Britain has officially ratified the controversial Lisbon Treaty, it was announced today. The Government confirmed that the final stages of passing the agreement have been completed. But the future of the deal is still in doubt as EU leaders consider how to respond to Ireland's surprise referendum "no" vote last month. Under the UK's ratification process, both houses of Parliament must pass the treaty. The Queen then gives Royal Assent, and signs goatskin "instruments of ratification" along with the Foreign Secretary.
Britain has officially ratified the controversial Lisbon Treaty, it was announced today.
The Government confirmed that the final stages of passing the agreement have been completed.
But the future of the deal is still in doubt as EU leaders consider how to respond to Ireland's surprise referendum "no" vote last month.
Under the UK's ratification process, both houses of Parliament must pass the treaty.
The Queen then gives Royal Assent, and signs goatskin "instruments of ratification" along with the Foreign Secretary.
Britain has formally ratified the European Union's Treaty of Lisbon, the country's Foreign Ministry said in London. The beleaguered treaty's future is still in doubt after Irish voters rejected it last month. Both houses of the British parliament as well as the head of state Queen Elizabeth II gave the nod to the reform treaty. All steps for the final ratification were taken and the documents were deposited in Rome, where the 1957 Treaty of Rome for the founding the European Economic Community was signed. Britain was considered a "swing candidate" as far as ratification went. After Ireland rejected the reform treaty in a referendum on June 12, there were calls among euroskeptics in Britain as well for a referendum on the issue. The Lisbon Treaty, which is designed to streamline decision-making in the expanding bloc, was thrown into limbo after Irish voters rejected it in a referendum on June 12.
Both houses of the British parliament as well as the head of state Queen Elizabeth II gave the nod to the reform treaty.
All steps for the final ratification were taken and the documents were deposited in Rome, where the 1957 Treaty of Rome for the founding the European Economic Community was signed.
Britain was considered a "swing candidate" as far as ratification went. After Ireland rejected the reform treaty in a referendum on June 12, there were calls among euroskeptics in Britain as well for a referendum on the issue.
The Lisbon Treaty, which is designed to streamline decision-making in the expanding bloc, was thrown into limbo after Irish voters rejected it in a referendum on June 12.
Sarko can say what he like, Lisbon is in deep shit and requires more than wishful thinking to repair. keep to the Fen Causeway
Amid fears that the Abkhazia conflict will escalate into war, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is to mediate this week, beginning a diplomatic swing Thursday, July 17, in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. Steinmeier would then travel to Sukhumi, the chief town of the Moscow-backed breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia, and on to Moscow to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, according to Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Andreas Peschke on Wednesday. The German delegation would meet with the de-facto president of the breakaway region, Sergei Bagapsh, in Sukhumi, which is a port city on the Black Sea. "The goal of the trip is to find with all the affected parties ways out of the logic of escalation, out of this spiral of constantly escalating incidents. It is about building trust and creating the specific conditions for a solution that will be acceptable for all," said Peschke. Steinmeier would try to build trust and explore a solution acceptable to all parties. In Tbilisi, he would meet with President Mikheil Saakashvili and the Georgian opposition. "We've been in close and regular contact with all parties," said the
Steinmeier would then travel to Sukhumi, the chief town of the Moscow-backed breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia, and on to Moscow to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, according to Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Andreas Peschke on Wednesday.
The German delegation would meet with the de-facto president of the breakaway region, Sergei Bagapsh, in Sukhumi, which is a port city on the Black Sea.
"The goal of the trip is to find with all the affected parties ways out of the logic of escalation, out of this spiral of constantly escalating incidents. It is about building trust and creating the specific conditions for a solution that will be acceptable for all," said Peschke.
Steinmeier would try to build trust and explore a solution acceptable to all parties. In Tbilisi, he would meet with President Mikheil Saakashvili and the Georgian opposition.
"We've been in close and regular contact with all parties," said the
The French state and a private Franco-German foundation on Thursday signed an agreement paving the way for compensation payments to some 5,800 surviving World War II forced-labor victims from the Alsace-Lorraine region. A convention was signed by French Minister of State for War Veterans Jean-Marie Bockel and the Foundation for German-French Understanding in Strasbourg on Thursday, July 17. It creates a fund of 4.6 million euros ($2.9 million) from which the compensation payments will be made. Beneficiaries are to be those survivors from the Alsace-Lorraine region who were forced to work for the Nazi German wartime authorities during the Second World War. The fund will be financed in equal shares by the French state and the foundation. The compensation would amount to about 800 euros per surviving victim. Most of the survivors today are women over the age of 80.
