Open Europe press summary: 7 May 2009

Europe

Czech Senate approves Lisbon Treaty but Klaus not likely to sign until after second Irish referendum;
Die Welt: The EU can work perfectly without Lisbon Treaty
The Czech Senate yesterday approved the Lisbon Treaty in a vote by 54 to 20, reports the FT. 48 votes were needed to pass the Treaty. Before the vote, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek told senators "I do not accept the Lisbon Treaty with much enthusiasm, but I see it as the price we have to pay for participating in European integration". Czech President Vaclav Klaus still has to sign the Treaty for it to pass into law.

The WSJ reports that Czech President Vaclav Klaus said yesterday that signing the Treaty was "not on the cards" until after Ireland holds a second referendum, expected in the autumn. Czech Senate Chairman Premysl Sobotka said, "The Czech government and parliament cannot wield any influence whatsoever on the president. He is free to decide as he wishes".

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he was "very happy" with the result, and said that he hoped "the remaining constitutional requirements in the Czech Republic will be completed as quickly as possible", according to EurActiv.

Meanwhile, a leader on the front page of Die Welt asks whether the Lisbon Treaty is in fact necessary. It argues, "If they [Ireland] vote against, the Treaty is dead. What would be so bad about that? The Treaty is a cold bundle of compromises, which nobody has read and nobody understands. A serious discussion has not occurred on that in the member states...The Lisbon Treaty is no panacea...Easier decision making and more power for the European Parliament does not automatically lead to more legitimacy and more for the EU. The EU can work perfectly fine with the existing Nice Treaty."

European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering said, "We've gone as far in our concessions to Ireland as we can," referring to the fact that Ireland has been promised certain 'guarantees' on neutrality, tax and securing the principle of one commissioner per member state as part of deal to encourage voters to vote 'Yes' in a second referendum. EUobserver reports that Poettering indicated that member state "solidarity" would run out if Ireland voted 'No' for a second time.

The countries still to ratify the Treaty, apart from the Czech Republic include Poland, Germany and Ireland. Polish President Lech Kaczynski is still to sign the Treaty into law, as is German President Horst Köhler, who has said he will not do so until after the German Constitutional Court gives its opinion on whether the Treaty is compatible with the German Constitution, according to European Voice.
WSJ Guardian FT FT: Brussels blog Telegraph: Waterfield blog BBC EurActiv Euronews Prague Monitor European Voice Irish Times Irish Times 2 EUobserver IHT El Mundo El País Le Monde RFI L'Express Le Figaro Basler Zeitung FAZ Die Welt Leader

MEPs amend telecoms package rendering France's internet piracy law illegal
Le Figaro reports that the European Parliament yesterday voted by an overwhelming majority for an amendment which would make it illegal for countries to disconnect people from the internet without a judicial decision. The amendment was inserted by MEPs in the so-called telecoms package and states that "no restriction may be imposed on the fundamental rights and freedoms of end users, without a prior ruling by the judicial authorities," amid fears that provisions in the package could restrict the rights and freedoms of internet users.

EU ministers are opposed to the amendment that MEPs voted for, meaning that the entire telecoms package, which is primarily about liberalising the telecommunications markets in the EU, will be subject to further negotiations in the so-called 'conciliation stage' where ministers and MEPs will seek to find a compromise. This means that the package is unlikely to be adopted before 2010.

Should MEPs manage to insert yesterday's amendment in the final proposal, France's proposed Hadopi law, which gives illegal downloaders three warnings and then disconnects them, would not be compatible with European law. But, as French Socialist Catherine Trautmann pointed out, "While there is not an agreement at European level, France can apply its Hadopi law. Rejecting the telecoms package therefore doesn't settle anything". The WSJ quotes Open Europe's Pieter Cleppe saying that several MEPs "wanted to make a statement on upholding [internet] rights" ahead of the European elections.
Le Figaro Coulisses de Bruxelles WSJ EUobserver EurActiv BBC El Mundo

Miliband: A retrospective Lisbon referendum will result in a renegotiation of Britain's membership of the EU
In an article for the Spectator, Foreign Secretary David Miliband argues that Conservative Party policy to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty if it has not passed into EU law is dangerous because, "it restarts an institutional debate in Europe when that is the last thing the people of the UK need." Mr Miliband also argues that, "a referendum held once the Lisbon Treaty is in force and has been passed by all 27 countries - or some other mechanism to satisfy Tory scepticism about Europe - can only have one outcome, namely the renegotiation of the terms of Britain's membership of the EU. That is because once the Lisbon Treaty is in force, it no longer exists as the Lisbon Treaty but is consolidated into the founding treaties of the EU."

