News in brief

Eurojust president

José Luís Lopes da Mota, the president of Eurojust, the EU’s judicial co-operation body, resigned on 17 December following a corruption scandal in his native Portugal. Before his resignation, Lopes da Mota had been suspended for 30 days by a disciplinary committee, which ruled that he had put pressure on two investigative magistrates in Portugal who were looking into alleged graft in the granting of government permits for a shopping centre near Lisbon. Lopes da Mota, who was appointed in 2007, has denied all charges and said that he intends to appeal against the decision. Eurojust is expected to elect a new president this month. Michèle Coninsx, Belgium’s delegate to Eurojust and a vice-president, will act as president in the meantime.

Google ban

Google on 18 December suffered a blow in its attempt to digitise books owned by European publishers in its Book Search application. A French court banned Google from scanning books published by La Martinière, a publisher that lodged a legal complaint against the internet firm, unless it obtains prior authorisation. The court also ordered Google to pay €300,000 in damages. Google had scanned out-of-print works owned by La Martinière when digitising books held by US libraries. Google said that it would appeal against the decision.

Eurozone losses

The European Central Bank (ECB) on 18 December increased its estimate of the losses suffered by eurozone banks during the financial crisis to €553 billion. The figure is €65bn higher than the ECB estimated in June. The bank said that the increase was mainly a result of a further deterioration in the commercial property market and the “inclusion of an estimate of write-downs on securities originated in central and eastern Europe”.

Turkey’s accession talks

Turkey has opened an additional chapter, on the environment, in its membership talks with the EU. An accession conference with Turkey on 21 December brought the number of open chapters to 12, with just one closed so far. On 8 December, Cyprus announced that it would block five chapters in addition to eight that are already blocked because of the continued occupation of one- third of Cyprus by Turkey.

Serbia’s application

Boris Tadic´, the president of Serbia, submitted his country’s application for membership of the European Union in Stockholm on 22 December. Several EU member states consider the move premature. An interim trade agreement between the EU and Serbia was unblocked on 7 December, but the main pre-accession treaty – the Stabilisation and Association Agreement – remains frozen over doubts about Belgrade’s co-operation with a United Nations war-crimes court in The Hague. Serbia’s move follows an application by Iceland in July.

Footwear duties

Ministers from the EU’s member states on 22 December backed a proposal by the European Commission to extend existing EU import duties on certain types of footwear produced in China and Vietnam. The extension by 15 months

was possible after Austria, Germany and Malta dropped their opposition. In November, EU trade diplomats rejected the Commission’s proposal in a non-binding vote. The anti-dumping tariffs – 16.5% in the case of China and 10% for Vietnam – apply to leather shoes for adults only. Children’s shoes and sports shoes are exempt.

Chemical action

The EU should take further steps to protect people from the chemical cocktails they encounter in everyday life, environment ministers decided on 22 December. At a meeting in Brussels the environment ministers called for further research into the “combination effects” of chemicals. People face multiple exposure to chemicals in food, clothing and furniture, among other sources. Ministers are concerned that not enough is known about the effects of these combinations on human health, especially that of young children.

Austrian state aid

The Commission on 22-23 December authorised €1.4bn in state aid to save Hypo Group Alpe Adria (HGAA), an Austrian banking group, and shore up the position of Bawag PSK, another Austrian bank. The state aid measures include the nationalisation and recapitalisation of HGAA by the Austrian government, which decided on 14 December to bring the bank under public ownership in order to avert its imminent collapse. For Bawag, the Commission authorised a €550 million capital injection and €400m asset guarantee from the Austrian state. The Commission said that the measures were justified because of the impact of the financial crisis.

German bad bank

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The Commission on 22 December temporarily approved the setting up by the German government of a toxic asset scheme for WestLB, a partly state-owned bank. The scheme covers €85.1bn of toxic and other assets on the bank’s books, which will be transferred to a ‘bad bank’ in order to reduce WestLB’s liabilities. The Commission said that it had “doubts” that the scheme was compatible with EU state-aid rules because the assets may have been overvalued. It granted temporary approval to the scheme to preserve financial stability, but also launched an in-depth investigation into whether the scheme should be redesigned.

French banking

The Commission on 22 Decemer approved the purchase by Crédit Agricole, a French bank, of a large part of its rival Société Générale’s asset management business. The Commission said that the new firm would be a “significant player in particular as regards the retail [asset management] market”, but that the takeover “was not likely to raise competition concerns”.

Ukrainian gas payments

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 30 December allowed Ukraine to use €2bn of its foreign-currency reserves to make gas payments to Russia. The fund’s decision eased fears that Russia would cut off gas supplies to Europe in retaliation against any Ukrainian non-payment. Ukraine was able to use the money after the IMF agreed to modify the terms of a €11.37bn financial support programme it set up for the country in November.

Ignalina closure

Lithuania on 31 December closed its only nuclear plant, fulfilling a condition of its EU membership. The closure of the Soviet-era Ignalina plant leaves Lithuania more dependent on imported Russian gas. The EU has earmarked €837m to help Lithuania close down the plant, in addition to €500m it has given since 1999.

Fishing rules

New rules intended to combat illegal fishing practices came into force on 1 January. EU nationals can now be prosecuted in their home country for offences committed elsewhere in the world and could lose their licences if found guilty. All fish will have to be certified and labelled with information about their species type and where they were caught.

Rail competition

Rail passengers could soon be able to take advantage of new services following the opening of competition on the railway market at the start of the year. Since 1 January, all licensed railway companies have been able to operate services in any EU member state. The Commission expects new services between France and Italy and between Sweden and Norway. Germany, Italy, Sweden and the UK had opened their domestic markets to competition ahead of the EU deadline.

US ambassador

William E. Kennard presented his credentials as ambassador of the United States to the European Union to José Manuel Barroso, the president of the Commission, on 6 January. Kennard arrived in Brussels in December following his nomination by Barack Obama, the US president, on 6 August and his confirmation by the Senate on 20 November. Kennard was previously a managing director of the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, and served as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 1997-2001.