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Posted: 24-05-2013 11:33 Post subject:

Thats cheered me up! I feel like consuming olive oil.

Posted: 28-05-2013 20:41 Post subject:

Europe is afraid - the battle for new jobs

Europe's leaders, rather belatedly, are recognising that youth unemployment threatens the entire European project.
At a conference in Paris on Tuesday, organised by the Berggruen Institute on Governance, fear and warnings flowed from every speech.

Jacques Attali, a French economist and former adviser to the late president Francois Mitterrand, warned of a Europe in danger of "falling asleep", of young people being excluded from a changing world.

It was a theme echoed by the French President, Francois Hollande, who spoke of a Europe wracked by doubt, wondering whether Europe has any meaning at all. He spoke about hatred and anger, with citizens turning their backs on the European project. The very idea of Europe, he said, was being challenged.

Werner Hoyer, the President of the European Investment Bank, said that unemployment posed a "real threat to the European project". It undermined the trust of a whole generation, he said.

Several leaders, including the French president, said that progress had been made in handling the eurozone crisis. The German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, agreed that, in relation to the eurozone, "I think we have done quite well". But he said this was not enough, otherwise, "we will lose the struggle for EU unity".

In this climate there is now a whole raft of ideas and schemes about how to get Europe working again. All of this is building towards a summit on 28 June, which the French Finance Minister, Pierre Moscovici, said "will be a turning point in the history of Europe".

Europe is setting itself a deadline to adopt a grand plan to address unemployment. Whether reality will match ambition is less clear.

Six billion euros has been earmarked by the European Commission to target youth unemployment. There is - under development - a youth guarantee scheme, where after four to six months without work there will be the promise of training or an internship.

The Germans are launching a series of bilateral deals with countries like Spain, Portugal and Greece to finance apprenticeships in Germany and to help with lending to small companies.
One of the German ministers was encouraging young people to move to Germany. "We can help with training costs and language costs," she said.

There is recognition that if unemployment is to fall then small and medium-size companies need to be helped. For they provide two-thirds of all jobs. "They are the backbone of the EU," said the German Labour Minister, Ursula von der Leyen.

There are difficulties. At the moment a company in northern Italy can be paying an interest rate 2.5% higher than a German company to the north. And companies in southern Europe are struggling to access credit. So the European Investment Bank was recently recapitalised. Helping small and medium-sized companies will be one of the priorities.

Mr Moscovici said "we are redefining the balance between reducing deficits and growth". There is no question but that there is less emphasis on controlling budgets and reducing spending.

The Germans continue to push for structural reforms - like freeing up the labour market. Mr Moscovici thought it necessary to tell his audience that the French were not afraid of structural reforms.

Europe's leaders know that promises of further integration and unity are not enough - Europe will be judged on whether it can deliver, particular employment. So a vigorous debate is under way, as to where jobs come and whether the EU's structures and regulations help or hinder in incubating innovation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22689808

So, after all those summits to save the Euro, they find they've screwed employment. And the solution? Another summit! This is bean-bag politics - you push it here, and it bulges out there! Twisted Evil

Perhaps there is something more fundamental at the root of all this. Are they working with a 'flat-Earth model' of economics?

Posted: 01-06-2013 08:38 Post subject:

Switzerland enforces new quotas for EU workers

Quotas on the number of EU citizens working in Switzerland have come into effect for one year.
Switzerland, which is not an EU member, says immigration has reached unacceptable levels, with foreigners making up a quarter of the population.
The Swiss have made a series of deals with the EU on the free movement of people in return for access to European markets.
The European Commission has warned that the quotas could jeopardise relations.

The vast majority of immigrants to Switzerland come from traditional EU members like Germany, Spain, Portugal and Italy.
Correspondents say Portuguese seeking work will be hardest hit by the new scheme.

The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva says on paper the Swiss have little to complain about.
They have a jobless rate of less than 3%, higher economic growth than expected and a strong currency, she says.
But there is concern in Switzerland about a growing influx of workers from poorer EU members.

A recent government statement said the number of people arriving in the country had exceeded the number leaving by up to 80,000 in recent years.
The Swiss government has come under pressure from both the right-wing People's Party and the Green Liberal Party, which say immigration has reached unsustainable levels.

