe's Mats Persson is quoted saying that "It's a sad day for democracy when Europe's politicians gang up on their citizens, rather than trying to win over their trust."
National Interest

Karel Lannoo: Sarkozy pursued interests of French state as EU President responding to credit crisisIn an op-ed in De Standaard, Karel Lannoo of Brussels think tank CEPS has warned that "several EU countries are expected to violate considerably the Maastricht budgetary deficit limit", adding that "during the credit crisis, the lack of EU power was remarkable and member states have fallen back in their old reflexes of supporting national players, without taking into account European consequences." Assessing the response of the French presidency, he said that "Sarkozy may have been cheered at for his prompt response to the crisis, he has done it in a way his party and the French state wanted it."De Standaard

UK faces EU court case over air pollution
The EU is planning to take Britain to court for persistently breaching air pollution laws over a sooty particle known as PM10, which could result in unlimited daily fines, reported the Guardian on 2 January. A separate directive, which came into force last June, also requires levels of nitrogen dioxide on some busy streets to be reduced by more than a third by the end of this year, but a spokesman from the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs admitted that "we are unlikely to meet the 2010 deadline in respect of nitrogen dioxide."
Guardian

EU rules create 'waste mountains' as recycling market collapses
The Mail on Sunday looked at how household rubbish, which cannot be burned or buried under the EU's Landfill Directive, is piling up as the recycling market has collapsed. According to the article, Recycling UK has estimated that 100,000 tons of local authority waste is sitting in warehouses costing taxpayers about £2million. A leader in the paper argues that "This law, like so many others, was made in Brussels, not Westminster, and cannot be altered by our Parliament."
Main on Sunday Mail on Sunday-leader

Brown suffered record rebellions over Lisbon Treaty
The Times on 26 December wrote that research conducted by the University of Nottingham revealed that Gordon Brown suffered more back bench revolts during the 2007-08 parliamentary session than any other governing party for more than 30 years, and that more than a quarter of those were over the Lisbon Treaty.
Times

Windfarm revolution tangled in red tape
Britain's windfarm industry is facing difficulty in the form of planning delays and construction cost rises which threaten to sink the Government's climate change targets, reported the Guardian on 29 December. The British Wind Energy Association stated that the rate of planning approvals was actually slowing down.
Guardian

Irish PM Brian Cowen is being advised to appoint former Taoiseach John Bruton as Ireland's next European Commissioner to "keep Ireland at the centre of Europe".
Irish Independent

Leading providers of annuities have criticised new EU solvency rules - the so-called Solvency II - warning that such rules could force them to hold billions of pounds of extra capital and cut annuity pay-outs to pensioners, the FT reports.
FT

UK

There has been speculation that David Cameron may be considering a move to pitch Ken Clarke against Lord Mandelson by bringing him back to frontline politics.
Mail

Thursday's Guardian reported that senior civil servants have held talks with the Liberal Democrats over their plans for Government as Whitehall prepares for a hung parliament in which they hold the balance of power.
Guardian