Open Europe
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26th September 2007
Europe
100,000 join Telegraph EU referendum call
The number of signatories for the Telegraph’s campaign for a referendum on the revised Constitution has surged past 100,000, making it one of the biggest campaigns in the newspaper’s 150 year history. The article quotes Neil O’Brien saying: “It’s great that there are now more than a hundred thousand people on the petition. Gordon Brown is going to come under more and more pressure to keep his promise and give us a vote on the Constitutional Treaty. Eight out of ten Labour voters want a referendum. Unless Brown gives people the vote they were promised it could hurt him in an election.”
Bloggers Mick Fealty and Guido Fawkes and the Yorkshire Post have followed up on the destruction of an I Want a Referendum stunt by Bournemouth police during the Labour Party conference
Telegraph Telegraph - Fealty blog Guido Fawkes Blog Press and Journal Yorkshire Post
The Sun keeps up pressure on Government over referendum
Nearly 40,000 Sun readers have backed the newspaper’s campaign for a referendum since it was launched on Monday. The Sun leader says that “Like a broken record, he [Gordon Brown] keeps saying there is no need for a referendum because the EU Constitution is dead and buried. So who do we believe? The lone voice of this Prime Minister or the chorus from all 26 other EU leaders?”
Sun Sun leader
Denmark to hold a referendum?
EUobserver reports that eyes have turned to Denmark as the remaining member state where the government has not yet said whether it will have a referendum on the revised Constitution. The centre-right government, headed by Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, says it cannot make a decision before it knows whether the revised text will lead to a handover of power from the Danish government to the EU. Its assessment, it adds, can only begin once the 27 EU member states have agreed to a final deal on the treaty.
EUobserver
Bonde: the revised Constitution: a badly written version of the old Constitution
In a comment piece on EUobserver, Danish MEP Jens-Peter Bonde says that having read the rejected EU Constitution and the new revised version he has not “found one important difference in legal obligations. The differences are just in the presentation”. He goes on to argue that “the main difference is that the new version is very difficult to read. It is time to start afresh and let the result be put to a referendum in all member states. ”
EUobserver
U-turn by Dutch Christian Union party makes a referendum in Holland unlikely
On his Telegraph blog Dan Hannan writes that for years the Dutch Christian Union, “stern, godly, conservatives resisted European integration on grounds that it removed power from local communities. Then, a few months ago, the party joined a coalition government and, before long, it, too, reversed its opposition to the Constitution. Indeed, its votes — particularly in the Upper House — will probably be decisive in denying the Netherlands a second referendum on the Constitution.” A vote, he notes, “that would have made pressure for a British plebiscite almost irresistible.”
Telegraph - Hannan blog
Personal data protection threatened by revised Constitution
Negotiations on the revised Constitution have thrown up sensitive questions about how citizens' personal data should be kept and accessed in the future. Under the current draft personal data – such as those of air passengers - could be passed on to third countries without the controlling scrutiny of the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice.
EUobserver
Report tears into Commission fishing policy
According to a report in the FT, Europe’s fishing policy is “poor”, with its waters among the most overfished and the industry among the least profitable in the world, according to an internal European Commission study. The report by outside experts says overcapacity, failure to stand up to special interests and a “command and control” system in Brussels have left fish stocks in many areas on the brink of collapse.
FT
EU halts set-aside subsidy to cut grain shortage
The EU has approved plans to increase the production of wheat and other grains amid rising prices and growing shortages on the world market. Agriculture ministers decided to lift temporarily an existing requirement that farmers set aside 10% of their land and let it lie fallow. A Telegraph leader argues that the move should be made permanent.
BBC Telegraph leader Telegraph
Continued resistance against reform of wine sector
AFP reports that EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has announced her willingness to postpone the reform package and compromise on plans to ban sugar from wine production. The main idea of the proposal is to direct more of the EU’s 500 million euros worth of subsidies currently spent on getting rid of unsold wine, towards compensating farmers who uproot uncompetitive wine yards. EUobserver reports that opposition to the original plan has come from a group of countries, led by France and Germany.
