Open Europe press summary: 28 July 2009

Europe

UK Government admits it will not produce an Impact Assessment for controversial EU proposal on alternative investment
In a response to a Freedom of Information request put forward by Open Europe, the UK Government has admitted that it will not produce an Impact Assessment for the EU's proposed Directive on alternative investment funds. The proposal has been subject to widespread criticism in the UK - primarily among hedge funds and private equity groups - amid concerns that the new rules would hurt the competitiveness of the City of London. In its answer to the FOI request, the Government said that "because of the very foreshortened timescale on which the directive is being negotiated, we will not be publishing a formal impact assessment." (Ref 9/411).

Meanwhile, the Guardian notes that Sweden - whose government is currently holding the rotating chair of the EU - is leading an effort to redraft the current proposal to "solve some of the problems" that have been raised by the industry. The revision of the proposal is currently being carried out by COREPER, a body which operates under EU ministers, consisting of experts from all member states. The European Parliament - who has as much power as national ministers over the proposal - is expected to begin its own revision of the proposal in late August.

Comment: This proposal is being rushed through against all Government guidelines and principles on how new laws should be drafted and agreed. The UK Government has made Impact Assessments (IAs) a key feature of its 'regulatory reform agenda', precisely to avoid this kind of scenario. Agreeing to the proposal without fully assessing its potential impact is both foolish and sets a worrying precedent, especially given the widespread concern that the regulation will hurt EU and UK economies.

According to the Government's guidelines, IAs should ensure that regulations are necessary and proportionate while not introducing unnecessary costs. "Any proposal" the guidelines state, "that imposes or reduces costs on businesses or the third sector requires an Impact Assessment...an Impact Assessment needs to be completed for all forms of intervention". Furthermore, they state: "In the earliest stages of policy development, it is particularly important that policy-makers should use Impact Assessment to help them understand and define the policy challenge and to analyse the case for Government intervention." Regarding EU proposals, the guidelines say that "Impact Assessments should be prepared in order to inform the UK negotiating position and collective agreement on it". UK officials are instructed to "make use of the UK impact assessment when lobbying other Member States to win support for the UK position."
FT Independent: Prosser IHT Telegraph Guardian Deal Book Blog IHT City AM OE research: Out of Control

Doctors' groups call on the Government to suspend EU working time rules
The Mail reports that doctors' pressure group RemedyUK has called on the Government to suspend provisions contained in the EU's Working Time Directive (EWTD), limiting junior hospital doctors to 48 hours' work a week, before they come into force on Saturday. The group, which has 8,000 members, is calling for special measures to bypass the imminent cut in maximum hours from 56 to 48 hours because they claim rising swine flu cases and numbers of NHS staff on sick leave will leave the Health Service struggling to cope.
According to PA, Matt Jameson Evans, Chair of RemedyUK, said: "We already know most doctors are against EWTD, we just need the leadership to do the right thing here." Writing in the Telegraph, President of the Royal College of Surgeons John Black argues "In order to comply with the new legislation, the NHS has had to reorganise to a level of cover that leaves no room for manoeuvre, and this is before the possibility of a swine flu pandemic comes along." He adds, "A longer term problem is that junior doctors are telling us they cannot get enough experience in the operating theatre and clinics. This is a real worry for the next generation of surgeons."
Mail Telegraph: Black OE research: Time's Up

New EP Internal Market Chair calls for better scrutiny of EU impact assessments
In an interview with EurActiv, Conservative MEP Malcolm Harbour, the new Chair of the European Parliament's Internal Market Committee, said he has been "convinced...how important it is for the [European] parliamentary committees to really take a proper look at the Commission's impact assessment of any proposal that comes before them, because this dossier is a very good example. If the strategy is not right and you are not happy with the strategy, then no amount of amendments to the Commission's proposal will make the strategy right. There is no point in tinkering around with the detail unless the core proposal is focused properly." He also indicated that he would want the rapporteurs for proposals "when we have a first exchange of views on a proposal...to say whether, in his or her view, the proposal is strategically sound, and the impact assessment has been properly done. That would save a lot of time later on and we would get a better quality of scrutiny to do that."

