EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The policy tennis match between biofuels supporters and opponents in the European Union has all but drawn to a close, with the backers of the controversial fuel source securing almost complete victory. Representatives of EU members states, the European Parliament and the European Commission this week came to a back-room agreement that supports the sourcing of 10 percent of the EU's road transport fuel from renewable forms of energy by 2020 - the same target figure originally proposed by the EU executive in January of this year. When the proposal was first unveiled, most policymakers assumed that biofuels would make up all or most of the 10 percent figure. But in the wake of reports from the World Bank through to the UN saying that in many cases biofuels produced more greenhouse gases than fossil fuels and threatened global food supplies, EU lawmakers were under pressure to slim down or abandon the biofuels element of the 10 percent renewable transport fuel target. In particular, scientists warned that "indirect land-use change" - the creation of new farmland on previous grassland or forest to compensate for farmland lost to biofuels - would put the value of even the "cleanest" biofuels in doubt. While many in the European Parliament had been convinced of the dangers, the commission and member states remained adamant that the target go ahead largely unchanged. Under this week's tri-partite agreement, consideration of problems caused by indirect land-use change has been completely junked, apart from a caveat that the European Commission will come up with a report by 2010 on how to minimise this process.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The policy tennis match between biofuels supporters and opponents in the European Union has all but drawn to a close, with the backers of the controversial fuel source securing almost complete victory.
Representatives of EU members states, the European Parliament and the European Commission this week came to a back-room agreement that supports the sourcing of 10 percent of the EU's road transport fuel from renewable forms of energy by 2020 - the same target figure originally proposed by the EU executive in January of this year.
When the proposal was first unveiled, most policymakers assumed that biofuels would make up all or most of the 10 percent figure.
But in the wake of reports from the World Bank through to the UN saying that in many cases biofuels produced more greenhouse gases than fossil fuels and threatened global food supplies, EU lawmakers were under pressure to slim down or abandon the biofuels element of the 10 percent renewable transport fuel target.
In particular, scientists warned that "indirect land-use change" - the creation of new farmland on previous grassland or forest to compensate for farmland lost to biofuels - would put the value of even the "cleanest" biofuels in doubt.
While many in the European Parliament had been convinced of the dangers, the commission and member states remained adamant that the target go ahead largely unchanged.
Under this week's tri-partite agreement, consideration of problems caused by indirect land-use change has been completely junked, apart from a caveat that the European Commission will come up with a report by 2010 on how to minimise this process.
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek successfully defended his party's leadership Sunday, Dec. 7 a sign of continuity for the European Union as the Czech Republic prepares to chair the bloc and vote on its reform treaty. In a 284 -162 vote the Civic Democratic Party, which opposes deeper European integration, chose pragmatic treaty supporter Topolanek over his eurosceptic challenger, Prague Mayor Pavel Bem. "Hopefully I will finally have a moment to prepare and gather strength for that half year, for which I feel great responsibility," Topolanek told reporters. The Czech Republic is set to take over at EU's helm from France on January 1. But the premier still faces hurdles as his three-party center-right government has been significantly weakened. Topolanek defeated Bem in a second blow to party's eurosceptic camp during this weekend's party congress. On Saturday, President Vaclav Klaus, an outspoken EU critic and party's iconic founder, surprisingly cut his ties with the party he founded in 1991 and subsequently led for 12 years.
In a 284 -162 vote the Civic Democratic Party, which opposes deeper European integration, chose pragmatic treaty supporter Topolanek over his eurosceptic challenger, Prague Mayor Pavel Bem.
"Hopefully I will finally have a moment to prepare and gather strength for that half year, for which I feel great responsibility," Topolanek told reporters. The Czech Republic is set to take over at EU's helm from France on January 1.
But the premier still faces hurdles as his three-party center-right government has been significantly weakened.
Topolanek defeated Bem in a second blow to party's eurosceptic camp during this weekend's party congress.
On Saturday, President Vaclav Klaus, an outspoken EU critic and party's iconic founder, surprisingly cut his ties with the party he founded in 1991 and subsequently led for 12 years.
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- At 4 a.m. on Sept. 30, as the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was shaking up investors on six continents, President Nicolas Sarkozy convened an emergency meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris to broker the bailout of French-Belgian bank Dexia SA. For an hour, he grilled Finance Minister Christine Lagarde and Bank of France Governor Christian Noyer on the terms of the 6.4 billion euro rescue plan, says François Perol, Sarkozy's economic adviser. One of his top requirements: Dexia Chief Executive Officer Axel Miller must leave and forfeit his 3.7 million euro severance paycheck. With that gesture, Sarkozy, who took office pledging to instill a work-hard, get-rich ethos in a country known for its disdain for money, turned into something more familiar to the French: a politician who intervenes in private companies, subsidizes jobs and bashes the bosses. "By conveying the message that the state can do better than free markets, Nicolas Sarkozy is appealing to the French's old instinct for protection," says Philippe Waechter, chief economist at Natixis Asset Management in Paris. "He seems to be turning his back on his reformist agenda meant to give the French economy more inner resilience."
