Europe's Dueling Egos

The EU Trade Chief and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are at odds.

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has accused French President Nicolas Sarkozy of undermining him and Europe's position at world trade talks.

He spoke after Mr Sarkozy accused him of trying to force a trade deal on the EU that would destroy European jobs.

Mr Sarkozy's comments came just days after he said Mr Mandelson had been a factor in Ireland's referendum rejection of the EU's Lisbon Treaty.

So what did Sarkozy say?

Mr Mandelson told the BBC's Newsnight programme he was "mystified" that the French president had blamed him over the Irish 'no' vote.

"I am being undermined and Europe's negotiating position in the world trade talks is being weakened and I regret that," he said.

Well, having been in Ireland for several weeks preceding the Lisbon Treaty vote, I think that Sarkozy has a point and Mr. Mandelson needs to back up a bit. As I was touring Ireland I repeatedly was told by the locals about how the EU was imposing restrictions on what they could grow and produce, costing the Irish jobs.

I will always remember the look in one man's face as he pointed to a now shuttered sugar beet processing plant that used to employee 2,000 locals, saying that it was closed by the EU to prevent competition. I heard similar stories at many other locations around Ireland.

I was completely unsurprised that the Lisbon Treaty was voted down. This no vote was especially significant cause the government had put out a major effort to lobby for yes votes. Almost every local news broadcast I saw included an appearance by some government official campaigning for the Treaty to be passed. You could hardly drive down a street without seeing "vote yes" signs like burma shave signs every where you looked.

So Mr. Mandelson might want to shut his yap and go look in the mirror if he wants to know why the Lisbon Treaty ended. A large part of it was distrust of the EU due to economically damaging restrictions imposed on Ireland.

I predict that the EU will adopt the EU treaty in safe, supportive country's and then give Ireland an ultimatum to reconsider their vote or get out of the EU. I think I know how the average Irish resident would respond to such an ultimatum.

Which just one of many reasons is why I still expect that the EU will one day split apart. It's not a matter of if to me, just a matter of when.

Illegal Immigration Legislation Finally Passes

Silly not in America. Don't you know addressing the problem in America is taboo, this is the EU (European Union).

Under the new rules illegal immigrants can be detained for up to 18 months and face a five-year re-entry ban.

Lawmakers backed the measures by a large majority despite opposition from many Socialist and Green parties, and condemnation from human rights groups.

The rules took more than two years to draft and member states will have a further two years to implement them.

It seems everybody but the United States is addressing the problems posed by illegal immigrants. We won't keep illegals out or deport them or arrest them. We won't tap into the resources we have, or build alternative energy sources. We won't stop the unbridled and unrestrained spending of our taxpayer dollars. We won't treat enemies of this country rounded up on the battlefields around the world as enemies, instead they are to be treated as common criminals. We are afraid to label or prosecute Islamic radicals and their supporters in the country.
And we won't kick out of office all of the bums whose job it is to address those problems, so ultimately Americans are getting exactly what they want since they continue to put the same bunch of folks back into congress.
It is time to quit whining about all of the inaction of the lawyers on Capitol Hill and send them to wherever old, washed up, retired lawyers go and put some real people in Congress that are more representative of a cross section of this country. I encourage people to not vote for the incumbent, try to find a candidate who is not a lawyer, and let's take back the power in this country. If congress continues to represent only one segment of our society, the legal profession, nothing will change. Everything to them is the subject of debate and no action is never made.
This year let's send a clear message that finally they are right, it won't be business as usual.

Ireland Not Ready To Knuckle Under to EU

The EU was thrown for a loss last week with the "no" vote by the Irish on the "Lisbon Treaty," as it was called in Ireland. There is no easy way out of this mess for the EU.

Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin has said it is "far too early" to seek a solution to the Irish rejection of a European Union reform treaty.

He was speaking as EU foreign ministers met to discuss how to respond to the Irish No vote on the Lisbon Treaty.

The treaty cannot be implemented unless approved by all 27 EU states. Only the Irish Republic has held a referendum.