A convention was signed by French Minister of State for War Veterans Jean-Marie Bockel and the Foundation for German-French Understanding in Strasbourg on Thursday, July 17. It creates a fund of 4.6 million euros ($2.9 million) from which the compensation payments will be made.
Beneficiaries are to be those survivors from the Alsace-Lorraine region who were forced to work for the Nazi German wartime authorities during the Second World War. The fund will be financed in equal shares by the French state and the foundation.
The compensation would amount to about 800 euros per surviving victim. Most of the survivors today are women over the age of 80.
Really, this too little too late stuff we go in for these days is getting a bit insulting.
It's a bit like Maille. This should have been done 30 years ago, when it could have consoled the survivors. Now it's just an insult.
For many of Maillé's survivors, the result of the inquiry is immaterial. There is a sense that it is too little, too late. "Frankly, I think the Germans' investigation is a bit of an afterthought," she said. "... This should all have happened a long time ago. Why didn't they bother about us then, when it happened? Why didn't they care?"
"Frankly, I think the Germans' investigation is a bit of an afterthought," she said. "... This should all have happened a long time ago. Why didn't they bother about us then, when it happened? Why didn't they care?"
Like the non-existent compensation for Rom/Sinti survivors of the Holocaust. Even the jewish survivors opposed them getting anything. Now, everybody seems to recognise the Rom holocaust. But, of course, the records are lost and everybody conveniently dead so who cares ? keep to the Fen Causeway
Like the non-existent compensation for Rom/Sinti survivors of the Holocaust. Even the jewish survivors opposed them getting anything. Now, everybody seems to recognise the Rom holocaust.
:Now, everybody seems to recognize the Rom holocaust" seems like good enough reason to me for the continuous bubbling of this info. The forced slavery of the Alsace/Lorraine civilians was news to me until recently (thanks Melanchthon) and it popped into the news recently.
Too little too late is true, but taking away even a smattering of the mystery and self-doubt that the survivors feel can be valuable, and repeatedly taking away the ability of the nay-sayers to recycle their BS is valuable for the society at large. Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
Frank Delaney ~ Ireland
The European Union is to keep a leading Iranian opposition group on its list of prescribed terrorist organisations. Diplomats from the member states agreed to maintain the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran on its terror list following a request from the French presidency of the EU. The decision was rubberstamped late Tuesday evening by agriculture ministers meeting in Brussels and comes ahead of fresh international talks with Tehran over its nuclear energy programme. The People's Mujahideen of Iran flag during a protest outside the Council building in Brussels (Photo: EUobserver.com) Print Comment article EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana is to meet with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, in Geneva on Saturday. "The Council has decided to maintain those persons, groups and entities on the list," the EU said in its Official Journal. The National Council of Resistance in Iran, an alliance of opponents of the Islamic government whose leading member is the PMOI, also known as the Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK), has been lobbying strongly to be removed from the list, claiming it has long since ceased any violent activities and is now committed to peaceful change.
The European Union is to keep a leading Iranian opposition group on its list of prescribed terrorist organisations.
Diplomats from the member states agreed to maintain the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran on its terror list following a request from the French presidency of the EU.
The decision was rubberstamped late Tuesday evening by agriculture ministers meeting in Brussels and comes ahead of fresh international talks with Tehran over its nuclear energy programme.
The People's Mujahideen of Iran flag during a protest outside the Council building in Brussels (Photo: EUobserver.com)
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana is to meet with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, in Geneva on Saturday.
"The Council has decided to maintain those persons, groups and entities on the list," the EU said in its Official Journal.
The National Council of Resistance in Iran, an alliance of opponents of the Islamic government whose leading member is the PMOI, also known as the Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK), has been lobbying strongly to be removed from the list, claiming it has long since ceased any violent activities and is now committed to peaceful change.
