Open Europe press summary: 8 May 2009

Open Europe is holding a morning debate entitled, "Westminster or Brussels: Who rules Britain?" at the House of Commons in London on Monday 11 May, from 10am to 12pm. Speaking at the event will be Gisela Stuart, MP for Birmingham Edgbaston who represented the UK
at the Convention on the Future of Europe; Lord Trimble, former First Minister of Northern Ireland and member of the Lords EU Select Committee; David Heathcoat-Amory, MP for Wells and member of the Commons EU Scrutiny Committee; and Baroness Sarah Ludford, Liberal Democrat MEP for London.

Places are limited. To register, please contact Sarah Gaskell at sarah@openeurope.org.uk or Tel: 020 7197 2333.

Europe

Italian bank receives more than €180 million in EU farm subsidies
The NY Times reports that a list has been published disclosing that the largest beneficiaries of EU farm subsidies include an Italian bank in Milan, a French chicken farming giant and an Irish producer of Weight Watchers meals and Yorkshire puddings. The newspaper reports on a list of the top recipients in 18 EU member states, compiled by Farmsubsidy.org. The largest single payment, €140 million, went to the Italian sugar company Italia Zuccheri. An Italian bank, ICBPI, got more than €180 million in five payments. EU member states were required to publish the recipients of subsidies on 30 April, although Germany has so far refused to do so on the grounds of privacy.

A debate organised by Farmsubsidy.org in Brussels yesterday, "EU Farm Subsidy Millionaires", revealed that there were 710 receivers of at least €1 million in EU farm subsidies in 2008. Several member states were criticised for making it hard to access data, with only Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Romania, Slovenia and the UK doing it well.

Jack Thurston, co-founder of Farmsubsidy.org is quoted by the NY Times saying, "The problem is that we don't know why this money was paid. The EU's Common Agricultural Policy is made up of dozens of different schemes from export subsidies to citric acid processing grants to money for organic farming and income support."
NY Times EUobserver Debate Farmsubsidy.org Materials Farmsubsidy.org EU Farm subsidy millionaires 2008 Sources farmsubsidy.org

EP approves proposals for 'burden sharing' of asylum seekers in EU
EUobserver reports that the European Parliament yesterday approved a series of proposals on revising current EU asylum rules. The proposals introduced a 'solidarity clause' in order to assist member states that claim to be overburdened by asylum seeker demands. This provision foresees member states accepting a percentage of asylum applicants - possibly in accordance with their population size.

The proposal also lays down minimum standards on reception conditions, such as guarantees on housing, food, clothing, health care, freedom of movement and access to work within six months of their arrival.

It also changes rules defining which member state should deal with an asylum seeker's application. Currently, the so-called Dublin Regulation stipulates that the first EU member state that an asylum seeker enters should be the one to examine his or her application. But the proposal backed by MEPs contains a provision under which asylum seekers should not be sent to member states that cannot offer them appropriate reception conditions and asylum procedure access.

FAZ reports that reactions to the result of the vote were mixed. Jacques Barrot, EU Commissioner for Justice, is quoted by EUobserver saying to MEPs: "We really need the European parliament to make [people] accept this asylum policy, which is a policy that is in compliance with our European values."

Meanwhile, some MEPs such as the Austrian Hubert Pirker and the complete Conservative delegation opposed the whole package. On a joint debate in plenary, Pirker warned that the current proposal might lead to "asylum shopping". According to Suddeutsche, Member States will discuss the package in the Council after the European elections. A common position might be reached this autumn.
European Parliament CDU/CSU SPD Die Presse EUobserver

EU regulation of private equity accused of being "a sledgehammer to crack a nut"
Some of Europe's biggest private equity investors have attacked new draft EU regulations - which would impose new authorisation, reporting and capital requirements on equity funds - for being the wrong target in efforts to control systemic risk in the financial system.

Wim Borgdorff, Head of Fund Investments at Alpinvest, Europe's biggest investor in private equity, is quoted in the FT saying, "I don't see the benefits, but I do see the costs, which will create lots of red tape." Carole Kennedy, of Pantheon Ventures, a $23bn private equity fund of funds, said the only beneficiaries of the rules would be service providers such as independent valuators and auditors. She said. "It is a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and a very expensive, gilded sledgehammer at that."

In the FT, Gillian Tett argues that "the real danger with the current debate [on hedge funds] is that it risks missing the wider point." She argues that "the only thing more remarkable than the scale of [large regulated] bank follies is that they went unnoticed for so long, partly because many regulators spent the last decade so obsessed with hedge funds."
FT FT: Tett

UK launches consultation on how to implement EU rules for agency workers
PA reports that the Government has launched its consultation on implementing the EU's Temporary Agency Workers Directive. The directive, agreed last year, will see the UK's 1.3 million agency workers given the same pay and conditions, including equal treatment on holidays and overtime, as permanent staff after 12 weeks in a job.

