open europe 1

Open Europe

EU fraud costing Ł1m a day
The Express reports that EU fraud is costing taxpayers more than Ł1million for every working day, an 11% increase on last year, according to figures from the Commission.
Open Europe’s Neil O’Brien is quoted saying: “The EU continues to lose vast sums of money to fraud. If the people in charge of the EU budget were running a business they would have been sacked years ago. The EU needs radical reform, not even more powers. The EU hasn’t had its accounts signed off for 12 years, and new problems seem to come to light every month. The EU’s failure to sort out its chronic problems makes it all the more vital that we have the referendum we were promised before we hand over any more powers.” El Pais notes that Spain leads the field on agricultural fraud. Agence Europe quotes EU anti-fraud Commissioner Siim Kallas saying, “All these cases of fraud and irregularities are unacceptable, and we have adopted a zero tolerance approach.”
Express Sun EUobserver Telegraph-Hannan El Pais
Swedish government should rethink its approach to the new EU Treaty
Open Europe’s Mats Persson has an op-ed in Sweden’s biggest tabloid Expressen, arguing that Sweden is one of the member states that will lose most influence if the new Constitutional Treaty comes into force. He writes, “The text that the EU’s leaders agreed on in Brussels is a step in the wrong direction. It will reduce Sweden’s influence in Europe, and risks undermining the government’s agenda both at home and abroad. The Swedish government has strong reason to rethink its uncritical approach to the treaty”.
Expressen
Miliband unworried by EU “democratic deficit”
In the transcript of an interview with the FT Foreign Secretary David Miliband argued that making the EU more democratic should not be a focus for the Government. He said, “I’ve been convinced for years that the greatest challenge facing the European Union is about delivery rather than about internal democracy; that the root to respect in European hearts is through delivery, that it’s the delivery deficit rather than the democratic deficit that should be the focus of our attention.”
FT
EU diplomats delighted with Constitutional Treaty "whether it's wonderful or not"
On the BBC website pro-euro campaigner Kirsty Hughes looks at the fallout from the negotiations on the Constitutional Treaty. She reports that diplomats are not expecting any major new rows in the IGC. She quotes one saying, "Everyone, frankly, is delighted to get this out the way - whether it's wonderful or not... most people are satisfied with what they got." But some are worried that the Poles, who almost blocked agreement at the summit, will try to unpick the deal that was done. The EU diplomat agrees "that is the unknown, we can't say it will all be fine," and adds that the problem with the Polish negotiating style is as much about expertise as politics. "I do buy into the idea that the Poles don't have the people," he says. "The [Polish] sherpas were an absolute disaster fighting amongst themselves, and the two deputy prime ministers trying to undermine the prime minister." She also reports that Lib Dem MEP Andrew Duff thinks that getting a deal by October will be "pushing it". Another EU diplomat argues that the provisions for enhanced cooperation in the Constitutional Treaty will mean that "we now leave the Brits behind."
BBC

Brown claims Constitution abandoned and red lines met;
Conservatives highlight Constitutional Treaty’s threat to independence of Parliament
At a press conference with Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates yesterday Gordon Brown said that as long as the UK’s red lines are met when the details of the Constitutional Treaty are hammered out he would “not recommend to the British people that there were a referendum". He set out what he saw as the UK’s red lines: “The first is obviously that the Charter of Rights should not be justiciable in British law; the second was that there had to be an opt-in for the justice and home affairs sections of the amending treaty; the third was that the foreign affairs and security work of Europe should be on an intergovernmental basis and that should not be changed; the fourth was that the social security provisions should allow for an emergency break, in other words that Britain could not incur extra costs as a result of these; and the fifth was that national security issues should remain a matter for member states.”
He also claimed that “the constitutional project, as the document states from Brussels, was abandoned, in other words the idea of creating a new and completely new Constitutional Treaty was not accepted at Brussels.” Shadow Europe Minister Mark Francois dismissed Brown’s red lines as “red herrings”. He also pointed out an "unprecedented" obligation in the new treaty which states that: "National parliaments shall contribute actively to the good functioning of the Union". He added: "This appears to oblige Parliament to work for the benefit of the EU," he said. "If this clause is left as it is, there is a real threat to the independence of Parliament."
Express Telegraph

Stelzer: EU Foreign Minister represents "the ceding of substantial control of British foreign policy"
Writing in the Telegraph, Irwin Stelzer argues that Gordon Brown’s foreign policy will remain an enigma. He argues that “it is Brown who claims credit for engineering what is surely the ceding of substantial control of British foreign policy to the new EU foreign minister, a move that will make his own foreign policy views far less relevant in the corridors of world power.”

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