La Treizième Étoile: 03/10/10 - 10/10/10 Blog Archives
Cornish Flag An Tredhegves Steren - agas pennfenten a nowodhow dhyworth an Kesunyans Europek.
David Miliband: Will Labour’s loss be Europe’s gain?

Tuesday, 5 October 2010
When David Miliband’s younger brother Ed was announced as the new leader of the Labour party to a sound of gasps (myself included) the attention immediately shifted to where his future would lie. Would he declare himself a candidate for the shadow cabinet? Would he step down from front-bench politics? Would he take a big international job? Perhaps inevitably (and correctly so in my opinion) he announced he would not run for shadow cabinet and so serve under his younger brother as a backbench MP.

But I hoped it would be the latter option and that he would be nominated by the coalition government to replace the under-fire Baroness Ashton in Brussels as the UK’s member of the European Commission. While I have nothing against Baroness Ashton and think much of the criticism by the French is unfair, I have argued here, here and here in favour of Miliband Snr. taking up this important role. BBC Radio 4's Robin Lustig also had this 'hunch'.

So you can imagine my delight when an article appeared in the News of the World the next day under the headline “We want EU, Dave” that read “David Miliband is poised for a sensational return to frontline politics with a top job at the European Union.”

According to the article, senior sources in Paris and Brussels have told the News of the World that European leaders want Mr Miliband to be the new Foreign Policy head – a position he was a favourite to get but decline to put his hat forward in order to run for Labour leader.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has reportedly told Baroness Ashton he wants her to "move on" and "make room for David", and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel apparently also backs the move.

The article then reports that Mr Sarkozy called Mr Miliband after he lost the leadership race last Saturday and told him: "your career is far from over. I will see you in a major role again” and quotes a “senior source from the European Commission” saying that Baroness Ashton was a “compromise candidate” because “Tony Blair was too toxic and David Miliband was not available”.

But it is the coalition government, who at the end of the day are tasked with nominating the UK’s Commissioner and you could argue it would be in their benefit to “dispatch” a rival off to Brussels.

However, the Foreign Secretary William Hague hit out at such suggestions in an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday prior to the start of the Conservative party conference in Birmingham. Mr Hague said he will not nominate David Miliband for the post of EU foreign minister, nor any other international job in the foreseeable future:

“I’ve no personal quarrel with him,” he said. “Cathy Ashton is doing a really fantastic job and won’t be going anywhere. She has the government’s full support.”

So while question marks still remain over David Miliband’s next step, it unfortunately seems as though it will not involve any move to Brussels in the immediate future.


Posted by Andrew at 18:07.
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Political turmoil to remain in Belgium as coalition talks collapse

N-VA leader Bart de WeverWhen Britain’s politicians were forced into negotiating the first coalition government since World War II after inconclusive general election results, there were some who said the five 'hectic' days the country was ‘in limbo’ while negotiating took place was too long.

I imagine a glance across to the continent to Belgium would have these same people torn between laughter and tears of despair as it is now four months since the Belgian elections and the country still has no government, and this period of instability is set to continue with the news that coalition talks have again broken down.

The Flemish separatist party, N-VA, the overall winner at the polls, revealed they pulled out of discussions yesterday and said they should start again from scratch.

The party’s leader Bart de Wever, pictured above, told reporters: “we’ve been regressing the last few weeks instead of progressing… that’s why I’m not afraid to say that this story, according to us, has ended.”

The party is demanding more power and greater fiscal autonomy for their region of Flanders and have placed the blame for the collapse squarely at the door of the francophones, something which they naturally dispute. The Socialists, the centre-right (CDH) and the Greens (Ecolo) have both venomously attacked the decision calling it "irresponsible" and "damaging to all the citizens of our country."

The collapse is another setback for Belgium and is considerably embarrassing since it currently holds the European Union’s rotating presidency until January 2011.

Many in Belgium and around Europe hope an agreement to form a coalition can be found soon although it is worth remembering that it took almost nine months for such an agreement last time around...

For a rather good visual explanation of Belgium’s political troubles, I urge you to watch the video below by author Marcel Sel and Jerome de Gerlache entitled 'Do you want to know more about Belgium?':


Posted by Andrew at 16:47.
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The Ryder Cup: a celebration of European unity or an EU ‘hijacking’?

Friday, 1 October 2010
Friday marked the opening day of the 2010 edition of the hotly-contested Ryder Cup, and it was undoubtedly the British wet weather that emerged victorious. Contested every two years, the venue for the three-day tournament alternates between golf courses in the United States and Europe and boasts two teams of the most talented players in the world.

However you feel about the game of golf, this particular competition is remarkable because there is no prize money – the players all play for pride, not for cash or ranking points – and it is the only sporting event in which Europe is represented by a single team.

Lee Westwood of Europe looks on during the Morning Fourball Matches during the 2010 Ryder Cup at the Celtic Manor Resort on October 1, 2010 in Newport, Wales. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)Representing Europe this year, the team comprises of players from the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain and Germany. Can you imagine such a team competing in other sports? If Europe had a football team it would surely be the best in the world, although how would you decide on who to select? It is perhaps fortunate then that a Europe football team is extremely unlikely to ever materialise.