AFP EUobserver
Lawson: regardless of name, Constitutional Treaty needs to be put to a public vote
In the Spectator, Nigel Lawson responds to claims by Europe Minister Jim Murphy that a referendum on the revised EU Constitution is uncalled for, arguing that there are two reasons why Murphy is wrong: The fact that the government gave the people a solemn pledge that it would hold one, and the constitutional importance of the document, including the so-called “passarelle clause” under which competence could be transferred from member states to the Union without passing the Parliament.
Spectator
Sarkozy calls on UN to take on the “moralisation of financial capitalism”
Le Monde reports that in a speech on Tuesday at the UN, Nicolas Sarkozy called for the creation of a “new world order”, calling on the international community to take a firm approach to terrorism and proliferation of nuclear arms, as well as calling on it to deal with “the issue of a fairer distribution of profits” and to work towards “the moralisation of financial capitalism.”
Le Monde
The European Parliament yesterday approved the creation of a technology institute in a bid to bolster spending on research. The institute will have a budget of up to €2.4 billion from 2008 through 2013.
IHT
Le Monde reports that the Secretary General of Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP party, Patrick Devedjian, has said that the French constitutional obligation to hold a referendum on future enlargement of the EU can only be removed “when Europe has given a guarantee that Turkey cannot enter” the EU.
No link
In the Spectator, Rod Liddle argues that by investing in and trading with Burma, the EU has played a part in preventing democratic reforms in the country.
Spectator
World
EU accused of “coercion” in negotiating trade deals with developing countries
The EU has scrapped a 30-year-old deal on sugar imports with 18 of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries in a bid to make way for the so-called Economic Partnership Agreements with all ACP countries, which are meant to be concluded before the end of the year. The FT reports that the move has soured the mood with delegates from the ACP countries accusing the EU of “coercion”. Patrick Gomes, Guyana’s Ambassador to the EU, said, “This is a pre-emptive strike aimed at coercion. It is very disappointing. We are still negotiating in good faith.”
FT
EU attacks US subsidies for Boeing
The EU has claimed that US subsidies for American aircraft maker Boeing have cost Europe's Airbus £13.4bn in losses. EU officials put forward that figure at the start of a World Trade Organization (WTO) hearing into Brussels' complaint that the US aid broke free trade rules.
BBC FT
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21/09/07
Dutch MPs to issue referendum bill on revised Constitution
Three opposition parties in the Dutch parliament have said they will propose an own-initiative bill to organise a referendum. The new referendum bill is to be put forward by two pro-Constitution parties – the Greens and the left-liberal D66 – as well as the eurosceptic Socialist party. D66 MP Boris van der Ham told EUobserver "It is not logical to ask people in 2005 – what do you think? – and then not put the changed treaty to them now." Mr van der Ham added "we shouldn't be afraid that there will be a second no.The first referendum was the first one ever on European integration. There was a lot of frustration, about the euro, about EU commitments not being met. That effect will be less this time."
Meanwhile the Dutch cabinet is due to meet today to decide whether to hold a referendum. Two of the three parties in the ruling coalition are opposed to a referendum, but a third, the Labour Party, is split over the issue.
Bank of England blames EU law for run on Northern Rock
Various papers report that the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, has blamed an EU law for barring him from bailing out Northern Rock. The Governor said the 2005 Market Abuse Directive made it illegal for him to act covertly as a lender of last resort. It was one of two factors which forced him to resort to the publicly-announced bail out that sparked the run on the bank. The Governor told the MPs yesterday that he had wanted to put together a secret rescue package for Northern Rock - "in the way we would have done in the 1990s" - but was advised that this was not possible under the 2005 Market Abuses Act.
