open europe Conservatives: EU treaty’s “ratchet” clause will erode UK Government’s red lines
The Sunday Telegraph reported that the Conservatives have warned that the so-called "ratchet" clause in the new EU treaty, allowing EU leaders to amend and strengthen the Constitution without the need for further treaties or summits, could chip away at Britain's "red lines" in areas such as law and order or social policies. Shadow Europe Minister Mark Francois said, "The 'ratchet clause' will make the EU constitution self-amending. We could see constant salami slices of crucial powers and key vetoes transferred to Brussels”. He went on, “The fact that the revived constitution has kept this clause - which is not mentioned at all in the Government's red lines - has certainly not been lost on many Euro MPs. They are already arguing that it should be used as soon as possible to take even more power away from member states," referring to the European Parliament’s vote to pass the Leinen Report, which calls for swift steps to press ahead with a "further constitutional settlement for the Union" after 2009.
Telegraph

Commission admits EU arrest warrant being issued for trivial crimes - including theft of a piglet
According to the Telegraph, a secret EU report has revealed that officials are concerned that the controversial European Arrest Warrants (EAW), requiring the arrest and extradition of suspects from one EU country to another, are being used for the extradition of people for minor offences - including possession of 0.45 grams of cannabis to the theft of two car tyres - and a single case of piglet rustling. Civil liberties campaigners are concerned that the EAW does not require a proportionality test, or allow refusal of extradition if the offence in question does not exist under national laws. The EU report admits that the arrest warrants are being used "disproportionately" to the seriousness of offences.
Telegraph

Germany will not support CAP-reform before 2013 says Government
Handelsblatt has reported that Germany’s Agricultural Minister Horst Seehofer has said that the German government will not support reform of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy within the next six years, as set out in a 2005 Council decision. “My position is that neither the basics nor the financing of the CAP must be changed up to 2013”, he said. Seehofer also said that Angela Merkel supported his position, calling her “a great friend of German agriculture”.
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Fraser Nelson's column in the News of the World urged Scottish Nationalist leader Alex Salmond to call a referendum on the new EU treaty, in order to make it impossible for the Government in Westminster to avoid a referendum.
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The front page of the Telegraph reports that the casualty rate for UK soldiers in Afghanistan is approaching a level last seen in World War Two.
Telegraph

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