Open Europe press summary: 19 February 2009

Europe

World Bank President calls for EU support for central and eastern Europe;
Polish PM invites central and eastern EU states to meet separately on financial crisis
In an interview with the FT, the President of the World Bank Robert Zoellick has called for EU-led co-ordinated support for the economies of central and eastern Europe. He said that the World Bank and IMF were trying to help the region but needed more backing from the EU, saying "It's got to have support from the European governments...It's 20 years after Europe was united in 1989 - what a tragedy if you allow Europe to split again."

The Telegraph reports that western European banks have lent approximately 1.13 trillion pounds in eastern Europe, with Austrian, Swedish, Italian, Greek, Belgian, and Swiss banks particularly exposed. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, writing in the paper, reports that Ukraine's GDP has contracted by 20 percent in the last year and warns that "If Ukraine defaults on its foreign debt - or lets its private companies default on their dollar and euro loans - it will lead to near instant contagion through much of Eastern Europe."

Edmund Conway writing in the Telegraph warns that "a second financial tsunami may be about to hit...It's coming from the Eastern European economies, which represent a greater threat to the continent than subprime mortgages did to America."

A separate article in the FT reports that Lithuanian PM Andrius Kubilius has warned, "We are worried about what can happen in Ukraine and Russia. The collapse of one of these markets would have a very negative impact. It would be good to see a more co-ordinated approach". A leader in the FT argues, "How the EU comes to the eastern members' aid will show whether it is a union worthy of the name" and goes on to say "Smaller member states are often the most committed to the EU, but they can do little when their big neighbours cynically undermine it."

Writing in the FT, George Soros argues that the "euro suffers from certain structural deficiencies" and that creating a eurozone government bond market could correct structural deficiencies and bring "immediate benefits."

The Polish PM Donald Tusk has invited the leaders of central and eastern European states in the EU to discuss the economic challenges facing the region ahead of the EU-wide summit on 1 March, according to European Voice. Poland's Minister for Europe Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, is quoted saying "The idea would be to make sure that the EU's response to the crisis is an answer for the EU27, and not just for some member states".

Meanwhile, the WSJ reports that the EU Commission will present Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Latvia and Malta with timetables at the end of March to reduce their budget deficits, which have all broken the 3 percent maximum allowed.

The Guardian reports that the Government's scheme to ring-fence toxic assets has run into opposition from the Commission, which says it poses a threat to competition and the single market.
FT FT 2 FT 3 FT: Leader FT: Lex European Voice WSJ WSJ: Mirow Times Times: Maddox Times: King Telegraph: Conway European Voice 2 FT: Soros IHT FT 4 Telegraph Telegraph: Evans-Pritchard WSJ 2 Telegraph 2 WSJ 3 Independent Guardian Telegraph 3 Project Syndicate FD Brussels Blog De Morgen

Telegraph: MEPs to agree blueprint for European army
The Telegraph reports that a security blueprint charting a path to a European Union army will be agreed by MEPs today. The paper notes that, "The plan, which has influential support in Germany and France, proposes to set up a "Synchronised Armed Forces Europe", or Safe, as a first step towards a true European military force."

The proposals, drafted by Karl von Wogau, a German MEP, envisage a "dynamic to further development of co-operation between national armed forces so that they become increasingly synchronised - this process [should] be given the name Safe". There are also plans to create an EU "Council of Defence Ministers" and "a European statute for soldiers within the framework of Safe governing training standards, operational doctrine and freedom of operational action".

The article quotes Hans-Gert Poettering, the European Parliament's President, saying, "Safe can broaden the debate on the right steps towards closer synchronisation, bringing in those people who cannot yet conceive of a European army."

Geoffrey Van Orden MEP, the Conservative European Defence Spokesman and former Brigadier-General, is quoted warning that British ministers are "in denial". He said, "They are sleepwalking towards a European army and seem to have little awareness of what is going on."

The article notes that the proposals are being announced ahead of a summit marking Nato's 60th anniversary in April where French President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to pledge France's return to Nato's military command structures.