Ireland represents only about 1% of the EU population and slightly more than 1% of the economic power, but at this time has had a lot of impact on the future progress of the EU treaty. Having just spent about a month in Ireland myself, I was not completely surprised that the Lisbon Treaty was voted down. From my observations, the proposed treaty was seen on the street as a transfer of power from the Irish government/people to the EU. The treaty was seen as taking representation away from the Irish government/people and obligating them to taking orders from Europe.

In addition, Ireland is already in the middle of an economic downturn. As a result, the Irish citizens I talked to are looking for more leadership from their government, not less. And some of the blame for their economic troubles are laid a the feet of the EU. Many people have immigrated to Ireland in recent years for work and this is now seen as taking jobs away from the Irish residents. Plus, housing prices have soared as well as food and other costs of living. In addition, the EU is seen as causing the closing of some plants in Ireland due to various trade restrictions mandated by the EU. I will always remember the anger in one Irish man's voice as he pointed to a shuttered plant near Cork and that used to employ 2000 as he stated to me that the plant was closed by the EU treaty.

Rightly or wrongly, I found that the attitude on the street about the EU was one of profound suspicion.

I anticipate that the other EU countries will react by moving forward with the approval process in other EU countries in the effort to get a mandate. Then they will go back to Ireland and any other countries that may vote it down and give them an ultimatum to reconsider or else leave the EU.

Time will tell as to how effective that approach may be, but I would not bet on the Irish people I met being intimidated by the EU any time real soon.

THE NEW CRUSADERS!

Lacking any serious military power, the dhimmified soft power European Union has decided instead to lead a world crusade for a "low-carbon" economy. A European Union summit promised to push through legislation within 12 months to impose ambitious targets to reduce the 1990 level of carbon emissions by one fifth by 2020. The European leaders also pledged, however, to take action, if necessary, to counter unfair competition from less eco-friendly countries, such as China or the United States. The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, suggested that this could mean "carbon" taxes on manufactured goods from nations which refused to take radical action against global warming. So, the poor old EU will chase the imaginary and fantastical benefits of lower carbon emissions whilst punishing those nations which have rather better judgement. Sarkozy should be ashamed of his protectionism, wrapped up in the green rhetoric which now characterises the conniving euro-political class.

Cross posted on A Tangled Web.

THE LIGHTS ARE GOING ON ACROSS EUROPE!

Americans can look forward to much closer links with the European Union should a Democrat win the White House later this year. So what could lie in store? Well, have a think about this. British motorists will be hit by up to £160 more in fuel costs because of a new European directive forcing them to drive with their lights on all day. Campaigners say the new rules will make the roads more dangerous for motorcyclists and will lead to more deaths. Britain opposed the measure but was unable to block it because a majority of other EU nations were in favour. So, now even though this edict will directly lead to INCREASED fuel consumption, the EU has decreed it and we must obey. The tyranny of the EU grows by the day and yet there is little political will amongst the elite to DO anything about it and so it will that we will all end up driving around all day with headlights on, increasing our fuel consumption, whilst being lectured by the EU about how polluting us motorists are!

TRACTOR PRODUCTION IN UKRAINE UPDATE!

Do you remember the good old days when the rotten Soviet Union was crumbling from within? There used to be regular Pravda communication hailing the latest record-breaking run of factor production! Wheat production regularly exceeded all known targets. Nobody believed it, of course, but the Soviets felt obliged to pretend all was well, even as their people starved and their factories melted down.

Now comes the announcement from EU leaders that their

economies are strong and that the fundamentals are secure. Does ANYONE believe this drivel? The EU economies are a mess, and the underlying problem is that none of them can afford to run the welfare statism that characterises their economic infrastructure. Check out the unemployment rates in France or Germany if you want to assess just how solid those fundamentals really are. Britain is as bad, though, and government manipulation of statistics, just like Soviet manipulation of the statistics, does not alter this reality.

Cross posted on A Tangled Web

Got 'Global Warming'?

No small wonder that Gordon Brown is adamant about denying the Brits his previously promised referendum on the new EU Constitution Treaty of Lisbon.

