Open Europe press summary: 26 March 2009

Europe

EU Commissioner: "I'm worth all the millions"
EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has responded to reports that she will receive nine million Danish kronor in pension payments, following a press release from Open Europe over the weekend highlighting the fact that EU Commissioners will receive £1 million each in pensions and payoffs on leaving office this year. In Danish daily Politiken, Fischer Boel contests Open Europe's calculations, saying she will not get her pension until she turns 70 - she will turn 66 next month. In addition, she says that the so-called transitional payment is 2 million kronor, not 2.6 kronor as claimed by Open Europe, and that her yearly pension is 323.000 kronor rather than 380.000 kronor.

However, the article notes that, "even with the corrections she will still receive several million kronor, which she says is quite reasonable". The article quotes her as saying, "I think the amount we receive is similar to that applied in the vast majority of international organisations...I think I'm worth all the millions."

In a separate article in the paper, Danish MEP Dan Jørgensen, who sits on the EP's budget committee, is quoted saying, "It's sounds completely insane, and if the figures are right, then this needs to change. I have nothing against EU Commissioners earning well...but this is out of all proportions." The findings also received additional coverage in a feature on Danish Radio.
Politken Politiken2 Danish Radio Journal Chretien Open Europe blog Open Europe press release

Czech EU Presidency in disarray as government collapses;
Lisbon Treaty ratification thrown into uncertainty
There is widespread coverage of the Czech government's collapse and the impact this could have on the EU. The FT reports that ratification of the Lisbon Treaty could become more difficult as a result of the political instability and its knock-on effect on the Czech EU Presidency. Open Europe's Lorraine Mullally is quoted in the Mail arguing that the government's collapse gives hope to those opposing ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.

Tasspiegel reports that Czech PM Mirek Topolanek has announced that he will step down today.

Czech Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra is quoted in the FT saying, "The ratification process is on track...but it will be a lot more difficult now to convince people to vote in favour". The Treaty was passed by the Czech lower house but has yet to be approved by the Czech Senate. The paper notes that Premysl Sobotka, the Chairman of the Civic Democrats in the Czech upper house, said that it was now unlikely that the Senate would discuss the Treaty during its March session. All eyes have now turned to Czech President Vaclav Klaus, a critic of the Treaty, who has the power to choose who forms the next government. Sueddeutsche Zeitung argues that Klaus will use this role to further his political aims for the EU and the Lisbon Treaty.

EU Commission President Jose Barroso is quoted in the Telegraph saying, "The Czech Republic has signed the treaty and so the Czech Republic has an obligation to ratify. I really hope that this domestic, political development is not used as a way to put in question the treaty." French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said, "What has happened in Czech Republic again hurts any certainty that we will get the Lisbon treaty."

Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin, who is negotiating the terms on which to hold a second Irish referendum on the Treaty after last year's 'No' vote, is quoted in the FT saying, "Now we have to see how things evolve with the Czech presidency and who we will be negotiating with...that's a bit more complex than we would have anticipated."

Meanwhile, Mirek Topolanek's comments that proposed US policies to weather the economic crisis are "a way to hell", first reported yesterday, have added pressure on the Czech's EU Presidency. In response, German MEP Martin Schulz said that this was no way to deal with the US, telling Topolanek, "You don't represent the European Council Presidency, you represent yourself," according to FAZ.
Mail FT FT 2 FT: Leader Irish Times Irish Times: Leader Telegraph BBC FT: Brussels blog BBC: Mardell blog Economist: Charlemagne blog European Voice European Voice Independent Le Monde Le Figaro La Croix FT Irish Times Irish Independent Express IHT Telegraph 2 Guardian EurActiv FAZ Süddeutsche Zeitung Tagesspiegel

New research: Europe's ETS is "deeply flawed"
An article in the New Statesman by the Sunday Times' Environment Editor, Jonathan Leake, looks at new research from Cambridge University, commissioned by the Government, which argues that "the current European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is deeply flawed and should be replaced - or ay least augmented - with a green tax."

The research also argues that the ETS needs to provide more long-term price stability, saying "a market-based trading system such as the ETS is very unlikely to generate consistent high prices, and this instability could undermine the whole point of the scheme."
No link

Lords reject amendment to allow greater scrutiny of EU data retention laws
The House of Lords has voted by 93 votes to 89 against an amendment proposed by Shadow Security Minister Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones calling on the Government to introduce EU rules on data retention through primary legislation rather than a Statutory Instrument (SI). The rules will require service providers to record data on all phone, email and internet traffic. Neville-Jones argued that implementing the directive through a Bill rather than an SI would allow proper Parliamentary scrutiny of how the EU directive is implemented in the UK and clarify uncertainties over which data would be recorded and which would not.
Hansard

Wellcome Trust: EU animal welfare directive has "lost all forms of common sense"
The Today programme on Radio 4 reported that the EU wants to tighten regulations on animal testing, but a group of scientists say that the changes to the regulations could harm scientific research. Sir Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust, said that "this directive in its present form has really lost all forms of common sense and proportionality. It will stop some research by increasing bureaucracy and cost, it will make other research almost impossible...in other areas the recommendations frankly run counter to animal welfare."
Today programme

MEPs move to deny Le Pen a platform
The Guardian reports that a concerted effort is under way to rewrite the European Parliament's rulebook in order to deny French far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen the role of presiding over the first session of the Parliament's next term. Under the Parliament's current rules its inaugural session must be overseen by its doyen - the oldest MEP - which will be Mr Le Pen, 81, if he is re-elected for the French National Front in the elections in June.

