Vote No to Lisbon launches referendum campaign; Joe Higgins MEP: Lisbon Treaty is not a solution to the economic crisis
19 August 2009
The Irish Times reports that Vote No to
According to the Irish Times, Higgins was also “very concerned” about how the debate would be conducted in the media. He said guidelines issued to broadcasters by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) indicating they did not have to allocate 50:50 airtime to the Yes and No sides were “extremely sinister”.
People Before Profit
An Irish Times leader article writes that “the battle lines are drawn” with both sides now having officially launched their campaigns. It notes that “In September, the battle proper will start” and that according to the Referendum Commission “91 per cent are extremely or quite likely” to vote.
Writing in the Irish Independent, Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin responds to an article by Bruce Arnold, which argued that the government’s recent White Paper on the Lisbon Treaty “Is a flawed document, containing some serious distortion of fact. It is unbalanced and heavily politicised, presenting a case that favours the defeated minority in the referendum of last year.”
Martin writes that “it would, in my view, be wrong to argue that our relationship with our EU partners would be unaffected by a second rejection of the
Irish Independent Irish Times Irish Times Irish Times 3 Irish Times: Leader Vote No to Lisbon
Commission proposes controversial EU-wide tax database
EUobserver reports that the European Commission has proposed a system to boost the fight against tax fraud by allowing national authorities to directly access taxpayer data in other countries. The key element of the blueprint is the creation of “Eurofisc” - a scheme for rapid exchange of targeted information to which the tax authorities from all 27 EU member states would have direct access.
“In the current economic situation it is more important than ever to fight tax fraud efficiently and a fully functioning administrative cooperation between tax administrations is key in that respect,” the EU's Taxation Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs said. The proposal would require unanimous agreement among member states.
German political parties agree on
The German media reports that
The last remaining issues were resolved during yesterday’s negotiations. The Bavarian CSU faction pushed through their demand that the scope of the new law includes EU trade policy, particularly World Trade Organisation agreements. Furthermore local government will receive increased rights to protect their interests vis-à-vis
As reported yesterday (see here) however, the Bavarian CSU faction was not able to enforce its main demands, such as binding Bundestag guidelines for the government when negotiating at the EU level, ,or a requirement for referendums before future EU enlargements.
In the end the CSU gave in to a softer position, under which the German government must hear the parliament’s opinion but is not bound by it. However if the government cannot enforce crucial requests from the Bundestag, they will have to provide detailed justification. The parliamentary head of the CDU, Norbert Röttgen, pointed out that it is important that
The agreement of the governing coalition on the new law is backed by the Greens and the Liberals and enjoys an overwhelming majority, except for the left wing party Die Linke which is strongly opposed to the deal. The bill will have to pass a first reading in the Bundestag on 26 August and a second reading on 8 September. The Bundesrat (upper house) is set to approve the deal on 18 September, before passing it for final approval to the
Die Linke, who claim that the agreement does “not even nearly” match the requirements set out by the
Meanwhile, Czech daily Ceskenoviny reports that a group of Senators from the ODS party will file a complaint against the Lisbon Treaty with the Constitutional Court only after lodging a complaint against the law on a EU-related ‘special mandate’. The special mandate prevents the Czech government from approving transfer of powers to the EU without the parliament's agreement. Senator Jiri Oberfalzer said that the law needs to change so that Constitutional Judges can control whether individual steps taken by EU bodies are in accordance with the Czech Constitution.
Die Welt Focus Hamburger Abendblatt Deutsche Welle EUobserver Ceskenoviny
English football fan extradited to
An English judge yesterday ordered the extradition of Garry Mann, a former firefighter, to
Jago Russell, Chief Executive of Fair Trials International, pointed out that another English court had previously described his trial as ‘unfair’, stating “Something is wrong with EU extradition laws if one English court has to send Garry to jail in Portugal, when another has branded his trial as ‘unfair.’” His extradition is also controversial as both British police at the hearing and Mr Mann believed that his sentence would be served in the
No link
Swedish climate envoy: post-Kyoto treaty 'possible but difficult'
Anders Turesson, the EU’s lead negotiator at December’s Climate Change Conference in
Henrik Alexandersson: The EU’s war on terror and toys
Henrik Alexandersson, member of the Swedish Pirate Party, reports today that the EU Directorate General for Justice, Freedom and Security is proposing a ban on the fuel used for children’s toy steam engines in an effort to prevent terrorism. He notes that the Commission fears that a terrorist could buy tens of thousands of fuel tablets and then extract a sufficient amount of an explosive substance out of them to make a bomb. Alexandersson concludes that a ban would effectively be the end for the German manufactured steam engines, as no substitute fuel exists.
In the Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard reports that Germany's Economics Ministry is drawing up a raft of special measures with the Bundesbank to head off a fresh financial crisis, fearing that a loan squeeze by struggling banks will set off a serious credit crunch early next year.
David Cameron has warned that current levels of government spending risks the