Lobby fury as MEPs trash CO2 emissions cut | EurActiv

A lobbying row has broken out as the European Parliament decisively rejected yesterday (5 July) increasing the EU's 2020 CO2 emissions reduction target from 20% to 30%, on 1990 levels.

The Parliament voted down a draft resolution after it was watered down by an amendment.

According to Bas Eickhout, a Dutch Green MEP and rapporteur for the Parliament's position on EU emissions reduction targets, the vote was distorted by undemocratic lobbyists.

"The German liberals did not follow the group line because of the heavy lobbying from industry," he told EurActiv.

"BusinessEurope was aggressively lobbying against any change and within that, Eurofer for the steel industry was also acting very intensely."

Because the pressure involved "small groups of industrial interests" who did not represent more climate-friendly businesses, it was "absolutely not an act of democracy," he said.

The vote, which was postponed last month, saw a majority of 347-258 against the proposal, with 63 abstentions.

But it only came after Conservative and centre-right MEPs passed a series of wrecking amendments, which forced the Green Party and Social Democrats to vote against it.

Mobile phone firms to be forced to reduce overseas roaming charges | Money | guardian.co.uk

Mobile telecommunications firms will be forced to reduce the amount they charge for overseas data roaming to a maximum 80p (90 cents) per megabyte from July 2012, under EU proposals announced today. Customers will also be able to switch to other providers for their overseas roaming, leading to greater competition and potentially even lower charges, according to EU telecoms commissioner Neelie Kroes.

Kroes announced that the cap on the cost to consumers of overseas calls and texts, introduced last week, will be lowered in each of the following three years. From July 2012 prices will drop for calls made from phones across Europe to 28p (32 cents) a minute; 25p (28 cents) from July 2013; and 21p (24 cents) from July 2014.

But consumer groups have warned that the costs to networks of introducing the first ever cap on data roaming could be passed on to customers through price rises elsewhere. They also argue that the cap should be introduced immediately rather than in a year's time, and that 90 cents per MB is still too high - though the EU has announced further plans for this to be reduced to 45p (50 cents) per megabyte from July 2014.

Murdoch defends papers as Cameron pledges hacking probe | Reuters

(Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch promised full cooperation on Wednesday to resolve a scandal shaking his media empire after British Prime Minister David Cameron promised an inquiry into what he called "disgusting" phone hacking by a newspaper.

Responding in parliament to allegations that the News of the World eavesdropped on voicemail for victims of notorious crimes, including child murders and suicide bombings, Cameron said he was "revolted" and would order inquiries, probably into both the specific case and more widely into Britain's cut-throat media.

The opposition, keen to highlight Cameron's own ties to Murdoch and to two former editors at the eye of the storm, noted that any inquiry would not start, let alone finish, for months if not years. Critics accused the Conservative government of trying to bury the embarrassment of the long-running saga.

EU slams ratings agencies after Portugal downgraded | Reuters

(Reuters) - European politicians accused credit rating agencies on Wednesday of anti-European bias after Moody's downgrade of Portugal's debt to "junk" cast new doubt on EU efforts to rescue distressed euro zone states without debt restructuring.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the decision to cut Lisbon's rating by four notches so soon after it became the third country to receive an EU/IMF bailout was fuelling speculation in financial markets.

The cost of insuring all weaker euro zone states' debt against default rose after Moody's move, announced on Tuesday.

The euro and European shares fell, ending a seven-day stocks rally, and Portugal had to pay more to sell 3-month T-bills on Wednesday.

"It seems strange that there is not a single rating agency coming from Europe. It shows there may be some bias in the markets when it comes to the evaluation of the specific issues of Europe," Barroso told reporters in the European Parliament.

Holes in the great train network | Presseurop (English)

Each day, a train 750 metres long leaves Barcelona station in Spain for Lyons in France. It moves at 40 kilometres per hour, which is slow, but speed isn't the primary virtue of rail freight. It will arrive at its destination in fifteen hours, a journey time only dreamed of a year ago. The line is aging and, in particular, there is a problem with the rail gauge which required moving the freight onto new cars at the French border. Madrid operates full steam ahead

The Spaniards worked at record speed to fix the rails and, in December, a first convoy of container cars crossed the Pyrenees. Scheduled at three per week at first, there are now seven per week, thus contributing to lower air pollution and reduced road traffic. Today Spain is considering doubling the convoy timetable, convinced that supply will create demand.

