EU biotech experts are to debate whether to tell countries to grow GMOs. This is after Brussels decided to try and force France, Greece and Hungary to lift so-called `safe-guard measures'. These prevent the cultivation of types of genetically modified corn BT11, 1507 and MON 810 in spite of EU-level approval for them. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has said there is no specific scientific evidence to justify the bans. The EU's Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas is said to have initially opposed authorising the crops in question but the EFSA opinion made him go along. A committee of experts, representing the EU's 27 member countries plus Commission officials, will meet next month and in March to vote on whether to approve draft orders aimed at lifting the bans.
EU biotech experts are to debate whether to tell countries to grow GMOs. This is after Brussels decided to try and force France, Greece and Hungary to lift so-called `safe-guard measures'.
These prevent the cultivation of types of genetically modified corn BT11, 1507 and MON 810 in spite of EU-level approval for them. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has said there is no specific scientific evidence to justify the bans.
The EU's Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas is said to have initially opposed authorising the crops in question but the EFSA opinion made him go along.
A committee of experts, representing the EU's 27 member countries plus Commission officials, will meet next month and in March to vote on whether to approve draft orders aimed at lifting the bans.
I simply do not believe this would have happened if somebody hadn't been leant on. keep to the Fen Causeway
Iceland's Commerce Minister, Bjorgvin Sigurdsson, has announced his resignation, saying he wanted to take responsibility for the economic crisis. Mr Sigurdsson becomes one of the world's first politicians to step down as a result of the global crisis. On Friday, PM Geir Haarde called an early general election and said he would step down for health reasons. Iceland's financial system collapsed in October under the weight of huge debts built up during years of rapid growth. The country's currency has since plummeted, while unemployment - once close to zero - is soaring. The economy is forecast to shrink by 9.6% this year.
Iceland's Commerce Minister, Bjorgvin Sigurdsson, has announced his resignation, saying he wanted to take responsibility for the economic crisis.
Mr Sigurdsson becomes one of the world's first politicians to step down as a result of the global crisis.
On Friday, PM Geir Haarde called an early general election and said he would step down for health reasons.
Iceland's financial system collapsed in October under the weight of huge debts built up during years of rapid growth.
The country's currency has since plummeted, while unemployment - once close to zero - is soaring. The economy is forecast to shrink by 9.6% this year.
REUTERS - Iceland's coalition government collapsed on Monday under the pressures of a financial meltdown and Prime Minister Geir Haarde said he would hand in his resignation to President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson. "I really regret that we could not continue with this coalition. I believe that that would have been the best result," he told reporters at parliament. Foreign Minister Ingibjorg Gisladottir, the Social Democrat leader who had been considered a potential replacement for Haarde, announced she would not seek to be prime minister and would take a leave of absence for one or two months. Haarde's government, a coalition between his Independence Party and the Social Democratic Alliance, has been under pressure since the global financial crisis hit Iceland in October, causing the collapse of its banks following a decade-long boom fuelled by cheap foreign funding. "I will go to the president and hand in the government's resignation. Then I will have a meeting with the opposition leaders to discuss the possibility of a national unity government," Haarde told reporters.
REUTERS - Iceland's coalition government collapsed on Monday under the pressures of a financial meltdown and Prime Minister Geir Haarde said he would hand in his resignation to President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson.
"I really regret that we could not continue with this coalition. I believe that that would have been the best result," he told reporters at parliament.
Foreign Minister Ingibjorg Gisladottir, the Social Democrat leader who had been considered a potential replacement for Haarde, announced she would not seek to be prime minister and would take a leave of absence for one or two months.
Haarde's government, a coalition between his Independence Party and the Social Democratic Alliance, has been under pressure since the global financial crisis hit Iceland in October, causing the collapse of its banks following a decade-long boom fuelled by cheap foreign funding.
"I will go to the president and hand in the government's resignation. Then I will have a meeting with the opposition leaders to discuss the possibility of a national unity government," Haarde told reporters.
What is the 9.6% compared to? They've had a great run up. 9.6% could just be a blip compared to a recent long trending XY% rise in most statistics. I know that they have invested in infrastructure, recently bringing geo-thermal heat and electricity into great swaths of the country's homes and industry, making an industry of it that they are exporting to the world. was there fraud? did they just get ahead of themselves? what am I supposed to learn from this article except building "... huge debts built up during years of rapid growth...", with no quantifiers to actually learn something from.