In a letter to the Telegraph, Van Orden, notes that the deal struck between France and Nato will "give France one of the top two military posts in Nato: Supreme Allied Commander Transformation. France will now have the opportunity to adapt Nato to suit its EU agenda."

Meanwhile, the FT notes that Sarkozy's plan to take France back into the permanent command structure of Nato is facing mounting opposition, including from his own party.
Telegraph EU Referendum blog Telegraph: Letters Telegraph: Leader FT IHT: Dempsey

Fitness centre for MEPs to cost 9.2m euros
Die Presse reports that plans to build a fitness centre in the European Parliament for MEPs and staff has the potential to cost 9.2 million euros. German MEP Mechtild Rothe said the plans "cannot be justified". The article notes that "MEPs would prefer a fitness studio, not with cross trainers and treadmills but with a pool for aquagymnastics and a rest room". Die Presse

MEPs threaten to withhold approval of accounts for Council of Ministers
European Voice reports that MEPs are threatening to withhold approval of the accounts of the Council of Ministers, in a dispute about spending on the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The Council has rejected questions from MEPs about their accounts, citing a "gentlemen's agreement" of 1970 that neither EU institution would question the execution of the other's budget. At a meeting of the Parliament's Budgetary Control Committee on 16 February, no one from the Council would respond to MEPs' questions.

However, Austrian Socialist MEP Herbert Bosch, who chairs the Committee, said the threat to withhold approval of the accounts was serious. "It's high time we sorted this out. We're talking about 50 million-100 million euros; we have absolutely no idea what happens to it," he said. The MEPs complain that the 'gentlemen's agreement' predates the CFSP and the appointment of Javier Solana as the Council's High Representative for foreign policy, which has increased the Council's spending.
European Voice

UEFA President tells European Parliament: it is "absurd to want to regulate football" through EU laws
The Guardian reports that Michel Platini, President of European football body UEFA, made an "impassioned speech" to the European Parliament yesterday calling for sport to be granted exemptions from EU competition law. The article notes that the address was "an effort to head off challenges to his organisation's attempts to cap the salaries and expenditure of clubs."

Platini told MEPs, "Professional football is no more a financial service than it is an agricultural activity," he said. "It is just as absurd to want to regulate football through the automatic application of competition law as it would be to do so through the Common Agricultural Policy."

Platini also outlined plans to outlaw international transfers of players under the age of 18, arguing that, "The European Commission talks of free movement of workers from the age of 16. This might have seemed reasonable in the 1950s, but is that still the case today for most skilled jobs, at a time when many European countries have raised the school-leaving age to 18?"
Guardian EurActiv Open Europe blog

Member states block Commission plans to use unspent money for new projects
EurActiv reports that five billion euros of unspent EU funds that the European Commission recently proposed to reallocate to clean energy and broadband projects as part of an economic recovery plan is "legally unavailable", with the proposal rejected by the legal service of the Council of Ministers.
EurActiv

Writing in European Voice, UK Europe Minister Caroline Flint says that "The UK will not support a fixed timetable for enlargement. The pace of negotiations must depend on the pace of reform." She also argues that "We are all better off" with the European Arrest Warrant.
European Voice: Flint

Commission asks public broadcasters to air "politically neutral" advert
EurActiv reports that the Commission has asked public service broadcasters to air a "politically neutral" advert to encourage voter turnout in the European elections in June. In a letter to the European Broadcasting Union, Communications Commissioner Margot Wallstrom urged broadcasters to air the advert from the European Parliament "without the normal commercial charges".
EurActiv

French city traders can claim up to 70,000 pounds a year in unemployment benefits on return home
The Evening Standard yesterday reported that French financiers who are leaving the City in London are returning home on unemployment benefits of more than 70,000 pounds a year in some cases. Unemployment benefits in France equal 57-75 per cent of a jobseeker's last salary, with a maximum of 6,000 pounds a month, and can last for as long as three years, or longer for people nearing retirement. The paper reported that many would not have paid French social security contributions when in London.
Evening Standard

European Voice reports that Czech President Vaclav Klaus is to address the European Parliament this morning, and is expected to restate his opposition to greater European integration.
European Voice

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