Brussels demands thousands more wind turbines across the UK

Britain will be forced to build thousands more wind turbines in the countryside under a Brussels edict to be announced tomorrow.

Energy experts say new EU climate change targets mean the UK will have to generate 40 per cent of its electricity from green sources within 12 years.

In order to meet that target, the number of wind turbines on the land would have to rise fourfold. Thousands more would be needed at sea.

The move would be one of the greatest engineering projects in years - and dramatically change the skyline of Britain and its coastal waters.

But critics say onshore turbines are an expensive blot on the landscape that often fail to generate enough power to justify their existence.

The Government concedes that the shift away from coal and gas will cost up to £6billion [US$23.23 billion] a year. Most of that burden will be passed to consumers.

As the costs of most government mandates are.

The move is part of the EU's commitment to generating 20 per cent of Europe's energy from renewable sources by 2020.

Under the plans - approved by Tony Blair - every member state will be told its contribution to the "green energy revolution" tomorrow. Britain currently has one of the worst records for renewable energy in Europe.

Years of cheap gas mean that nine out of ten homes use gas central heating, while hydroelectric and wind power produces just 2 per cent of electricity.

Tomorrow, the petulant bitch known as the European Union Brussels is expected to demand that 15 per cent of Britain's energy, including heating, transport fuel and electricity, comes from renewable sources by 2020. Because it would cost too much to convert homes and vehicles to green energy, the bulk of the target will have to be met by electricity companies.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs estimates that 40 per cent of electricity will have to be renewable within 12 years.

If it fails to meet the targets - described by civil servants as "difficult" - Europe will impose daily fines on the UK.

[...]

Read it all at The Daily Mail

I agree with Professor Richard Lindzen from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who said: “future generations will wonder in bemused amazement that the early 21st century’s developed world went into hysterical panic over a globally averaged temperature increase of a few tenths of a degree, and, on the basis of gross exaggerations of highly uncertain computer projections combined into implausible chains of inference, proceeded to contemplate a roll-back of the industrial age”. --- Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic

Previously: Global Warming Scam to Cost EU $100 Billion

Also at A Tangled Web

Global Warming Scam to Cost EU $100 Billion

Naturally, it's referred to now as climate change. You can also bet your last dollar that this $100 billion figure will wind up being a fraction of what actually gets spent in the long run.

And, of course, it won't matter one bit.

So when we get to the year 2020, and nothing has been accomplished for the enormous sum spent, we'll be told it wasn't enough.

EUROPEAN Union plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions could cost at least €60 billion ($99.88 billion) a year, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said today.

"Taking action is not cost free, although we think we can limit the cost of our proposals to around 0.5 per cent of gross domestic product," he said, according to remarks prepared for delivery in London.

Mr Barroso's total estimate, which will apply for the next 12 years, counts on the 27 EU nations undertaking all the commission's recommendations, in a package to be unveiled Wednesday, in an extremely cost efficient manner.

The bill for reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent by 2020, compared to 1990 levels - the baseline goal of EU leaders - was previously estimated to be 1.0 per cent of European GDP, or €120 billion ($199.75 billion) a year.

EU leaders agreed in March last year that this target was the best way to contain global warming to less than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as recommended by UN climate experts.

On the positive side, Mr Barroso said: "Our proposals should reduce Europe's reliance on imported gas and oil by around €50 billion ($83.23 billion) by 2020. These are figures with a real impact on our growth and prosperity".

He said the cost of inaction, as calculated by one of his key climate advisers, "could even approach 20 per cent of GDP.
The longer we delay, the higher the costs of adaptation and mitigation".

The commission's package aims to strengthen the EU's emissions trading system, set targets for renewable energy use and review rules on national aid for environmental purposes.

When the bloc's leaders set their goals last year, they offered to go 10 per cent better than their own target, cutting emissions by 30 per cent over the same period if others were prepared to match it, as an incentive to major polluters.

They also set a binding target for renewable energy to provide 20 per cent of Europe's needs by 2020, compared to 8.5 per cent currently, and agreed that this should be achieved by some countries doing more than others.