Comment: The Market Abuse Directive was a completely unnecessary piece of legislation. As the UK Government's own Impact Assessment noted at the time, the UK already had a working market abuse regime, and the Directive provided no real additional benefits – despite costing £50 million to implement. Nonetheless, there seems to be no appetite to correct such mistakes…
Sun Mail Times IHT Guardian Open Europe FSAP summary
OECD criticises EU's continuing protectionism
In a report on the EU, the OECD has urged more economic reforms and criticised persistent protectionist tendencies of some member states. "Globalisation brings great opportunities for vibrant economies but punishes less flexible ones, and population ageing will put welfare systems under pressure," said Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the Paris-based body, when presenting the report. He argued that while the basic assessment of the EU is a "positive one" - praising the prosperity brought along by the bloc's single market and falling unemployment due to some reforms - Europe could do better.
EUobserver FT Wall Street Journal AFP
EU struggles with Zimbabwe issue
Various papers report that the possible presence of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe at an EU-Africa summit in December is creating divisions in the 27-nation bloc, with UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown issuing a clear ultimatum that it will either be him or Mugabe at the meeting. But Portugal, which is hosting the summit, needs to take into consideration not only Downing Street's objection, but also repeated warnings by several African nations indicating they would boycott the meeting if Europe meddles in the delegation list and prevents the Zimbabwean leader from attending.
EUobserver Times Telegraph Mail Guardian
East Stoke votes for a referendum on revised Constitution
Various papers reported on the results of a poll in East Stoke, Dorset. 90% of the residents who voted were in favour of a referendum on the reform treaty. 80 votes out of a possible 339 were cast, representing a 23.6 per cent turnout.
Times Telegraph Mail Guardian
EU "not with the citizen"
Deutsche Welle has an interview in English with Derk-Jan Eppink, former Commission official and author of the book "Life of a European Mandarin". He says, "A ruling body cannot be disconnected from the people. For the EU to continue and to succeed, a number of things must be done to regain the confidence of the people… It is all on behalf of the citizen, for the citizen, but not with the citizen."
DW
Prospects for Nabucco pipeline
A leader in the IHT reports on the Nabucco pipeline, an EU project which hopes to transport natural gas from Iran, through Turkey and into the heart of the European Union.
IHT
The Times reports on the Commission's plan to bail out the Galileo satellite navigation project with €2.1 billion from the EU farming budget, reporting that France is behind the idea. It notes that, " Some EU diplomats believe that Galileo has become a personal quest for Mr Barrot and the Commission, rather than a strategic and technological necessity."
Times
MEPs call for 'political' EU energy policy to deal with Russia problem.
EUobserver
The IHT reports on Belgium's problems in forming a new government, with calls for splitting the country becoming louder.
IHT
A leader in the FT argues that the EU should go further in keeping Russian energy giant Gazprom from controlling the bloc's energy infrastructure.
FT
The Charlemagne column in the Economist argues that the ECJ ruling against Microsoft shows that "Brussels is becoming the world's regulatory capital" with an increasing number of states adopting EU standards.
Economist
On Swedish news site Europaportalen, Jesper Katz of Sweden's "No to euro" campaign argues that monetary union was an economically flawed concept from the onset, whose internal tensions could pave the way for more political and centralised control of monetary and fiscal policy.
Europaportalen
July 2007
Open Europe has recently translated the draft EU Treaty, originally published in French, which you can access here: http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/translation.pdf
It is worthy of note that the British Government will not be publishing a version in English for another month or so.
Below please find a selection of their articles in chronological sequence.
27/07/07
Government criticised for failure to
publish new EU treaty in English
The Telegraph reports that the Government has
come under criticism from MPs for failing to provide Parliament with an English
version of the new EU treaty. Normal EU rules stipulating that documents must at
least be in German, French and English have been suspended. An official English
version is only expected next month, well after summer recess begins for
Parliament. Officials admitted to the newspaper that "Corners are being cut" and
parliaments across
Labour ex-ministers demand
referendum on new EU treaty;
Gisela Stuart: Government are
“either being deliberately disingenuous or ill-informed"
In an interview with
Mandelson criticised for u-turn on
referendum stance
Open