Open Europe press summary: 13 July 2009

Europe

Joschka Fischer: "Europe will... continue to progress as an alliance of states in a state of integration", whether German court likes it or not
In Die Zeit, former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer criticises the judgement of the German Constitutional Court, saying that "Europe will, despite numerous setbacks and crises, continue to progress as an alliance of states in a state of integration, whether Karlsruhe likes it or not".

Handelsblatt reports that the Bavarian CSU party has declared that the German Parliament should have extensive binding powers with regards to the German government's EU policies. Horst Seehofer, CSU leader is quoted saying that "Europe should be able to function, but it also has to be democratically legitimate" adding that "one should not cut down on democracy to save time". Sueddeutsche notes that CSU's stance following the German Constitutional Court's judgement on the Lisbon Treaty is increasingly becoming a problem for the credibility of Angela Merkel's EU policies.

Meanwhile, in his FT column, Wolfgang Münchau argues that "European integration ends with the Lisbon treaty", as the judgement said that "member states must have sovereignty in the following areas: criminal law, police, military operations, fiscal policy, social policy, education, culture, media, and relations with religious groups." Singling out fiscal policy, Münchau argues, "A decision that essentially rules out effective economic crisis management in a monetary union, by anchoring all relevant political decisions at the national level, is hardly consistent with a sustainable single currency". They concluded that "at the very least, anyone locked in a monetary union with Germany should be very worried."
Handelsblatt Sueddeutsche FAZ 1 FAZ 2 Sueddeutsche 1 Sueddeutsche 2 Sueddeutsche: Grosser AFP Focus FT: Münchau Die Zeit OE blog

EU politicians line up to visit Ireland ahead of second referendum
EurActiv reports that Jerzy Buzek, the likely next President of the European Parliament, has said that if he is elected, he will travel to Ireland ahead of the second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, "to tell people what the treaty is for" and "what's going on in it". He also indicated that he could travel there with former EP President Pat Cox. The article reports that this is a significant about-turn for the EU political establishment, which in the run-up to the first Irish referendum made a point of not actively involving itself in the 'yes' campaign. The article reports that this time around, the 'yes' forces will have no such qualms about making their presence felt in the Irish referendum run-up.
EurActiv OE blog

New EU data centre to have €100 million budget
El Mundo covers a report in Der Spiegel saying that the EU is preparing to establish a data centre which holds sensitive personal information. The article notes that the centre has a budget of €100 million and will unite data centres which currently function independently. It will be called the 'Agency for the management of large IT systems in the field of liberty, security and justice'. German liberal MEP Alexander Alvaro said "centralising such a gigantic quantity of different data only makes sense if they want to create profiles of people".
El Mundo

Leading investors: EU's proposed directive on alternative investment could make pension schemes less affordable
Some of Europe's leading institutional investors have strongly criticised the EU's proposed directive on alternative investments, claiming the directive will significantly limit their investment options and make pension provision more expensive, the WSJ reports. According to the article, the National Association of Pension Funds and the Association of British Insurers will seek to lobby the EU institutions to seek changes to the proposal.

Lindsay Tomlinson, the incoming chairman of the NAPF and European Vice-Chairman of asset manager Barclays Global Investors, said: "if implemented as drafted, [the directive] would have many consequences that in aggregate do not seem to benefit investors. The problem in amending this draft is to decide where to start". Richard McIndoe, Head of the Strathclyde Pension fund, one of the biggest of the UK's local government schemes, said: "As an investor in private equity, I don't see further regulation of the industry as necessary", adding that the Directive "will have a dramatic impact on the affordability of defined benefit pension schemes".

Meanwhile, Jerry Moriarty, Director of Policy at the Irish Association of Pension Funds, said: "Irish pension schemes have been steadily increasing their holdings in alternative and international asset classes and, if implemented, the directive would adversely impact their diversification strategies".