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- At 4 a.m. on Sept. 30, as the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was shaking up investors on six continents, President Nicolas Sarkozy convened an emergency meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris to broker the bailout of French-Belgian bank Dexia SA. For an hour, he grilled Finance Minister Christine Lagarde and Bank of France Governor Christian Noyer on the terms of the 6.4 billion euro rescue plan, says François Perol, Sarkozy's economic adviser.
One of his top requirements: Dexia Chief Executive Officer Axel Miller must leave and forfeit his 3.7 million euro severance paycheck.
With that gesture, Sarkozy, who took office pledging to instill a work-hard, get-rich ethos in a country known for its disdain for money, turned into something more familiar to the French: a politician who intervenes in private companies, subsidizes jobs and bashes the bosses.
"By conveying the message that the state can do better than free markets, Nicolas Sarkozy is appealing to the French's old instinct for protection," says Philippe Waechter, chief economist at Natixis Asset Management in Paris. "He seems to be turning his back on his reformist agenda meant to give the French economy more inner resilience."
One of (Sarkozy's) top requirements: Dexia Chief Executive Officer Axel Miller must leave and forfeit his 3.7 million euro severance paycheck.
says Philippe Waechter, chief economist at Natixis Asset Management in Paris. "He seems to be turning his back on his reformist agenda meant to give the French economy more inner resilience."
http://dutron.wordpress.com/2008/10/18/en-pleine-crise-financiere-petits-arrangements-entre-amis-sar kosy-yves-leterme-caisse-des-depots-dexia-aux-frais-de-la-princesse-marianne/
http://www.lexpansion.com/economie/actualite-economique/les-deux-francais-qui-ont-eu-la-tete-du-patr on-de-dexia_164832.html?xtor=RSS-123
http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/economie/comment-l-elysee-a-pris-le-pouvoir-chez-dexia_586623.html? p=3 In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
It is appalling that Google Translate cannot even properly handle the ne xxxx pas construction of French. Is it entirely vocabulary based? As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
Is Bloomberg suggesting that the tax payers subsidize Mr Miller's severance paycheck, as a reward for having put the bank in such a fine situation that it desperately required government funded bailout?
You'll have to admire the chutzpah...
When you're falling off a cliff and someone throws you a rope, you are not exactly in a situation to make demands and complain about your rescuer butting into your business, now are you? Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
In the real world, at least in continental Europe, the conservative mantra is that the poor get too much, relative poverty isn't real, and that work has to pay again. The notion that wealth rightly confers privilege is, lets say... underdeveloped.
Funny part: the authors appear to be French; they sure have mastered the fine art of Economist/FT/WSJ speech... Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
Frank Delaney ~ Ireland
Thousands of protesters have attacked banks and shops in Athens and Greece's northern city of Thessaloniki, angered by the police's killing of a teenager. Demonstrators threw petrol bombs, rocks and other objects at the buildings and at police, who responded with tear gas. Greek Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos has appealed for restraint. The streets of the capital were already strewn with glass and rubble after a night of rioting sparked by Saturday's shooting, in the Exarchia district. Police said Saturday's riots had left 24 police officers injured, one seriously, and 31 shops, nine banks and 25 cars damaged or burned.
Thousands of protesters have attacked banks and shops in Athens and Greece's northern city of Thessaloniki, angered by the police's killing of a teenager.
Demonstrators threw petrol bombs, rocks and other objects at the buildings and at police, who responded with tear gas.
Greek Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos has appealed for restraint.
The streets of the capital were already strewn with glass and rubble after a night of rioting sparked by Saturday's shooting, in the Exarchia district.
Police said Saturday's riots had left 24 police officers injured, one seriously, and 31 shops, nine banks and 25 cars damaged or burned.
Riots have broken out in several Greek cities after police shot dead a teenage boy in Athens.Following the shooting in the central Exarchia district of the capital late yesterday, youths began throwing petrol bombs at police, burning cars and smashing windows. Officers used teargas to try to disperse the crowds as hundreds of protesters marched on the police headquarters in Athens chanting "Murderers in uniforms".The violence spread quickly to Greece's second largest city of Thessaloniki and to other towns in the north. The circumstances surrounding the boy's death remain unclear. According to a statement issued by police and obtained by Reuters, the officers said their patrol car had been attacked by 30 youths throwing stones and other objects. When they attempted to arrest the youths, they were attacked again and one of the officers fired three shots, killing the boy, the statement said. "The two maintain that they were attacked again and responded, with one firing a stun grenade and the other, by shooting three times, resulting in the fatal wounding of the minor."
Riots have broken out in several Greek cities after police shot dead a teenage boy in Athens.
Following the shooting in the central Exarchia district of the capital late yesterday, youths began throwing petrol bombs at police, burning cars and smashing windows.
Officers used teargas to try to disperse the crowds as hundreds of protesters marched on the police headquarters in Athens chanting "Murderers in uniforms".
The violence spread quickly to Greece's second largest city of Thessaloniki and to other towns in the north.
The circumstances surrounding the boy's death remain unclear. According to a statement issued by police and obtained by Reuters, the officers said their patrol car had been attacked by 30 youths throwing stones and other objects.