The Guardian reports that Conservative Party Chairman Eric Pickles has predicted that his party will win more than 40 percent of the vote in next month's local elections, but has said it would be hard to capture more than 36 percent of the vote for the European elections because of the electoral system. The paper suggests that if Labour comes in third in either of the elections, it may result in fresh moves to 'dislodge' Gordon Brown.
Guardian Spectator: Miliband

EU Employment Commissioner: Lisbon Treaty would make 'social rights' primary EU law for first time
In the Irish Times, EU Employment Commissioner Vladimir Spidla is quoted saying, "With the Lisbon Treaty ratification, social rights would become primary rights in EU law for the first time through the charter of fundamental rights, which is a mini-revolution."
Irish Times

EU and UN abandon inquiry into missing millions in Kosovo
The Telegraph reports that the EU and UN have abandoned investigations into allegations of fraud and corruption concerning £60 million in EU funding for reconstruction in Kosovo. Accusations of fraud and irregularities have been found in projects relating to contracts at Pristina airport and "two major contracts" at Korporata Enerhjitike e Kosoves (KEK), whose German Chief Executive is currently serving three-and-a-half years in jail for embezzlement.

UN investigators recommended a "criminal investigation" into the projects surrounding the airport but this was dropped. Further cases involving alleged theft of air cargo fees and alleged bribes and corruption also appear to have been closed, according to the paper. Following independence for Kosovo last year, UN officials have concluded that there are now "no means any more to monitor any of those follow-up activities".

Ingeborg Grässle, a German member of the European Parliament's Budgetary Control Committee, is quoted by European Voice, saying that the UN was "determined not to undertake any action" and that the Commission lacked the means to compel the UN to disclose irregularities with Commission funds.

The Telegraph also reports that the scandals have thrown into question the £891 million that the EU channels every year to projects in Kosovo via the UN and World Bank.
Telegraph EU Referendum blog European Voice

Swedish companies cashing in millions from emissions trading
Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet reports that large Swedish corporations are making large profits from selling emissions allowances to other companies, which they received free of charge from the European Commission under the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

The Commission is currently reviewing which industries will receive concession in phase three of the ETS (2013-2020), and has recently issued a list of companies receiving extra free allowances for emissions. Manufacturers of cement and lime, iron and steel, ceramics, or pulp and paper may be in line for special treatment under the ETS, according to a draft list released this week. These industries had been worried that the strict carbon emissions targets put upon them might force them to move the industries elsewhere, having a serious impact on Europe's job market while not lowering global emission levels, triggering the debate around 'carbon leakages' in the first place, European Voice reports.
SvD European Voice

Open Europe's research on the cost of the EU's Climate Package was covered by Polish news site Salon24.
Salon24 Open Europe research

Denmark's Dagbladet Arbeideren cited Open Europe's research on EU communication policy, which shoes that the EU is spending more on propaganda than Coca Cola spends on advertising each year.
Dagbladet Arbeideren Open Europe research

MEPs postpone vote on EU maternity leave rules
MEPs yesterday decided to postpone a vote on rules which would have seen minimum maternity leave upped to 20 weeks with six weeks at full pay across the EU. The EP's Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee had voted in favour of the proposal, which went further than a proposal that the Commission tabled in October. However, Conservatives and Liberals in the European Parliament blocked the amended version and referred it back to the EP's Employment Committee. It will now not be dealt with until a new Parliament is formed following the elections in June.
The Parliament EUobserver

MEPs back tighter capital rules for banks
The European Parliament yesterday adopted tougher bank capital rules. Under the proposal, banks will be required to retain five percent of the securitised products they originate and sell, Euractiv reports. The proposal also caps how much a bank can lend to another bank and sets up colleges of supervisors for all big cross-border banks, so that national regulators across the EU can meet regularly to share information.