The price of European emission permits is rising so rapidly that German companies are threatening to leave the country. Thousands of jobs could be lost. And the environment may, in the end, be no better off. Numerous German companies would relocate abroad if the EU fully implements its carbon trading scheme. They sat silently through two lectures, but then they couldn't control their anger any longer. The civil servants from the Environment Ministry, the Environment Agency and the German Emissions Trading Authority made it sound easy for industry to take up carbon trading. It was just too much for the managers to tolerate. "If that's the shape the trading will take, we will simply move our cement operation to Ukraine," a cement factory manager shouted into the lecture hall. "Then there won't be any trading here, nothing will be produced here anymore -- the lights will simply go out here." The businessmen's anger surprised the emissions-allowance trading experts. They had invited industry representatives to a relaxed forum at the Environment Ministry's office in Bonn. They wanted to present international developments in the carbon trading market. However, the mood in the German business world has soured -- managers no longer have the stomach for academic lectures. The reason is that emissions allowances are already burdening some companies that require a lot of energy for production purposes.
The price of European emission permits is rising so rapidly that German companies are threatening to leave the country. Thousands of jobs could be lost. And the environment may, in the end, be no better off.
Numerous German companies would relocate abroad if the EU fully implements its carbon trading scheme. They sat silently through two lectures, but then they couldn't control their anger any longer. The civil servants from the Environment Ministry, the Environment Agency and the German Emissions Trading Authority made it sound easy for industry to take up carbon trading. It was just too much for the managers to tolerate.
"If that's the shape the trading will take, we will simply move our cement operation to Ukraine," a cement factory manager shouted into the lecture hall. "Then there won't be any trading here, nothing will be produced here anymore -- the lights will simply go out here."
The businessmen's anger surprised the emissions-allowance trading experts. They had invited industry representatives to a relaxed forum at the Environment Ministry's office in Bonn. They wanted to present international developments in the carbon trading market. However, the mood in the German business world has soured -- managers no longer have the stomach for academic lectures. The reason is that emissions allowances are already burdening some companies that require a lot of energy for production purposes.
As pointed out at It's the Planet, Stupid: Double good: building without cement, doing with less cement and building with wood has knock-on effects. Besides, proximity is the name of the game with cement. One does not simply move and make the Ukraine one's toilet unless one has clients already lined up in the Ukraine.
So that's my point: countries which traditionally use cement in the form of concrete and mortar to build houses should change their construction practice and build from timber instead. This change of direction has several advantages: timber construction locks away carbon it's quicker and easier self-build is much easier and in some countries, you can buy housing kits to do this it is essentially non-polluting unlike cement-based constructions which cause massive CO2 releases into the air, principally from cement quarrying and manufacture if real environmental costs are taken into account, wood is far cheaper greater demand for timber would stimulate more forestry development with yet more sequestration of carbon as a bonus. At the same time, cement manufacture would decline as demand slackened off, so reducing carbon pollution timber can be re-used timber-framed buildings are intrinsically warmer than stone, brick, block and concrete. In addition, it is simple to incorporate insulation in the timber frame wood is a pleasant material to work with and beautiful to look at. Concrete is messy and heavy to move around
timber-framed buildings are intrinsically warmer than stone, brick, block and concrete. In addition, it is simple to incorporate insulation in the timber frame
What on Earth is that supposed to mean? What sense of "warmer" are they talking about? If thermally, then they don't have a clue what they're talking about. Intrinsically warmer? Trust me, bare timber plank houses are extremely cold. They have quite a few of them surviving here in Japan, and I've been in some in the winter. They concrete boxes aren't great either, but I can't see how the bare timber houses were any "intrinsically" warmer just from being made out of wood. It's the type of construction that matters and the care taken to thermal issues.
Another interesting angle is the supposed balance between saving the environment and saving jobs. This is precisely the same narrative that exists in China. With the added menacing twist that if jobs are sacrificed, very disruptive social insecurity will ensue. ... all progress depends on the unreasonable mensch.(apologies to G.B. Shaw)
In a response to calls by activist groups and the discovery that leaks found last week might have happened years ago, France has agreed to examine the groundwater near all its nuclear plants. Though the anti-nuclear groups see this as a positive step, they say it still doesn't go far enough. Radiation detected near France's Tricastin nuclear plant might be from older nuclear waste on its grounds rather than from the recent mishap. After tests following a uranium leak in France (more...)revealed that the radiation came from another earlier source, France's environment minister has ordered tests of the groundwater in areas surrounding all of France's nuclear power plants. The leak was first reported last Tuesday at the Tricastin plant in southwestern France. A tank containing a solution with traces of non-enriched uranium was reportedly being cleaned the evening of July 7, and the reservoir collecting it overflowed, allowing 30,000 liters (7,925 gallons) of solution to seep into the ground and two nearby rivers. Local authorities immediately banned using ground or river water for drinking or irrigation as well as swimming or fishing in the waters. At the time, France's nuclear safety agency (ASN) claimed that the "risk was slight." On Friday, however, while conducting tests on the extent of radioactive exposure resulting from the leak, the Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) -- which is responsible for safety inspections of France's nuclear facilities -- announced that it had discovered traces of uranium in the water that pre-dated the recent leak.
