Open Europe press summary: 21 May 2009

Europe

Spain presses for Lisbon Treaty protocol on number of MEPs to be ratified by all member states after second Irish referendum
The Irish Times reports that Spain wants to re-open the negotiations over the Lisbon Treaty and is pressing other EU member states to agree a new protocol to the Treaty to alter the number of sitting MEPs if the Treaty enters into force.

If all EU states sign up to the protocol and ratify it in early 2010, this would enable the number of MEPs in the European Parliament to increase from the 736 allowed in the Treaty of Nice to the 754 allowed under Lisbon. If the new protocol is not agreed and ratified, the extra 18 MEPs allowed under Lisbon cannot legally take their seats until 2014 because the European elections are currently being conducted under the rules of the Nice Treaty.

Under the protocol, Spain would gain four of the extra 18 seats, while 11 other countries would also gain MEPs.

"We intend to put forward a text at the June council, which says that the extra 18 MEPs from 12 countries that are included in the terms of the Lisbon Treaty should take their seats as soon as the Lisbon Treaty enters into force," said Diego López Garrido, Spain's Minister of State for European Affairs.

Madrid wants all 27 EU leaders to sign up to the protocol at next month's European summit and then ratify it in national parliaments if Ireland votes Yes in its second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. The article notes that such a protocol could enable Ireland to get its own 'guarantees' on taxation, neutrality and ethical issues enshrined in the EU treaties earlier than anticipated by the Irish government. The Irish government agreed to hold a second referendum on the Treaty in return for these 'guarantees' as well as a declaration on workers' rights and an agreement that every member state would retain its EU Commissioner.

The paper reports however that some member states such as Britain may oppose ratifying a separate protocol which would reopen the debate on the Lisbon Treaty in their national parliaments, particularly before a general election.

Meanwhile in a debate in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Conservative MP for Bexleyheath and Crayford, David Evennett, asked Europe Minister Caroline Flint to "confirm categorically that any changes to the Lisbon treaty for any country would mean that the treaty needed to be re-ratified? Would the Government then hold a referendum on this matter?" The Minister replied, "I think that it is dead if people vote against it."
Irish Times OE blog Hansard

Open Europe's Lorraine Mullally appeared live on the BBC Daily Politics show yesterday, discussing the need for MEPs to publish their expenses, and for the European Parliament to introduce a system which requires MEPs to provide receipts for all their expense claims - which is not currently the case.
Daily Politics OE research OE blog

Statewatch Director: Commission tries to argue a document is not a document
On the Guardian's Comment is Free website Tony Bunyan, Director of Statewatch, looks at the EU's record on transparency, accountability and freedom of information, following the five year freedom of information battle for MPs' expenses receipts. He argues that "The fundamental principle of access to documents is that voters can find out what measures are being discussed before they are adopted. In the EU this presents a real problem. EU institutions are meant to provide a public register listing all their documents but actually the European commission references less than one in 10 of its documents and has even raised the surprising argument of 'when is a document not a document'".

He goes on to say that, "Access to documents is the lifeblood of a healthy democratic system...The failure of transparency over MPs' expenses in the UK and MEPs in Brussels, refusing access to details of the allowances they claim, only serves to emphasise why we must claim a right to know what is being done in our name."
Guardian: Bunyan

Lloyds' shares fall amid warning that Commission could force asset sales
The Independent reports that Lloyds Banking Group has warned investors that European state aid rules could forcibly break up the company. The bank hopes to use the Government's Asset Protection Scheme to insure itself against unmanageable losses. But the plan must be signed off in Brussels, and the Express reports that analysts said there was a "genuine risk" the part-nationalised HBOS owner could be forced to sell assets under EU rules.