But less than a year later, many EU countries - not to mention industry - have criticised the package they had asked the commission to draw up to reach their goals as either being too costly or too damaging to certain sectors.

With this mystical ability to control the weather, why can't they simply snap their fingers and make it so?

Meanwhile, in other globwarm news, the Swedes will now be joining the Canadians in studying the devastating effects of bovine belching.

I kid you not.

A Swedish university has received $590,000 in research funds to measure the greenhouse gases released when cows belch.

About 20 cows will participate in the project run by the Swedish University for Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, about 40 miles north of Stockholm, officials said Monday.

Cattle release methane, a greenhouse gas believed to contribute to global warming, when they digest their food.

Moonbats and Economics

Extra! Extra! Socialists and moonbats (I know, redundant) discover the economic reality that you get more of what you pay for.

EU rethinks biofuels guidelines

Europe's environment chief has admitted that the EU did not foresee the problems raised by its policy to get 10% of Europe's road fuels from plants.

Recent reports have warned of rising food prices and rainforest destruction from increased biofuel production.

So, as food products are forced into fuel production, thus raising demand, prices escalated, thus encouraging supply. As a result, more forest has apparently been cleared to produce the needed output.

But that is seen has harming the poor (no mention yet of the impact on women and minorities, but I'm sure that is coming) or the environment. What is a perplexed moonbat policymaker to do?

EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said it would be better to miss the target than achieve it by harming the poor or damaging the environment.

"We have seen that the environmental problems caused by biofuels and also the social problems are bigger than we thought they were. So we have to move very carefully," Mr Dimas told the BBC.

So, let me get this straight. Maybe, just maybe, drilling and refining of crude oil is the better way to go?

Friends don't let friends operate on socialism.

But It Was for Peaceful Purposes...

Nice to see that humanitarian aid going to good use.

Israel says finds explosive chemicals in EU aid bags

Israel said on Saturday it had recently seized a truck carrying chemicals used to make explosives hidden in bags marked as EU aid for the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

The army said 6.5 tonnes of potassium nitrate were in bags marked as sugar from the European Union for Palestinians in the coastal enclave.

EU officials in Jerusalem had no immediate comment.

The cargo in a Palestinian truck was travelling in the occupied West Bank and seized several weeks ago at an Israeli checkpoint, the army said.

The EU is the largest provider of humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

Surely the EU will help cover the cost of the 6.5 tons of potassium nitrate and will reimburse Hamas.

For the starving children, of course.

Blow for Unions in EU

The EU court system has recognized the realities of the free market.

Blow for unions in EU labour row

The European Union's highest court has backed the right of companies to move to another EU state to cut costs.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) was ruling on a Finnish ferry company, Viking, which replaced the crew on one of its ships with Estonian workers.

Trade unions intervened, preventing Estonian union members from negotiating with the company.

In economics there is a well know concept called "the law of substitutability". In short, it means that where an option exists, you will substitute a lower cost option for a higher cost option. The Estonian workers were a lower cost option and so were used.

The point to be learned here is that you can price yourself out of your market. And if your price is higher, you darn well better be providing a much higher value/productivity to make it worth it.

The Finnish workers were not.

This is nothing more than the "invisible hand" concept that Adam Smith talked about way back in 1776 in his incredible work Wealth of Nations, which some people apparently never learn.

Joe Stalin must be spinning in his grave.

Arrogance On Display

Just three weeks as le gran poobah and he's already in somebody's sights.

EU referendum drive targets Gordon Brown
A cross-party campaign to be launched in September will personally target Gordon Brown for refusing voters a referendum on the new European Union treaty.

As the party conference season gets under way, the "I Want A Referendum" campaign will be launched with an "eye-catching stunt" and advertising in newspapers and cinemas.

A Daily Telegraph campaign for a referendum on the treaty had attracted 12,500 signatures by yesterday, reflecting growing demand for the voters, not Parliament, to be given the final say. The treaty revives elements of the EU constitution, rejected by France and the Netherlands in 2005.

The petition, launched online and in a coupon in this newspaper a week ago, demands that the Government stands by its manifesto commitment to hold a national referendum on the EU reform treaty.