The number of foreigners in Switzerland stands at almost 25%, many of them recent arrivals from EU countries where unemployment is at record levels, adds our correspondent.
Switzerland is determined not to share Europe's economic misery, she adds and while many Swiss accept their labour market needs foreign workers, they are unhappy about rising house prices or overcrowded schools.

The limits on the eight newer EU member states were first introduced last year.
From 1 June, immigrants from Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic will have the number of long-term residence permits capped at 2,180.

From the same date, long-term residence permits for the 17 older EU states will be capped at 53,700 for 12 months.

Immigration to Switzerland from Bulgaria and Romania - the two newest EU states - is severely restricted.

When Switzerland signed up to freedom of movement rules in 1999, it claimed the right to enact a "safeguard clause" if the annual influx of workers exceeded a certain number.

From mid-2014 the clause becomes invalid, so the quotas can in theory only last for 12 months, but Switzerland is due to hold two referendums aimed at limiting immigration.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said last month the new quotas disregarded "the great benefits that the free movement of persons brings to the citizens of both Switzerland and the EU".

["What you lose on the swings, you gain on the roundabouts."
But to an EU-tuned brain, there are only roundabouts!
However, in real life, you lose on the roundabouts too! Twisted Evil

]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22738774

Posted: 01-06-2013 08:56 Post subject:

Posted: 04-06-2013 07:53 Post subject:

UK human rights convention exit 'would be disastrous'
By Joshua Rozenberg, BBC Radio 4, Law in Action

It would be a "political disaster" if the UK pulled out of the human rights convention, the president of the European Court of Human Rights says.
Judge Dean Spielmann said it would also mean leaving the 47-member Council of Europe and possibly the EU.
He warned this could undermine the UK's credibility in promoting human rights around the world.

Home Secretary Theresa May has said the UK should consider its relationship with the human rights convention.
She said, as the next election approached, the Conservatives would need a plan for dealing with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and that "all options, including leaving the convention altogether, should be on the table".

But Judge Spielmann, who is from Luxembourg, said this would also mean leaving the Council of Europe, which administers the convention.
And leaving the council would probably also mean leaving the European Union because no state had ever been a member of the EU without first joining the council.
He said: "That would plainly be a political disaster.
"Any member state who would leave the Council of Europe, who would denounce the convention, would lose its credibility when it comes to promoting human rights also in different parts of the world."

Asked about Mrs May's complaint that his court had moved the goalposts to prevent the deportation of "dangerous" men such as the radical Palestinian-Jordanian cleric Abu Qatada, he said: "I have a problem with such criticism, because it goes to the heart of the rule of law.
"Courts are there to decide and to control action taken by the executive. This is the basic principle of any democracy."

Conservative MP Dominic Raab is among the critics of the court which, he says, lacks democratic accountability. He said a body that created new law needed to be accountable.
"The fundamental problem is a constitutional one. The common law has always been creative, but it's always been subject to being overridden by a statute and of other legislation. There is no democratic oversight or accountability that creates that check with the Strasbourg court," he said.

But Judge Spielmann said Council of Europe member states had agreed to set up a supra-national mechanism with judges from different backgrounds.
He was also critical of the British government's failure to amend the law on voting by prisoners after the ECHR ruled in 2005 that a blanket ban was a breach of their human rights.
"A decision of a court must be executed. If a decision is not executed this is a violation of the rule of law which is a basic principle of any democracy," he said.

There was a risk, he said, that such an attitude would set a bad example to other member states.
"They might say 'Well if the UK doesn't comply with our judgments, why should we comply?'" he said.
"Such an attitude causes real damage to the UK's international reputation, because it undermines the whole system and it causes great damage to the credibility of the UK when it comes to promoting human rights in other parts of the world," he added.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "We are clear in the view that prisoner voting is a matter for national parliaments to decide.
"We will continue to push for further meaningful reform of the European Court of Human Rights when negotiations start later in the year."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22754866

"A decision of a court must be executed. If a decision is not executed this is a violation of the rule of law which is a basic principle of any democracy"
Judge Spielmann seems to have got this arse-about-face. If the ECHR is not itself a democratically elected body, how can it insist that following the laws it makes 'is a basic principle of [] democracy'?

