Reminder: Open Europe and the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU are holding a debate in Brussels on Monday 30 March, entitled, "EU regulation: Getting better, or out of control?" Speakers include Christofer Fjellner, MEP; Jens Hedstrom, Business Europe; Marianne Klingbeil, European Commission; Jacques Pelkmans, College of Europe; Mats Persson, Research Director, Open Europe.
Debate from 6.15 until 7.45pm. Followed by a drinks reception. Places are limited. If you would like to attend, please contact Sarah Gaskell at sarah@openeurope.org.uk or tel: 44 (0) 207 197 2333.
Europe
Collapse of Czech government threatens EU Presidency and ratification of Lisbon Treaty
The Times reports that the Czech Prime Minister, Mirek Topolanek, has offered his resignation after 101 of 200 MPs voted in favour of a no confidence motion yesterday, saying "I accept the vote and I will act in line with the constitution." This leaves Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who has voiced opposition to the Lisbon Treaty, three chances to select someone else to form a new government or a general election will be held.
The BBC reports that the vote followed accusations that one of Mr Topolanek's advisers had attempted to pressure a Czech public TV channel into dropping a programme critical of a former Social Democratic MP who had decided to back the governing coalition. Four MPs from Topolanek's ODS party voted against the government. Opposition Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek criticised Topolanek's handling of the economic crises, saying, "The government is harming this country. It is neither capable of resolving the impact nor the cause of the crisis," according to the Irish Times.
Topolanek's ousting could halt the process of Lisbon Treaty ratification. The IHT notes that the Treaty is supported by Topolanek's government, but has yet to be ratified in the upper house of parliament, and the lack of a government could push the Lisbon Treaty down the agenda. Czech daily Hospodarske Noviny quotes Topolanek saying, "If I don't have the situation within the ODS under control any more, the Treaty of Lisbon will not be approved". The Telegraph reports that the no confidence vote will almost certainly delay Czech ratification of the EU's Lisbon Treaty until the autumn, while Daniel Cohn-Bendit MEP, says that "this situation has brought Lisbon to a state of fragility."
The Irish Times notes that the situation will also have ramifications for the approaching G20 summit, where Topolanek was supposed to represent Europe's non-G20 countries. A European official is quoted in the Telegraph speaking on the issue: "Will it be an empty chair? Who is going to represent the EU presidency and Europe? It could not come at a worse time."
Meanwhile, the BBC's Rob Cameron argues that this change in government may also have implications for other Czech foreign policy initiatives that concern the EU, such as the installation of a US radar base. This also bears consequences for the ratification for the Lisbon Treaty because, according to Euractiv, the Czech Senate has implied that the missile shield can only be ratified together with the Lisbon Treaty.
Karel Schwarzenberg, the Czech Foreign Minister, sought to play down the events, claiming that "our work as president of the EU will go on anyway...our European partners will see at the next EU conference that we are all there." The BBC notes that the European Commission issued a statement, saying, "The Commission has full trust that the national constitutional law allows for the Czech Republic to continue conducting the Council Presidency as effectively as it has done until now."
However, a Brussels diplomat expressed that the political crisis could change minds on how the EU is governed, saying "this episode is going help the case for a permanent EU President under the Lisbon Treaty."
Times England Expects EUobserver Deutsche Welle Le Monde Coulisses de Bruxelles AFP Le Point Eurointelligence Reuters FT Irish Times Irish Independent IHT Telegraph Telegraph 2 BBC BBC: Mardell blog European Voice EurActiv
Open Europe's recent research on the costs of EU Commissioners' pensions continues to receive coverage across Europe, including on main Polish television channel TVP, Belgian paper GVA and Czech paper Ceske Noviny.
HBVL Politics.be SDP Noticias TVP Brux Info Ceske Noviny GVA Blesk SP.nl NTR Zacatecas Dziennik Delfi Open Europe blog
Gordon Brown tells European Parliament he is "proud" to have ratified the Lisbon Treaty
There is widespread coverage of Gordon Brown's speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg yesterday, and the Times reports that Mr Brown said that Britain was "not in Europe's slipstream but in its mainstream". An article in the Sun quotes him saying, "I'm proud that by a large majority our British parliament ratified the [Lisbon] Treaty", which is accompanied by a headline reading "PM 'proud' he sold out the EU". A leader in the Mail writes, "Remember how Mr Brown...was so keen to distance himself from the EU's Lisbon Treaty that he failed to turn up for the signing ceremony?"
European Voice reports that Gordon Brown's speech drew criticism from Joseph Daul, leader of the EPP group in the European Parliament. It quotes Mr Daul warning that "It is not enough to condemn protectionism abroad, it is also necessary to avoid, at home, making slogans like 'British jobs for British workers".
Dan Hannan MEP also criticised the speech, saying, "Prime Minister, I see you have already mastered the essential craft of the European politician, namely the ability to say one thing in this chamber and a very different thing to your home electorate...Perhaps you would have more moral authority in this house if your actions matched your words." He went on to argue that Mr Brown was "the devalued Prime Minister of a devalued Government."
Times Independent Guardian: Leader WSJ EUobserver FT Mail Sun BBC: Mardell blog European Voice BBC: Robinson blog Guido Fawkes blog EU Referendum blog Telegraph: Hannan blog IHT
EU agrees compromise to liberalise energy markets
European Voice reports that the European Parliament and the Czech Presidency reached a deal late on Monday night on new rules to increase competition in the EU's energy market, by separating the management of generating companies from that of transmission network operators.
