Open Europe press summary: 6 November 2009

Europe

Die Welt's London Correspondent: Many Germans "feel rather sympathetic" to Britain's re-evaluation of the EU
Following David Cameron's speech on the Conservatives' new policy on Europe, there is widespread coverage of the reactions from European politicians. In an interview on the BBC's Newsnight last night, French Foreign Minister Pierre Lellouche attempted to explain his comments that Conservative policy on Europe was "autistic" and would "castrate" UK influence in Europe, saying they had been mistranslated. He said that, in his relations with William Hague, "On Europe it seems like we cannot talk...I've been talking to him over the year and it doesn't make a dent. There's no listening, no exchange on this."

The Guardian notes that Hague dismissed the comments, saying "We won't be put off by one emotional outburst from one minister. I think more senior members of the French government would take a more careful approach." He added, "We will stick up for our national interests, which French ministers never fail to do, by the way."

On the BBC's Today Programme, when asked about Cameron's pledge to repatriate powers in social policy and criminal justice, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said, "I hope we can convince him that being all together makes us a lot stronger. Today and tomorrow's worlds are vastly different from how they were years ago when it was a matter of national sovereignty." She added, "As far as the past is concerned, we have rules of membership, we are all part of the club."

However, also speaking on Newsnight, Die Welt's London Correspondent Thomas Kielinger said that there had been an over-reaction to Cameron's speech by many European politicians. He added, "There are a lot of eurosceptics in Germany on the ground - people who feel rather sympathetic to the way Britain is trying to re-evaluate what Europe is about, what Brussels should be - who don't speak up because the powers that be in my country are holding such a strong hold over public opinion that they won't let these voices come to the fore."

In a poll of 1,167 adults carried out by PoliticsHome asking "would you or would you not like there to be a referendum on whether the UK's level of engagement with the EU should be renegotiated?" 63% of voters said they would want a referendum and 29% said they would not. 70% backed Cameron's proposed Sovereignty Bill, aimed at ensuring that ultimate power stays in the UK Parliament, and 57% said that the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty was "a negative development", while 27% said it was "a positive development". The poll also found that 52% of voters think that David Cameron's new Europe policy is a "fair adaptation of a policy to fit new circumstances." 42%, however, see Cameron as having broken a promise.

Writing in the Times, Antonia Senior argues that Cameron's proposed Sovereignty Bill, based on the model proposed by Germany's Constitutional Court, will not work in the UK due to the lack of a written constitution.
Today programme Newsnight Independent Express Mail Telegraph Times Guardian: Wheatcroft Economist: Charlemagne notebook BBC Telegraph: Hannan's blog Guardian Guardian 2 The Parliament Guardian 3 BBC: Hewitt blog IHT Politics Home Conservative Home Economist: Bagehot Times: Senior Independent 2 FT FT 2 Mail: Synon blog

Open Europe: Conservatives "must turn off every single tap from which EU social policy flows"
On Conservative Home, Open Europe's Mats Persson looks at the Conservatives' pledge to bring back some powers from the EU on social policy, arguing that the party is right to focus on this area. But, he argues, "in order to give their policy real teeth, the Conservatives must pledge to turn off every single tap from which EU social policy currently flows - once and for all. In practice, this means opting out of all those articles in the Treaties which serve as basis for social legislation - whether existing or future - rather than picking and choosing individual Directives or segments of Directives, as Cameron seems to suggest".

Citing Open Europe's new research that EU social laws will cost the UK economy £71 billion over the next decade, Mats goes on to argue that "contrary to popular belief, the British Conservatives are not the only ones in Europe frustrated about EU employment law. From Stockholm to Stuttgart, the experience of the WTD and other laws has made people seriously uneasy about the merits of centralised, one-size-fits-all rules for all the different labour market models currently co-existing in Europe." Mats concludes, "Repatriating social and employment policy will be hard work, but it's not impossible. The Conservatives should not be afraid to champion this new policy, with the help of allies in Europe. The democratic and economic case for doing so is compelling."

