jesuitsdidit
14-06-2009, 09:25 PM
op
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1192981/Ken-Clarke-blows-lid-Tory-plans-ditch-constitution-referendum-Irish-vote-yes-Treaty.html
Ken Clarke blows lid on Tory plans to ditch constitution referendum if Irish vote yes to Treaty
By James Chapman
Last updated at 5:29 PM on 14th June 2009
The revised EU constitution will not be torn up if it has been implemented by the time the Tories win power, Kenneth Clarke declared today.
The shadow business secretary prompted fury among Euro-sceptic colleagues by insisting the controversial Lisbon Treaty would not be unpicked if all 27 member states succeed in forcing it into law before the next election.
Instead, the pro-EU Mr Clarke said he envisaged only 'sensible discussions... in limited areas' about the balance of power between Westminster and Brussels.
The shadow business secretary's remarks caused consternation in Tory high command.
The promise of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty was central to the party's campaign for EU Parliament elections earlier this month.
Gordon Brown has ditched Labour's manifesto promise at the last election to ask for voters' approval in a referendum.
The Prime Minister insists that the constitutional element of the treaty has been abandoned, making a vote unnecessary.
But most other EU leaders admit that it is virtually the same as the original version, which was rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands in 2005.
Ireland voted against the latest version last year. The blueprint will still create the first full-time EU president and foreign affairs chief, give the EU its own legal personality like a nation state, and do away with Britain's right to reject EU proposals in more than 40 policy areas.
Tory leader David Cameron has resisted giving any firm pledge on what he would do if the treaty has already been forced into law by the time they take office.
Euro-sceptic Tory MPs have insisted there should be a referendum even if the treaty is already in place.
But critics have long said attempting to tear up a treaty after it has been agreed and made law across Europe would be fraught with difficulty.
It appears increasingly likely that the Lisbon Treaty will have been implemented before the next election, with the Irish expected to vote 'yes' in a re-run referendum this autumn.
Yesterday Mr Clarke told BBC1's The Politics Show: 'If the Irish referendum endorses the treaty and ratification comes into effect, then our settled policy is quite clear that the treaty will not be reopened.
'But it has also been said by David Cameron - and he means it - that it will not rest there, and he will want to start discussions on divisions of competence between national states and the centre of the EU.
'I think we will want to open negotiations with the EU about a return of some responsibilities, particularly in employment law, to individual nation states.
'These will be sensible negotiations, and I actually don't think that the British will be alone.'
Mr Clarke added: 'I don't think anybody in Europe, including me, is in the mood for any more tedious debates about treaties, which have gone on for far too long, which is why this needs to be resolved.
'We are talking about sensible discussions about the proper division of responsibilities between nations and the EU in limited areas.'
Hardline Eurosceptic Tory MP Bill Cash said: 'I condemn Kenneth Clarke's statement regarding the Lisbon Treaty if the Irish vote "yes".
'Upon what authority has Mr Clarke made it? It is essential that we have a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty irrespective of the Irish vote, and this is supported by a very substantial number of Conservative MPs.
'It appears that Kenneth Clarke has reinvented unilaterally Conservative Party policy on the whole of the Lisbon Treaty and European policy. This is quite extraordinary.'
Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party, said: 'Ken Clarke has let the cat out of the bag.
'The Conservatives have no intention of holding a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty and all their promises during the European election campaign about holding one can now be seen to be sheer, brass-necked dishonesty.'
Labour's Foreign Secretary David Miliband said: 'Conservative policy on Europe is now in disarray.
'Kenneth Clarke knows that Tory policy "not to let matters rest" on the Lisbon treaty is hare-brained and dangerous for British business, but his leader and shadow foreign secretary are committed to it.
'The country deserves a clear answer: has Conservative policy flip-flopped, or are the Conservatives just divided and incredible in their foreign policy?'
A Conservative spokesman insisted: 'There is no change to Conservative policy. As Ken Clarke explained, if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified and in force across the EU by the time of the election of a Conservative Government, we have always made clear that we would not let matters rest there.
'In other words, we would not regard these matters as closed. We would regard political integration as having gone too far.
'If that situation arises, we will set out how we would respond. We have consistently made clear, for example, that the return of social and employment legislation to UK control would be a major goal for a Conservative Government.
'But today the Treaty is not in force and not ratified in all member states. That is why Gordon Brown should give the British people a referendum on it right now.'
bob_jones
14-06-2009, 09:48 PM
Open Europe
From Bob's e-mail in box:-
Open Europe Bulletin: 12 June 2009
Open Europe research finds that MEPs cost taxpayers five times more than UK MPs
European elections: Labour comes in third behind UKIP
Lisbon Treaty round-up
News in brief
Open Europe in the news
1. Open Europe research finds that MEPs cost taxpayers five times more than UK MPs
Open Europe has published a comparison between the cost of the European Parliament and the cost of the UK Parliament, which finds that the European Parliament costs taxpayers a staggering £1.8 million for each MEP per year. This is in contrast to the House of Commons, which costs taxpayers £364,000 for each member per year, and the House of Lords, which costs £208,000 per member per year.