Electric Politics | The Little Ship That Shouldn't Have

Keeping in mind Sunday's capsizing and sinking of a tourist boat in the Sea of Cortez off Mexico, it's worth asking -- to be fair -- what sort of complaint the Greeks might have had. In fact, "The Audacity of Hope" is a Greek inter-island water taxi, a craft never designed nor intended for an open water voyage across the Mediterranean Sea. Most of the seating (apart from fixed benches for sight-seeing facing the railings) was outside, plastic chairs under an awning in the stern. No showers. Squat toilets. Just a couple bunks below. The American captain claims the vessel was seaworthy but if any kind of weather had come up I don't think anybody could say for sure whether the vessel would have survived. Not to mention, if it had ever reached Gaza, whether the vessel could have survived being boarded by Israeli commandos.

The power of knowledge is in mortal combat with the knowledge of power. It really is that simple... That's the Edenic apple we are all munching on.

Eurointelligence Daily Briefing: The crisis is back again in full force

A bad day for the eurozone's periphery, as bond markets react to Moody's latest downgrade of Portugal; Portugal's PM complains about a "punch into the stomach", as credit default swaps reached an all-time record of 914 points; EU government and the European Commission have threatened the rating agencies with reprisals; Michel Barnier was mooting the idea of a rating ban for countries subject to a European programme; the Paris meeting to improve the conditions of the French rollover plan descended into chaos; Wolfgang Schäuble relaunches his controversial bond swap plan given the no-compromise position of the ratings agencies; the Institute for International Finance proposes a bond buyback programme; George Papandreou sets up a cross-party committee to calm down political tensions; Christine Lagarde, in her first appearance as the IMF's MD, hints at lower interest rates for Ireland; she also calls on the Greeks to follow Portugal's example of a cross-party consensus in favour of reform; Schäuble seeks to increase privatisation revenues; Guido Bohsem attacks Schäuble for his failure to repair the German budget; Jean-Claude Trichet is today expected to announce his last interest rate increase; Wolfgang Proissl says ECB is engaged in a poker match to regain its credibility, but with uncertain outcome; the case against DSK continues after all; the affair is overshadowing Martine Aubry's presidential bid; Manuel Valls says the Socialist party's election manifesto was unrealistic; the Greek government, meanwhile, has invited Germany's president Christian Wulff to address the Greek parliament.

(Google link)

Economics is politics by other means

I am appalled at this article from the Bruegel think tank: EIP 1.0 - time to address macroeconomic imbalances forcefully! by Guntram B. Wolff on 7th July 2011

This column argues that the euro zone has no time to waste for structural reforms given the risk of default of Greece. The new excessive imbalance procedure (EIP) could play a crucial role in fostering such structural reforms. If needed, the Commission should start the EIP procedure as early as September should countries such as Spain not deliver on their reform commitments. The European Parliament and the public should monitor that the Regulation is applied forcefully and timely.

No concept at all of the crucial role surplus countries play in the generation and maintenance of Eurozone internal trade imbalances.

Policymakers have shown their resolve to significantly step up the governance of the euro area.  The so-called "six-pack" consisting of 6 pieces of legislation is in the final stage of becoming effective EU law: the trilogue discussions between the European Parliament, Council and Commission close to final. The remaining differences between the Council the positions of the European Parliament as voted on June 23 should as soon as possible be resolved so that the package can be implemented early. The six-pack has a completely new "Regulation for the prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances" (EIP), which has the potential to revolutionize European governance.

Then he goes on about how the EU Commission should immediately intervene in Spain to impose "reform". The article ends with an afterthought in which reform of suplus countries' deflationary policies is also called "less urgent":

Finally, policy action to boost growth and domestic demand is also needed in current account surplus countries but the degree of urgency is smaller. The European Parliament and the public at large should hold the Commission and Council to account on these policy options. Let's make the EIP already a success in version 1.0 and not waste precious time.

I should note this is the second time in two months I take exception to an article by the same deputy director of a reputable economic think tank...

Economics is politics by other means