EU constitution hits rocky start

European Union president Germany has been forced to reduce its ambitions for a declaration on European values to mark the 50th birthday of the 27-nation bloc.

Chancellor Angela Merkal had hoped it would be a springboard to reviving talks on the battered EU constitution ahead of a Brussels summit in June.

EU leaders will make the statement in Berlin on 24-25 March to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome which set up the six-nation European Economic Community.

Berlin is keen to keep up a display of unity by marking the occasion with a museum open night and a party with free beer and sausages.

brandenburg gate

Merkel now looks unlikely to achieve her goal of adding a clause to the Berlin Declaration saying ‘this is why we need to sign up to a new constitution to set up the June summit.’

Officials say the two to three page declaration is more likely to set the mood for reviving talks on the treaty than make firm commitments.

Disagreement over the declaration is a foreboding signal for Merkel’s attempts to agree a plan on reviving the constitution in June.

While 18 nations have ratified the treaty and want to push ahead, they are currently on collision course with France, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic and Britain, who all have strong reservations.

Merkel has promised to resurrect the "core" of the constitution — whose provisions include the creation of an EU foreign minister and the scrapping of national vetoes on justice and home affairs — despite its rejection by French and Dutch voters in 2005.

Merkel must wait for the outcome of the French elections to assess her prospects. Segolène Royal, the Socialist candidate, has promised a new referendum in 2009.

Nicolas Sarkozy, of the centre right, has called for a simplified treaty in 2008, with a beefed-up version to follow later.

Additional reading:
Germany EU presidency website:

MEPs give up smoking ban

The European Parliament has taken just 43 days to valiantly break its new year no smoking ban and reintroduce designated smoking areas.

The decision to reverse the total ban on smoking in the buildings, in force since 1 January, was taken in a closed ballot by the parliament’s hierarchy. Senior MEPs argued the restrictions were too strict and were openly flouted.

Critics and anti-smoking lobbyists have condemned the move to reinstate designated smoking areas as an “absolute disgrace.”

 “What kind of signal does this send out to European citizens, that the European Parliament has the shortest smoking ban in history,” said British Labour MEP Catherine Stihler. “The parliament has shot itself in the foot.”

The parliament has now also laid itself open to charges of hypocrisy as the European Union tries to promote a tough new anti-smoking campaign.

According to EU statistics, more than 79 000 adults die in Europe every year due to passive smoking. 

Last month the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, declared itself in favour of a smoking ban in public areas throughout the continent, launching a major debate on the need for EU-wide laws to achieve this.

“Smoke-free policies are very popular among the European citizens, and we have the polls, the numbers to prove that and not just among non-smokers but among smokers,” EU health commissioner Markos Kyprianou said as he launched the campaign.

Smoking bans in public places have already been implemented in Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Belgium and Sweden. France joined the smoke-free club this month.

The European Parliament has long been a champion of the anti-smoking lobby, hosting events and issuing frequent statements about the dangers of lighting up.

In 2002, MEPs passed a resolution on the prevention of smoking which stated the right to breathe clean air and urged strict controls, including bans on smoking in the workplace and on tobacco vending machines.

But parliament sources said its own six week ban was already being flouted, with catering and security staff too timid to challenge MEPs and officials puffing away in private offices and the corridors.

Deborah Arnott, Director of anti-smoking charity ASH, described the latest decision as “scandalous.”

“There can be no justification for politicians to place themselves above the law and it makes a mockery of the Commission's proposals for an EU-wide smoking ban,” she said.

“In the light of the mass of evidence showing the detrimental effects of secondhand smoke we urge MEPs to reconsider this policy and to urgently reinstate the smoking ban.”

Additional reading:
European Commission anti-smoking campaign
ASH UK



EU business losing out over languages

European companies are missing out on business opportunities as a result of their poor language skills, the EU's Multilingualism Commissioner has warned.

Leonard Orban, who was appointed to the job in January when Romania joined the EU, revealed a new study showed 11 percent of businesses had lost a contract over a lack of language skills. They lost an average of EUR 325 000 over a three year period.

The study was conducted on a sample of 2000 small and medium-sized enterprises and  30 multinationals across Europe.

The findings suggest that small businesses in Europe could increase their total exports by investing more in language training, said the Commission.

English, German, French and Spanish were shown to be the most sought-after European languages, while Mandarin Chinese, Russian and Arabic are increasingly used in the global business community.

“Far from being an unwelcome cost to doing business, investing in language skills can dramatically improve a company's business opportunities,” said Orban.

The commissioner added he would push the 27-nation EU to promote the use of subtitles rather than dubbing of films, as a way to encourage language learning.

Additional reading:
Leonard Orban website



MEPs push for bull-fighting ban

MEPs are pushing for a ban on bull-fighting in Spain, which they believe the European Commission is subsidising by several million euros every year.

A resolution tabled by British Labour MEP and to be voted by parliament in April calls for the practice to be outlawed.

“This is torture disguised as 'entertainment', which results in the death of over 40,000 bulls a year," said Evans.

"It is unacceptable that this repulsive practice still continues in the 21 century, the European Parliament wants the European Commission and the people of Spain , Portugal and southern France to stand up and be counted on this subject,” he added.

According to Evans, EU agriculture subsidies have been indirectly propping up the bull-fighting industry and helping it to survive.

The exact sums making their way to the industry from Brussels are unknown even to EU agriculture officials, although they have admitted it is possible. 

However, animal rights groups who have researched the issue over several years believe around 22.5 million euro/year in EU subsidies prop up Spanish bull breeders.

They base these figures on previous premiums given for bulls – 210 euro, and for bullocks – 150 euro.

Although the parliament motion will not be legally binding it will exert a lot of political pressure. Previous motions have led to the ban on cat and dog fur and the import of seal products.

As the bullfighting industry is on the decline, opponents say subsidies from local authorities and Brussels are helping to prolong it.

“It’s becoming increasingly obvious that bullfighting no longer has a future, even in Spain , its heartland. Bullrings rely heavily on subsidies from local governments just to survive,” said Jordi Casamitjana from the League Against Cruel Sports.

Additional reading:
European Parliament resolution
The League Against Cruel Sports



Call to ban inefficient light bulbs

Germany’s environment minister Sigmar Gabriel has urged the European Commission to ban inefficient light bulbs in the EU in the fight against global warming.

“Europe can no longer afford products like that, like conventional light bulbs, that are only five percent efficient,” Gabriel wrote to EU environement commissioner Stavros Dimas.

“From my viewpoint, ambitious efficiency criteria for lights need to be introduced in this area of regulation.”

The letter refers to studies showing the EU could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 25 million tonnes a year if energy saving light bulbs were used in both the domestic and services sectors.

The European Commission says it is open to the suggestion. “We are currently looking into whether an EU standard for environmentally-friendly light bulbs is do-able,” Dimas told Germany’s Focus magazine.

Gabriel’s letter comes on the back of an Australian decision to phase out traditional light bulbs in favour of energy efficient ones by 2010.

Belgium and the Netherlands have both announced their intentions to make similar decisions in the future.

Additional reading:
European Commission environment department

1 March 2007

[Copyright Expatica 2007]

Subject: EU news