Row over who provides the EU’s ‘one voice’

Commission wants to take the lead in talks, while UN mercury negotiations proving to be a test case.

The European Commission is embroiled in a power struggle with member states over who speaks for the European Union on the world stage. The Commission is claiming that the Lisbon treaty gives it the authority to speak for the EU in international environment negotiations, while national governments are fighting to defend their place at the table.

The row intensified this week after the Commission withdrew a proposal setting out the EU’s mandate for United Nations talks on mercury being held next month. The EU has been left without a common view to take into the international negotiations. Senior diplomats meeting tomorrow (21 May) will discuss whether to take the Commission to court for “disproportionate” action.

The Lisbon treaty, which came into force on 1 December, was meant to end such disputes by giving the EU one voice on the world stage. But just as defining the powers of Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, has led to turf wars between the Commission and the Council of Ministers, so arguments are raging over who speaks for the EU in policy areas where the Union and national governments share law-making powers. These include the environment, energy, internal market and agriculture.

The UN talks on mercury that are taking place in Stockholm in June are proving to be a test case for how the EU works in a post-Lisbon treaty world. National governments are worried that allowing the Commission to be sole negotiator will set a precedent for other talks, including those on climate change. The Commission believes that if it does not insist on being lead negotiator, the EU will look disunited and will underperform in international negotiations.

Rejected proposal

Hostilities escalated last week when the Commission rejected a Council proposal to divide responsibilities at the Stockholm talks. This proposal, supported by all 27 member states, would allow the Commission to be sole negotiator on some subjects, while the rotating presidency would lead on others and some would be shared.

The Commission said that this plan was unacceptable, because it should automatically be the lead negotiator. Officials cite the Lisbon treaty provision that the Commission “shall ensure the Union’s external representation”. But national governments say this does not apply to areas where the EU and member states share law-making powers.

“There seem to be some people in the Council who want to ignore the new realities of the Lisbon treaty,” said one Commission official.

“We are sorry that the Commission wants to use this as a test case to play institutional hard-ball,” said one national official. “You should still look into the basis of negotiations, whether it is exclusive competence or shared competence,” the official said. “The member states and the Council legal services are of the opinion that [the Lisbon treaty] hasn’t changed anything,” said another.

A spokesman for Janez Potoc?nik, the European commissioner for environment, said: “It is very clear that under the Lisbon treaty we should have a mandate to negotiate. The Council was refusing to co-operate.” The Commission’s decision to withdraw the proposal “was a last resort for us, but in the end we did not have a choice”.

The row carries echoes of the dispute between José Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy over whether the European Commission president or European Council president should sit in the EU chair at G20 talks. Similarly, the Commission and Council fell out earlier this year over who should sign a letter to the UN on the EU’s climate-change targets.

As well as possible legal action, national governments will also discuss tomorrow whether they could ignore the Commission’s withdrawal and adopt the Council compromise proposal anyway. “It needs to be clarified whether this is legally appropriate…we don’t have any experience with this situation,” said one official.

Andrew Duff, a British Liberal MEP, said that the Commission was right to withdraw its proposal. “It is important that the Commission stands up for itself and its prerogatives under the treaty.”

He warned that the row could damage the EU: “The picture given to third countries of a jealous presidency quarrelling with the Commission is disgraceful and will blunt the authority of the Commission.”

Greek workers stage strike

Severe disruption expected as workers take action over austerity measures.

Public sector workers in Greece today (4 May) began a two-day strike in protest against a €30 billion austerity package agreed by the Greek government.

The government agreed the measures, which include cuts to public sector wages, an increase in value-added tax, a new business tax, radical pension reform and an increase in the retirement age for parts of the public sector, on Sunday, in exchange for a €110bn loan facility from the eurozone and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Unions say that the austerity measures will impose unacceptable cuts on the poor while doing little to tackle tax evasion by the rich. The European Commission and the IMF estimate that the measures will slash Greece’s budget deficit as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) by 6.5 percentage points this year, and by ten percentage points by 2014, bringing the deficit under 3% of GDP. Greece’s deficit reached 13.6% in 2009.

The strike will cause severe disruption to flights in and out of Greece and to rail travel. Private sector workers will join the strike tomorrow, effectively bringing the country to a halt.