Following laws imposed by a totalitarian regime is not democracy.

Posted: 04-06-2013 08:08 Post subject:

Posted: 04-06-2013 08:53 Post subject:

Posted: 04-06-2013 08:58 Post subject:

Posted: 04-06-2013 09:56 Post subject:

The ECHR an intsrument of oppression because it would overrules sovereignty ? No. The so-called sovereignty is the source of oppression and tyranny.

In 2008, Nicolas Sarkozy had reacted quite ineleganty to a man who had refused to shake his hand in an agricultural show, by insulting him. The phrase he used has become famous, and an opposant used them on a small placard when Sarkozy visited a small town. So much so fine until now, but the joke took a sinister turn when Hervé Eon was convicted for that. The French authorities obviously lack of humour. Hopefully, the ECHR has set the things right.

http://digitaljournal.com/article/345728

Posted: 04-06-2013 12:12 Post subject:

Someone has just been charged with insulting the president of Portugal, this ruling will hopefully put the kibosh on that case.

Posted: 09-06-2013 08:30 Post subject:

German court case could force euro exit, warns key judge
Crucial hearings on the eurozone’s bail-out policies at Germany’s top court this week could set in motion events that force Germany’s withdrawal from the euro, a leading judge has warned.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
9:00PM BST 08 Jun 2013

Udo di Fabio, the constitutional court’s euro expert until last year, said the explosive case on the legality of the European Monetary Union rescue machinery could provoke a showdown between Germany and the European Central Bank (ECB) and ultimately cause the collapse of monetary union.

“In so far as the ECB is acting 'ultra vires’, and these violations are deemed prolonged and serious, the court must decide whether Germany can remain a member of monetary union on constitutional grounds,” he wrote in a report for the German Foundation for Family Businesses.

“His arguments are dynamite,” said Mats Persson from Open Europe, which is issuing its own legal survey on the case on Monday.

Dr Di Fabio wrote the court’s provisional ruling last year on the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the €500bn (£425bn) bail-out fund. His comments offer a rare window into thinking on the eight-strong panel in Karlsruhe, loosely split 4:4 on European Union issues.

The court is holding two days of hearings, though it may not issue a ruling for several weeks. The key bone of contention is the ECB’s back-stop support for the Spanish and Italian bond markets or Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT), the “game-changer” plan that stopped the Spanish debt crisis spiralling out of control last July and vastly reduced the risk of a euro break-up.

The case stems from legal complaints by 37,000 citizens, including the Left Party, the More Democracy movement, and a core of eurosceptic professors, most arguing that the ECB has overstepped its mandate by financing the deficits of bankrupt states.

Berenberg Bank said the case was now “the most important event risk” looming over the eurozone, with concerns mounting over an “awkward verdict” that may constrain or even block ECB action.

Dr Di Fabio said the court, or Verfassungsgericht, does not have “procedural leverage” to force the ECB to change policy but it can issue a “declaratory” ultimatum. If the ECB carries on with bond purchases regardless, the court can and should then prohibit the Bundesbank from taking part.

The Bundesbank’s Jens Weidmann needs no encouragement, say experts. He submitted a report to the court in December attacking the ECB head Mario Draghi’s pledge on debt as highly risky, a breach of both ECB independence and fundamental principles. The ECB does not have a legal mandate to uphold the “current composition of monetary union”, he wrote.

Dr Di Fabio said it was hard to imagine that an “integration-friendly court” would push the EMU “exit button”, but it can force a halt to bond purchases. This may amount to the same thing, reviving the eurozone crisis instantly.

“It would pull the rug from under the whole project. It is the OMT alone that has calmed markets and saved the periphery,” said Andrew Roberts from Royal Bank of Scotland. Mr Draghi said last week that the OMT was the “most successful monetary policy in recent times”.

The court dates back to the Reichskammergericht of the Holy Roman Empire created in 1490, but it was revived after the Second World War along the lines of the US Supreme Court.

It has emerged as the chief defender of the sovereign nation state in the EU system, asserting the supremacy of the German Grundgesetz over EU law, hence the German term “Verfassungspatriotismus”, or constitution patriotism.

