Sunday 1 February 2015

People's News 117

Contents PN 117

P1. Austrian Chancellor issues threat! Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann has warned that Austria could file a lawsuit before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over EU’s intention to sign the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)

P1. Brussels seeks to extend "economic governance" reach. During the last years of economic crisis, Brussels has moved to expand its power at the expense of the sovereignty of the member states.

P2. No decision on ISDS until the end of TTIP talks. The EU won’t decide whether to include the investor- state-dispute-settlement (ISDS) clause in TTIP until the “final phase of the negotiations” with the US.

 

P3. “All market and no social” – ETUC! Commenting on the European Commission’s statement on its work programme, Bernadette Ségol, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) said: “There is not a single proposal to improve worker, consumer or environmental protection.”

 

P3. Asia pushes ahead while Brussels dawdles. The European Commission has been desperately trying to put flesh on the bones of EU President Juncker’s flagship €315 billion investment plan to kick start EU economies.

 

P4. Results of Commissions TTIP on- line consultation published. Over 97 percent of submissions in an on-line consultation on TTIP conducted by the EU Commission, were opposed to the inclusion ISDS.

P5. ECJ - Draft agreement on the accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is not compatible with EU law.

P6. Falling euro - a cause for concern? European manufacturers are happy with the falling value of the single currency, which allows them to export their goods more easily. But the mood is tempered by the threat of deflation

P7. Farmers protest against TTIP. In the run- up to Christmas, farmers and trade unionists were protesting in Brussels against TTIP.

P7. OMT OK! – ECJ Advocate General! The ECJ’s top legal advisor, the Advocate General of the ECJ (EU Court of Justice) has found that the ECB’s Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) programme is compatible in principle with EU law if certain conditions are met.

P8. Now online - EU negotiating texts in TTIP. A final agreement would have 24 chapters, grouped together in 3 parts.

P8. Canadian tar sands oil won’t be labelled ‘dirty’ – the hidden hand of CETA! Just before Christmas, the EU Parliament passed by just 12 votes controversial fuel quality rules that do not penalise imports of polluting tar sands oil from Canada.

P9. Another step to a banking union! The Single European Mechanism (SRM) will be launched over the next three months, with the aim of rescuing or winding up stricken banks with minimal recourse to taxpayers’ money.

P10. Lithuania joins eurozone. Lithuania has become the 19th member of the eurozone.

P11. Opposition to the euro increases in Southern Europe - anti-euro parties hold around half of the vote in Italy.

P11. The situation in Greece. With Greek elections on 25 January which see the possibility of Syriza party form the next Greek government, the debt debate rather than Greek exit from the eurozone has returned to the centre of European politics.

P13. The results of the Commission’s on-line consultation on ISDS – Infographics

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