John Cridland, Deputy Director General of the CBI, said: "Although this directive has been agreed in Brussels, there are still lots of questions that remain about how it will be implemented in the UK." He cited the example of redundancy pay: "It would be a nonsense to introduce redundancy rights in a company where agency staff work but are not employed."
Open Europe research

Barroso: Economic crisis likely to make Irish vote Yes in second Lisbon referendum
The Irish Times reports that European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has said that the economic crisis is likely to make people in Ireland vote Yes in a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, saying "I think that if there is some impact of the crisis on the attitude towards the Lisbon Treaty it would probably be in favour of the Lisbon Treaty."

Following a meeting with the new Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer, Irish PM Brian Cowen has said that a Yes vote in a second referendum is "critical", and that Mr Fischer is committed to proceeding with talks on the 'guarantees' offered to Ireland in exchange for a second referendum during the Czech Presidency. There had been suggestions that the talks would be delayed until the Swedish Presidency, to start on 1 July, over fears that Czech President Vaclav Klaus might chair the summit and cause problems in negotiations.

Meanwhile, on his tour of Europe, BBC correspondent Jonny Dymond has travelled to Ireland and reports that there is an "anguished discussion" in Ireland about the Lisbon Treaty. He quotes Walter Cullen, a trade union official, saying that, "I think that the next referendum will be about frightening people into voting for the treaty, because [they'll be told] if they don't vote for the treaty things will get worse for Ireland."
Irish Times Irish Times 2 BBC

MEPs demand early implementation of Lisbon Treaty rules on nominating Commission President
EUobserver notes that a report passed by MEPs yesterday suggests that the rules of the Lisbon Treaty, which is still undergoing ratification, be taken into consideration when nominating the next Commission President, even if the Treaty is not yet ratified.

This would mean that national governments propose a candidate that reflects the outcome of the European elections this June, and only after discussions with political leaders in the Parliament. Under the current rules, member states are not obliged to consult the European Parliament or to take into account the results of the elections when choosing a Commission President.
EUobserver EP press release

Outgoing Czech PM fires parting shot at Sarkozy
The FT reports that Mirek Topolanek, the outgoing Czech Prime Minister, has said he has no regrets about condemning US economic policy as a potential "road to hell" during his spell at the helm of the Czech EU Presidency. In an interview with the paper he said that if he could have done one thing differently, it would have been the handling of the Gaza conflict in January, when a Czech-led EU diplomatic mission and a French mission headed by President Nicolas Sarkozy toured the Middle East virtually in competition.

"France's EU presidency had ended in December, and we've seen before that whenever a French presidency has drawn to an end . . . there's been a tendency to try to extend it a bit longer," he said.
FT FT: Brussels blog

Charlemagne: EP "is worse than dull: it does not work properly"
The Economist's Charlemagne column looks to the upcoming European elections and European voter disinterest in them, and argues that, "the parliament is worse than dull: it does not work properly. Like a student union, only with better expenses, it spends an inordinate amount of time on subjects way outside its mandate, such as foreign policy and defence. Its views can betray an undergraduate lack of realism...And its members can be loopily intolerant of dissent. At one Brussels dinner, Charlemagne heard MEPs howling "make him stop", when a British Conservative ventured to suggest that the single currency might fall apart...Both federalists and sceptics agree on one thing, though: the present set-up lacks legitimacy. They are right."
Economist: Charlemagne Open Europe EP briefing

Shadow Europe Minister: The EU's problems are a result of excessive "internal navel-gazing"
In a letter to the FT, Shadow Europe Minister Mark Francois rejects the paper's leader earlier in the week which argued that the Conservatives' policy on Europe was mistaken. He argues instead, that "It is a strange argument that the Lisbon Treaty represents an ebbing of the integrationist tide when it significantly increases the European Union's competences at member states' expense in foreign policy, criminal justice and immigration, to name but three...The EU's problems are not the result of too little political centralisation but of an excessive focus on internal navel-gazing rather than practical delivery and a lack of political will. We need the EU to act where it can add value, but institutional self-aggrandisement for its own sake will only exacerbate the democratic deficit. The Lisbon Treaty would do exactly that."
FT: Letters

The Solihull News cites Open Europe's research on the cost of EU regulation.
Open Europe research

Lib Dem MEP attacks own party over transparency of expenses
PA reports that, whilst speaking alongside Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, Lib Dem MEP Chris Davies has claimed there was "reluctance" in the party - and in the other political parties - to fully disclose MEPs' expenses, for fear of adding to the European Parliament's "gravy train" reputation.

