Open Europe press summary: 23 February 2009

Europe

MEPs can make extra million from claiming allowances
A new report from Taxpayers' Alliance shows that Members of the European Parliament can make almost 1.2 million pounds from a single five-year term by claiming various types of parliamentary allowances, reported the Sunday Times. The TPA has also obtained a copy of a report by the Parliament's Head of Internal Audit, Robert Galvin, revealing widespread misuse of MEPs' allowance. The report was written in 2006 and its existence was revealed by Lib-Dem MEP Chris Davies last year.

Chris Davies is quoted saying that many of the recommendations in the Galvin report have not been implemented: "If five steps are needed, the parliament always seems to take only two. We are now better than the Italian system but a long way short of the standards of the House of Commons," he said.

According to the Sunday Times, the Galvin report shows that some MEPs claimed allowances for paying assistants of whom no record exists, awarded them bonuses of up to 1 and a half times their annual salary and diverted public money into front companies.

Meanwhile, figures complied by the TPA show that over a five-year term MEPs can put aside 450,000 pounds from staff allowances, 105,000 pounds from accommodation allowances, 217,800 pounds from office expenses by claiming their home was also their constituency office, 54,000 pounds from travel allowances and 350,000 pounds from pension schemes.

It is noted that British MEPs will see their pay rise by almost 50% after June's election.

In a separate article in the Sunday Times, David Craig notes that "The past few months have been an interesting time to be working in Brussels. Outside, in the real world, reputable banks crumbled to dust, shares went into a nosedive, big companies became close to worthless, hundreds of thousands lost their jobs and millions feared the worst. Inside the Eurobubble, you'd hardly have known. The elite continued to go to champagne receptions in the evenings before eating in highly rated restaurants at taxpayers' expense. They continued to flit from city to city to attend meetings; continued to fly around the world on fact-finding missions; and continued to think of ever more rules and regulations to help organise the lives of the EU's almost 500m citizens."
Sunday Times Sunday Times 2 BBC Mail Telegraph-leader

Fire service "could not function effectively" without retained staff
The Sunday Express reported that the fire service in rural areas could be devastated by plans to extend the EU's 48-working week to part-time, known as retained, firefighters. According to the paper, many fire stations are manned entirely by the retained service and around a third of the UK's 57,000 firefighters are retained.

The paper reported that Britain's opt-out from the 48-hour week is under threat following a vote in the European Parliament in December to end it. It quotes the Chief Fire Officers Association saying that the service "could not function effectively" without retained fire crews.

The Belfast Telegraph also reports that Northern Ireland could lose 1,000 firefighters if the opt-out is lost and that of the 68 fire stations in Northern Ireland, 46 are staffed on a purely retained basis.

Meanwhile, the Herald reports that Scottish MEP Alyn Smith has warned that a third of care homes in Scotland could close as a result of the EU's 48-hour week, saying "It would be unconscionable if councils across Scotland had to withdraw out-of-hours crisis services because of working time legislation, but these are the sort of options now under consideration."
Herald Belfast Telegraph

EU leaders agree to regulate "all financial markets, products and participants";
Calls to boost IMF for eastern Europe bailout
The FT reports that European leaders yesterday outlined far-reaching proposals to regulate financial markets and hedge funds and clamp down on tax havens as they sought a common position to combat the global economic crisis.

The heads of government and finance ministers of Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Luxembourg, as well as the President of the European Commission, met in hope of reaching a common European position ahead of April's G20 summit in London.

In a joint statement, they endorsed a plan to create a comprehensive regulatory framework that covers "all financial markets, products and participants - including hedge funds and other private pools of capital which may pose a systemic risk".

The article notes that, "Although the details need to be worked out, this consensus is a victory for France and Germany, which have championed the need for a seamless regulatory architecture in the face of resistance from the UK, where many hedge funds are based."

The BBC notes that Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country currently holds the EU Presidency, voiced concern over divisions between Europe's major economies. "It was obvious that the four countries representing the EU in the G20 [France, Germany, Britain, Italy] do not have the same opinion on a number of issues," he said. "If I put it very tenderly, the divergence in opinions was rather big."

In the Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard notes that, "The concerted attack on hedge funds is ominous for the City, which commands 21pc of global hedge fund business and four-fifths of Europe's total. While the UK's 900 funds have taken a beating over the last 18 months, they have fared better than banks. Their average leverage is far lower, and though down 19pc last year, they easily beat global stock indexes."

The WSJ reports that European leaders have also called for the International Monetary Fund's resources to be doubled in order to bailout stricken economies, particularly in eastern Europe.

In the FT, Wolfgang Munchau writes that the financial crisis in Eastern Europe "could bring down the eurozone", if mishandled. He notes that the exposure of Austrian, Italian and Swedish banks in the region means that one should not "treat this as someone else's problem - because it is not."
FT Irish Times Irish Independent Sun BBC European Voice EurActiv FTD Times: Leader Guardian: Leader Trouw FTD Telegraph EUobserver Deutsche Welle FT 2 FT: Munchau FT 3 IHT Independent: McRae European Voice WSJ Guardian DW ORF ARD Focus

NOTW: economic crisis to be used as excuse to extend EU banking powers
The News of the World reported that a French-backed report to be published on Wednesday will call for an EU supervisor with the authority to control all multi-national banks. Open Europe was quoted saying, "The last thing the UK needs is to have its hands tied by unelected bureaucrats."
No link