In a response to calls by activist groups and the discovery that leaks found last week might have happened years ago, France has agreed to examine the groundwater near all its nuclear plants. Though the anti-nuclear groups see this as a positive step, they say it still doesn't go far enough.
Radiation detected near France's Tricastin nuclear plant might be from older nuclear waste on its grounds rather than from the recent mishap. After tests following a uranium leak in France (more...)revealed that the radiation came from another earlier source, France's environment minister has ordered tests of the groundwater in areas surrounding all of France's nuclear power plants.
The leak was first reported last Tuesday at the Tricastin plant in southwestern France. A tank containing a solution with traces of non-enriched uranium was reportedly being cleaned the evening of July 7, and the reservoir collecting it overflowed, allowing 30,000 liters (7,925 gallons) of solution to seep into the ground and two nearby rivers. Local authorities immediately banned using ground or river water for drinking or irrigation as well as swimming or fishing in the waters.
At the time, France's nuclear safety agency (ASN) claimed that the "risk was slight." On Friday, however, while conducting tests on the extent of radioactive exposure resulting from the leak, the Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) -- which is responsible for safety inspections of France's nuclear facilities -- announced that it had discovered traces of uranium in the water that pre-dated the recent leak.
The French Senate on Thursday gave the green light to reform bills backed by President Nicolas Sarkozy to overhaul the constitution, opening the path for final approval by both houses of parliament. Senators voted 162 to 125, with the governing parties in favour and the opposition of Socialists, Communists and Greens opposed to the reform package. The 331 members of the Senate and 577 deputies of the lower-house National Assembly will now meet in Versailles, west of Paris, for a so-called congress opening on Monday. Sarkozy championed the bill, which is to boost the powers of parliament, set a two-term limit for presidents and allow the head of state to defend his policies before parliament.
The French Senate on Thursday gave the green light to reform bills backed by President Nicolas Sarkozy to overhaul the constitution, opening the path for final approval by both houses of parliament.
Senators voted 162 to 125, with the governing parties in favour and the opposition of Socialists, Communists and Greens opposed to the reform package.
The 331 members of the Senate and 577 deputies of the lower-house National Assembly will now meet in Versailles, west of Paris, for a so-called congress opening on Monday.
Sarkozy championed the bill, which is to boost the powers of parliament, set a two-term limit for presidents and allow the head of state to defend his policies before parliament.
BERLIN: With Russia cutting oil deliveries to the Czech Republic, a strategic decision made by Prague in the early 1990s to reduce its energy dependence on Moscow appears to be paying off. The Czech Republic was the only former communist country in the region to diversify energy sources immediately after the fall of the Soviet Union, and it seemed unfazed this week by the Russian decision to cut oil deliveries by about 40 percent. "We are managing quite well," said Tomas Bartovsky, spokesman for the Trade and Industry Ministry. "We have alternative sources of supplies." Russia, without warning, stopped sending up to 7,000 tons of oil a day via the Druzba, or Friendship, pipeline last week. That pipeline is controlled by the Russian state-owned company, Transneft. Russia sends annually about 5.5 million tons of oil via the Druzba pipeline to the Czech Republic.
BERLIN: With Russia cutting oil deliveries to the Czech Republic, a strategic decision made by Prague in the early 1990s to reduce its energy dependence on Moscow appears to be paying off.
The Czech Republic was the only former communist country in the region to diversify energy sources immediately after the fall of the Soviet Union, and it seemed unfazed this week by the Russian decision to cut oil deliveries by about 40 percent.