Open Europe's comparison, based on the respective parliaments' budget allocations, also finds that while national MPs at Westminster on average claim up to £148,297 in allowances each year, their counterparts in Brussels can claim up to £363,000 per year. Furthermore, MEPs do not have to produce receipts to claim their allowances, in contrast with national MPs.
In addition, Open Europe found that 22 UK MEPs retiring this year will receive a share of a £20 million pay-off in pensions and benefits. Each will be paid up to two years' salary to help them to 'adjust' to their new lives and will share a £10 million index-linked pension pot. Of those 22 MEPs, three politicians are accused of misusing public money: Den Dover, Ashley Mote and Tom Wise. All will receive a "transition payment" of over £30,000, up to £55,000 to close their offices and layoff staff, and pensions worth between £175,000 and £235,000. (7 June Andrew Pierce on LBC, South Wales Evening Post, 4 June, Times Times 2 2 June)
To read the UK press release, click the link below:
http://www.openeurope.org.uk/media-centre/pressrelease.aspx?pressreleaseid=111
Please leave your comments on our blog:
http://openeuropeblog.blogspot.com/
2. European elections: Labour comes in third behind UKIP
Labour suffered badly in the European elections on 4 June, falling into third place with 15.7 percent of the vote, losing 5 MEPs to give them 13. The Conservatives came first in the vote share, with 27.7 percent, giving them 26 MEPs, an increase of one. UKIP came second, receiving 16.5 percent of the vote, and increased its number of MEPs by one to 13; and the Lib Dems received 13.7 percent of the vote, giving them 11 seats, also an increase of one. Turnout in the UK was 34.8 percent, down from 2004.
The BNP won its first two seats in the European Parliament, in Yorkshire and the Humber, where it won 10 percent of the vote, and in the North-West of England, where it received 8 percent of the vote.
Plaid Cymru received 18.5 percent of the vote in Wales, giving them 1 MEP. In Scotland, the SNP received 29.1 percent of the vote, putting Labour into second place. (BBC BBC 2 BBC 3 Elections 2009, 8 June)
The centre-right celebrated victory across Europe, taking 265 seats of the 736 in the new Parliament, compared with 184 for the socialists, 83 for centrist liberals, 50 for the Greens and 36 for the radical left. Turnout across the EU fell to a record low of 43 percent, down from 45 percent in 2004. Turnout has fallen every year since the first direct elections in 1979.
In Ireland, Prime Minister Brian Cowen's party Fianna Fail was beaten into second place with 23 percent of the vote by the opposition Fine Gael, who received nearly 32 percent of the vote. The pan-European campaign Libertas won only one seat, with Philippe de Villiers elected under the party banner in France.
Meanwhile, a Channel 4/YouGov poll of UK voters ahead of the elections showed that 35 percent of people said their vote in the European elections would express their views on Britain's relations with Europe, while 30 percent said they would be expressing their views on the political scene in Britain. 23 percent said they would be voting to influence the composition of the European Parliament. 12 percent said they weren't sure.
The poll also showed that 39 percent agree with the statement "The UK should withdraw completely from the European Union", compared to 38 percent who disagreed, and 16 percent who said they neither agreed nor disagreed. 22 percent agreed strongly.