European Socialists President: McCreevy has "lost control" of portfolio
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, former Danish PM and President of the European Socialists, has said that Internal Markets Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has "lost control of his portfolio" and that Commission President Barroso has taken over his brief, according to the Irish Independent.
Irish Independent

EU quangos cost 1.8 billion pounds
A report from Global Vision and the Economic Research Council shows that dozens of EU "quangos" cost taxpayers 1.8 billion pounds a year, the Mail reports. Many of the EU agencies, the report claims, are "not fit for purpose", duplicate work carried out at national level and are sometimes competing with the private sector. Agencies include the Community Plant Variety Office and the European Research Agency, with an annual budget of 460million pounds.
Express Mail

Commission wants Britain to "share the burden" with harmonised asylum laws
The Sunday Express reported that the European Commission wants Britain to "share the burden" of dealing with 70,000 asylum seekers who cross the Mediterranean into the EU each year. Plans drawn up to create a European Asylum Support Office would "harmonise" asylum laws across the EU. The agency would also facilitate "intra-community transfers", moving asylum seekers to Britain from "hotspots" such as Italy.
Sunday Express

EUobserver reports that the EU's judicial cooperation agency Eurojust will help police and prosecutors across Europe to wiretap computer-to-computer phone conversations enabled by programs such as Skype.
EUobserver

German MEP suggests Czech President's support for Lisbon Treaty is not needed
In an interview with WAZ, German MEP Elmar Brok comments upon the ratification process of the Lisbon Treaty, saying that "in Ireland, the understanding grows that they would be as helpless without the Euro as Iceland is...[however, this] mood can change". Asked by WAZ, about whether he was worried about the opposition to the Treaty of Czech President Vaclav Klaus, Brok is quoted saying, "According to the [Czech] constitution, his signature is not obligatory".
WAZ

Chinese satellite system to use Galileo's wavelength
Christopher Booker in the Sunday Telegraph looked at the EU's Galileo project, designed to rival the GPS satellite system. He reported that the Chinese, having originally agreed to be a partner in the project, have now powered ahead with their own satellite system, Compass, and are vastly ahead of the EU's progress. The Chinese also reportedly plan to operate on the same wavelengths as Galileo and, since their satellites will get there first, they will be able to claim ownership of them, meaning the EU could only use them with Chinese permission.
Sunday Telegraph

Government has no plans to extend redundancy pay to agency workers
The Observer reported that MPs are demanding that the planned agency workers bill give agency workers the same rights on redundancy pay and notice as permanent staff, but according to the Mail on Sunday, the Government has no plans to change the law that allows agency workers to be sacked without the right to compensation. A consultation paper on agency workers' rights is due to be published next month, and will examine how best to implement the EU's Agency Workers Directive requiring employers to give agency workers the same basic pay as permanent staff.
Observer

Warning over far-right gains in European elections
EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton said in an interview with yesterday's Observer that there was a risk of significant advances for extremists in European elections later this year, in the current economic climate. Saturday's Independent also reported that senior Labour figures have warned the Prime Minister that the BNP is on course to win its first seats in the European Parliament, and that two candidates could win seats in the elections.
Independent Observer

Glover: "Europe's carbon markets are in collapse"
In the Guardian, columnist Julian Glover writes that "Europe's carbon markets are in collapse." He goes on to say that it "was supposed to be a central lever in the world's effort to turn back climate change. Intended to price fossil fuels out of the market, the system is instead turning them into the rational economic choice... A lot of the blame lies with governments that signed up to carbon trading as a neat idea, but then indulged polluters with luxurious quantities of permits."
Guardian: Glover

Saturday's Mail reported on EU patients who receive organ transplants from British donors. It reported that a "patient from another EU country can leapfrog a Briton who is less ill when an organ equally suitable for both patients becomes available."
Mail

The Government plans to change the laws regarding the deportation of EU citizens convicted of sexual, violent and drugs crimes. At the moment EU citizens can only be deported if they are given a jail sentence of two years or more. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said that she intended to reduce this to 12 months.
Times

The News of the World reported that UK Europe Minister Caroline Flint has used the MP's Additional Costs Allowance to claim more than 75,000 pounds in four years after telling Commons authorities that her London home was her main residence, despite her husband and children living in her Doncaster home.
No link

Writing for European Voice, Lotte Leicht, the EU Director for Human Rights Watch, has criticised the lack of "backbone" shown by EU policymakers in continuing to provide aid to Ethiopia, despite it passing a law restricting the ability of NGOs to scrutinise the government's human rights record.
European Voice

The WSJ reports that the Latvian Prime Minister and government resigned on Friday, making it the third European government to be toppled by the economic crisis, after Iceland and Belgium.
WSJ EUobserver

De Telegraaf reports that Dutch MEP Paul Van Buitenen, a former whistleblower who brought down the Santer Commission in 1999, has announced he will not run for a new term as an MEP, citing his disappointment that neither the Commission nor the EU's anti-fraud agency has taken any action following his new claims of EU corruption.Telegraaf

The FT reports that the EU is to face a critical test of its common foreign policy in the coming weeks as it must decide whether to prolong or let lapse a six-month suspension of a travel ban on Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus' President, and whether to include Belarus as a full partner in its Eastern Partnership initiative.
FT FT: Brussels blog

The News of the World yesterday reported that Gordon Brown will become the first EU leader to meet President Obama when he flies to Washington next week.
BBC

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