"We are managing quite well," said Tomas Bartovsky, spokesman for the Trade and Industry Ministry. "We have alternative sources of supplies."
Russia, without warning, stopped sending up to 7,000 tons of oil a day via the Druzba, or Friendship, pipeline last week. That pipeline is controlled by the Russian state-owned company, Transneft. Russia sends annually about 5.5 million tons of oil via the Druzba pipeline to the Czech Republic.
MADRID: A Spanish court cleared four men and upheld the acquittal of a fifth on Thursday in convoluted legal proceedings relating to the 2004 Madrid commuter train bombings that killed 191 people, the deadliest attack by Islamic militants on European soil. The rulings related to appeals of some of the 21 convictions decided by a lower court in October. Seven people were acquitted then. On Thursday, the court upheld the acquittal of Rabei Osman, an Egyptian who was found guilty in 2006 in Italy of belonging to a terrorist organization and who is accused of having been a mastermind of the bombing. With many convictions upheld and few channels of appeal left available to those sentenced, some survivors of the bombings said that they saw Thursday's decisions as moving toward the end of one of the most painful episodes in Spain's recent history.
MADRID: A Spanish court cleared four men and upheld the acquittal of a fifth on Thursday in convoluted legal proceedings relating to the 2004 Madrid commuter train bombings that killed 191 people, the deadliest attack by Islamic militants on European soil.
The rulings related to appeals of some of the 21 convictions decided by a lower court in October. Seven people were acquitted then.
On Thursday, the court upheld the acquittal of Rabei Osman, an Egyptian who was found guilty in 2006 in Italy of belonging to a terrorist organization and who is accused of having been a mastermind of the bombing.
With many convictions upheld and few channels of appeal left available to those sentenced, some survivors of the bombings said that they saw Thursday's decisions as moving toward the end of one of the most painful episodes in Spain's recent history.
FRANCE has taken a united stand against the burka and the veil with a leading Muslim minister in Nicolas Sarkozy's Government condemning head-to-toe Islamic dress as "a prison and a straitjacket". Following a landmark appeal court ruling denying French citizenship to a Moroccan woman who wore a burka at the behest of her French husband, Urban Affairs Minister Fadela Amara said all Islamic coverings for women, including the popular head and shoulder veil or hijab were "symbols of oppression". "The burka is a prison; it's a straitjacket," she told Le Parisien. "It is not a religious insignia but the insignia of a totalitarian political project that advocates inequality between the sexes and which is totally devoid of democracy." The words burka and niqab are used interchangeably in France, although burka normally refers to the head-to-toe covering including a screen over the eyes that is popular in parts of Afghanistan. The niqab generally leaves a small slit for the eyes. Ms Amara did not stop with her denunciation of the most extreme forms of Islamic dress for women and their incompatibility with French values such as secularism, democracy and sexual equality. "The veil and the burka are the same thing. The only difference is a few centimetres of fabric," she said. "We have to fight against this obscurantist practice which endangers equality between men and women."
FRANCE has taken a united stand against the burka and the veil with a leading Muslim minister in Nicolas Sarkozy's Government condemning head-to-toe Islamic dress as "a prison and a straitjacket".
Following a landmark appeal court ruling denying French citizenship to a Moroccan woman who wore a burka at the behest of her French husband, Urban Affairs Minister Fadela Amara said all Islamic coverings for women, including the popular head and shoulder veil or hijab were "symbols of oppression".
"The burka is a prison; it's a straitjacket," she told Le Parisien.
"It is not a religious insignia but the insignia of a totalitarian political project that advocates inequality between the sexes and which is totally devoid of democracy."
The words burka and niqab are used interchangeably in France, although burka normally refers to the head-to-toe covering including a screen over the eyes that is popular in parts of Afghanistan. The niqab generally leaves a small slit for the eyes.
Ms Amara did not stop with her denunciation of the most extreme forms of Islamic dress for women and their incompatibility with French values such as secularism, democracy and sexual equality.
"The veil and the burka are the same thing. The only difference is a few centimetres of fabric," she said. "We have to fight against this obscurantist practice which endangers equality between men and women."