Banks have warned the securitisation market is moribund and that a high mandatory retention requirement would stop its revival. EU minister have already agreed on the proposal and the final agreement of the Council is now considered as a formality.
EurActiv European Voice

Swedish Finance Minister: Without British agreement European financial reform would be "useless"
Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg has said that financial regulation will be a top priority for the upcoming Swedish EU Presidency, saying "If we do not do anything to help creating a new European and global financial order, we will be held responsible for it", according to L'Express. Le Figaro quotes Borg in a meeting with his French equivalent, Christine Lagarde, saying "the de Larosière report is an interesting starting point...but it is necessary to reach a compromise with the British, without whose agreement any European financial reform would be useless". The article further notes that Stockholm seems closer to London than Paris or Berlin on financial regulation.
L'Express Boursorama

Report calls for Commission to have more power over how EU's regional funds are spent
According to an independent report published at the request of the European Commission, comprehensive reform of the EU's regional policy is required if the bloc's goal of boosting economic integration through regional wealth redistribution is to be achieved in the coming decades. Regional policy accounts for around 45% of the EU's budget.

The report, written by Dr Fabrizio Barca, Director-General of the Italian Finance Ministry, argues that the European Commission should be given the power not only to assess targets, but to redirect funding where necessary to ensure value for money, Euractiv reports.
EurActiv Open Europe research

Tensions rise between Russia and the West
The Telegraph reports that the EU will "provoke fury in Moscow" with its summit in Prague today to discuss an Eastern Partnership agreement with the ex-Soviet states of Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that Russia's continuing row with Nato worsened today when it expelled two diplomats from Moscow and condemned Nato military exercises in Georgia.
Guardian Telegraph Le Monde El Mundo

Hannan: There is an acknowledged double standard for MEPs in the EP
On his Telegraph blog, Dan Hannan MEP argues that there is an acknowledged double standard for MEPs in Brussels. He cites the case of a British MEP who admitted that she had been taking money from a waste disposal company while steering through legislation of interest to that company, but the EP President declared that she was a woman of the utmost integrity, and that was the end of the story. By contrast, Hannan argues that an anti-corruption Austrian MEP who made himself unpopular by filming MEPs for signing in for their subsistence allowance when they had no meetings to attend was fined thousands of euros for, in effect, filling in a form incorrectly.
Telegraph: Hannan blog

European Voice reports that EU Employment Commissioner Vladimir Spidla has said that many member states could face infringement proceedings for non-compliance with the EU's Working Time Directive following the collapse of talks on revising the legislation on 27 April.
European Voice

According to Welt, European politicians are deeply split on issues of combating unemployment, new stimulus packages, deficit reduction and Euro bonds. Contrary to previous agreements, no EU leaders will be present at today's job summit in Prague.
No link

El País reports that the Icelandic Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir has announced that her party will present a draft law in parliament which authorises discussions with Brussels concerning Iceland's entry into the EU.
El País EUobserver

In an article on l'Humanité, several French socialist candidates for the European elections argue that the Lisbon Treaty is obsolete.
L' Humanité

El Mundo reports that the European Parliament has amended current regulations to prevent French extreme-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen from leading the inaugural parliamentary session after the June elections.
El Mundo Guardian FT BBC Coulisses de Bruxelles

Four members of the European Commission, Belgium's Louis Michel, Poland's Danuta Hübner, Bulgaria's Meglena Kuneva and Luxembourg's Viviane Reding, have left their posts in order to campaign for seats in the European Parliament elections.
European Voice

A leader in Süddeutsche argues that "The European elections will be a disaster because the parliament and the institutions of the Community are more distant than ever, because seldom before have people seen so few good reasons to send an unfamiliar representative to an unfamiliar parliament."
No link

An op-ed piece in the FT by Zaki Laïdi, Professor at the Sciences Po, argues that President Sarkozy's only great strength on his second anniversary in power is the incredible weakness of the left-wing opposition.
FT: Laïdi FT

The European Commission and the US announced a provisional deal in a long-running dispute over the EU's ban on hormone-treated beef, a move that ends for now the threat of retaliatory duties from the US on a range of EU products.
WSJ FT BBC European Voice

A report from the UK's Information Commission has called on the European Commission to harmonise data protection laws across the EU in order to reduce the administrative and legal burden on businesses.
European Voice

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