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| Europe | |
| EU in Tactical Retreat to Save French Referendum | |
| 2005-03-23 | |
EFL: BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders rushed to the rescue of President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday in a bid to save a knife-edge French referendum on the EU constitution by retreating on a disputed bill to open up the services sector. Their decision to send a draft deregulation law back to the drawing board was a victory for Chirac and other west European critics of unbridled competition from low-cost east European countries, but a setback for bold EU economic reform plans. At their two-day summit, the 25 leaders also agreed to ease the bloc's battered budget deficit rules and stepped back from ambitious targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The leaders told the executive European Commission to revise its draft to meet the requirements of "the European social model" with high standards of labor and consumer protection. "France is an essential, indispensable country in Europe. The Europe we want wouldn't exist without France's contribution," Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said. If France, a founder member, voted against the charter, it would plunge Europe into political crisis. Chirac said a defeat for the constitution, intended to streamline EU institutions and provide stronger leadership for the recently enlarged bloc, was "It is certain that if France blocked the European project, the consequences would not be insignificant and it would lose a large share of its authority, which is necessary, in the Europe of tomorrow," he told a news conference in Brussels. | |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #8 What you said... |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2005-03-23 7:50:10 PM |
| #7 The only time I'll post on this topic... With little or no actual accountability, lax or non-existent auditing, and now the surprising ability to abrogate agreements at will, there seems to be a massive case of recognized cognitive dissonance, like a giant bubble of magma, coming up the pipe. I hope the innocent are well back when it surfaces - the guilty, given their advance notice, certainly will be safely away. I believe the bite was too much to chew in one go, there were no curbs / checks & balances on anyone, the design was drawn up by elite / chattering class intelligentsia who've never actually done anything real in life - and that includes the pure politicians and academics, and most of the negatives of the bureaucratic world were enshrined, instead of rejected out of hand. What we seem to have is a good solid idea but an amazingly corrupt and inept execution. Effectively a bridge too far... and now there is so much ego in the equation that throwing good money after bad into this lousy poker hand is the only recourse the heavily invested can see. So much lost / wasted potential. I do not wish Europe ill - there are sufficient forces within Europe doing an incredibly competent job of that, already. I'd like to see them start over, lessons learned, assholes jailed, fools excluded, sensible rules for both admission and ejection, equitable economics, forward-looking plans for a common defense, and do it right. Just as I do regards the UN. I figure that any enterprise involving more than one person should be subjected to the BS Detection enshrined in the C Northcote Parkinson Quotes before funds are expended... |
| Posted by: .com 2005-03-23 7:41:29 PM |
| #6 Well, that bill (or rather directive) "to open up the services sector" needed to go back to the drawing board, as it was deeply flawed. What it stated was that any company offering services could work in any EU country and be subject only to the rules of the country it is based. That means that a Polish construction company could legally employ workers in Germany under Polish law, Polish safety regulations, Polish taxation etc. Of course all German companies would have needed was a letter box in Poland to qualify as a Polish service company. Clients it provided services to would have to sue in Poland only. And this with 25 different states. This couldn't fly. The real scandal is what happened to the Euro stability pact. This is one of the most blatant political betrayal I have ever seen. People in Germany were convinced to give up the Deutschmark and embrace the Euro by rock solid affirmations that the stability pact had iron rules and would therefore safeguard the stability of the Euro, making it as "tough" as the Mark was. Germans weren't even allowed to have their say. Only half a decade later the rules are simply changed, and actually abolished. The "basis of transaction", so to speak, simply vanished in thin air. The former German finance minister, Theo Waigel, who gave his word, is outraged. I'm not saying that the Stability Treaty was perfect, as it didn't account for difficult economic times. But you cant change the rules of a business contract just because you ran into some trouble with the clauses you signed. The German people (and others) have been blatantly cheated, solemn promises were broken. Fool me once... |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2005-03-23 7:16:44 PM |
| #5 I think the people there really are stupid, or at least ignorant. The reason they would vote against it is not that is creates this vast bureaucracy, but that it loosens some regulations on labor. Don't want to let that unemployment figure drop back into single digits, do we? |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-03-23 3:33:56 PM |
| #4 They will get what they deserve. Balkan plumbers? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-03-23 2:56:04 PM |
| #3 Reminds me of the joke in which a man gradually raises his offers until a woman finally agrees to have sex with him for $1-million. Then, having established that she is therefore a prostitute, he drops the offer back to $20. In this case, the woman is the French electorate. They will get what they deserve. |
| Posted by: Tom 2005-03-23 1:33:51 PM |
| #2 It is certain that if France blocked the European project, the consequences would not be insignificant and it would lose a large share of its authority... France still has authority? Respect my authoratah!!! (maybe) |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-03-23 12:26:26 PM |
| #1 "Zee people, zay are stupid. We can pull zee wool over zere eyes every time." |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-03-23 12:08:00 PM |