Open Europe press summary: 19 August 2009

Europe

Vote No to Lisbon launches referendum campaign;
Joe Higgins MEP: Lisbon Treaty is not a solution to the economic crisis
The Irish Times reports that Vote No to Lisbon, formerly the Campaign Against the EU Constitution, yesterday opened its campaign in Dublin in the run up to the second referendum on 2 October. Speaking at the press conference Socialist Party MEP Joe Higgins urged Irish voters to reject the Lisbon Treaty based on its content, rather than a desire to "kick the Government out of office", the Irish Independent reports. Higgins said that it was false "through and through" to portray the Lisbon Treaty as a solution to the economic crisis: "Lisbon is a treaty for decades, not for one or two years and therefore it shapes the Europe we will have to live in."

According to the Irish Times, Higgins was also "very concerned" about how the debate would be conducted in the media. He said guidelines issued to broadcasters by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) indicating they did not have to allocate 50:50 airtime to the Yes and No sides were "extremely sinister".

People Before Profit Alliance Councillor Brid Smith said the 'guarantees' obtained by the Irish government did not change the Lisbon Treaty by "one iota". She said, "We believe that Irish voters are being threatened, cajoled and lied to."

An Irish Times leader article writes that "the battle lines are drawn" with both sides now having officially launched their campaigns. It notes that "In September, the battle proper will start" and that according to the Referendum Commission "91 per cent are extremely or quite likely" to vote.

Writing in the Irish Independent, Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin responds to an article by Bruce Arnold, which argued that the government's recent White Paper on the Lisbon Treaty "Is a flawed document, containing some serious distortion of fact. It is unbalanced and heavily politicised, presenting a case that favours the defeated minority in the referendum of last year."

Martin writes that "it would, in my view, be wrong to argue that our relationship with our EU partners would be unaffected by a second rejection of the Lisbon Treaty...A second 'No' vote would be deeply damaging to our standing within the EU".
Irish Independent Irish Times Irish Times Irish Times 3 Irish Times: Leader Vote No to Lisbon

Commission proposes controversial EU-wide tax database
EUobserver reports that the European Commission has proposed a system to boost the fight against tax fraud by allowing national authorities to directly access taxpayer data in other countries. The key element of the blueprint is the creation of "Eurofisc" - a scheme for rapid exchange of targeted information to which the tax authorities from all 27 EU member states would have direct access.

"In the current economic situation it is more important than ever to fight tax fraud efficiently and a fully functioning administrative cooperation between tax administrations is key in that respect," the EU's Taxation Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs said. The proposal would require unanimous agreement among member states.
EUobserver Tagesspiegel

German political parties agree on Lisbon Treaty law
The German media reports that Germany's ruling political parties, the CDU/CSU and the SPD, have reached an agreement on how to strengthen the parliament's rights in the EU decision-making process.

The last remaining issues were resolved during yesterday's negotiations. The Bavarian CSU faction pushed through their demand that the scope of the new law includes EU trade policy, particularly World Trade Organisation agreements. Furthermore local government will receive increased rights to protect their interests vis-à-vis Brussels.

As reported yesterday (see here) however, the Bavarian CSU faction was not able to enforce its main demands, such as binding Bundestag guidelines for the government when negotiating at the EU level, ,or a requirement for referendums before future EU enlargements.

In the end the CSU gave in to a softer position, under which the German government must hear the parliament's opinion but is not bound by it. However if the government cannot enforce crucial requests from the Bundestag, they will have to provide detailed justification. The parliamentary head of the CDU, Norbert Röttgen, pointed out that it is important that Germany is not bound by binding statements of the Bundestag and retains a degree of flexibility in order for Germany to "continue being the engine of European integration".

The agreement of the governing coalition on the new law is backed by the Greens and the Liberals and enjoys an overwhelming majority, except for the left wing party Die Linke which is strongly opposed to the deal. The bill will have to pass a first reading in the Bundestag on 26 August and a second reading on 8 September. The Bundesrat (upper house) is set to approve the deal on 18 September, before passing it for final approval to the Constitutional Court.

Die Linke, who claim that the agreement does "not even nearly" match the requirements set out by the Constitutional Court, yesterday repeatedly threatened to make a constitutional complaint.

Meanwhile, Czech daily Ceskenoviny reports that a group of Senators from the ODS party will file a complaint against the Lisbon Treaty with the Constitutional Court only after lodging a complaint against the law on a EU-related 'special mandate'. The special mandate prevents the Czech government from approving transfer of powers to the EU without the parliament's agreement. Senator Jiri Oberfalzer said that the law needs to change so that Constitutional Judges can control whether individual steps taken by EU bodies are in accordance with the Czech Constitution.
Die Welt Focus Hamburger Abendblatt Deutsche Welle EUobserver Ceskenoviny

English football fan extradited to Portugal under EU rules amid controversy over his trial
An English judge yesterday ordered the extradition of Garry Mann, a former firefighter, to Portugal for his alleged role in football related violence in an Algarve resort four and a half years ago. The Court dismissed Mann's defence that his trial in Portugal was unfair owing to the fast-track procedure used, in which he claims he was allowed only five minutes to talk to a lawyer before the trial.

Jago Russell, Chief Executive of Fair Trials International, pointed out that another English court had previously described his trial as 'unfair', stating "Something is wrong with EU extradition laws if one English court has to send Garry to jail in Portugal, when another has branded his trial as 'unfair.'" His extradition is also controversial as both British police at the hearing and Mr Mann believed that his sentence would be served in the UK rather than Portugal, although British authorities did not enforce his two-year jail term.
No link

Swedish climate envoy: post-Kyoto treaty 'possible but difficult'
Anders Turesson, the EU's lead negotiator at December's Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, said in an interview with Euractiv that it will be difficult, but not impossible to obtain an agreement on a new climate treaty in Copenhagen. He said that Sweden would use its EU Presidency to prepare the EU for the upcoming negotiations, with the possibility of increasing its 2020 target of cutting CO2 emissions from 20% to 30% in case of a "good agreement" and "comparable efforts from other countries". He went on to reiterate the EU's belief that an OECD carbon market by 2015 is realistic but said the EU had yet to decide the level of financial assistance it would give developing countries to meet targets set at the conference.
Euractiv

Henrik Alexandersson: The EU's war on terror and toys
Henrik Alexandersson, member of the Swedish Pirate Party, reports today that the EU Directorate General for Justice, Freedom and Security is proposing a ban on the fuel used for children's toy steam engines in an effort to prevent terrorism. He notes that the Commission fears that a terrorist could buy tens of thousands of fuel tablets and then extract a sufficient amount of an explosive substance out of them to make a bomb. Alexandersson concludes that a ban would effectively be the end for the German manufactured steam engines, as no substitute fuel exists.
Henrik Alexandersson's Blog

In the Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard reports that Germany's Economics Ministry is drawing up a raft of special measures with the Bundesbank to head off a fresh financial crisis, fearing that a loan squeeze by struggling banks will set off a serious credit crunch early next year.
Telegraph: Evans-Pritchard

UK

David Cameron has warned that current levels of government spending risks the UK defaulting on its debt.
Guardian Telegraph

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