Open Europe press summary: 4 August 2009

Europe

AIMA: EU's Alternative Investment Directive could cost European pension industry €25 billion a year
The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) has warned that the European Commission's proposed Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) could cost the European pension industry an estimated €25 billion as the proposals would reduce choice and increase costs for investors.

Andrew Baker, the Chief Executive of AIMA said that "With Europe facing strong demographic pressures as a result of an ageing population, pension funds will need strong growth and reliable returns over the coming years in order to meet future demand. If they suffer lower returns as a result of the directive, it's not only Europe's pensions funds but Europe's pensioners of both today and tomorrow who will suffer." He also called for a full impact assessment on the proposal to "determine whether the uncertain benefits of the directive justify the certainty of massive costs."

However, the Government has confirmed, in response to a Freedom of Information request from Open Europe, that there will be no impact assessment for the proposal due to the "foreshortened time scale on which the directive is being negotiated."

Sharon Bowles, the Chair of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, has also expressed concern about how the Directive would impact on pensioners and welcomed discussion with pension funds on how the Directive would affect them.

Meanwhile, eFinancial News reports that the UK Treasury and the FSA met with industry representatives on Friday to give an update of the state of the negotiations over the draft Directive. According to the article, the industry representatives were told that proposals for a general cap on how much hedge funds are allowed to borrow and rules restricting EU investors' ability to invest in non-EU funds could be dropped following discussions between member states' governments. However, one source said "In September everything starts happening in the European Parliament and you can be sure there will be attempts not only to resist softening the directive, but actually to strengthen it. Everyone should be ready for that."

Both the European Parliament and national ministers must agree before the AIFMD can become law.
AIMA FT Bloomberg AGEFI eFinancial News Open Europe blog

French farmers refuse to pay back €330m in CAP subsidies
The FT reports that French farmers are refusing to repay €330 million in EU farming subsidies, which the European Commission has ruled illegal as they distorted competition in the EU market. The Commission has given France a deadline of January 2010 to repay the debt. The subsidies were paid to farmers between 1992 and 2002 to help them deal with a crisis involving oversupply of French products in the European market.

The article quotes François Lafitte, leader of Fédécom, the fruit and vegetable producers' union, saying "Nobody will pay these subsidies," adding that "the amounts put forward by Brussels don't add up" and "would spell ruin for the industry."

However, EUobserver notes that French Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire has said that the French would repay the subsidies, saying "It's clear we must get farmers to start reimbursing the funds." He emphasised that the repayments will be assessed on a "case-by-case basis so that the land holdings of the weakest farmers would not be jeopardised."

Meanwhile, Handelsblatt reports that a number of large corporations in Bavaria have received EU farm subsidies, after authorities finally released the names of recipients. Taz notes several celebrities who received CAP funding, such as an aristocrat, Gloria, Princess of Thurn and Taxis, and Gerd Sonnleitner, who is the President of the German Farmers' Association.
FT EUobserver Le Figaro 24heures El Mundo Taz Handelsblatt

Alexandr Vondra: Brussels and Paris undermined Czech EU Presidency to prove their argument for the Lisbon Treaty
An article in the IHT looks at the difficulties of the Czech EU Presidency and reports that Alexandr Vondra, former Czech Deputy Prime Minister for European affairs, has argued that from the first days of the Czech Presidency larger countries like France were determined to undermine it, saying "We were under fire from the start. The ayatollahs of the Lisbon Treaty in Brussels and Paris wanted us to fail in order to prove their argument that the rotating EU presidency didn't work and that the EU couldn't function without a new treaty."

The article suggests that if Czech President Vaclav Klaus is asked to sign the Lisbon Treaty if the Irish vote Yes in a second referendum in October, he will have "the opportunity for the ultimate act of sabotage". The article quotes Jaroslav Plesl, Deputy Editor of the Czech daily Lidove Noviny saying, "Klaus is the ultimate provocateur and would relish the opportunity to create a mess and to see Brussels officials go ballistic".
IHT

American Thinker cited Open Europe's estimate that the EU's Climate and Energy package will cost the UK £9bn a year and leave an extra 1 million people in fuel poverty by 2020.
American Thinker Open Europe research

'No real progress' made at German parliamentary debate on Lisbon Treaty
Handelsblatt reports that there was no progress at yesterday's German Bundestag meeting on the legislation required to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. The different factions only agreed on a guideline of procedure, but failed to agree concrete proposals. The CSU has argued that a stronger say for the German parliament over EU decision-making should not only be embedded in new legislation but also in the German Constitution. The SPD is strongly opposed to such a measure. SPD parliamentary spokesperson on EU matters, Axel Schäfer, said that a constitutional amendment "is out of the question", whereas the CDU has signaled a willingness to discuss the issue.