In Saturday's Telegraph, Damian Reece criticised the proposal, noting that "Far from hacking at [the City] with blunt regulatory tools to try to beat it into submission, the EU should be embracing it as one of the few truly modern, ground-breaking industries of a global scale that it has. What else is there? Steel? Farming?" In the Independent on Sunday, Margareta Pagano argued, "Surely the real point is that nobody is a winner in this battle, neither Paris nor Frankfurt nor any other European city. In fact, the reverse is true".

On his Telegraph blog, Dan Hannan MEP argues that "Now you can blame an awful lot of people for the credit crunch...one set of people you can't blame are managers of private equity".
WSJ Independent on Sunday-Pagano Observer-Hutton Telegraph: Reece Telegraph: Hannan blog

CBI calls for cut in spending on renewables as Government warns of increase in energy costs to reach EU targets
The Telegraph reports that the Government's renewable energy strategy, due to be unveiled on Wednesday, is expected to say that more than £100 billion must be spent to build Britain's renewable energy infrastructure by 2020. The funding will come from a levy on energy bills, meaning a rise of up to 20 percent or more than £200 annually. About 2 per cent of Britain's energy is currently derived from renewable sources but the Government has promised to increase this to 15 percent within the next 12 years, under EU rules.

A separate article looks at a new McKinsey report, commissioned by the CBI, which calls for the Government's "overly ambitious" targets on renewable energy generation to be offset by nuclear power. It suggests rising nuclear spend by £15bn and carbon capture by £7bn, while cutting investment in expensive gas projects by £11bn and wind by £12bn. The CBI argues this would mean 83% our electricity will come from low-carbon sources, compared with 64% under a business as usual model. Meanwhile, power sector emissions would halve by 2020 and halve again by 2030, getting the UK back on track with its longer-term carbon targets.

Meanwhile, Roland Rudd of Business for New Europe argues in the Telegraph that the EU has a "crucial role" to play with regards to climate change efforts. John Grummer, the chairman of the Conservative Party's Quality of Life Policy Group, said that the Kyoto Treaty is evidence of the EU's influential powers, "the very fact that the EU made Kyoto possible should fire us up to raise our game on climate change".
Telegraph Telegraph 2 Telegraph 3 OE research FT FT 2 CBI press release

New European Parliament session meets in Strasbourg this week
European Voice reports that French socialist MEP Pervenche Beres is likely to head up the new Employment and Social Affairs Committee, and centre-right German MEP Herbert Reul could chair the Industry Committee. Italian MEP Mario Mauro is likely to be chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee as a consolation prize for backing out of the race for EP President, and UK Labour MEP Brian Simpson is to chair the Transport Committee. Membership of the new committees will be finalised at the first plenary session on Thursday.

The FT reports that Poland's former Prime Minister, Jerzy Buzek, is likely to be elected as President of the European Parliament this week, strengthening the influence of eastern Europe in the EU.
EUobserver European Voice EurActiv EurActiv 2 EurActiv 3 Sueddeutsche FAZ El Mundo FT

French star architect refurbishes Brussels Euro-quarter
Handelsblatt reports that the winning architect of the Urban Planning competition for the rejuvenation of the European quarter in Brussels, Christian de Portzamparc, has indicated that he envisages an additional 400,000 square metres more of office space in an attempt to bring life back to the Brussels 'ghost-town' Euro-quarter.
Handelsblatt

EU governments agree to reduce 2010 budget
On Friday, EU governments agreed to cut next year's budget by €613 million, bringing the proposed budget to €138 billion, European Voice reports. However, El Mundo notes that the 27 member states want an even smaller budget than the one proposed by the European Commission.European Voice El Mundo

Sarkozy willing to give up Strasbourg for NATO?
El Mundo reports on the poor construction of the Strasbourg Parliament, noting that following the collapse of the roof, it has been discovered that the building does not meet fire safety standards. The article notes that the European Parliament's Strasbourg seat is controversial and there are rumours that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is willing to give up the Parliament if the NATO headquarters moves to Strasbourg.
El Mundo

New EU law on seasonal workers could threaten wages, unions warn
Six Swedish Union Presidents argue today in an opinion piece in Svenska Dagbladet that a law drafted by the European Commission could lead to wage dumping. They note that the law, which concerns seasonal workers born outside of the EU, is unclear and should therefore be scrapped.