In the Commons yesterday, Mr Brown again rejected calls for a referendum on the amending treaty, due to be agreed by EU leaders at the end of the year. He told Ian Davidson, Labour MP for Glasgow South West and a leading Eurosceptic: "There is no need for a referendum on any issue at the moment."

Heh. Brown just might find out that a majority in Commons may decide that there's no need for the current prime minister, too.

No confidence vote in 5 --- 4 --- 3 --- 2....

There's more.

When in the course of human events

Czechs' journey to happiness


We have reached a tipping point. For the first time since surveys of this sort started appearing in the Czech Republic, for the first time, even, since the fall of the communist regime, the popularity of the European Union among Czechs has fallen to below the magical 50%. Results of the Europbarometer survey published yesterday [12 July 2007] show that only 46% of Czechs think that the EU is a good thing.

Some members of the Czech media and political elite are doubtless patting themselves on the back. A conglomerate of the ODS, the commuinists and the president elected through their joint efforts, along with a group of anti-European journalists, succeeded in achieving the virtually impossible. Through their systematic anti-European campaign, they have managed to convice the once-enthusiastic Czechs that the organisation to which they owe their last few months of incredible economic prosperity is, in fact, something awful.

Of course, the ham-handedness of the EU, the quality of Czech exports; and an aggressive marketing campaign have nothing to do with it.

To be able to fully appreciate this achievement, it's necessary to review the context. The Czech Republic is experiencing unprecedented economic growth (6.1% last year, compared to 3.6% in 2003), largely thanks to entering the common Europen market and enjoying the trust of investors, stemming from our EU membership. The Czechs are traveling around Europe without passports like never before, sending their children to study abroad, searching for work. Out the original 15 EU states, the Czechs can live and work without restrictions in the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Greece, Finland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark. Surveys show that the main concern about our joining the EU was unemployment. Yesterday, Czech papers complained that the economic boom has driven down unemployment to such a degree that the lack of workers could hinder further economic growth.

When the European Union respects the Czechs for more than the financial contributions taxes made payable to the EU, maybe - just maybe - the Czechs may reciprocate a little bit.

And Euroweenie journalists can find something else to wet their panties over.

There's more

Poles to EU: Nope

Poles smudge EU agreement before the ink has even dried
A deal on Europe’s future, stitched together at last week’s bad-tempered summit, began to unravel yesterday after the intervention of the EU’s most unpredictable leader.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the Polish Prime Minister, who sent his brother Lech, the President, to the summit, stunned Brussels by declaring his determination to renegotiate the compromise. The twins spent much of last week’s detailed negotiations on the phone to each other and Lech had said that his brother was content with the package. But Jaroslaw, who demanded extra voting power for Poland, insisted yesterday that the deal had not taken full account of Poland’s demands.

Now he wants a permanent mechanism that allows a minority of dissenting states to be able to delay EU decisions for up to two years. His latest outburst has alarmed EU leaders, who were hoping for a trouble-free passage to a final text in October and a signing ceremony in December. An Inter-Governmental Conference will open on July 23, with representatives from all 27 EU nations to write the EU reform treaty, which critics say will be a thinly disguised version of the failed EU constitution.

With general agreement on the contents, all seemed to be going smoothly until Jaroslaw Kaczynski, referring to the deal to delay new voting weights for each country, said: “We have to finally resolve this issue at the Inter-Governmental Conference.” The European Commission responded furiously. “This was clearly settled at the European Council last week,” a spokesman said. “A mandate is a mandate and a deal is a deal. Now it is time for IGC to finish its job.

The Dutch and le Froggies gave you a mandate two years ago; and that was to shove the EU constitution up your brain.

Portugal, which takes over the EU’s rotating presidency from Germany tomorrow, said: “There was a deal at the highest level and we hope that deal will be respected.” A German government spokesman added: “The outcome of the summit was unanimously backed and Poland agreed to it.”

Ahhh, the European Commission is furious with Poland. They got their jaws tight over Iran, too.

