Commission’s own legal service expressed reservations about intervention in Ireland’s Lisbon campaign; French Europe Minister vows to push on with EU integration, regardless of Irish vote
29 September 2009
The Irish Times reports that the European Commission has rejected claims from No campaigners that it broke Irish rules on referendum spending after paying €150,000 to insert a guide to the Lisbon Treaty into all Sunday newspapers in Ireland. The €150,000 was paid out of the Commission’s
The Telegraph reports that the legal services of both the Commission and the Council of the EU, which represents governments, expressed reservations about the publication of the “citizens summary” of the Treaty. An EU official is quoted saying: “The lawyers asked if it was right for the commission to produce a summary of
Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan yesterday described as “disturbing” a report that Libertas had received £3,000 in cash and non- cash donations of £13,964 from a
Ganley was quoted saying, “It was a donor who donated for that purpose and that money was well spent on the British election campaign in time for the European elections. That’s it. It’s got nothing to do with this”. Mr Ganley said the Minister was very good at “spouting out” untruths.
Meanwhile, in an interview with French radio station LCI, Pierre Lellouche, French Minister for Europe, was asked what will happen if Ireland votes ‘No’. He said: “We are waiting very impatiently because the future of 500 million Europeans lays in the hands of 3 or 4 million Irish voters… it is a very uncertain campaign”. He continued: “Whatever happens,
Writing in the Irish Times, Jamie Smyth questions how to close the information gap between
Irish Times Irish Times 2 Telegraph: Hannan blog Irish Times 3 BBC Irish Independent Irish Independent 2 Irish Independent 3 BBC Today programme Irish Independent 4 Irish Independent 5 Guardian EUobserver RTE Telegraph Irish Times: MacShane Irish Times 4 Irish Times: Smyth EUobserver 2 Coulisses de Bruxelles French Foreign Office
Aaronovitch: It is inconceivable that 26 member states would agree to retrospective renegotiation of
Writing in the Times, David Aaronovitch questions what a Conservative government might do if the Irish vote Yes to the Treaty, and argues that a retrospective referendum on the Treaty could amount to a demand for a “retrospective renegotiation, and it seems inconceivable that, should such a referendum go against ratification, the other 26 nations will agree to do the whole thing again.” He also writes, “Open Europe suggests that the new government should indeed hold a referendum not on
German professor: German court ruling shows why
At a press conference of Europeans organised yesterday by the Irish No campaign, Professor Dietrich Murswiek from the
On a question from a journalist on whether it could really be correct that the entire Irish political establishment, including employer organisations and main political parties, are wrong about the Lisbon Treaty, Professor Murswiek said the German government said exactly the same thing about the Lisbon Treaty before it was challenged in the
The speakers also talked about the pan-European No campaign “Europe Says No – No to
The Irish Independent reports on the press conference, and quotes Danish MEP Soren Sondergaard saying that he had to “think twice” about coming to Ireland to back the 'No' campaign, but that the “interference” by the EU Commission led to his decision to call on Irish voters to reject the Treaty.
French Foreign Minister suggests Blair is currently the only real candidate for EU President
In an interview with France Inter, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was asked if Tony Blair will become EU President if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified. He said, “In any case, Tony Blair is a candidate and people are talking about it a lot, yes.” Asked if there are other candidates, he said, “Not many.” Asked who, he said, “No, honestly”, to which the interviewer replied, “So it’s Blair then?” Kouchner said, “At one point there was Verhofstadt. Wait! There are others who will perhaps put themselves forward; it is not for straight away. But for the moment, indeed…” Asked if he thought it is right that a supporter of the
Meanwhile, Euractiv reports that Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende is conducting a “very subtle” lobbying campaign in
French Foreign Office EurActiv EUobserver
Czech Europe Minister: We will not force Klaus to sign Lisbon, for now
Czech daily Hospodarske noviny reports that Czech legal experts are proposing that the Czech government force President Vaclav Klaus to sign the Lisbon Treaty by filing a complaint against him for inactivity. However, the article notes that Minister for European Affairs Stefan Fuele has so far rejected this course of action. He is quoted saying, “There are some legal experts who have proposed that the government embark on such a path. However, I said at the latest cabinet meeting that I saw no reason for such a course at the moment.”