German MEP Joseph Daul, Chair of the EPP-ED, is quoted by the Times, Focus and Le Monde saying that one should "take all measures necessary" to prevent Le Pen from chairing the inaugural session.
Guardian Times Focus Le Monde Le Figaro AFP BBC Le Figaro 2

Berlusconi tries to torpedo deal on European Parliament presidency
European Voice reports that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi could blow apart a deal between the EPP-ED and the Party of European Socialists (PES) in the European Parliament, which had agreed that the presidency of the Parliament's next five-year mandate would be shared between Jerzy Buzek, the former Prime Minister of Poland and an EPP-ED MEP, and Martin Schulz, a German MEP who is the Socialist group's current leader.

Berlusconi has thrown the deal into confusion, announcing in a letter sent to national delegations of the EPP-ED group that Mario Mauro MEP is his candidate for the presidency of the Parliament. Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party is likely to become the largest national delegation in the EPP-ED group, following a merger with the National Alliance.
European Voice EurActiv

Brown denies G-20 split and signals no new stimulus in the budget
In an interview with the WSJ, Gordon Brown works hard to dispel rumours of a split within the G20 over further economic stimulus packages. In light of the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King's warning "to be cautious about going further in using discretionary measures to expand the size of those deficits," Brown stressed that he saw more consensus than disagreement among nations on the way forward, reports the article.

However, Timothy Garton-Ash in the Guardian argues that Europe has failed to "get its act together", instead quarrelling about "peanut" stimulus packages and details of the Lisbon Treaty.

The FT reports that Gordon Brown has signalled that Britain will not announce a further stimulus package in next month's budget. He appears to have conceded to the pressure from both Alistair Darling and Mervyn King says the article.

However, the Mail reports that the apparent split between Brown and King has already "spooked the markets." According to the Independent, a sale of Government bonds, known as gilts, failed for the first time in seven years yesterday. Shadow Chancellor George Osborne responded by saying that 'today's failed gilt auction should be of real concern to everyone." "This is a warning signal investors are sending to the Government," said Neil Mackinnon, chief economist at the hedge fund ECU Group. "Investors are giving the thumbs down to the gilt market" and thus also to the credibility of Brown's budgetary management.
Mail Independent Independent 2 Spectator: Coffee House blog FT Telegraph WSJ Guardian: Garton-Ash

Grant: EU should move swiftly to work out rules on bailouts for countries
In an article in the Times Charles Grant, Director of the Centre for European Reform, argues that, despite its current economic difficulties, Greece is unlikely to leave the eurozone, because "Greece's partners would rather bail it out than see it leave". He goes on to say that EU treaties which include a 'no bail-out rule' could be "circumvented", and "If the EU itself could not lend to Greece, a group of member states would."
Times: Grant

Speaking at a conference in Brussels organised by the ECIPE, prominent international trade economist Jagdish Baghwati has criticised French President Nicolas Sarkozy's intention to bring French car producers back to France, saying: "If he's a reformer, I'm a ballerina".
No link

According to Dutch website PZC, the EU has provided €11 million in subsidies for the restructuring of the sugar sector.
PZC

The position of Director of the European Police Office (Europol) could remain unfilled until next year because, while most countries are supporting a UK candidate, Hungary is insisting on its own candidate.
European Voice

MEP Daniel Hannan's speech criticising Gordon Brown in the European Parliament on Tuesday has attracted more than 650,000 views on Youtube and enjoyed international news coverage. On his blog, Hannan said: "I tipped off the BBC and some of the newspaper correspondents but, unsurprisingly, they ignored me."
Telegraph: Hannan blog Telegraph: Hannan blog 2 Fox News Glenn Beck Fox News Cavuto Youtube Hannan speech Guido Fawkes blog

The Irish Times reports that the Irish government has said it can not yet report "sufficient progress" on the 'guarantees' offered by the EU on the Lisbon Treaty in exchange for a second referendum.
Irish Times

The IHT reports that a government official in Poland has criticised the process of selecting the Secretary-General of Nato as "highly undemocratic", as its bid to secure the position for the Polish Foreign Minister has collapsed.
IHT

UK

British renewables targets suffer major setback
The Times reports that Britain's plans for renewable energy suffered a major setback last night when the world's biggest investor in wind power, Iberdrola Renewables, said that it was to cut its investment in Britain by more than 40 per cent, or £300 million. Jonathon Porritt, the Head of the Sustainable Development Commission, is quoted saying: "The UK has talked about this [renewable energy] for years, but the Government now has very little time to get this together. People just do not consider the UK to be a good place to invest in renewables." The UK has a target of sourcing 35% of energy from renewable sources by 2020.

David Wighton in the Times argues that "These issues are critical, because we need to begin building more power capacity today if we are to avoid blackouts by 2015 when we are committed to closing old coal-fired power stations... The Government needs to decide whether it is prepared to commit the nation to a very expensive energy future or whether it would rather hedge its bets and build a few coal-fired generators, just to keep the lights on."
Times Times 2 Times: Whittell Times: Wighton

World

IMF President: Chinese questions about new world reserve currency "legitimate"Le Monde reports that IMF President Dominique Strauss-Kahn has not ruled out discussing the position of the dollar as the international reserve currency, saying: "it is a very good question. I think that the discussion on the new currency is absolutely legitimate." The FT reports that US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner confessed that Washington was "open" to the idea, upon which the dollar fell against the Euro until Geithner clarified that he thought the dollar remained the world's dominant reserve currency.Le Monde Telegraph Telegraph blog WSJ FT

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