But in golf a Europe team has competed the Ryder Cup since the first tournament in 1927 and it was this representation that delights the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso who bizarrely issued a statement on his website describing its “special significance” for him. “Here sportsmanship is more important than sport. Here the fans on the fairway are the real mark of success,” he added.

From one outspoken political figure to another: UKIP's Nigel Farage, a keen golfer, tonight appeared on Channel4 News and declared that the competition was being "hijacked" by the European Union.

It is very noticeable even to the casual spectator how the many fans that line the fairways appear to keenly and voluntarily dress themselves up in merchandise bearing the 12 gold star emblem and wave EU flags, big and small.

Of course, it is this that Mr Farage has most issue with: "Whenever I watch the television all I see is that wretched EU flag. What on earth has this got to do with the European Union? What on earth has it got to do with Mr Barroso, the President of the European Commission, claiming ownership of the Ryder Cup as an EU event? It isn't. Leave us alone.”

“I love the Ryder Cup, I've followed it all my life and of course I'll be supporting the continent of Europe but I have to confess I'll be doing so through gritted teeth,” he said.

It is remarkable however how long-standing feelings towards the EU change with such an event. A casual flick through any British newspapers’ sports coverage this weekend is likely to include some phrase on the lines of “we're all European this weekend".

Even at the Daily Telegraph – the broadsheet home of Eurosceptic coverage – published this article on Thursday 30th which reads:

"Viva, España! Forza, Italia! Vorwärts, Deutschland! It is time for the nations of Europe to make common cause against common foe – the golfers of the United States of America. This weekend, Celtic Manor plays host to the biennial Ryder Cup, the one event that forces even the staunchest Eurosceptics to forsake their American cousins for their Continental neighbours.

It would be churlish to point out that this is a largely British effort – a Welsh locale, a Scottish captain and a spine of players from England and Northern Ireland. Instead, we urge readers to wave their blue and gold flags with pride."

Whether this sentiment is motivated by anti-Americanism or pro-Europeanism, you have to admit that the Ryder Cup is quite an event if it gets people voluntarily wearing the EU flag, since many more people across the continent feel a greater connection to their national colours.

Yet although none of the opening round of matches were completed due to the heavy rainfall, let’s hope that its Europe captain Colin Montgomerie who leads his men to the victory on Sunday concluding a competitive contest.


Posted by Andrew at 22:47.
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Cable warns European Parliament of potential public budget backlash

Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat business secretary of Britain’s coalition government has issued a stern warning to MEPs in Brussels today that the EU will face a "big backlash" if its own budget is not subject to the same public spending disciplines that are currently being imposed at national levels.

Speaking at a meeting held in the European Parliament yesterday, Mr Cable, proudly sporting his Liberal Democrat lapel badge, said "at a time when national governments, including mine, are having to make very painful cuts in public spending, no one can understand why the European budget is not being subject to the same discipline."

"There is a backlash on the way, not only in the UK," he said. "Can I plead with you to tackle this issue seriously? Any sense that the European Parliament and Commission are not acutely sensitive to this issue will be very damaging."



At 67, Vince Cable is a highly respected economist with a background in industry and academia, and became the first cabinet minister of the new coalition government to address MEPs since it took office over the summer. In his keynote speech, he laid out in stark terms the challenge facing the UK economy alluding to its large budget deficit, its deflating property bubble and its "overweight banking sector" and promoted free trade as the route back to growth and prosperity.

Referring to former PM Gordon Brown’s economic preaching about Britain’s enviable economic model over the past decade, Mr Cable admitted that with now the "worst deficit in the G20 and beyond, one of the worst property bubbles, the most overweight banking sector, [and] one of the worst recessions … rest assured you won’t be getting any lectures from the UK today."

He told those in attendance that he was "an old-fashioned, unreconstructed, believer in free trade," and that he is looking forward to the Single Market Act due to be published by EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier next week. Mr Cable, left, said he hopes the document will include a section dedicated to helping small businesses overcome barriers to trade and reinvigorate Europe’s single market. He also expressed hope that the EU would push on with the Doha agenda of world trade talks.

"Trade is not a zero-sum game where one country gains at the expense of another," he said, "it benefits all countries because specialisation reduces costs and broadens access to a wider variety of products. Technology and good practice is disseminated. Competition stimulates and rejuvenates economies. A relapse into policies of nationalism and protectionism – whether in relation to goods or services or investment - would be a massive, and costly, mistake."

He made a point of commenting on Britain’s working relationship with the EU under the new coalition commenting that the government has "engaged positively with Europe in a way that may have caused some pleasant surprise".

He said its willingness to work with Europe was "not just the influence of the Lib Dems" and that "our Conservative colleagues, from the Prime Minister down, are realistic and engaged also. We recognize that our economic fate is inextricably linked with the rest of Europe," he said.

It was a good speech and well received by those in attendance - even if he did shamelessly manage to drop in a small plug for his recent bestselling book, ‘The Storm’…

Click here to read the speech.


Posted by Andrew at 14:55.
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