He also added that he did not agree with ALDE group leader Guy Verhofstadt's proposal for a single European financial supervision authority, adding that he "did not see the evidence" for the argument that the single market for financial services would disintegrate without one.
EurActiv Open Europe research

Michel Barnier: a bad choice for Internal Market Commissioner?
In an opinion piece in Le Monde, Pierre Briançon argues that "europhile" former French Agricultural and Fisheries Minister Michel Barnier is a bad choice for EU Internal Market Commissioner, despite the French government lobbying hard to secure this position for him. The article notes "without a doubt the post is currently the most important at the heart of the European executive, after the presidency", noting that the Commissioner will be responsible for financial markets and their regulation.

The article emphasises the City of London's opposition to a French politician becoming Internal Market Commissioner, which for them would be comparable "to entrusting the surveillance of a chicken coop to a fox". However the article argues that "the issue of new financial regulation is too serious to become a simple stake in negotiations on the composition of the future commission".

The article concludes that neither France, nor Germany or the UK should be given the Internal Market Commissioner portfolio and that the "European Union has 24 other members" so it should be possible to find a "firm and competent commissioner among them" to manage this "delicate portfolio".
Le Monde

EU moves to diffuse Balkan tension over "shortened" EU accession process for Iceland
EU foreign ministers yesterday unanimously referred Iceland's EU accession bid to the European Commission for a formal opinion. The Irish Times reports that EU leaders have moved to address fears among candidate countries in the Balkans that their own bids to join the EU would be delayed. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said, "Iceland's application will be treated by the book, there will be no short-cuts".

AFP quotes Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt saying, "There will be no accelerated procedure for Iceland, but of course the road is shorter for Iceland than for other countries." RFI quotes French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner reminding of the necessity of "respecting the order of those who have attempted to join the EU." However, in an interview with Austrian newspaper Die Presse, Austrian Foreign Minister Spindelegger called for Iceland and Croatia to join the EU together.

El Pais notes that the Spanish fishing fleet sees Icelandic waters as "treasure" and that Spanish EU Affairs Minister Diego Lopez Garrido has said Spain will "have a lot to say" to avoid "in any case" its fishing interests being damaged during negotiations on Iceland's accession to the EU.
El Pais RFI L'express AFP FAZ BBC Irish Times EUobserver European Voice IHT El Mundo Die Presse AustrianTimes

WSJ: Britain and Germany are right to resist Sarkozy's desire for 'green' tariffs
An editorial in the WSJ warns that "one of the most dangerous but least reported undercurrents of the global-warming movement is trade protectionism." It notes that French President Nicolas Sarkozy - "a mercantalist in the best of times" - escalated the threat last month by suggesting EU import duties to "level the playing field" with countries that oppose binding greenhouse-gas targets at December's United Nations climate talks in Copenhagen.

The paper welcomes comments from Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband, who said the Government was "sceptical" about Sarkozy's proposal, and Germany's Deputy Environment Minister Matthias Machnig, who described such a strategy as "eco-imperialism".
WSJ: Editorial FT Open Europe research

Synon on EU propaganda: "millions are taken from taxpayers, and all of it with a single aim: one people, one state."
Mary Ellen Synon criticises EU propaganda on her Mail blog, noting that the EU Directorate General (DG) for Communication has a budget of €213 million this year, but that all of the EU Directorate Generals have money earmarked for propaganda purposes in their budgets. Among the propaganda effort is a campaign to promote the "alleged excellence" of the Euro currency. Another propaganda effort is a report explaining how the EU strives to monitor its budget, it fails however to mention that the EU's own Court of Auditors has for years refused to sign off on the accounts. She further notes that the EU will spend €885 million from 2007-2013 on promoting a 'common European identity' among young people.

An editorial in Swedish daily Helsingborgs Dagblad notes that the EU's propaganda machinery has not been sufficiently criticised or scrutinised. It argues that it acts in a way that would never have been tolerated if it had been a national government in any of the member states.