When they attempted to arrest the youths, they were attacked again and one of the officers fired three shots, killing the boy, the statement said.
"The two maintain that they were attacked again and responded, with one firing a stun grenade and the other, by shooting three times, resulting in the fatal wounding of the minor."
ATHENS (AFP) -- Two Greek police officers were arrested Sunday over the killing of a 15-year-old boy, touching off a wave of violent protests by angry youths setting Athens and other Greek cities ablaze.Thousands of protestors battled police in central Athens Sunday, smashing the windows of shops and banks with molotov cocktails, and sending three officers to hospital, said police, who used tear gas to disperse the rioters.And in the western city of Patras, a police officer was in hospital after being beaten up by a group of youths.In the Greek capital, officers arrested about 10 protestors and about 14 demonstrators were treated for breathing difficulties caused by the tear gas, said the police.Along Alexandras avenue, at least three banks -- the National Bank of Greece, the Emporiki Bank and the Bank of Piraeus -- as well as supermarkets and dozens of shops were set on fire during the clashes .Nearly 5,000 people rallied outside the National Museum near where the teenage victim, Andreas Grigoropoulos, died late Saturday.
ATHENS (AFP) -- Two Greek police officers were arrested Sunday over the killing of a 15-year-old boy, touching off a wave of violent protests by angry youths setting Athens and other Greek cities ablaze.
Thousands of protestors battled police in central Athens Sunday, smashing the windows of shops and banks with molotov cocktails, and sending three officers to hospital, said police, who used tear gas to disperse the rioters.
And in the western city of Patras, a police officer was in hospital after being beaten up by a group of youths.
In the Greek capital, officers arrested about 10 protestors and about 14 demonstrators were treated for breathing difficulties caused by the tear gas, said the police.
Along Alexandras avenue, at least three banks -- the National Bank of Greece, the Emporiki Bank and the Bank of Piraeus -- as well as supermarkets and dozens of shops were set on fire during the clashes .
Nearly 5,000 people rallied outside the National Museum near where the teenage victim, Andreas Grigoropoulos, died late Saturday.
The trigger was the murder of the 16 year old kid in Exarchia, the alternative/atiauthoritarian hotbed of Athens, in what eyewitnesses describe as a shooting in cold blood by a Special Guard (like a policeman only less trained and more eager to shoot as not a few recent incidents have shown). But the tension that has created the possibilities of riots has been brewing for some time now, certainly since last year's student protests, when the police started a de facto feud with anyone under 30. But it isn't just the youth. The police were pelted with lemons thrown by apartment residents of all ages from their balkonies, I heard, as they were passing through Alexandras Ave and the composition of the crowd yesterday (2500 three hours after the event at midnight, of all ages), included some not so young faces.
There is a climate of utter dissapointment with the government (and the political system as a whole I'd say), coupled with the grimmest mood I can remember, insecurity, high unemployment, high cost of living along with low paying and precarious work especially for young people - plus of course the ominous shadow of the Crisis.
IOW, in terms of societal weather: its rioty with a good chance of local revolts. The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake
China has "lodged a strong protest" against France over Saturday's meeting between the French president and the Dalai Lama, Chinese state media report. Deputy Foreign Minister He Yafei summoned the French ambassador to China to protest, Xinhua news agency said. "This has undermined the political foundations of Sino-French and Sino-European ties," Mr He told the envoy. The Tibetan spiritual leader was at a gathering of Nobel Peace Prize winners in Poland when he met Mr Sarkozy. In protest at the meeting, Beijing cancelled an EU-China summit last week which France was to host early this week. France currently hold the rotating presidency of the European Union. Mr Sarkozy is in Poland for a meeting with nine EU eastern member states on the bloc's climate change plans. The French president, who did not meet the Buddhist leader when he visited France in August, appealed for calm about Saturday's meeting. "The world needs an open China that participates in global governance," said Mr Sarkozy. "China needs a powerful Europe that gives work to Chinese enterprise."
China has "lodged a strong protest" against France over Saturday's meeting between the French president and the Dalai Lama, Chinese state media report.
Deputy Foreign Minister He Yafei summoned the French ambassador to China to protest, Xinhua news agency said.
"This has undermined the political foundations of Sino-French and Sino-European ties," Mr He told the envoy.
The Tibetan spiritual leader was at a gathering of Nobel Peace Prize winners in Poland when he met Mr Sarkozy.
In protest at the meeting, Beijing cancelled an EU-China summit last week which France was to host early this week.
France currently hold the rotating presidency of the European Union.
Mr Sarkozy is in Poland for a meeting with nine EU eastern member states on the bloc's climate change plans.
The French president, who did not meet the Buddhist leader when he visited France in August, appealed for calm about Saturday's meeting.
"The world needs an open China that participates in global governance," said Mr Sarkozy. "China needs a powerful Europe that gives work to Chinese enterprise."
"The German Federal Archive has agreed to donate 100,000 images to Wikipedia under the German version of the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License. These pictures cover a period from 1860 to present. This is the largest picture donation ever to Wikipedia, and possibly the largest in the history of the free culture movement." Apparently, this is part of a project which will eventually make 11 million photos available for public use.