Only 27 percent agreed that "The existence of the EU promotes prosperity throughout Europe", compared with 37 percent who disagreed. 80 percent agreed there was some truth in the statement: "A great majority of the important decisions that affect our daily life are taken by the European Union, not by Britain's parliaments, assemblies or councils." (Channel 4)
3. Lisbon Treaty round-up
The Irish government is facing opposition to its demand for legally binding 'guarantees' on the Lisbon Treaty because some EU states fear it will reopen the Treaty debate in their own countries. Ireland was offered a series of 'guarantees' last year on a number of issues including taxation, neutrality, workers' rights, and the retention of an Irish EU Commissioner in return for holding a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
However, there is no clear plan as to how the 'guarantees' might become legally binding. Without legally binding guarantees, Ireland will be voting on exactly the same text that was rejected last year. Reportedly, Britain, Poland, the Netherlands, Austria and Sweden have raised concerns about the text of the 'guarantees', while Britain, in particular, is very nervous about reopening a national debate on Lisbon by agreeing to ratify an Irish protocol on the 'guarantees' through the House of Commons. (Irish Times, 11 June; EUobserver, 5 June; European Voice, 4 June;)
Any deal on the 'guarantees' is not likely to be finalised until the EU leaders' summit next Thursday and Friday, with Martin suggesting "negotiations will be ongoing at both official and political level" throughout next week. (Irish Times, 12 June)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has offered to visit Ireland in support of the 'Yes' campaign in the second referendum on the Treaty. He said, "If it is of use, I would even be ready to travel to Ireland to support them." (Irish Independent, Irish Times, 12 June)
Meanwhile Conservative Party leader David Cameron has made renewed calls for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, publishing a Bill which would allow a referendum to be held in the UK. Mr Cameron said that "We are today publishing a bill that could go through Parliament right now to allow us to hold a referendum on the European Constitution that everyone promised, particularly the Prime Minister, and we could hold it on the same day as the Irish referendum." (Telegraph, 2 June)
4. News in brief
Lord Mandelson: Joining the Euro is "obviously" an important objective. In a speech in Berlin, Lord Mandelson has insisted that Britain is committed to joining the Euro. He said "It is perfectly clear that the euro has been a great success in anchoring its eurozone members during this financial crisis". When asked whether Britain would consider joining the Euro in the future, he responded, "Does it remain an important objective for Britain to find itself in the same currency as that single market in which it interacts? Obviously yes." (Telegraph 12 June)
Government appoints 'Euro minister' in each department. The Government has revealed that detailed talks have taken place in Whitehall departments about what they would have to do if Britain joined the Euro. They include explaining to the public how the move would affect their council tax and business-rate bills and how the BBC would pay for the £10 million cost of changing the TV licence fee to euros. Each department now has a special minister in charge of the 'changeover plans'. (Express Guido Fawkes blog 2 June)
Glenys Kinnock appointed Europe Minister. In a Cabinet reshuffle last week, Caroline Flint resigned from her post as Europe Minister, and accused Gordon Brown of running a 'two-tier Government'. Retiring Welsh MEP Glenys Kinnock was appointed as the new Europe Minister. She will be elevated to the House of Lords to take up her post. (BBC, Open Europe blog, 5 June)
UK could be overruled on financial supervision at Council meeting next week. EU finance ministers meeting this week adopted a text which broadly endorsed the European Commission's proposals for more pan-EU supervision of financial markets. Crucially, there was no change to controversial plans to create three new EU authorities with the power to override national regulators in areas of banking, securities and insurances. The issue will now be decided at next week's Council meeting, where the UK could be overruled through qualified majority voting.
The City Minister Lord Myners has indicated that he thinks the Commission's proposals, "raise a number of fundamental concerns that must be resolved before these reforms can be taken forward" and added that "By proposing to move some financial supervision powers from national to European level, the Commission's proposals risk undermining the ability of governments to confront future crises". (FT: Myners, 9 June; Telegraph, 10 June)
UKIP MEP pays 3 assistants at an investment company. Ahead of the European elections it emerged that UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom had used his parliamentary staff allowance to pay three assistants who are also employed at an investment company in which he is a major shareholder. He employs his 20-year-old niece and two other members of staff at TBO Investments, despite a statement on his website which reads: "Godfrey Bloom employs no immediate members of his family on his secretarial allowance, unlike most other MEPs (non-UKIP)." (Times, 1 June)
BNP could be entitled to £5.2m in EU funds over five years. Over the next five years the far right British National Party could pocket £5.2 million of taxpayers' money to spread its message across Europe. Party leader Nick Griffin and his fellow MEP Andrew Brons will get paid more than £446,000 each in salary, office and travel allowances every year. In addition, if the party is able to form a new party grouping in the European Parliament, the BNP will be entitled to 'political expenditure' worth £36,755 a year and around £110,798 in administrative support. (Independent, Mail, Irish, Independent, Guardian, Guardian 2, Guardian 3, BBC: Mardell blog, Telegraph, Sun, Times, 9 June)
5. Open Europe in the news
Commissioners to take home more than £1 million each on retirement
12 June CT 24
An article on Czech newsite CT 24 cited Open Europe's findings that retiring EU Commissioners can expect to receive more than £1 million each in pension payments, transitional and resettlement allowances.
Glenys Kinnock appointed UK Europe Minister
10 June Mail 9 June Mail
The Mail quoted Open Europe saying that "The appointment of Glenys Kinnock is quickly turning into a shambles. The Government is all over the place on Europe. Yesterday's election results show it needs to get its act together sooner rather than later."
A separate article also quoted Open Europe saying, "In a vote in the European Parliament in February last year, Glenys voted against an amendment which asked that the European Parliament "undertake to respect the outcome of the referendum in Ireland" on the Lisbon Treaty.' She was also among those MEPs that vetoed a proposal which would have ensured that MEPs' contributions to the second pension scheme could no longer be paid out of MEPs' allowances, but would have had to come out of their own pockets."