Expect an Up yours! to be sent from Warsaw to Brussels, perhaps via Berlin, in the near future. Then the EU/EC can send the Poles the tried and true s t e r n l y ... w o r d e d ... l e t t e r.
Then the Fwench - led by the ever-intrepid Koslings - can spring into action and surrender save the day.

Previously on JWF

European Perspective

Once again, a voice from New Europe provides analysis of Europe's dilemma.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said Thursday that plans to place missile defense bases in the Czech Republic and Poland will test Europe's willingness to defend itself.

The U.S. made a formal request in January to place a radar base in a military area southwest of Prague and 10 interceptor missiles in neighboring Poland as part of plans for a missile defense shield that Washington says would protect against a potential threat from Iran.

The U.S. plans, however, have raised concerns throughout much of Europe that placing bases in former Warsaw Pact countries could spark a new arms race with Russia. Moscow has strongly opposed the plans.
"It's not primarily about a radar and 10 interceptors, it's mainly about expressing the willingness to defend ourselves," Topolanek told a conference in Prague Thursday.

President Klaus and Prime Minister Topolanek will be meeting with President Bush during his visit to Prague prior to his attending the G-8 summit in Germany.

Reacting to Fecklessness

A couple of opinion pieces today underscore the price we're paying for being so pusillanimous, both here and in the U.K.

Jeff Jacoby in the Boston Globe has the smell of irresolution.

What could Al Qaeda have hoped to gain by shattering this relative lull with last week's horrific attacks? The carnage included a suicide bombing in a Baghdad market that killed at least 60 people, mostly women and children, and a triple car-bomb massacre in Diyala province that left 28 civilians dead. But why now? With Washington's top Democrats embracing the surrender agenda -- Senate majority leader declared on Tuesday that "this war is not worth the spilling of another drop of American blood" -- why would the terrorists unleash a renewed wave of slaughter and mayhem?

For that matter, why would Iran have chosen this moment to seize 15 British sailors and marines? One of the hostages was forced to write a letter urging the British government "to start withdrawing our forces from Iraq and let them determine their own future." But Britain has been withdrawing its forces from Iraq, reducing troop levels from 40,000 in 2003 to just 7,100 as of February. Prime Minister Tony Blair recently announced that 1,600 more troops will be pulled out this spring. So what was the point of Iran's unprovoked ambush?

The answer in both cases is that this is how totalitarian aggressors react to faintheartedness.

Meanwhile, Mark Steyn laments the timidity with which Great Britain has responded with after their sailors were taken hostage by the Iranians.

On this 25th anniversary of the Falklands War, Tony Blair is looking less like Margaret Thatcher and alarmingly like Jimmy Carter, the embodiment of the soi-disant "superpower" as a smiling eunuch.

But this is a season of anniversaries. A few days ago, the European Union was celebrating its 50th birthday with the usual lame-o Euro-boosterism. I said up above that the 15 hostages are "British subjects." But, as a point of law, they are also "citizens of the European Union." Even Oxford and Hoover's Timothy Garton Ash, one of the most indefatigable of those Euro-boosters, seemed to recognize the Iranian action was a challenge to Europe's pretensions. "Fifteen Europeans were kidnapped from Iraqi territorial waters by Iranian Revolutionary Guards," he wrote. "Those 14 European men and one European woman have been held at an undisclosed location for nearly a week, interrogated, denied consular access, but shown on Iranian television, with one of them making a staged 'confession,' clearly under duress. So if Europe is as it claims to be, what's it going to do about it?''

Short answer: Nothing.

Actually, as LGF notes, they will do something: capitulate.

I'm all for the plan put forth by Jules Crittenden, who also has the Kharnival of the Iranities.

EU Report: Too Late to Stop Iran Nuke

Perhaps they would like to try some more dialogue.

Iran will be able to develop enough weapons-grade material for a nuclear bomb and there is little that can be done to prevent it, an internal European Union document has concluded.

In an admission of the international community’s failure to hold back Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the document – compiled by the staff of Javier Solana, EU foreign policy chief – says the atomic programme has been delayed only by technical limitations rather than diplomatic pressure. “Attempts to engage the Iranian administration in a negotiating process have not so far succeeded,” it states.