These BBC articles should be labeled with a big flashing multi-pointed star, with flashing letters saying "Now~! More Fluff", and "Look; Cool Pictures". Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
Frank Delaney ~ Ireland
A disgraced top German manger has been found guilty of hiding money in a Liechtenstein bank to avoid taxes. Former Deutsche Post head Klaus Zumwinkel will face a 1 million euro fine, but will avoid jail time. Zumwinkel, 65, confessed last week to using a Liechtenstein bank to evade 966,000 euros ($1.2 million) in taxes. On Monday, Jan. 26, a court found him guilty and handed down a two year suspended sentence and a fine of just under 1 million euros. Zumwinkel's arrest for tax evasion in 2008 sent shockwaves through Germany's close-knit business world. Authorities made an example of Zumwinkel, leading him out of his posh villa near Cologne as television cameras rolled.
Zumwinkel, 65, confessed last week to using a Liechtenstein bank to evade 966,000 euros ($1.2 million) in taxes. On Monday, Jan. 26, a court found him guilty and handed down a two year suspended sentence and a fine of just under 1 million euros.
Zumwinkel's arrest for tax evasion in 2008 sent shockwaves through Germany's close-knit business world. Authorities made an example of Zumwinkel, leading him out of his posh villa near Cologne as television cameras rolled.
But still, this is an invitation to tax fraud. Here [in German] someone makes the case, that game theoretically with so low fines and low chance of being actually found, this is very clearly such an invitation. Here [as well German] you can see even more dramatically, that tax fraud is not such a risk, when you have the right connections. A tax fraud officer was declared psychic ill and therefore unable to work, because he tried to get some big fish. Well, Germany is a Banana republic, too. Der Amerikaner ist die Orchidee unter den MenschenVolker Pispers
France is pushing for an EU fact-finding mission to Guantanamo Bay and for the bloc to take in 60 inmates after the camp closes, with EU foreign ministers to discuss the issue on Monday (26 January). EU justice commissioner Jacques Barrot and anti-terrorism chief Gilles de Kerckhove are to lead the fact-finding trip to the Cuban prison which is to be shut down within a year following the decision by new US President Barack Obama, diplomats told Financial Times Deutschland. Guantanamo Bay is to be closed down within a year, but the fate of its inmates is yet uncertain The proposal is just one of many floated by France, which chaired the rotating EU presidency until 1 January before the Czech Republic took over. France is also pushing for a centralised, EU-level check on the prisoners' background. The 60 inmates in question will not face criminal charges in the US, but cannot be returned to their home countries in the Middle East and China because they risk torture and ill treatment.
France is pushing for an EU fact-finding mission to Guantanamo Bay and for the bloc to take in 60 inmates after the camp closes, with EU foreign ministers to discuss the issue on Monday (26 January).
EU justice commissioner Jacques Barrot and anti-terrorism chief Gilles de Kerckhove are to lead the fact-finding trip to the Cuban prison which is to be shut down within a year following the decision by new US President Barack Obama, diplomats told Financial Times Deutschland.
Guantanamo Bay is to be closed down within a year, but the fate of its inmates is yet uncertain
The proposal is just one of many floated by France, which chaired the rotating EU presidency until 1 January before the Czech Republic took over. France is also pushing for a centralised, EU-level check on the prisoners' background.
The 60 inmates in question will not face criminal charges in the US, but cannot be returned to their home countries in the Middle East and China because they risk torture and ill treatment.
We can't have any torture nor ill treatment, now, can we. Surely not. Nope.
What should be done with Guantanamo Bay prisoners when the prison closes? They should be sent to be held by other foreign countries or international bodies. They should be tried in a regular U.S. court. They should be tried in a special "National Security Court." They should be sent back to Afghanistan and held there until the end of the conflict. They should be tried in a U.S. military court and detained until the war is over or they are no longer considered a threat. It is a mistake to close Guantanamo. I don't know.
I shant go on lest I begin a rant. Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Iranian opposition group PMOI has won a seven-year battle to get off the EU's terrorism blacklist, in developments that could damage Europe's efforts to talk Tehran out of building a nuclear bomb. EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday (26 January) agreed as an "A point" - an agenda point with no political debate - to remove the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) from the EU terrorist register. Uranium enrichment: PMOI had complained the EU was keeping it in on the list to help smooth nuclear talks with Iran The move follows a ruling by the EU court in Luxembourg in December which censured France for failing to disclose alleged new evidence that PMOI poses a terrorist threat. British courts in May last year, which had access to classified evidence, had said the group should be struck off a UK blacklist, generating political momentum for Monday's EU decision. The foreign ministers' move allows PMOI to freely raise funds in Europe and removes the stigmatic label attached to its members since 2002.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Iranian opposition group PMOI has won a seven-year battle to get off the EU's terrorism blacklist, in developments that could damage Europe's efforts to talk Tehran out of building a nuclear bomb.
EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday (26 January) agreed as an "A point" - an agenda point with no political debate - to remove the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) from the EU terrorist register.
Uranium enrichment: PMOI had complained the EU was keeping it in on the list to help smooth nuclear talks with Iran
The move follows a ruling by the EU court in Luxembourg in December which censured France for failing to disclose alleged new evidence that PMOI poses a terrorist threat.
British courts in May last year, which had access to classified evidence, had said the group should be struck off a UK blacklist, generating political momentum for Monday's EU decision.
The foreign ministers' move allows PMOI to freely raise funds in Europe and removes the stigmatic label attached to its members since 2002.
BRUSSELS: For a deal that's supposed to be a cinch, France's return to NATO's integrated military command - and its symbolic goodbye to a tired role as reflex antagonist to the United States - has a particularity: With two months to go before the alliance's chiefs are scheduled to mark the event at a summit meeting in Strasbourg on April 3 and 4, Nicolas Sarkozy still has not made a final decision to set it in motion. "There's no crisis," a Brussels diplomat said last week, suggesting that the French could wait until just before the summit meeting without anyone getting (massively) unnerved. Reality would seem to insist the official confirmation comes locked into significant, broader circumstances that don't allow for bad surprises: President Barack Obama's first trip to Europe, including a G-20 meeting of the world's major economic players in London on April 2, and a U.S-European Union summit meeting, possibly in Prague, culminates at the NATO gathering. But for Sarkozy, whose opponents at home say he has made an empty bargain, giving away a chunk of French independence for next to no profit, the situation has changed.
BRUSSELS: For a deal that's supposed to be a cinch, France's return to NATO's integrated military command - and its symbolic goodbye to a tired role as reflex antagonist to the United States - has a particularity:
With two months to go before the alliance's chiefs are scheduled to mark the event at a summit meeting in Strasbourg on April 3 and 4, Nicolas Sarkozy still has not made a final decision to set it in motion.
"There's no crisis," a Brussels diplomat said last week, suggesting that the French could wait until just before the summit meeting without anyone getting (massively) unnerved.
Reality would seem to insist the official confirmation comes locked into significant, broader circumstances that don't allow for bad surprises: President Barack Obama's first trip to Europe, including a G-20 meeting of the world's major economic players in London on April 2, and a U.S-European Union summit meeting, possibly in Prague, culminates at the NATO gathering.
But for Sarkozy, whose opponents at home say he has made an empty bargain, giving away a chunk of French independence for next to no profit, the situation has changed.
goodbye to a tired role as reflex antagonist to the United States
The hacks who write this stuff never tire...
[...] Deshalb wundere ich mich, was bei CDU und CSU an Menschenrechtsverachtung, aber auch an Undankbarkeit gezeigt wird. Schäuble argumentiert: Die Amerikaner haben diese Leute entführt und inhaftiert, also müssen sie dieses Problem auch selber lösen. Ich will einmal daran erinnern: Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg, den Deutschland angefangen hat, hat Deutschland durch die USA und andere Länder massive Hilfe erfahren. Ich erinnere nur an den Marshallplan, die Care-Pakete, die Berliner Luftbrücke. Wie kann man da heute sagen, die USA sollen das Problem selber lösen.
So the EVEN the green party head says, we shall take people from Guantanamo, BECAUSE we have to be grateful. Yeah, wasn't France freed by the US in WW II? Shouldn't France therefore sell its soul to the US at least the next 7 generations (maybe extended if needed, just like the copyright of Disney figures), too? Der Amerikaner ist die Orchidee unter den MenschenVolker Pispers
Moscow Correspondent of The Times assesses the turnaround in fortunes for Russia's Prime Minister ahead of his Davos addressThe ghosts of history are haunting Russia's rulers. As falling oil prices turn an unprecedented economic boom to bust, Vladimir Putin's monolithic "power vertical" is cracking under the strain. The authoritarian system of government that he built as president to concentrate power in his hands appeared invincible while the country was awash with oil revenues. But as Mr Putin prepares to address the global elite at the opening of this week's World Economic Forum in Davos, the Kremlin's swagger is turning to fear now that the money is drying up and the economic crisis bites. The brittleness of the regime was exposed by a recent newspaper article. Yevgeny Gontmakher, a leading sociologist, described police brutally suppressing protests over factory closures in a fictional provincial city, sparking wider unrest that spread eventually to Moscow.
