EU Commission

NI Agriculture Minister: “I know that I am not alone in that concern among member states.”

Pete Baker on September 27, 2010, 3:54 pm

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The Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture may have sought £100 million to cover the eventual total disallowance by the EU Commission for the maladministration of EU funds but, as RTÉ reports, the Minister, Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gildernew, has told the Assembly that “the Department is taking the necessary steps today to take a case to the European Court of Justice” challenging that disallowance. From the Minister’s press release The Minister delivered her statement to set out her Department’s position in regard to …

“The pressure is on to re-establish lost market confidence.”

Pete Baker on September 22, 2010, 4:57 pm

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With Irish Government bond yields still above 6%, the Finance Minister, Brian Lenihan, has told the Oireachtas Finance Committee that an estimate for the cost of the Anglo Irish Bank bailout will be published by the end of the month. This will “reassure the public and the markets that the costs of restructuring Anglo, while huge, are very manageable,” he told the Oireachtas Finance Committee. We’ll see… Meanwhile, as some are talking up yesterday’s bond auction, the Irish Times‘ Arthur Beesley had …

German foreign minister: “German-French relations are absolutely stable.”

Pete Baker on September 18, 2010, 10:33 pm

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While frustration is taking hold in Europe over financial matters, there appears to be a [distracting?] diplomatic row brewing over France’s repatriation of Roma immigrants. The BBC’s Gavin Hewitt noted a “fierce row” between the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, following condemnation of France’s actions by the EU Commission. The French President, Nicolas Sarkosy, then invoked the support of German Chancellor, Angela Merkel – only for that alleged support to be denied. But, as a BBC report noted The BBC’s …

“If the [EU] Commission asks what progress has been made… the departments will be exposed”

Pete Baker on August 20, 2010, 10:34 pm

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BBC NI’s Mike McKimm reports on five years of failure to act by the Northern Ireland Departments of the Environment, and Agriculture, following a formal written warning from the EU Commission in 2005 over the plight of [protected species] horse mussel beds in Strangford Lough [added link]. A Freedom of Information request was involved. The ministers concerned did manage to summon the press for a photo-opportunity on the issue in January 2009. But that’s about the only activity we’ve seen. From the BBC report Again …

Euro crisis: “The commission is the economic government of Europe.”

Pete Baker on June 16, 2010, 12:58 pm

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The BBC has a country-by-country guide to the EU austerity measures, including the bickering France and Germany. And, as the Irish Times reports, EU Commission president, José Manuel Barroso, lays down the law Amid intensive debate among European governments around measures required to reinforce the euro’s foundations, Mr Barroso said some of the member states needed to be reminded that the commission was “the economic government of Europe”. France and Germany have been at loggerheads over the scale of the measures …

More on NI’s £60million farming subsidy mal-administration fines

Pete Baker on June 9, 2010, 2:37 pm

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The Northern Ireland Assembly’s agriculture committee is in Brussels today where they are reportedly seeking a reduction in the £60million fines imposed due to the NI Agriculture Department’s mal-administration of EU farming subsidies. But a spokesman for the EU Agriculture Commissioner has told the BBC that any reduction is unlikely. Roger Waite said he could not see the commission changing its mind on the size of the fine. “There is an appeal and a conciliation process going on which will only be …

Euro crisis: a “strong convergence of views”

Pete Baker on June 8, 2010, 1:20 pm

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The Irish Times’ Arthur Beesley reports that EU Finance Ministers “have resolved to submit draft budgets for the approval of their counterparts and the EU Commission before unveiling them in national parliaments.” European Council president Herman Van Rompuy, who chaired the meeting on economic governance, said there was a “strong convergence of views” on the measures required to strengthen how the EU polices and enforces budgetary rules. The meeting followed a separate gathering here of ministers whose countries share the …

NI’s £60million farming subsidy mal-administration fines – Redux

Pete Baker on June 7, 2010, 6:17 pm

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The Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister, Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gildernew, and the Chairman of the Assembly Agriculture Committee, the DUP’s Ian Paisley Jnr, teamed up today on the Stormont Live sofa to defend farmers – an aging and confused group, apparently – and to criticise media coverage of the £60 million fines imposed by the EU Commission for the department’s mal-administration of EU farming subsidies. Although, they weren’t entirely on the same page… What they did agree on was that the £60 million …

NI Agriculture Minister: “I’m not sure anybody’s really to blame…”

Pete Baker on June 1, 2010, 10:39 pm

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BBC NI’s rural affairs correspondent, Martin Cassidy, reports on the £60 million repayment sought from the Northern Ireland Executive by the EU Commission for the maladministration, by the NI Department of Agriculture, of the annual individual subsidy claims made by farmers here. In total Europe provides 300m euros to farmers here annually while the individual subsidy claims are administered locally by the Department of Agriculture. But when the European Commission sent in its team of auditors, they discovered many of …

Euro crisis: “We all know what to do, but we don’t know how to get re-elected once we have done it.”

Pete Baker on May 18, 2010, 7:19 pm

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In the Irish Times, Arthur Beesley identifies “one of the fundamental dilemmas in political leadership” being faced by eurozone politicians caught in a manifestation of “the political trilemma of the world economy” This presents a cocktail of nasty choices for EU leaders, many of whom seem more comfortable in the local arena than in the European amphitheatre. Previously, they were free to do as they pleased in a currency system that did not hold debt-addiction to be any great sin. Now, national …

EU Commission: “essential cornerstone of reinforced economic governance is to coordinate fiscal policy in advance”

Pete Baker on May 13, 2010, 3:22 pm

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The EU Commission’s proposals for in-advance peer-review of proposed national budgets has provoked a heated political reaction in the Dáil. As Miriam Lord wryly notes, the a vice-president of the European People’s Party, Fine Gael’s Enda Kenny is being accused of Euroscepticism. However Taoiseach Brian Cowen doesn’t seem as opposed to the proposals as, say, the Swedish Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt. In Germany, despite a difficult week, Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the proposals Chancellor Angela Merkel praised the EU’s attempts to crackdown on irresponsible spending, and said …

Stephanomics: “That is getting very close to a fiscal union…”

Pete Baker on May 12, 2010, 12:45 pm

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While our focus was on the Prime Ministerial negotiations, the European Commission was moving to shore up the eurozone – agreeing emergency measures worth €750billion ($975bn, £650bn). That’s on top of the earlier € 110billion three-year bail-out package to rescue Greece’s economy agreed with the IMF. Ireland’s contribution to that earlier plan, providing for bilateral loans up to € 1.312 billion from Ireland to Greece, is due to go before the Dáil next week. As, still everyone’s hero, Robert Peston warned …