Around 100 protestors from the Greek Community Party scaled the defensive walls of the Acropolis, Athens’ most famous monument, this morning, unfurling banners reading: “Peoples of Europe – Rise Up”.

A group of ten teachers yesterday broke into the main broadcasting studio of Greek television, disrupting broadcasting, to protest against the austerity measures.

Unions are organising two rallies in the centre of Athens to coincide with the strike action.

Loan approval

Both Germany and France yesterday took important steps towards securing parliamentary approval for their share of the emergency loans. France’s lower house of parliament approved lending to Greece of up to €16.8bn over the three-year life of the loan facility. The upper house of parliament is expected to give its approval later this week.

The German cabinet yesterday approved loans to Greece worth €22.4bn over the next three years. Both the lower and upper houses of the German parliament are expected to approve the loans on Friday (7 May).

Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, has called a summit of eurozone leaders on Friday to asses member states’ progress in getting money released. The summit will also discuss how to handle any similar crisis in the future.

The Commission is expected today to present a proposal to give Greece until 2014 to bring its deficit to within the 3% limit stipulated by the EU’s stability and growth pact (the deficit was 13.6% in 2009). Its previous target was 2012.

Eurozone finance ministers agreed on Sunday (2 May) to activate the loan facility after it become clear that high interest rates had made it impossible for Greece to refinance its debt on the markets. The facility will protect Greece from having to go to the markets for the next one-and-a-half years, on the expectation that it will then slowly return to them thereafter. Greece’s total refinancing needs over the next three years are estimated at €150bn.

The eurozone loans (which will total €80bn of the €110bn) will be pooled by the Commission and provided to Greece at a common interest rate (estimated at 5%) that will be linked to the Euribor rate used in the inter-bank lending market.

Member states have agreed that any government that has to borrow at a rate higher than that imposed on Greece will be compensated, to prevent any country having to lend at a loss. The compensation will be taken from the interest other member states earn on their loans to Greece.

EU agrees to co-operate when banks fail

Commission says EU member states back greater policy co-ordination and creation of bank-financed bail-out funds, but pooling of funds remains “sensitive”.

The European Commission claimed today (17 April) that it had won broad endorsement from member states for increased EU co-ordination in handling bank failures.

The Commission’s proposals include the creation of national ‘resolution funds’, financed by the banking sector, that would be used to pay for insolvencies, and “early interventions” by regulators into failing banks. The Commission is also calling for legal reforms so that shareholders and unsecured creditors, rather than taxpayers, bear the financial costs associated with the failure of a bank, under what is referred to as a ‘polluter pays’ principle.

Michel Barnier, the European commissioner for internal market and services, presented his ideas to EU ministers today at an informal meeting in Madrid. “[Failing] banks must be able to be reorganised, or liquidated in an orderly and foreseeable way,” he told the ministers. “This presupposes a co-ordination at European-level and a common tool box,” he added.

He said these steps were essential to prevent a repeat of the huge taxpayer bail-outs of banks during the financial crisis, which, he said, had created a problem of moral hazard, the possibility that banks might make riskier investments knowing that the costs of failure would be borne by others.

Barnier told ministers he recognised that some of his ideas, notably that money from resolution funds should be pooled to deal with cross-border banking failures, were “sensitive” and would require much further discussion.

Member states are split on the benefits of resolution funds, with some, including France, Austria and the UK, concerned that they could increase moral hazard. Barnier plans to publish a policy paper on resolution funds in June.

Olli Rehn, the European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, who stood in for Barnier at a press conference after the meeting, said: “There was a recognition [among ministers] that…it is important to develop consistent instruments that are as harmonised as possible”. He said Barnier’s proposals had received “broad support”.

Both Rehn and Spanish Finance Minister Elena Salgado, who chaired the meeting, said that care would be taken to ensure that the cumulative impact of Barnier’s proposals, and other planned reforms to the banking sector, did not overburden banks in ways that made it difficult for them to lend. Banks have complained vehemently in recent months that policymakers are failing to take into account the cumulative impact of financial reforms.

Rehn said that co-ordination of different reforms, notably the introduction of stability fees and an international overhaul of bank capital requirements, would need to be done “very carefully”.

Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, reinforced this point, saying that reforms should not “hamper recovery”. “We need to look at the right calibration of any taxes or levies [on the banking sector],” he said.

Ministers agreed their main messages for the next summit of the G20 group of industrialised and emerging economies, taking place in Toronto on 26-27 June, notably the need to maintain momentum on financial reform. G20 finance ministers will hold a preparatory meeting for the summit on 23 April.

The EU is keen to see progress on reform in the US. Barack Obama, the US president, is trying to secure the passage of a major financial reform bill through Congress by the end of May, but is facing staunch opposition from Republicans, who say the bill would do too little to protect taxpayers from having to bail out banks. The bill includes the creation of a €50 billion resolution fund, which Republicans strongly oppose.

Ministers also agreed principles for reform of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), ahead of a meeting of the IMF on 24-25 April. Salgado said that the EU wanted greater ministerial involvement at the IMF, and that changes to the distribution of voting power should be agreed in tandem with other governance reforms. 

MEPs agree to extended Schengen transition period

Commission and member states get more time to test new Schengen database.

The European Parliament agreed today (18 May) to extend the transition period needed to set up the EU’s new second-generation Schengen Information System (SIS II).

MEPs voted to give the European Commission and member states more time to test the new system before it transfers the old shared database to the new one.

The SIS II is supposed to provide increased security at the EU’s external borders of the bloc’s 24-nation passport-free travel zone, which also includes non-EU members Iceland and Norway.

The new system gives national border control agents and law enforcement agencies access to a shared database of personal data on travellers, including biometric data like fingerprints. However setting up the new computer system, which was supposed to be up and running by 2007, has been plagued with delays and extra costs. This meant that the Parliament’s vote was needed to extend legal provisions needed for the system before they expired in June. EU officials say they hope to have the new system operational by the end of 2011.

 

More scrutiny

 

Carlos Coelho, a Portuguese centre-right MEP who wrote the Parliament’s report on the issue, said that SIS II “should play an important role in fighting crime and in external border control in Europe”.

Coelho’s report includes a call for tougher Parliamentary scrutiny of the system’s migration to the new system to prevent additional delays and costs.

A test in March ended with the system breaking down but was declared a success by the European Commission, whose experts said that the member states had fed too many data into the computer system.

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The SIS II is being developed by a consortium led by Steria, a French company, and Hewlett-Packard Belgium, with overall project management in the hands of the Commission. Officials estimate that the project has cost between €80 million and €90m so far, which is much higher than the €16m originally set aside

Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville have admitted they both had huge doubts over David de Gea when he first signed for Manchester United in 2011.

United’s record goalscorer Rooney had been at Old Trafford for seven years when de Gea was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson for  around £17m from Atletico Madrid.

The Spanish keeper had a lightweight frame and he was heavily criticised in the early part of his United career for making mistakes and not dominating his area like his predecessors such as Edwin van der Sar and Peter Schmeichel.

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And in a Soccer Box chat with Neville from December 2019, on Sky Sports, Rooney admitted De Gea “struggled” and he admits he thought the Spaniard was out of his depth at Carrington.

However, Rooney said it was the 8-2 win over Arsenal in 2011/12 which was a major turning point for De Gea after he saved a Robin van Persie penalty

Rooney said: “This was a massive moment for De Gea in his career at Manchester United. I think it was a turning point.”

 

Neville added: “He looked like a baby for two years. I lost faith in him for a couple of years, I knew he had the talent but physically…”

Rooney replied: “Going from Edwin (Van der sar), when David came in I was like ‘there’s no way he is a goalkeeper’ he was so thin and small.

“He struggled, he struggled in training, he wasn’t great and I remember thinking he wasn’t good enough to play for Manchester United, but Alex Ferguson had faith in him and thankfully he did because he’s probably the best keeper in the world.”

Rooney also revealed in the same episode that Danny Welbeck’s 2014 move to Arsenal was not the choice of the former England striker.

“I loved playing with Danny and for England. His best quality was winning the ball back quickly after we lost it,” added Rooney, who is now player-coach at Derby after returning from MLS.

“It was a shame, because I don’t think he really wanted to leave. Obviously Louis van Gaal had a way he wanted to play and got rid of Danny, but it was a shame because I know he loves the club and he didn’t want to go.”