The EU's "gravy plane"
9 June El Confidencial 3 June Express 31 May Sunday Times News of the World
The Sunday Times, the News of the World, the Express and El Confidencial reported on Open Europe's findings that in the past year, Britain's MEPs flew 363,990 air miles on foreign trips. It also reported that Glenys Kinnock is the most widely-travelled, clocking up 127,465 miles over the past five years, equivalent to flying around the world more than five times.
The Sunday Times quoted Open Europe Director Lorraine Mullally saying, "Never mind the gravy train, the European parliament is more like the gravy plane. MEPs are clocking up thousands of miles on dubious 'fact-finding' trips to luxurious locations like Miami while the rest of us scale down our travel plans in the recession."
Implication of centre-right victory
9 June BBC World Business Report
Open Europe's Mats Persson appeared on BBC World's Business Report, discussing the success of the centre-right parties in the European elections, and the implications for the reduction of regulation.
BNP could pocket £5.2 million in EU funds
9 June Mail
The Mail cited Open Europe's research that, over the next five years, the British National Party could pocket £5.2 million of EU taxpayers' money to spread its message across Europe.
How many of the UK's laws emanate from Brussels?
9 June Private Eye
Private Eye's Brussels Sprouts column asked "how many of the UK's laws emanate from Brussels?" and quoted Lord Trimble speaking at last month's Open Europe debate saying, "Since national parliaments don't get the possibility to scrutinise, things are getting worse."
MEPs' pay rise to have big impact in poorer countries
9 June Express
The Express reported that new rules for MEPs' pay, coming into effect next month, will have most impact in poorer countries such as Bulgaria where MEPs will earn around 50 times more than the average salary. Open Europe was quoted saying, "The huge gaps in pay will tempt the most talented people away from national politics."
MEPs cost taxpayer £1.8 million a year
7 June Andrew Pierce on LBC 5 June Professional Pensions Przekroj 4 June Guardian: White South Wales Evening Post 3 June Western Morning news
On live BBC coverage of the European elections, presenter Emily Maitlis cited Open Europe's figures, which showed that each MEP costs the European taxpayer £1.8 million per year, compared to £364,000 for each Member of the House of Commons. The findings also received coverage on Michael White's Guardian blog.
Open Europe's Lorraine Mullally appeared live on GMTV and Andrew Pierce's show on LBC radio to discuss Open Europe's findings about MEPs' expenses and the annual cost of a single Member of the European Parliament.
The South Wales Evening Post reported that retiring Welsh MEPs Glenys Kinnock and Eluned Morgan are set to receive hundreds of thousands of pounds in pensions and benefits as part of a £20 million pay-off for UK MEPs who retire this week, and quoted Open Europe's Mats Persson saying, "It is scandalous that MEPs are receiving this level of pay-off."
Open Europe's findings on MEPs' pensions also received coverage in Polish magazine Przekroj and in Professional Pensions magazine, which quoted Open Europe's Sarah Gaskell saying, "At a time when everyone else is seeing their pension pots dwindle in the recession, MEPs have ensured themselves a gold-standard pension under new rules in the new parliamentary session, which they will pay nothing into themselves."
MEP league table coverage
5 June Novinite Nepsava Irish News 4 June Sydsvenskan Fejer Megyei Hirlap Corriere della Serra 3 June MR1 Info Radio
Open Europe's league table of MEPs continued to receive coverage across Europe, in Swedish daily Sydsvenskan, Italian newspaper Corriere della Serra, Hungarian paper Nepsava, Bulgarian news agency Novinite and in the Irish News.
European voters suffer from apathy
5 June Hospodárske noviny
Slovak paper Hospodárske Noviny featured an article looking at voter apathy in the European elections, and quoted Open Europe's Mats Persson.
MEPs vote to keep expenses secret
4 June iDNES 3 June Irish Times: Smyth
The Irish Times reported that almost all Irish MEPs voted for an amendment to the so-called 'Cashman report' this year, to ensure that MEPs' expenses claim remained secret. The vote was featured in Open Europe's league table of MEPs. Open Europe's Mats Persson was quoted in the article saying, "No matter how MEPs present it, this amendment is a way to keep their expense receipts secret. It will prevent people from using the Cashman provisions to ask about expenses".
Open Europe's Pieter Cleppe was quoted in Czech daily iDNES reacting to claims from MEPs that they don't have the time to scrutinise all votes in the European Parliament.
170,000 bureaucrats for the EU
4 June NRC Handelsblad
Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad reported on Open Europe's figure that the EU employs 170,000 bureaucrats.
Cameron pledges to use EU budget talks to negotiate return of powers to the UK
3 June De Pers
Open Europe's Pieter Cleppe was quoted in Dutch daily De Pers, commenting on the plan to form a European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European Parliament.
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