The ghosts of history are haunting Russia's rulers. As falling oil prices turn an unprecedented economic boom to bust, Vladimir Putin's monolithic "power vertical" is cracking under the strain.
The authoritarian system of government that he built as president to concentrate power in his hands appeared invincible while the country was awash with oil revenues.
But as Mr Putin prepares to address the global elite at the opening of this week's World Economic Forum in Davos, the Kremlin's swagger is turning to fear now that the money is drying up and the economic crisis bites.
The brittleness of the regime was exposed by a recent newspaper article. Yevgeny Gontmakher, a leading sociologist, described police brutally suppressing protests over factory closures in a fictional provincial city, sparking wider unrest that spread eventually to Moscow.
I had an interesting covnersation in the metro this morning with an old colleague who's working on country risk and wondering how to rate Russia today; his position was that Russia's use of public reserves to prop up industry was a sign of strength, not weakness (they made reserves, and are actually using them when appropriate). He was worried about some of the bailouts having political angles, and some companies let to fail for unpredictable political/oligarchic reasons, but not for the overall health of the country, at least not for a while. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
EU improves its research performance. Europe is catching up with its main economic rivals - the US and Japan - in innovation performance, according to an EU study. Switzerland is the leader in innovation, followed by Sweden, Finland, Germany, Denmark and the UK. All six countries have scores well above those of other European countries and of the EU as a whole. EU newcomers had some of the highest rates of improvement - especially Cyprus, Romania and Bulgaria - even though their performances remain below the EU average. The trends are highlighted in the 2008 European innovation scoreboard. Based on data from before the financial crisis, this study uses 29 indicators to gauge a country's level of innovation - an essential motor for economic growth and for addressing challenges like climate change. Indicators include the popularity of science and engineering degrees, number of patents, level of spending on research & development (R&D), availability of venture capital for new businesses and strength of high-tech exports. The EU has made large strides compared with five years ago. Although it still trails the US and Japan, the gap is closing, though, with the US, not as fast as before. The EU has also fared relatively well with respect to emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil.
EU improves its research performance.
Europe is catching up with its main economic rivals - the US and Japan - in innovation performance, according to an EU study.
Switzerland is the leader in innovation, followed by Sweden, Finland, Germany, Denmark and the UK. All six countries have scores well above those of other European countries and of the EU as a whole. EU newcomers had some of the highest rates of improvement - especially Cyprus, Romania and Bulgaria - even though their performances remain below the EU average.
The trends are highlighted in the 2008 European innovation scoreboard. Based on data from before the financial crisis, this study uses 29 indicators to gauge a country's level of innovation - an essential motor for economic growth and for addressing challenges like climate change. Indicators include the popularity of science and engineering degrees, number of patents, level of spending on research & development (R&D), availability of venture capital for new businesses and strength of high-tech exports.
The EU has made large strides compared with five years ago. Although it still trails the US and Japan, the gap is closing, though, with the US, not as fast as before. The EU has also fared relatively well with respect to emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil.
EUobserver
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The EU has made some headway in its bid to make itself more innovative and boost its economy but is still lagging far behind the US and Japan, a new report by the European Commission has shown. The study, released on Thursday (22 January), indicates that the 27-nation bloc has seen a strong rise in the number of graduates in areas such as science and engineering as well as a boost in the availability of internet broadband and the amount of private capital to spend on innovation. The EU is producing more graduates in science and engineering. But investment by businesses in research and development in the union has stagnated while EU companies' expenditure on training and new equipment - seen as an important contributor to growth - is declining.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The EU has made some headway in its bid to make itself more innovative and boost its economy but is still lagging far behind the US and Japan, a new report by the European Commission has shown.
The study, released on Thursday (22 January), indicates that the 27-nation bloc has seen a strong rise in the number of graduates in areas such as science and engineering as well as a boost in the availability of internet broadband and the amount of private capital to spend on innovation.
The EU is producing more graduates in science and engineering. But investment by businesses in research and development in the union has stagnated while EU companies' expenditure on training and new equipment - seen as an important contributor to growth - is declining.
Could this be the same study, perhaps?