EU Communication Commissioner Margot Wallstrom today responds to the critique about EU propaganda in an opinion in Swedish Daily DN. She argues that the EU is merely attempting to provide the public with information rather than promoting the EU itself through propaganda. She stresses that "the goal is not the get everyone to love the EU." She continues: "It is my philosophy that we [the EU] will create better policies if we first consult the public".
Mail: Synon blog Helsingborgs Dagblad DN Timbro's report OE research: The Hard Sell

EU-US data sharing agreement challenged by German politicians
Euractiv reports that European Commission plans to grant US officials access to European bank data in order to crack down on terror networks is triggering angry reactions in Germany. EU foreign ministers yesterday gave a mandate to the Swedish EU Presidency to negotiate a temporary agreement with the US regarding access to data held by SWIFT, a company located in Belgium which manages transactions between banks. The data that SWIFT can disclose to law enforcers includes bank account numbers, addresses and names of senders and recipients of financial transactions, as well as the amount transferred.

The article notes that the German Greens and MEPs from the SPD and the CSU have asked the German government to scrap the preliminary agreement with the US and reject the negotiating mandate.

Green MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit has demanded that Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso involve MEPs in the decision on sharing sensitive bank information of European clients with the US. In the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung, he threatens that if Barroso does not do so "there will be a massive parliament coup. Barroso plays with fire".
Spiegel Irish Times EurActiv FAZ

The Irish Independent reports that the new pro-Lisbon Treaty "We Belong" organisation in Ireland are to avoid using the word "Yes" in their campaign, in an effort to distance themselves from the "losing side" of last year's referendum. The group has enlisted World Cup football hero Packie Bonner, Eurovision winner Eimear Quinn, and Dublin football team manager Pat Gilroy, to help in the "We belong" campaign.
No link

The Economist's Charlemagne looks at a new publication from the EU's foreign policy think-tank, the European Union Institute for Security Studies, entitled "What ambitions for European defence in 2020?" He notes that one contribution says the EU should be preparing "a capability to support hard power politics, both for Clausewitzian influence and possible direct military confrontation."
Economist: Charlemagne's notebook EUISS: "What ambitions for European defence in 2020"

The Common Agricultural Policy blog reports that France and Germany are seeking to revive the Franco-German alliance over CAP reform in order "to agree a mutual deal which they can then impose on others". It suggests that they may be able to "exploit the existence of a lame duck administration in Britain, the main champion of liberal solutions".
CAP blog OE blog

Le Monde reports that the EU is urging Turkey to tackle illegal immigration. Greece in particular is putting pressure on Turkey to meet its obligations regarding immigration. Greek Foreign Minster, Dora Bakoyannis said, "Turkey must meet its obligations and understand that it must cooperate on illegal immigration".
Le Monde

Writing in the WSJ, Jason Riley of City Law School and City University argues that, because the core procedural rules of European Union competition regulation date back to 1962, EU antitrust rules may violate the European Convention on Human Rights.
WSJ: Riley

After weeks of haggling, the IMF and the EU yesterday endorsed a Latvian deficit plan and said they would make available $2bn in loans.
WSJ

The European Union executive said on Monday it had paid a €1.5 billion installment of a loan to Romania and €1.2 billion to Latvia to help the two countries deal with the economic crisis. This is the first tranche of a total of 5 billion euro loan to both countries.
Financial Times Deutschland

Le Parisien reports that the EU has decided to extend its Georgia mission for another year. This mission was set up in October 2008, after the Russia-Georgia conflict.
El Mundo Le Parisien AFP FR.RIAN

El Pais reports that the EU has definitively approved a regulation for more control and supervision of rating agencies, which have been accused of contributing to the financial crisis by not giving adequate warnings of mortgage problems in the US.
El Pais

The new Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boiko Borisov has vowed to fight against the corruption which has been tarnishing Bulgaria's image, answering the demands of the European Commission.
ABC

The BBC reports on the EU ban on the sale of all seal products. The ban, which exempts products from traditional hunts by indigenous peoples in Canada and Greenland, has provoked reactions from Canada which says that it will challenge the decision at the World Trade Organisation.
El Mundo El Pais IHT HS BBC EUobserver EurActiv FAZ IFAW

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.