At the time Berlusconi banner company Mediaset was under investigation for fiscal evasion on the order of 80 to 100 million euro. The case was linked to the All Iberian scandal, that, too, resolved with providential ad personam laws. Investigators accused Berlusconi of using two off-shore companies as a go-between to artificially inflate the price of film and TV rights purchased in the US before being "resold" to Mediaset. Berlusconi paid eventually a few thousand euro to block the case along with a large number of Italians eager to close their far more petty fiscal controversies with the state.
The Court has condemned Italy on the grounds that it violates the principal of equality among all European taxpayers. The Court now has an upcoming hearing for fiscal year 2003.
While on the subject, Berlusconi will hold a cabinet meeting tomorrow in Naples in which he will triumphantly announce that he has solved the garbage problem. The garbage will not be in view. It is now stockpiled outside the city limits under military control- quite often on property belonging to the Vatican. Rental costs have not been disclosed.
The Economist is once again criticizing Berlusconi- or rather, just stating plain facts with a good deal of understatement. At least when it writes about Italy the Economist doesn't wear halters.
The ruling is final. Italy once again has to pick up Berlusconi's loose checks which I suppose will cost more than the 80 to 100 million he saved. As the esteemed professor Sartori remarked the other day, Italy is only in Europe from a geographical perspective.
International agreements on climate change, food security and energy use could drift beyond reach if next week's Geneva talks on liberalising world trade collapse, Peter Mandelson, the European Union's chief trade negotiator, warned on Thursday. "The chances for a breakthrough are improving, but that breakthrough is not yet in the bag," said Mr Mandelson."If collectively we fail this test in Geneva, it will reduce our ability to pass future tests on climate change, food security, energy security and other issues."A Doha deal was important, he said, because "the global economy faces a barrage of problems... It would bring fresh confidence to a world economy that is certainly in need of it".
"The chances for a breakthrough are improving, but that breakthrough is not yet in the bag," said Mr Mandelson.
"If collectively we fail this test in Geneva, it will reduce our ability to pass future tests on climate change, food security, energy security and other issues."
A Doha deal was important, he said, because "the global economy faces a barrage of problems... It would bring fresh confidence to a world economy that is certainly in need of it".
Mandelson should go as his time, his entire belief system is gone and discredited, he's as relevant as Newt Gingrich. keep to the Fen Causeway
The government is considering re-writing its own rules on how much it can borrow in order to counter the effects of the economic slowdown. The new framework, which will probably be announced in the Autumn pre-Budget statement, would permit more borrowing as an alternative to increasing taxes.
The new framework, which will probably be announced in the Autumn pre-Budget statement, would permit more borrowing as an alternative to increasing taxes.
BBC News Link Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.
EUOBSERVER / INTERVIEW - Power is notoriously difficult to locate, quantify and date. It cannot so easily be measured as GDP or milk production or barrels of oil that remain under the ground or the effect on an economy due to sick-days taken the fortnight after an new edition of Grand Theft Auto is released. Both US companies and the Bush Administration lead an 'unprecedented' lobbying campaign to hold back the tide of EU regulation Historians brawl over the precise causes and date of the collapse of civilisations' empires. Did Suez deliver the definitive coup de grace to the British Empire, or should we avoid such exactness and rather talk more generally of the empire's near-bankruptcy at the end of the Second World War? Do we date the fall of the Roman Empire as 476, when Romulus Augustulus was deposed by Odoacer? Or as 395 - upon the death of Theodosius I - the last point at which the empire was politically unified? Or do we yet wait a decided few centuries later for the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 to hold funeral rites? Mark Schapiro - an American investigative journalist of some twenty years' standing and the editorial director of the Center for Investigative Journalism - believes however that we can date the eclipse of the United States by the European Union quite precisely indeed - 25 June, 2004. On that day, some 200 million Europeans went to the polls to elect their representatives to the European Parliament, consolidating the union's ascendancy. Europe's parliament leap-frogged the US Congress in size of population represented, with an additional two member states, Romania and Bulgaria, boosting the numbers still further to almost half a billion people in 2007. Even more critically, in 2005, the GDP of the EU overtook that of the States.
EUOBSERVER / INTERVIEW - Power is notoriously difficult to locate, quantify and date. It cannot so easily be measured as GDP or milk production or barrels of oil that remain under the ground or the effect on an economy due to sick-days taken the fortnight after an new edition of Grand Theft Auto is released.