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Paul Pogba has revealed his desire to win trophies with Manchester United in a possible hint that he wants to remain at Old Trafford.

Pogba was reported to be keen to leave Old Trafford this summer after two years of trying to get away from the club which re-signed him from Juventus for £89million in 2016.

But the France midfielder has spent much of this season on the sidelines having not started for United since September.

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And now in a message to Man Utd fans, Pogba has claimed he wants to get back out on the pitch and help the club win trophies.

“Stay at home – stay safe,” Pogba said in a video call with Jesse Lingard on United’s official website. “Keep supporting United.

“Hopefully things will get better very soon and we will get back to the game.

“Hopefully we can show you guys we are ready and we want to go back to win trophies.

“Stay connected, stay safe and we’ll be back on the pitch soon.”

On winning the Europa League under Mourinho, Pogba added: “I was so happy because that was what we wanted. At the start of the season we wanted to win this and it meant we went through to the Champions League [the following season].

“It was our second trophy of the year and I was really happy. That’s what Manchester United is about: winning trophies.”

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Tottenham striker Harry Kane believes the deadline for completing the Premier League season should be set for the end of June.

All football in England is currently suspended amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The shutdown will remain until at least April 30 but Premier League clubs are set to meet again this week with some ‘difficult decisions’ ahead.

It has been suggested that the top flight season could be completed over June and July in ‘isolated camps’ but Kane feels the cut-off point should come at the end of June.

“I know the Premier League will do everything it can to finish the season,” Kane told Jamie Redknapp on Instagram Live.

“There needs to be a point where enough is enough. Probably the limit for me is the end of June.

“Playing into July or August and pushing next season back, I don’t see too much benefit in that.

“Obviously I don’t know too much about behind the scenes and financially.

“If the season’s not completed by the end of June we need to look at the options and just look forward to next season.”

Kane also discussed his relationship with Jose Mourinho, while warning Spurs that he won’t remain loyal to the club ‘just for the sake of it’.

 

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An investigation has been launched after pictures surfaced online appearing to show Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish following an incident in which a Range Rover crashed into parked cars.

West Midlands Police said they were called just before 10am on Sunday to the Dickens Heath area of Solihull, where the two parked cars suffered minor damage.

The force said the driver left his details with a member of the public before leaving on foot.

Images surfaced online on Sunday of a damaged white Range Rover as well as a picture that appeared to show the Villa midfielder in slippers and a bright blue hoodie.

Less than 24 hours before the incident, the 24-year-old launched a video appeal for people to stay at home during the Government-enforced lockdown.

In the video, he said: “To help save lives you must stay at home.

“Only leave your house to buy food, buy medicine or to exercise and always remember to stay at least two metres apart.

“This is urgent, protect the NHS, stay home, save lives.”

In a statement about the incident, the West Midlands force said: “We were called to Waterside, Dickens Heath, just before 10am to reports that a Range Rover had crashed into two parked cars in the street.

“The driver left his details with a member of the public at the scene before leaving on foot, and will be spoken to by police in due course.

“Minor damage was caused to the parked vehicles.

“Officers are investigating the circumstances and anyone with information has been asked to get in touch, via Live Chat at west-midlands.police.uk quoting log 643 of 29 March.”

Villa were unavailable for comment on Sunday.

Mathilde Seigner est connue pour son franc-parler, mais aussi pour ses grands yeux bleus curieux du monde qui l’entoure. Une jeune maman impulsive et bourrée de charme, une femme à laquelle on peut s’identifier, estime le cinéaste Ivan Calbérac qui la hisse en haut de l’affiche de son film Une Semaine Sur Deux, en salles ce mercredi. De fait, lorsque l’on écoute la cadette des soeurs Seigner, on ne décèle aucun snobisme mais bien une volonté de s’ancrer dans le monde réel, au risque de tomber parfois dans le cliché… Extraits.