The compromise package means that energy companies such as EDF and RWE would not however, have to sell their gas and electricity transmission networks, as the European Parliament had demanded, according to the FT. The IHT reports that the compromise allows national energy companies to stay intact, but under the supervision of an independent regulator. European Voice reports that an independent transmission operator (ITO) system will be in place, in which a parent company would continue to hold a stake in the network business but would be prevented, by safeguards, from exerting too much influence over its business.
The package also includes concessions for consumers including promises to install more accurate meters by 2020, reduce charges on poor customers and give more freedom to switch suppliers.
FT IHT European Voice EurActiv EUobserver
Mervyn King warns Gordon Brown to stop spending;
Czech EU Presidency: US economic rescue plans are "a way to hell"
The Independent reports that Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King has warned Gordon Brown against pushing for another round of fiscal stimulus measures because the UK cannot afford it. He told the Treasury Select Committee yesterday that, "The level of the fiscal position in the UK is not one that would say, 'Well, why don't we just engage in another significant round of fiscal expansion?'"
The Times notes that Mervyn King met the Queen at Buckingham Palace yesterday to discuss the economic crisis. It was the first time the Queen has held an audience with the Governor of the Bank of England in her 57 year reign.
The Guardian notes that White House and Downing Street's calls for further stimulus measures at the April G20 summit in London are likely to meet resistance from other EU leaders. PA quotes Czech Prime Minister, current holder of the EU Presidency, saying that further stimulus packages and financial bailouts "will undermine the stability of the global financial market." In his speech to the European Parliament, Topolanek described US economic rescue plans as "a way to hell".
Meanwhile, European Voice reports that five EU member states - France, Greece, Ireland, Spain and the UK - have been given a deadline by the European Commission to cut their budget deficits. The article notes that the Commission has asked the UK to cut its deficit by 2013-14 at the latest.
Times Independent Independent: Warner Mirror Guardian European Voice
Handelsblatt Irish Independent Times 2
German Foreign Minister weighs up plan to exert influence through bailing out struggling EU states
The Irish Times reports that German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is considering financial assistance to struggling EU economies as a way for Berlin to "consolidate its position [in the EU] for years to come". The article reports that a new working group will soon decide which countries should be offered help, which has noted that Germany has "much to win" from such assistance.
Leading members of Mr Steinmeier's own Social Democratic Party (SPD) have gone further, indicating that any assistance to Ireland would require "greater humility" from Dublin and a renewed commitment to the EU from Irish voters in a second Lisbon Treaty referendum. Axel Schäfer, SPD Parliamentary Spokesman on European affairs has said it would be "irresponsible" to discuss aid as long as Ireland does not require it, but he insisted that any possible help would be "conditional on obligations in the European context".
Irish Times Irish Times: Leader
French Defence Minister: We need to rejoin NATO so that we can oppose the US
In an interview with Euractiv, French Defence Minister Hervé Morin says that the French decision to rejoin NATO could help "advance European defence". According to the website he said that the European partners will be more inclined to move the European defence project forward. He says that rejoining NATO will give France more influence, saying, "We cannot oppose the Americans" without showing, by rejoining NATO, that they "are not hostile" to the Atlantic Alliance. He notes that "Europeans are no longer giving money for ESDP. Apart from France and the UK, everyone has pretty much given up."
Euractiv
European Parliament Committee votes in favour of stronger supervision for rating agencies
MEPs on the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee have voted strongly in favour of mandatory registration and supervision of credit rating agencies, reforms drawn up by Internal Markets Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, and the proposed legislation will be put to a vote in the European Parliament next month, according to EurActiv. The legislation would give new powers to the Parliament-based Committee of European Securities Regulators, according to the FT, and it is recommended that lead analysts at rating agencies should be rotated every five years to guard against conflicts of interest.
The United States has reportedly criticised McCreevy's plan for its "extraterritorial" effects as it would directly affect how ratings agencies went about their business outside the EU, according to EurActiv. Two of the three top agencies, Standard & Poor's and Moody's, are US companies.
FT European Voice EurActiv
EU reaches deal on further price controls of mobile phone rates
Negotiators from the European Commission and the European Parliament, as well as Telecommunications Ministers reached a provisional agreement yesterday, which will cap mobile roaming rates for countries in the EU. Under the new plan, European telecom companies will be given a series of ceilings for which roaming charges can be issued on mobile services. The price of sending text messages across borders will be capped to less than half of current levels.FT Telegraph Handelsblatt The Parliament EurActiv VUNet WSJ Vnunet
Lord Browne: State intervention necessary to meet EU energy targets
The Guardian reports that former head of BP Lord Browne has warned that market mechanisms, such as the EU's carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS) are failing to divert investment to new clean energy technologies. He said that the Government must take active steps if the UK is to meet its EU renewable energy targets: "There's even more cause for government intervention today. That's because energy security and climate change mitigation are public goods. They would not otherwise be recognised by the free market."
Times: Weighton Guardian
The Czech Presidency has postponed an accession conference with Croatia, because of the continuing border dispute with Slovenia.
European Voice
The European Parliament is today set to approve a legislative package on the so-called single European sky, aimed at shortening commercial airline routes, decreasing CO2 emissions and lowering ticket prices by 2012.
EUobserver
In the FT, Tony Barber looks at the enlargement process in the EU, which is being held up by individual countries in several potential accession states, and argues that the EU "needs the courage to resolve the disputes blocking enlargement."
FT: Barber
Romania has agreed €20bn of loans from the IMF, EU and World Bank to stabilise its economy.
BBC
UK
Government plans to monitor social networking sites
The Independent reports that the Government is planning to set up a database to monitor social networking sites such as Facebook, recording who users correspond with using the sites. The article notes that the proposals go further than the EU's Data Retention Directive - EU legislation the Government called after the 7 July 2005 bombings - for emails and internet usage to be monitored and added to a planned database to track terror plots.
Independent
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