The Times reports that shares in the bank fell by nearly 30 percent to 70½p, partly amid worries about these political uncertainties - although the bulk of the share slide was technical, because the date passed for eligibility to take part in its £4 billion capital-raising.
FT Independent Mail Guardian Express Times

Barroso encourages Chinese engagement on climate change
The FT reports that European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso is trying to encourage China to "engage fully" on the issue of climate change, following recent US initiatives on fuel efficiency standards and reducing carbon emissions.

However, the BBC reports that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao reiterated in a press conference that China and the EU should "stick to the principles of mutual respect and not interfere in each other's internal affairs".
FT BBC

UKIP to spend £2 million targeting Labour voters
The Times reports that UKIP will spend £2 million over the next fortnight to target Labour supporters at the European elections.

Meanwhile, EUobserver reports that European election campaigns have begun with legal challenges and personal attacks on politicians in several countries. The Italian Radical Party - affiliated with the liberal group in the EP - has asked the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe for an "immediate inquiry" into alleged violations of media freedom in the EU campaign.
EUobserver Times Times 2

In the Spectator, former Conservative Party donor Stuart Wheeler explains his reasons for urging people to vote for UKIP in the European elections.
Spectator: Wheeler

Barroso wants new Commission to be nominated according to Treaty of Nice
El Mundo reports that European Commission Chief Spokesman Johannes Laitenberger has reiterated that Jose Manuel Barroso "is not campaigning now" for a second mandate as Commission President and that he will "make his decision after the European elections...when there is a clear picture, because what is important for this decision is to see if the conditions are present for him to advance his project".

On the Coulisses de Bruxelles blog, Jean Quatremer notes the comments made by Barroso in recent interviews, and particularly Barroso's insistence on the new Commission being nominated according to the Treaty of Nice and not the Lisbon Treaty. Quatremer says that his impatience is understandable as "with the Lisbon Treaty, he must have an absolute majority of MEPs while a relative majority is sufficient under Nice".
El Mundo Coulisses de Bruxelles

The FT reports that a US Patriot missile unit supported by 100 US soldiers will be deployed in Poland by the year-end under a bilateral security pact, in spite of strong objections from Russia and regardless of whether the planned anti-missile shield in eastern Europe goes ahead.
FT

The BBC reports that EU leaders are attending the EU-Russia summit today in Khabarovsk, and "President Medvedev will push for a new energy charter and a new European security treaty".
El Mundo BBC Le Point

An article in the FT looks at the EU's Common Fisheries Policy and reports that, according to the Danish government, as much cod was discarded as caught - roughly 24,000 tonnes - in the North Sea last year.
FT

The BBC has a feature offering a breakdown of EU spending by policy area and by country.
BBC

The Times reports that latest figures show that the number of migrants returning home to eastern Europe from the UK almost doubled last year, and the number of east Europeans registering for work in the UK continued to fall due to the recession and lack of jobs.
Times

According to Wirtschaftswoche, Germany is blocking a standard legal form for European companies, which it fears might reduce the system of "co-determination" whereby employees are entitled to a say in the management of companies.
Wiwo

The European Court of First Instance has annulled a contract awarded by the European Parliament to transport MEPs around Strasbourg, because it failed to inform a rival bidder of the reasons for its decision.European Voice

Le Figaro reports that the majority of polls indicate that the National Front (FN) is ahead of Libertas in France. The latest OpinionWay poll on 20 May predicts that the FN will receive 6 percent, and Libertas 5.5 percent.
Le Figaro

El Mundo reports that Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos has said that Albania's integration into the EU is "irreversible" and that Spain will try to speed up the process during its presidency of the EU in 2010. The comments were made during a joint press conference in Tirana, Albania.
El Mundo

UK

The front page of the FT reports that former EU Commissioner and current Business Secretary Lord Mandelson could be made Foreign Secretary in a Cabinet reshuffle, expected in the summer.
FT

A series of wildcat strikes which took place yesterday over the use of foreign labour in Milford Haven, Wales, are expected to end after the contractor agreed to withdraw 40 Polish construction workers and replace them with UK staff.
FT Open Europe briefing EUobserver

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