Currently citizens from outside the EU can work for up to three months without applying for a resident's permit, provided that they fulfil the visa requirements. If the new European law is implemented, citizens from outside the EU would be allowed to work for a period of nine months per calendar year for a maximum period of four to five years. The agricultural sector along with the tourism and construction sectors are likely to be the most affected, should the proposal become law.
Svenska Dagbladet

The Mail on Sunday reported that the UK's £750million e-Borders scheme, which is due to become fully operational by December next year, has been accused of breaching EU law.
Mail

Writing in the Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard looks at the economic prospects for the EU and writes, "Viewed strategically, Europe's mix of monetary deflation and rampant deficit spending by the states is nothing short of lunatic...How do Europe's voters sack the ECB?"
Telegraph

The Economist's Charlemagne blog examines the Swedish position on Turkish EU accession, and suggests that Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt "does not just talk about Turkey favourably because he thinks this goes down well with Swedish voters. His position is both more sincere than that, and much more challenging to French ways of viewing the world."
Economist: Charlemagne's notebook

The WSJ reports that President Dmitry Medvedev has said that Russia could rethink a controversial change in its plans to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO), saying that joining as part of a customs union with Belarus and Kazakhstan could be "problematic".
WSJ

European Voice reports that the EU member states have today approved a planned trade deal with South Korea. The draft deal which comes after two years of negotiations with South Korea.
LeJDD European Voice Forbes

The EU has called for the United Nations to recognise a Palestinian state by a certain deadline, even without Israeli or Palestinian authorisation. In a speech on Saturday, Javier Solana, EU Foreign Policy Chief, called for an international deadline to be set. AFP

The Times reports that five countries will sign an agreement today intended to end Russia's monopoly on gas supply to Europe. However, delays in securing adequate funding and political agreement mean that the pipeline may not be ready until 2015.
EUobserver Guardian RFI Express RTBF Times Google News ABC Irish Times
BBC La Razon DN Liberation

Expansión reports that the European Commission is preparing a directive to create a guarantee fund for the insurance industry, which operates in the same way as the fund for the banking sector. The article notes that the fund would cover individuals and that for life insurance policies there would be a minimum limit of €100,000.
Expansion

The EU Law blog notes that the number of opinions the European Commission received from national parliaments has increased steadily from 53 in 2006, 115 in 2007, to 200 in 2008. It notes that the opinions of national parliaments tended to be in line with the positions taken by the member States in Council.
EU Law

The Irish Independent reports that Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo, a member of the European Central Bank governing board, has warned that Spain's economy will take longer to recover than most other eurozone countries. The article notes that the European Commission expects Spain's unemployment to rise to 20.5% next year.
Irish Independent El Pais

A leader in the FT focuses on Jose Manuel Barroso's re-appointment as Commission President, arguing that it seems uncertain. The article adds that, "Mr Barroso must show that he will be more independent in a second term".
FT: Leader

Writing for Conservative Home, MEP Nirj Deva proposes that "more than 75% of the laws that an ordinary British now lives under is indeed first made in the Europe".
Conservative Home: Deva

The Telegraph reports on the fact that Tony Blair has lost Nicolas Sarkozy's support in becoming the new President of the EU.
Telegraph

DPA reports that opposition from five members of Iceland's governing coalition is complicating the government's plans to make a bid for European Union membership this month.
DPA Fishupdate Handelsblatt Deutsche Welle Makfax LeTemps

Open Europe is an independent think tank campaigning for radical reform of the EU. For information on our research, events and other activities, please visit our website: openeurope.org.uk or call us on 0207 197 2333.