Svenska Dagbladet notes that Swedish PM Frederik Reinfeldt has said that even if the Irish vote Yes to the Lisbon Treaty on Friday, the Czechs and the Polish still need to sign which could delay the Treaty into the New Year, when
Meanwhile, Cesky Rozhlas reports that former Czech PM Mirek Topolanek will today meet Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to discuss the future of the Treaty. The article notes that during the meeting in
Ceskenoviny Cesky Rozhlas El Pais Svenska Dagbladet
Commission proposes carbon tax for transport and agriculture sectors
Euractiv reports that the European Commission is considering imposing an EU-wide tax on CO2 emissions on sectors such as transport and agriculture, which are currently not covered by the EU’s emissions trading scheme. The proposed amendment of the 2003 Energy Taxation Directive would oblige member states to levy a CO2 tax on fuels in order to cut emissions. Member states would have to apply the CO2 taxes starting from 2013, according to the draft document. The article notes that the proposal would promote the use of biofuels as they will be exempt from the taxation.
Commission calls for EU-wide system to share tax details
The front page of the Express reports that the European Commission wants EU countries to allow authorities to access people’s personal financial details as part of a plan aiming to combat VAT fraud. EU Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs, who tabled the proposal in August, is calling on member states to agree to give each other access to tax data under a new body called Eurofisc. The article notes that officials would be able to view the salary details, spending habits and savings of taxpayers without their knowledge.
Conservative MEP Kay Swinburne said, “Of course cross-border fraud needs to be dealt with by European cooperation but the EU is once again turning the principle of data-sharing on its head. We already grant other EU governments access to our fingerprint and DNA database and extending access to commercial information like this will only increase our vulnerability.”
Swedish EU Presidency: EU Battlegroups are currently a waste of taxpayers’ money
Several newspapers report that the Swedish EU Presidency is proposing an expansion of the mandate of the EU’s Battlegroups in order to see them used more effectively. The Battlegroups are supposed to provide the EU with a tool for rapid crisis management, but have never been used since their establishment in 2004. The deployment of the EU Battlegroups requires a unanimous decision from member states. So far, it has proved impossible to reach such unanimity.
The Swedish EU Presidency says on its website: “It’s unfortunate from more than one point of view that we build up very effective units that then aren’t used. For one thing, it costs taxpayers money, and for another, we don’t take the opportunity to do good where we’re needed.” Austrian newspaper Standard reports that Rüdiger Wolf, State Secretary in the German Ministry of Defence, said that
DPA Focus Standard Standard 2 Swedish Presidency
Leader of the Free Democratic Party tipped as new German Foreign Minister; Continuity expected in
Various newspapers report that with the Free Democrats enjoying their best ever result in the German elections with 14.6 percent, its leader Guido Westerwelle is most likely to take over as Foreign Minister.
German newspapers Berliner Zeitung and Die Zeit report that continuity is expected in
Berliner Zeitung Zeit Guardian Times FT: Leader FT FT 2 Irish Times Independent Independent: Leader WSJ: Lehming Guardian: Posener Guardian: Leader IHT: Vinocur IHT: Editorial
Private Eye’s Brussels Sprouts column notes that the European Ombudsman has requested that the European Parliament release documents detailing the recent development of two new
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Italian Finance Minister warns over fraud and waste of EU funds in
Giulio Tremonti, Italian Finance Minister, declared during a Freedom Party conference that “the devolution of powers to regions has increased the amount of fraud and waste of capital involved in small projects”. Tremonti continued saying that “if EU funds would be administered by the National Council on Research more sectors would probably develop faster”.
ECB President backs creation of pan-EU financial regulator but rejects calls for ‘Tobin tax’
European Voice reports that ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet told MEPs yesterday that he backed the creation of the European Systemic Risk Board. However, he said he opposed the introduction of an international levy on financial transactions (often referred to as a Tobin tax), which has been proposed by Adair Turner, the head of the UK Financial Services Authority.
The IHT reports that investigators commissioned by the EU are expected to conclude that
Writing in Handelsblatt, Kurt J. Lauk, President of the German CDU party’s Economic Affairs Council, said that the EU should not handle issues which can be solved by member states on their own, such as education, taxes and social issues. He said: “The citizens love Europe, but not
The BBC reports that the European Commission has proposed setting a maximum noise default setting on new portable music players to protect consumers’ hearing.
WSJ Irish Times EUobserver European Voice BBC EurActiv
An article on French news site Slate argues that French President Sarkozy’s hopes for Franco-German leadership in fighting tax havens and bankers’ bonuses may have been dashed now that Angela Merkel’s CDU has the liberal FDP as a coalition partner.
The FT reports that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has asked for a 50 percent capital increase, €10 billion, from its shareholder governments to mitigate the impact of the global economic crisis on central and eastern European countries.
The Times reports that, under pressure from Italian and Spanish manufacturers, the Commission is considering extending anti-dumping duties on cheap Chinese shoes.