Both US companies and the Bush Administration lead an 'unprecedented' lobbying campaign to hold back the tide of EU regulation
Historians brawl over the precise causes and date of the collapse of civilisations' empires. Did Suez deliver the definitive coup de grace to the British Empire, or should we avoid such exactness and rather talk more generally of the empire's near-bankruptcy at the end of the Second World War? Do we date the fall of the Roman Empire as 476, when Romulus Augustulus was deposed by Odoacer? Or as 395 - upon the death of Theodosius I - the last point at which the empire was politically unified? Or do we yet wait a decided few centuries later for the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 to hold funeral rites?
Mark Schapiro - an American investigative journalist of some twenty years' standing and the editorial director of the Center for Investigative Journalism - believes however that we can date the eclipse of the United States by the European Union quite precisely indeed - 25 June, 2004.
On that day, some 200 million Europeans went to the polls to elect their representatives to the European Parliament, consolidating the union's ascendancy. Europe's parliament leap-frogged the US Congress in size of population represented, with an additional two member states, Romania and Bulgaria, boosting the numbers still further to almost half a billion people in 2007. Even more critically, in 2005, the GDP of the EU overtook that of the States.
Airlines across Europe are flying planes with known defects because pilots routinely fail to report faults when they find them, an investigation has revealed. A survey of aircraft maintenance engineers, whose work covered flights to and from the UK, found many pilots only reported faults such as brake fluid leaks and loss of cabin pressure after their homebound flight or after the day's flights. The delay allowed airlines to fix faults at a more convenient time, avoiding extra expense.On average, 80 to 90 per cent of faults were reported after a pilot had made a homebound flight or after the end of the day's flying schedule. The same picture emerged across major and budget airlines.Engineers say a fault needing attention occurs in about one in every 20 flights. Planes can fly with certain faults but the extra precautions needed to ensure that they can travel safely cannot be taken if the concerns go unreported.
Airlines across Europe are flying planes with known defects because pilots routinely fail to report faults when they find them, an investigation has revealed.
A survey of aircraft maintenance engineers, whose work covered flights to and from the UK, found many pilots only reported faults such as brake fluid leaks and loss of cabin pressure after their homebound flight or after the day's flights. The delay allowed airlines to fix faults at a more convenient time, avoiding extra expense.
On average, 80 to 90 per cent of faults were reported after a pilot had made a homebound flight or after the end of the day's flying schedule. The same picture emerged across major and budget airlines.
Engineers say a fault needing attention occurs in about one in every 20 flights. Planes can fly with certain faults but the extra precautions needed to ensure that they can travel safely cannot be taken if the concerns go unreported.
Why are we asking this now? The German leader is dominating the European political landscape at the moment, with her meeting with Barack Obama in Berlin next Thursday being billed as the Democrat candidate's most important stop over in Europe. Echoing President John F Kennedy, Mr Obama intends to use the city as a backdrop to spell out his vision for a renewal of the US-European relationship. And in brokering this week's landmark prisoner exchange between Israel and Hizbollah, Mrs Merkel's government has once again proved itself as the driving force behind a solution to one of the world's most intractable political problems. How has Germany taken up such an important role in the Middle East? German secret service agents played a central role in negotiating the last two major prisoner swaps, in 1996 and 2004. Unlike most other nations involved in attempts to resolve the Middle East crisis, Germany is nowadays renowned throughout the region as an "honest broker". In Washington, Germany was described as the most important participant in this week's prisoner-swap negotiations. In what other ways can Mrs Merkel be consid
Why are we asking this now?
The German leader is dominating the European political landscape at the moment, with her meeting with Barack Obama in Berlin next Thursday being billed as the Democrat candidate's most important stop over in Europe. Echoing President John F Kennedy, Mr Obama intends to use the city as a backdrop to spell out his vision for a renewal of the US-European relationship.
And in brokering this week's landmark prisoner exchange between Israel and Hizbollah, Mrs Merkel's government has once again proved itself as the driving force behind a solution to one of the world's most intractable political problems.
How has Germany taken up such an important role in the Middle East?
German secret service agents played a central role in negotiating the last two major prisoner swaps, in 1996 and 2004. Unlike most other nations involved in attempts to resolve the Middle East crisis, Germany is nowadays renowned throughout the region as an "honest broker". In Washington, Germany was described as the most important participant in this week's prisoner-swap negotiations.
In what other ways can Mrs Merkel be consid