«J’ai l’image d’une actrice populaire un peu grande gueule. C’est une création de journalistes…» Excusez-nous Mathilde Seigner, mais pas seulement! Quand vous dites: «faut pas se faire chier», «j’en ai rien à foutre» et «mon cul», tout ça dans la même interview, on apprécie votre franc-parler, votre mépris des convenances. Vous vous définissez aussi comme sanguine, vous dites que quand vous avez quelque chose à dire «il faut que ça sorte», et vous avouez donc votre capacité à vous fâcher… pour mieux vous réconcilier –sans rancune- avec votre entourage.
D’ailleurs pour vous, «plus on insulte un homme, plus il vous aime», selon le principe universel du «fuis moi je te suis», que vous avez décidé d’adopter, comme vous le confirmiez au micro de Philippe Vandel, sur France Info.
Vous dites enfin que vous allez cesser de vous culpabiliser, et que le «milieu» ne vous forcera plus à être sympa. C’est peut-être ce qui vous encourage à «jeter pratiquement tous les scénarios» qu’on vous envoie, et à clamer haut et fort que votre dernier film Quelque Chose A Te Dire, aurait fait «un bon téléfilm», au nom de votre sens de l’autocritique.

Pour le côté populaire, alors là, vous tombez dans les clichés, pardon de le souligner! Nous ne doutons pas de votre sincérité, mais pensons que vous avez quand même cousu main votre parfaite panoplie de la «popu» qui s’assume: «j’aime le JT de Jean-Pierre Pernaut, j’enchaîne avec Les Feux De L’Amour en faisant mon vélo d’appartement». Peut-être parce que le ringard est de plus en plus branché. Et dans vos étagères, on trouve les disques de Johnny Hallyday,Claude Barzotti, Lara Fabian, Hervé Vilar.

Mieux! Vous assumez votre penchant pour l’alcool, c’est traditionnel et très franchouillard, donc ça vous plaît: «Je marche beaucoup, mais après 19 heures je bois!»

Après tout, créée ou non, exagérée ou non, cette image vous va comme un gant. Et nous, on adore! Vous sentez qu’elle vous sert puisque vous faites la une de plusieurs magazines, et êtes devenue «tendance» depuis votre retour au cinéma. Vous en êtes la première surprise.

Pour vous, le vrai public se trouve en province, mais vous reconnaissez aussi dire cela pour « rendre hommage » aux régions, où vous faites «davantage d’entrées». Vos histoires de famille et d’amour avec Mathieu, un technicien de cinéma, la naissance, il y a deux ans de Louis, vous confèrent une aura de femme épanouie et sereine, même si vous niez avoir changé: «j’ai de beaux restes, je suis la même qu’avant, avec un peu moins d’énergie.»

De l’énergie, vous en aurez à revendre, lorsqu’on vous donnera des rôles qui vous emballeront un peu plus que ceux des éternelles comédies: Camping, Palais Royal, Belle Maman… Et le fait de tourner avec des hommes risque fort de continuer à vous faire vibrer, «parce qu’à trop tourner avec des copines, on s’embourbe», dites-vous. Et au moins, ça vous évitera de vous disputer avec la réalisatrice, comme avec celle de Danse Avec Lui, Valérie Guignabodet. En tout cas, dés ce mercredi, vous jouez Marjorie dans Une Semaine Sur Deux, une mère de préados qui divorce, et qui tente de refaire sa vie. Une expérience avec Bernard Campan que vous avez eue l’air d’apprécier. Et vous n’êtes pas du genre à simuler…

C.C.

Mercredi 22 juillet 2009

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C’est à la télévision que le suspense a pris fin. Par une simple lettre, Abdelaziz Bouteflika a annoncé dans la soirée du dimanche 3 mars sa candidature à un cinquième mandat présidentiel. Il dit avoir entendu la colère du peuple, assure des changements et l’organisation d’élections anticipées d’ici un an à laquelle il promet cette fois de ne pas se présenter. Toute la journée, les journalistes ont guetté le moindre indice devant le Conseil constitutionnel. En fin d’après-midi, des camions apportant les parrainages d’Abdelaziz Bouteflika sont entrés un à un. À quelques centaines de mètres de là, des jeunes défilaient dans les rues d’Alger en scandant “non à un cinquième mandat”. Face à la pression populaire, l’exécutif n’a pas complètement cédé.Mobilisation à ParisLa diaspora algérienne s’est également mobilisée à Paris, place de la République. En apprenant la candidature du président, les manifestants sont stupéfaits. Tous se disent déterminer à continuer le mouvement. Le JT

• JT de 20h du dimanche 3 mars 2019 L’intégrale

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