The investigation involved wave upon wave of arrests of politicians, former military leaders and shady, underworld figures. The trial threatens to devolve into a uniquely Turkish power struggle. At issue is a possible putsch -- and Turkey's future. Go to a cinema in Turkey these days and "Vali" will likely be among the films showing. It centers on an honest governor from the provinces who becomes the pawn of inscrutable powers; people around him start dropping like flies. As the movie progresses, it becomes clear that the strings in the affair are being pulled from abroad -- from the West. The nationalist film's takeaway message is that the fatherland is in grave danger -- and someone must come to the rescue. Turkish gendarmes and demonstrators outside the courthouse west of Istanbul where the Ergenekon trial is taking place. For many Turks, this frightening scenario mirrors the realities of their country. There are those who have always felt threatened and persecuted by their enemies. And there are others who consider themselves to be powerless bystanders in a political thriller that has washed over the country -- a thriller which is getting more difficult to understand by the day. In reality, the drama is called "Ergenekon" and it has led -- this much, at least, is clear -- to one of the biggest and most explosive criminal trials in the country's history. There are many suspects, many recriminations, and no one knows how it will end.
The investigation involved wave upon wave of arrests of politicians, former military leaders and shady, underworld figures. The trial threatens to devolve into a uniquely Turkish power struggle. At issue is a possible putsch -- and Turkey's future.
Go to a cinema in Turkey these days and "Vali" will likely be among the films showing. It centers on an honest governor from the provinces who becomes the pawn of inscrutable powers; people around him start dropping like flies. As the movie progresses, it becomes clear that the strings in the affair are being pulled from abroad -- from the West. The nationalist film's takeaway message is that the fatherland is in grave danger -- and someone must come to the rescue.
Turkish gendarmes and demonstrators outside the courthouse west of Istanbul where the Ergenekon trial is taking place. For many Turks, this frightening scenario mirrors the realities of their country. There are those who have always felt threatened and persecuted by their enemies. And there are others who consider themselves to be powerless bystanders in a political thriller that has washed over the country -- a thriller which is getting more difficult to understand by the day.
In reality, the drama is called "Ergenekon" and it has led -- this much, at least, is clear -- to one of the biggest and most explosive criminal trials in the country's history.
There are many suspects, many recriminations, and no one knows how it will end.
Norway on Monday unveiled a NKr20bn ($3bn, €2.25bn) fiscal stimulus package as it starts to use its massive oil wealth to boost growth and employment in its struggling economy.The Nordic country of just 4.7m people has amassed $370bn in oil revenues - the world's second largest sovereign wealth fund, after Abu Dhabi's - and is now starting to use it to soften the effects of an expected recession.The new spending package comes on top of a previously announced expansionary budget that was equivalent to 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product and takes total government spending on the crisis to 2.3 per cent of GDP - one of the most aggressive spending plans in Europe.
The Nordic country of just 4.7m people has amassed $370bn in oil revenues - the world's second largest sovereign wealth fund, after Abu Dhabi's - and is now starting to use it to soften the effects of an expected recession.
The new spending package comes on top of a previously announced expansionary budget that was equivalent to 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product and takes total government spending on the crisis to 2.3 per cent of GDP - one of the most aggressive spending plans in Europe.
Keeping people working or studying is priority. Most of this money will go to infrastructure projects: road, rail and public buildings - and various environmental projects. Universities get a reasonable pot for research.
No tax cuts...:-) And I have seen no 'grumbling' in the papers about that.
The EJC is organising a European blogging competition in the run up to the elections. Unfortunately only three entrants are being allowed from each country, and the contestants have already been chosen. As part of the event there is a new fantastic resource: a blogging portal listing the main EU blogs. One of the participants suggested that people increasingly felt disconnected from the political process and distrust the mainstream media. So he argued it was the job of bloggers like himself to put the view of the people, not the elites.
One of the participants suggested that people increasingly felt disconnected from the political process and distrust the mainstream media. So he argued it was the job of bloggers like himself to put the view of the people, not the elites.
FT.com | Brussels Blog | Cheeseburgery hamburgers and the problem of computerised translations
This morning I found myself on a public platform in a Brussels hotel for my first ever European bloggers' conference. As a representative of an "establishment" news organisation, I was half-expecting to be roasted alive. But in the end both Mark Mardell of the BBC, my friend and fellow-guest, and I got through it safely enough.
Some advice for new bloggers | Nosemonkey's EUtopia
With the launch of the laudable Think About It EU blogging competition this past weekend (sorry I couldn't make it, chaps, etc.), and the neat coincidence of the public launch of the rather promising BloggingPortal.eu cropping up at the same time, four bits of advice to anyone just starting up an EU blog, after almost six moderately successful years of my running one.