Furthermore, the CSU demands that parliament's statements on EU questions should be binding on the German government with the exception of matters relating to foreign and security policy. This stands in strong opposition to the CDU, SPD, FDP, and Greens. Another conflicting issue is the CSU demand for referendums on questions related to the future integration of the EU.

The article notes that these differences seriously threaten the timetable set out for passing the legislation on the Lisbon Treaty and therefore ratification of the Treaty before the referendum in Ireland. The first reading in the parliament is expected on 26 August.
Handelsblatt Tagesspiegel SZ Welt

Commission proposes to increase minimum parental leave to four months
EurActiv reports that the European Commission has announced proposals to increase the minimum parental leave from 3 months to 4 months per child by 2011. The law would affect national legislation in the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Romania and Malta. The European Commission's proposal would also allow three of each parent's four months to be transferred to the other - for example, a child's mother could take up to seven months, and the father would take the eighth.
EurActiv

European Commission to launch €20m ad campaign for milk
Swedish Radio reports that the European Commission has decided to launch an advertising campaign to boost the milk industry. The effort will cost EU taxpayers an additional €20 million.
SR

Private Eye: Officials at the European Investment Bank approving loans to firms they have links with
The Brussels Sprouts column in Private Eye notes that the European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending to companies established in tax havens, while the European Commission simultaneously plans to crack down on tax havens. It also reports that, in some cases, senior EIB officials sit on the boards of those companies that are receiving money. The article goes on to suggest that EIB lending for development assistance is being used to support tax evasion.
No link

Brownen Maddox: US will confront Iran alone if the UN and EU dither
In the Times, Brownen Maddox argues that the US is considering confronting Iran on its own if the EU and UN hesitate. She writes: "American officials have planted reports that they are considering unilateral sanctions if diplomacy fails. That is a warning to Iran, of course. But it is also a warning to its European allies that they had better decide quickly whether they are prepared to join in."
Times: Maddox

New NATO Secretary General seeks a "rapprochement" of NATO-EU relations
Former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen yesterday took up his post as NATO's Secretary General. EUobserver reports that he wants to improve the relationship between NATO and the EU by getting Greek and Turkish leaders to set aside their differences and he pledged to use his "network" of EU leaders from his time as Danish Prime Minister to encourage cooperation. A leader in the Times argues: "The main threat to the alliance today is indifference. The Europeans have consistently failed to contribute an equitable share of Nato's budget, and continue to shelter behind the capabilities and nuclear umbrella of the largest member, the United States."
Times: Leader EUobserver European Voice Le Figaro

EU monitors all alone as tensions mount in Georgia
European Voice reports that the EU's monitoring mission (EUMM) is the last international mission in Georgia after Russian opposition led to the withdrawal of observers from both the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Reuters reports that tension has escalated in the region after South Ossetia accused Georgian forces of firing mortars at it over the weekend. The EUMM has asked for "unrestricted access" to both sides of its administrative boundary.
European Voice IHT

Private Eye reports that Andrew Symeou, extradited to Greece under a European Arrest Warrant, will now spend months in jail there having been refused bail because he has no permanent home in Greece. The article asks, "Surely the question of whether someone should be extradited to face trial abroad without even considering allegations of police misconduct, including violent intimidation of witnesses, is a matter of public importance?"
Open Europe blog

Gideon Rachman, in the FT, discusses the economic crisis affecting Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, arguing that it could "threaten the fragile prospect of recovery in the rest of Europe."
FT: Rachman

In European Voice, Alex Rogers, a reader at London's Institute of Zoology, looks at the EU's fisheries policy and argues that it is a "showcase for mismanagement, characterised by disregard for science and sustainability".
European Voice: Rogers

New figures from Eurostat suggest that the EU's population will reach 500 million in 2009, EUobserver reports.
EUobserver Welt Nederlands Dagblad El Mundo El Pais Nouvel Obs

World

The FT reports that the US Congress has inserted an amendment into a $33bn spending bill that would stop any of the money being spent on cars not made by the three biggest US car companies - Ford, GM and Chrysler - prompting accusations of protectionism from the head of the European Commission's US delegation.
FT


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