Meanwhile, the European Trade Union Congress has issued a press release saying it looks forward to the Lisbon Treaty strengthening "Europe's social dimension in the new framework of a social market economy, which replaces the open economy of the Nice Treaty." Its General Secretary John Monks said: "Now that the ratification process is finally out of the way, we have to act and open new doors for social rights. The ETUC condemns once more the UK, Polish and Czech reservations to the Charter [of Fundamental Rights] and will continue to work to ensure that all European workers are treated fairly and equally."
Conservative Home-Persson OE blog ETUC Coulisses de Bruxelles Open Europe research Open Europe press release

Miliband emerges as favourite for EU Foreign Minister;
Swedish PM begins informal talks over EU top jobs
DPA quotes a "high ranking EU diplomat" saying that David Milliband is favorite for the post of EU Foreign Minister, with former Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema also a candidate, but likely to be opposed in central and eastern Europe because of his Communist past.

Belgian PM Herman Van Rompuy is the front-runner for the job of EU President, but Dutch daily De Volkskrant notes that Polish Ambassador to the EU Jan Tombinski has revealed that Dutch PM Jan Peter Balkenede is intensely lobbying for the job. The Telegraph reports that Lord Mandelson has launched a final campaign to try and secure the job for Tony Blair. He will deliver a speech in Brussels today, saying "One of Europe's key deficits is leadership. Lisbon is very valuable and certainly gives us a new institutional toolkit. But it is personalities and policies that will make the difference". He has also denied that Miliband is a candidate for the EU Foreign Minister job, adding: "Some people may choose to hallucinate on this subject but I am not going to do so."

The Economist's Charlemagne column looks at the Conservatives' opposition to Blair's candidacy and the demise of his chances and writes, "it is hard to see how Tory interests are advanced by helping a Belgian federalist into a top EU job. An even bigger Tory mistake is the belief that a modest president will mean a modest Europe. It will not. It means, rather, that the bit of the EU machine that directly represents national governments will have a weaker voice, to the advantage of the more federalist institutions: the European Commission and the European Parliament."

Meanwhile the Times reports that Swedish PM Fredrik Reinfeldt yesterday began a first round of 'confessionals': one-to-one talks with EU leaders about the two jobs created by the Lisbon Treaty. An EU summit could be held as early as 12 November to decide on the jobs, following informal talks at the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on Monday. The Telegraph quotes one EU official saying: "Berlin is going to [be] make your mind up time for Britain. Is it Blair or Miliband? If Brown dithers he might get neither".

A leader in the Times argues, "Mr Reinfeldt has a clear choice. He could run the process openly and transparently, encouraging all those with a vote to identify two candidates for each post and spell out why they are the right people for the job. Or he could follow the ingrained habit of European Union proceedings and preside over a secret conversation that yields decisions from which the European people are again excluded."
Times Lesechos Mail DPA Economist: Charlemagne FT: Westminster blog Telegraph Times: Leader IHT Times LeMonde ANSA ASCA Volkskrant

European Court of Auditors slams €1 billion EU development aid spent by NGOs
Writing in De Standaard, Belgian MEP Derk-Jan Eppink reports that the European Court of Auditors (ECA) has, in a report, delivered serious criticism of the way NGOs spend almost €1 billion of development aid. He quotes the ECA report saying there is an "enormous gap between the engagements of NGOs and what they realise on the ground". Eppink notes that, a lot of projects are not being executed very well, while "full and reliable figures are lacking". The ECA calls this "extremely regrettable" and concludes that a lot of projects are "not sustainable".
Standaard: Eppink ECA Press Release ECA Report 4/2009

Money Marketing quotes Open Europe's research on the Alternative Investment Funds Managers Directive, saying that "less than 2 per cent of Alternative Investment Management Association members' clients believe that the AIFM directive will work in their favour".
Money Marketing Open Europe press release Open Europe briefing

Addition of new MEPs through Lisbon could be "strong negotiating tool" for David Cameron
Euractiv reports on the uncertainty surrounding the timing of 18 new MEPs taking office - jobs created by the change in the number of representatives under the Lisbon Treaty. The article reports that once the Treaty comes into force on 1 December, the 18 new MEPs will join the EP and receive full pay, but will not have any voting rights. While some countries, such as Spain, are keen to send their MEPs to Brussels immediately, in others such as Britain and France, where the voting process is not so clear cut, there is confusion over the basis on which the new MEP will be selected.

Problems also exist over the timing of the MEPs' transition from observer to full MEP status in the European Parliament, with expert David Earnshaw saying that the complication could give Conservative leader David Cameron a "strong negotiating tool" and lead to "further institutional complications for the post-Lisbon Treaty EU."
EurActiv

French Europe Minister: "Commission should come back to its senses"
Pierre Lellouche, French Europe Minister, declared during an interview with French newspaper Les Echos that "it is written nowhere that the Commission is the government of Europe...when it imposes overly harsh sanctions because of anticompetititve practices such as illegal state aid, I think it should come back to its senses. It is fundamental to impose better competition on the European internal market, but it should not weaken the European industry with respect to foreign giants".

Meanwhile, an article in the Economist argues that EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes "is acting under a generous interpretation of her mandate...the disposals being forced on RBS owe little to competition or viability concerns and quite a bit to the punishment motive."
Economist FrenchForeignMinistry

Commission's proposed changes to regional funding angers regions
The FT reports on the leaked Commission document setting out the future of the EU budget, which proposes that the EU should impose tighter national controls on EU regional funds, which at present go directly to the regions, and extend cuts in agricultural subsidies. It also says the EU should concentrate its regional aid budget, worth almost €50bn a year, on individual member states rather than poor regions within them. In a letter to Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Mercedes Bresso, Governor of Italy's Piedmont region, said the proposal was "a document that is only fit for the dustbin".
FT Open Europe press summary OE blog Leaked Commission Communication

Lord Mandelson: "The EU is a tapdancer with 27 feet. Our challenge is getting that strange animal to dance"
In a speech to the Bruegel think-tank in Brussels today, Lord Mandelson is expected to say that the European Commission's budget is "misaligned" and should be redirected to harness "the cutting edge" of European innovation. He will call for a loosening of EU state aid rules in order to encourage investment in the low-carbon industries of the future, and for increased international leadership, concluding: "The EU is a tapdancer with 27 feet. Our challenge is getting that strange animal to dance".
FT WSJ WSJ 2

Former UKIP MEP Tom Wise has admitted embezzling £36,000 in allowances from the European Parliament. The money was received as a secretarial allowance, however Wise only paid his secretary £500 of the £3000 he was allocated, spending the rest on wine and cars according to the BBC. Wise could face jail by the end of the year.
European Voice BBC Telegraph Times

Irish Foreign Minister: Voters did not vote Yes to the actual Lisbon Treaty
The Irish Times reports that Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin yesterday admitted that the economic downturn was the key factor in the second Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, saying: "The key theme to emerge in the research was the sense of economic vulnerability...In terms of the 'switcher', the person who changed from voting No the last time to Yes this time, the economic crisis was a big factor."
Irish Times

Military chiefs fear Lisbon Treaty could diminish their influence
EUobserver reports that EU military chiefs are nervous that their advice will not carry the same weight once the new Lisbon Treaty is in place, and quotes outgoing EU Military Committee Chair, Henri Bentegeat saying the "very wide open EEAS [diplomatic service]" will include diplomats from member states and staff from the European Commission, as well as the current military planning and operational units, prompting fears that the military dimension will be overshadowed.
EUobserver

There is continued coverage of the Government-funded National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death report, which has found that the impact of the EU's Working Time Directive on hospital rotas has contributed to hospital deaths.
Express Telegraph Open Europe research

EU leaders and officials declared during talks in Barcelona yesterday that they thought it unlikely that an international Treaty on climate change would be achieved for as much as another year.
EUobserver BBC Times Independent

Hungary has nominated Laszlo Andor, an international economist and board member at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as its next EU Commissioner.
EurActiv

Belgian newspaper Le Vif reports that the European Parliament's Environment Commission has approved a list of 164 industry sectors which will be beneficiaries of rights of CO2 free emissions.
Levif

"The vast majority of experts advising the European Commission on greater financial regulation are drawn from the same institutions that helped cause the crisis" says a report by the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation published yesterday.
EUobserver The Parliament EU Business Alter-EU report

EUobserver reports that the European Central Bank left eurozone interest rates unchanged at one percent yesterday, but signalled it will start a gradual exit from its emergency lending measures.
EUobserver Eurointelligence Zeit

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