"There is no declaration about how much MEPs receive from the daily allowance system, and although all parties strengthened expenses arrangements last year after the latest scandals, that was a sham, because huge areas of the allowances system are still not public," said Mr Davies.

He added, "What I want my party leader to do now is make a commitment that all Liberal Democrat candidates standing for the European Parliament will declare what they get from all public sources, which is not the case at the moment for any MEP."
No link

Wallstrom: "The EU is like the insulation in your house"
In a comment piece for the Independent, EU Communications Commission Margot Wallstrom says tomorrow is Europe Day and argues that "The EU is a bit like the insulation in your house - it's good to know it's there but the average person does not go around thinking or worrying about it all the time... The EU doesn't really do passion. If you tried to market the EU as an aphrodisiac, it would rate up there with a nice pair of socks."
Independent: Wallstrom

ECB cuts rates to record low and adopts 'quantitative easing'
The European Central Bank (ECB) has cut interest rates a quarter point to a record low of 1 percent and embraced quantitative easing for the first time, with plans to buy €60bn of covered bonds to increase the money supply to the eurozone. The Telegraph notes that German Bundesbank Chief Axel Weber has fought a battle to head off quantitative easing, calling it an "undesirable option" that risked inflation later.
FT FT 2 FT: Leader Telegraph Guardian BBC European Voice Irish Independent: Keenan Irish Times Le Figaro El Mundo Coulisses de Bruxelles

EU demonstrates limited commitment to former Soviet states at Eastern Partnership Summit
The Guardian looks at the Eastern Partnership summit this week between the EU and Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and notes that the partnership proposal is a challenge to Russia's influence in the East. This will involve the EU offering €600 million to the 6 countries to facilitate democratisation and promote stronger energy and economic links. However, the article also emphasises that "while the initiative is aimed at bringing the six countries in, it is also intended to keep them out".

In the Telegraph, Bruno Waterfield argues that the initial agreement was diluted by the EU due to fears of domestic opposition to EU enlargement. Whereas the original agreement referred to the former Soviet states as "European countries", it now says "Eastern European partners".

EUobserver emphasises the divisions between the EU and Russia. Before the summit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said "There are those who may wish to present the invited participants with the choice: either you are with Russia, or with the European Union."
Telegraph Guardian Telegraph: Waterfield blog EurActiv El Mundo Le Figaro El País
WSJ WSJ 2 EUobserver

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has told a committee of MPs that the new EU ban on pesticides will be a "serious threat" to British farmers.
FT

A leader in the Economist suggests that as a result of the economic crisis "a new European pecking order has emerged, with statist France on top, corporatist Germany in the middle and poor old liberal Britain floored" but adds, "don't expect it to last for long".
Economist: Leader Economist: Briefing

The IHT reports that mobile phone companies could lose as much as €4 billion in profits over three years due to European Commission plans to force operators to cut their "termination rates", or the cost that operators charge to connect to other networks, by up to 70 percent.
AFP

The Economist looks at the bilateral trade talks launched between Canada and the EU and suggests that they send a worrying message about confidence in the ongoing round of Doha world trade negotiations.
Economist

French governing party publishes European election candidate lists and manifesto
Le Figaro reports that France's UMP party yesterday finally unveiled its candidate lists for the European elections. The UMP also published its manifesto "When Europe wants to, Europe can" which echoes Nicolas Sarkozy's recent speech in Nimes, calling to develop European energy policy and establish a common economic and security area with Russia and Turkey.
Le Figaro Le Figaro 2 Le Monde

The EU is holding an energy summit in Prague today, bringing together leaders from the Middle East and Central Asia, in a bid to speed up several gas pipeline projects, particularly the Nabucco pipeline project.
BBC

The Irish Times reports that former Green MEP Patricia McKenna has decided to stand as an Independent in the European elections in June, campaigning on a platform of environmental issues as well as opposition to the Lisbon Treaty.
No link

In an article for the Guardian Tim Finch, Associate Director at the Institute for Public Policy Research, argues that the UK economy has benefitted from an influx of migrants from member states joining the EU in 2004, and writes that free movement of peoples in Europe has been "a great success".
Comment Is Free: Finch

Euractiv reports that the EU employment summit held in Prague yesterday was attended by only a handful of EU leaders. According to the article, Party of European Socialists President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen described the meeting as a "non-summit".
Euractiv El Pais

UK

The Telegraph has obtained and revealed the expenses claims of the Cabinet, including Prime Minister Gordon Brown, dating back to 2004, two months before they were supposed to be released.
Express Times Independent Telegraph FT

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