FT poll: 44% of Europeans think life is worse since joining the EU; By 41% to 25% UK voters think Britain would be better off outside the EU
19 March 2007
An FT/Harris survey released today shows that 44% of EU citizens think life has got worse since joining the bloc, whilst 25% think it has got better. There were wide national variations: 52% of Britons said things had got worse, whilst 53% of Spaniards believed things had got better. With the exception of the
Europeans narrowly oppose the formation of a European army, with 39% against the idea, and 38% for the idea. 36% of respondents believed that the effects of EU regulation on business had been negative, as against 18% who saw positive effects.
A leader in the newspaper notes that the poll results demonstrate that “the attitudes of [EU] citizens (and outsiders such as the Americans) are often ambivalent. They clearly do not love the EU… But with the exception of the semi-detached British, they feel things would be a lot worse without it.” The leader concludes that “The debate about the constitution needs to be recast. For a start, the idea that enlargement of itself will make further integration or, indeed, any decision-making impossible is outdated. The euro and the Schengen arrangements dispensing with border controls have long since taken Europe into the territory of "variable geometry" where like-minded states can do what they want.”
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Working Time Directive ends holidays for the disabled
The Sunday Telegraph reported that the EU Working Time Directive will effectively make it impossible for seriously disabled and terminally ill people to go on holiday when changes are introduced next month. From next month, carers will have to take a minimum of 11 hours' "uninterrupted rest" every day to conform to the
Beckett promises Government will “rise above” demands for a referendum
The politics show interviewed Margaret Beckett about the forthcoming EU treaty. Beckett said that she hoped the new text would not trigger a referendum. “We would certainly hope that it would be possible to get, if we can get agreement and common ground, that that could be in an area where it wouldn’t need to trigger a referendum here.” She added that “I’ve no doubt, by the way, that no matter what it says, if there’s any agreement at all, there will be people who will call for a referendum anyway, but since they’re all people who never had a referendum when they had the opportunity, I think we can rise above that.”
Put to her that if the new treaty contained more majority voting, an EU President and EU foreign minister, it would be the “Constitution in all but name”. She said, “not necessarily”. Beckett argued that, “Many of the things that were in the original constitutional treaty, were just rolled in because it turned in to one of those grand projects. There was no need for them to be in a treaty that was about a constitution.” She predicted that the German Presidency would face an “uphill task” in getting agreement by June.
Also interviewed on the programme Jose Barosso said that “
Poland will not block efforts to revive Constitution, says President Kaczynski
According to the
Big Brother Europe
The Weekend FT reported that the Commission is proposing that the EU’s new criminal biometric database be restricted only to serious crimes such as terrorism, organised crime or murder. UPI and the Contractor picked up on Open Europe’s comments that the database could represent “the start of Big Brother Europe.”
Fears over costs of EU “class action” law
Business lobbies are warning that EU proposals to allow consumers to pursue pan-European “class action” suits could trigger a US-style wave of litigation which costs the American economy an estimated £129bn a year.
Luxembourg PM: single market and euro “have only ever been tools” for political integration
In an article in Le Figaro Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker says, “We would be wrong to limit European construction to simple economic integration. The market and currency issues, useful and beneficial as they are in everyday life, have only ever been means, tools in the realisation of a larger objective.” He says, “European construction remains above all a peace project… People often tell me that this message is no longer important, that peace in Europe does not depend on structures like the European Union…[ but] one only has to look at the ease with which we fall back into national arguments, accusations even, to realise that the potential of conflict, which drove Europe so often into adversity, is far from having disappeared.”
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Bayrou drops back in polls, but would beat Sarkozy and Royal in second round
A new TNS-Sofres poll for Le Figaro shows Nicolas Sarkozy would get 31% in the first round of a presidential election – an increase of 4 points over the last week – followed by Ségolène Royal with 24%, François Bayrou with 22% and Jean-Marie Le Pen with 12%. If he were to reach the second round of the election, UDF candidate Bayrou would beat both Sarkozy (54% to 46%), and Royal (60% to 40%). Sarkozy would win by 54% to 46% if pitted against Royal in the second round. However, asked “deep down, whom do you want to be President?” 33% of the French said Sarkozy, 29% said Royal and 21% said Bayrou. Another poll, by Ifop for the Journal du dimanche, showed Sarkozy falling to 26%, Royal rising to 24%, and Bayrou falling to 22.5%.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Bayrou appealed for an end to “years of quibbling” with the British and said that, if elected, he would tell the next Prime Minister in
Le Figaro reports that Laurence Parisot, the head of the French employers’ association Medef, has criticised the three main presidential candidates for “lacking ambition” on economic policy. Known as the “bosses’ boss”, she noted that France’s economy grew by only 2% in 2006, while world growth was 5% and EU
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Finnish Centre Party clings on to power in parliamentary elections – conservatives gain several seats
The Finnish Centre Party has won the country’s parliamentary elections by a margin of one percent, followed by the Social Democrats. However, the big winner of the election is the conservative Coalition Party who gained several seats in the parliament and who now could form a government with the Centre Party, although precise ruling arrangements are yet to be decided.
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EU battlegroups to include navy and air forces.
Defense News reports that EU is extending its battlegroup concept to encompass member states’ Navies and Air Forces. It is unlikely that these new battlegroups will be given permanent forces – rather they would be called to assemble if necessary.
The Sunday Times reported that Jacques Chirac is preparing a “sleaze bolthole” in
Booker: The UK flouts the law to serve Iran
In his column in the Sunday Telegraph, Christopher Booker looks at the EU Council of Ministers’ insistence to keep the leading Iranian dissident organisation, the PPMOI on the EU’s terrorist list, despite the ECJ ruling to the contrary. Booker notes that the
Schammenthal: Merkel’s foreign policy much like Schröder’s
In the WSJ, Daniel Schammenthal looks at Angela Merkel’s foreign policy, noting that “of late…it's hard to spot the difference between her and Gerhard Schröder.” On Merkel’s attempt to revive the Constitution, Schammenthal argues that “the EU will be fine without the document. The workings of an enlarged EU need smoothing but such useful steps as streamlining voting procedures could be implemented without a constitution. The EU's real challenges are elsewhere.”
Emissions row divides European car industry
The Sunday Times had a feature on the divisions amongst
EU to take control of football?
The Sunday Express reports that the European Parliament will vote on a report next week which could give power over regulating football to the EU. A leader in the paper argues that “
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Hari: the EU needs a mission or it will sag and sunder
In the Independent, Johann Hari argues that “if the
According to the EUobserver, the Commission is drafting a piece of legislation to be presented in July or September, outlining plans for an “unbundled” energy market.
Commission President Jose Barroso has granted EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel time off without pay to run in the Belgian elections on 10 June. Olli Rehn, EU Enlargement Commissioner, will replace Michel while he runs for a seat in the Belgian senate.
Kettle:
In the Guardian Martin Kettle argues that the
Riddell: EU “concern” over
Mary Riddell had an article in the Observer calling on EU foreign ministers to take a more active role in imposing targeted sanctions on despotic regimes in
In the Sunday Telegraph
Blair to announce resignation in May?
The Mail on Sunday reported that Tony Blair will announce his resignation on 5 May, paving the way for his successor to be in
The front page of the FT reports that the Conservatives have made their first detailed tax cut pledge, promising a 3% reduction in corporation tax, a move which the article notes, will put pressure on Gordon Brown.