The court backed the Lisbon Treaty but also ruled that Europe’s states are “Masters of the Treaties” and not the other way round, and reminded Europe that national parliaments are the only legitimate form of democracy. It said Germany must “refuse further participation in the EU” if it ever threatens the powers of the elected Bundestag.

It issued another “yes, but” ruling last September. It threw out an injunction intended to freeze the ESM, but it also tied Berlin’s hands by capping Germany’s ESM share at €190bn, and blocked an ESM bank licence. It killed off hope of eurobonds, debt-pooling, or fiscal union by prohibiting the Bundestag from “accepting liability for decisions by other states”.

Crucially, the court said the Bundestag may not lawfully alienate its tax and spending powers to EU bodies, even if it wants to, for this would undermine German democracy.

Chief Justice Andreas Vosskuhle said at the time that Germany had reached the limits of EU integration. Any further steps would require a “new constitution”, and that in turn would require a referendum.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/10108010/German-court-case-could-force-euro-exit-warns-key-judge.html

Interesting that this is very much a continental affair - no British swivel-eyed loonies are involved! It does seem that the monolithic Euro has logical contradictions (as critics have long pointed out) that could well prove to be its self-destruct mechanism.

Posted: 09-06-2013 08:45 Post subject:

Another example of the EU sledge-hammering some little nuts:

Why joining the EU is so hard to swallow for Croatia’s winemakers
As Croatia prepares to celebrate joining the EU, Nick Squires reports how a dispute over the name 'Prosek' is an early taste of the problems to come.
By Nick Squires, Split
5:00PM BST 08 Jun 2013

In a vaulted cellar on the pine-clad island of Hvar, Andro Tomic pops a cork on a bottle of his beloved prosek wine and pours a generous glass.
The amber-coloured dessert wine holds a special place in the hearts of Croats, particularly those along the Dalmatian coast, but it is about to face the full wrath of the Brussels bureaucracy.

The European Union has ruled that prosek is too similar in name to Italy's prosecco and that after July 1, when Croatia realises a decade-old ambition of joining the EU, it can no longer be sold as such. Shocked

The ruling has infuriated Croats and underlined the doubts and apprehension of many over the decision to become the bloc's 28th member, particularly at a time of deep economic and political tensions within the EU.

Nowhere is the indignation felt more deeply than on the island of Hvar, where prosek has been produced amid the dry stone walls, olive groves and pine woods for more than 500 years.

"They are two completely different products," Mr Tomic, 67, one of Croatia's most celebrated wine makers, told The Sunday Telegraph in his Romanesque cellar in Jelsa, a picturesque harbour town. "Prosecco is light and fizzy, whereas prosek is a sweet dessert wine.
"Prosek predates prosecco – we didn't imitate the Italians. We've been drinking prosek for centuries – we bring it out for special occasions like weddings and birthdays, Christmas and Easter, or you give it to someone as a present."

He proudly showed off the latest Croatian edition of Playboy magazine, in which a naked woman poses amid the oak barrels of his cellar with a glass of his prosek in her hand. Cool

Despite the two wines being utterly different – a difference to which The Sunday Telegraph can attest, having sampled a glass or two of Mr Tomic's award-winning dessert wine Wink

– officials in Brussels remain unmoved.

They say there is a danger that consumers could be "misled" and could inadvertently buy a bottle of Croatian prosek when in fact they were looking for light, fizzy prosecco. Rolling Eyes

"The rule is that any product that evokes another that is already protected under EU law is not allowed to be placed on the market," said Roger Waite, the European Commission spokesman for agriculture.
"If there was a Croatian drink called 'Scotchka' or something very similar to Scotch, you can be assured that whisky producers in Scotland would be hounding us not to allow it on the market."

Winemakers are also angry with their own government, which failed to apply for prosek to be given special protected status ahead of the country's entry to the EU.

etc...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/croatia/10107828/Why-joining-the-EU-is-so-hard-to-swallow-for-Croatias-winemakers.html

Posted: 09-06-2013 10:28 Post subject:

Posted: 09-06-2013 11:50 Post subject: