Saturday 26 February 2011

From Libya to Brazil, interior goes international (EU Justice and Home Affairs Council)

Only the first day conclusions were posted on the Consilium front page, but the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council was a two day meeting. For those who may have missed the conclusions by the justice ministers and ministers of the interior of the EU member states reflecting both days of the meeting, here they are:

3071st Council meeting Justice and Home Affairs; Brussels, 24 and 25 February 2011 (Council document 7012/11; 20 pages)

In the shadow of events in Northern Africa, especially the barbaric repression in Libya, and pressures from asylum seekers and unauthorised migrants in the Southern member states of the European Union, including a future readmission agreement with Turkey, some important, but less mediatic issues were on the agenda.

These other matters included the Internal Security Strategy (ISS) of the EU, attacks against information systems, jurisdiction in civil and commercial matters (Brussels I), the right to information in criminal proceedings, the migration of the EJN-network to the European e-Justice portal, remembering the crimes committed by totalitarian regimes in Europe, collective redress and the enforcement of court decisions in third countries concerning custody.

In the margins of the Council meeting, the Mixed Committee with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland discussed a number of issues related to the Schengen borders: the Schengen Information System II (SIS II), the Visa Information System (VIS), the 2011 work programme of the European border agency Frontex, the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area, the Visa liberalisation process for the Western Balkans, visa waiver reciprocity and Canada's unilateral visa requirements for Czech nationals, and Liechtenstein's Schengen accession procedure.

Further, the Council concluded two visa liberalisation agreements with Brazil, adopted conclusions regarding the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, adopted conclusions about personal data protection in the EU, took note of a report about combating drug traficking from West Africa, adopted a decision to create a Subcommittee on Political Dialogue, Security and Human Rights with Algeria, decided to renegotiate a monetary agreement with Monaco, and decided to sign a fisheries agreement with São Tomé and Príncipe.


Interior goes international

A hefty agenda; just naming the issues, I almost ran out of breath.

It was also a wide-ranging agenda. As we saw, the issues ranged from Libya to Brazil, passing through Algeria, Canada, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, São Tomé, Switzerland, Turkey and the Western Balkans on the way, but they end up as justice and home affairs (in French: Justice et affaires intérieures, JAI) for the European Union and its member states.

Traditionally, justice and home affairs (freedom, security and justice, FSJ) were the essence of domestic politics and policies, but nowadays it is increasingly impossible to escape the need for rules and practices to deal with cross-border and international issues and aspects.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Charlemagne's notebook is one of the ”must read” blogs on European affairs, partly because its roots in the British soil.


P.S. 2: As an overview for those interested, here are the latest entries on my Euroblogs, three unilingual and one trilingual.

Grahnblawg (in Swedish): EU-rådet för allmänna frågor 21 februari 2011: Bedrövlig förhandsinformation

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland (in Swedish): EU-rådet för allmänna frågor: Vad gör Norden?

Grahnlaw: EU General Affairs Council (GAC) communication: Wrong, stupid and a missed opportunity

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: EU cohesion policy conclusions reveal lack of transparency

Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish): Mitä EU:n alue- ja rakennepolitiikasta puuttuu Suomessa?

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland (in Finnish): Yhteisvastuu Euroopan unionissa: Kysyntää riittää


If you share my interest in the European economy, EU business, politics or law, we could get acquainted through Twitter @RalfGrahn or Facebook.

Tuesday 22 February 2011

EU General Affairs Council (GAC) communication: Wrong, stupid and a missed opportunity

Yesterday I published two blog posts in Swedish regarding the upcoming meeting of the General Affairs Council (GAC) the same day, 21 February 2011. The first entry looked at how the advance material published centrally by the Council managed to enlighten and engage the public. My conclusion was that despite coordinating heavyweight issues, the governments seem to exclude the citizens of the European Union on purpose: EU-rådet för allmänna frågor 21 februari 2011: Bedrövlig förhandsinformation.

I wondered how long the Nordic ministers participating in the GAC meetings would tolerate such lousy information before revolting, so in the second post I took a closer look at how the governments in Sweden, Finland and Denmark informed domestically about the issues on the agenda of the General Affairs Council. Sadly, even the Nordic governments seemed to have missed the GAC as an opportunity to communicate in any meaningful way or to invite valuable contributions from the wider society: EU-rådet för allmänna frågor: Vad gör Norden?

In my view, the GAC could be an important stock-taking and engaging milestone on the road towards improved guidelines from the European Council summits.


GAC conclusions

If the advance information was lousy, how much did the GAC meeting improve matters with regard to economic coordination and progress?

We now have the press release from the Council, with the GAC conclusions:

3068th Council meeting General Affairs; Brussels, 21 February 2011 (Council document 6762/11; 8 pages)

With regard to the follow-up of the February European Council, we are informed that:

The Council took stock of the follow-up to be given to the European Council's meeting on 4 February, which [only officially; my addition] focused on energy and innovation.

Not a word, not a document about substance, how guidelines are put into practice or preparations advancing.

***

With the eurozone crisis, economic governance, the ”competitiveness pact” and the Europe 2020 growth reforms, the future of European Union citizens hangs in the balance at the the March European Council.

How does the General Affairs Council improve our knowledge and reassure us about progress being made towards needed reforms?

Here are the GAC conclusions:

The Council examined a draft annotated agenda for the European Council meeting to be held on 24 and 25 March, drawn up by the President of the European Council in cooperation with the presidency and the Commission (doc. 6231/11).

The March European Council is due to focus on:

Economic policy: Conclusion of the first phase of the European Semester (annual monitoring of budgetary policies and structural reforms), adoption of a decision amending the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union with regard to the future European Stability Mechanism (ESM), finalisation of work on the ESM and on the strengthening of the European Financial Stability Facility, finalisation of work by the Council on legislative proposals on economic governance, and a decision on economic policy coordination in the euro area.

– Developments in the EU's southern neighbourhood and follow-up to the 4 February European Council declaration on Egypt.
Not a word, not a document indicating anything of substance, any indication of progress.

Does anyone find even a shred of new and valuable information compared with the already poor background note published before the GAC meeting or the old draft agenda?


GAC – missed opportunity

Despite the treaty based obligation to ensure a maximum of openness, the General Affairs Council and the European Council have, in tandem, adopted working habits and communication patterns designed to keep the public without any meaningful information about how crucial political issues are advancing.

Not only is this 'modus operandi' legally and morally wrong, it is stupid, counterproductive and a great opportunity missed to boot.



Ralf Grahn




P.S. What do Neelie Kroes, Andris Piebalgs, Maria Damanaki, Kristalina Georgieva and Cecilia Malmström have in common? They belong to the blogging minority among members of the European Commission. Kudos to them and to the Commission representation and services blogs you find behind the link.

P.S. 2: Political and macroeconomic guidelines emanating (or not) from the European Council and Council configurations at the top are important for our future, as are the questions of accountability and transparency from the viewpoint of EU citizens.

Details of internal market reform (Single Market Act) and the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020 flagship initiatives) are going to be among my recurring themes as well.

On my Euroblogs I want to discuss legal and political issues relevant to European enterprises, jobs, employers and employees, consumers and citizens, especially in cross-border situations.

Hopefully my blogs succeed in educating and guiding readers towards relevant sources. For me the blogs offer continuous updating and disciplined study as basic training for my teaching and legal counseling activities.

My blogs are: Grahnlaw (in English), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish), as well as downstream the trilingual Grahnlaw Suomi Finland (usually later, with more sediment). On topic comments are most welcome.

If we share an interest in the European economy, business, politics or law, we could get acquainted through Twitter @RalfGrahn or Facebook.

Saturday 19 February 2011

Euro crisis and eurozone economic governance: Third media roundup

After a first media roundup and a second helping with media reports and other online materials on Grahnlaw Suomi Finland, we continue reading and annotating, now on Grahnlaw (in English).

We look at the euro crisis, economic governance and the ”competitiveness pact” in the European Union, or more narrowly in the eurozone.


BBC

The BBC's Europe editor Gavin Hewitt described the ”grand bargain” between France and Germany, as well as the member states rejecting at least some part of the internal reforms the ”pact of competitiveness” would entail: France-Germany pact resisted (8 February 2011).

BBC News Europe had an update about the new and permanent fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). The EU members aim to finalise the rules in March, and the ESM should become operational in 2013: Germany talks tough on EU bail-out fund (17 February 2011).


Social Europe Journal

The Franco-German ”diktat” has come in for criticism from different quarters.

In the Social Europe Journal blog, on ideological grounds Andrew Watt argued that both the process and almost all of the content of the Franco-German proposals were to be rejected: From Good-Bad to Bad-Bad (8 February 2011).


EUobserver

On EUobserver, Leigh Phillips noted that the leaders of the eurozone countries aim to hold an extra summit to discuss a proposal from Berlin and Paris that would see European states adopt a common corporate tax base, harmonise retirement ages, eliminate indexation of wages to inflation and hardwire limits on government debt via constitutional amendments. Opposition to the ”competitiveness pact” is growing: Eurozone summit looms amid growing hostility to Franco-German pact (9 February 2011).


Place du Luxembourg

Place du Luxembourg recalled how France and Germany destroyed the original Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), when sanctions should have been meted out to them. The blog post also highlighted Mario Monti's remarks about some of the proposals of the Franco-German ”competitiveness pact” being internal market issues: Euro Update(16): Mario Monti and the feckless Franco-German Pact for Competitiveness (12 February 2011). The blog post ended by a sigh and a wish:

A pity no one in the media seems to have picked up Monti’s comment. It would embarrass Merkel and Sarkozy and hopefully start a debate about the need for enforcement and the necessary roles to be played by the European Commission and the European Court of Justice in order to ensure credibility of commitment in the enforcement of the rules across the board.

There are two further updates of interest on Place du Luxembourg concerning our themes:

Euro-Update(17): Eco-Fin Council – From EFSF to EMS and Portugal (16 February 2011)

Euro Update(18): Portugal in the dangerous month ahead (16 February 2011)


EurActiv

To keep things in balance, not all calls for rejection come from eurozone members unwilling to sacrifice domestic holy cows, or EU countries outside the euro area, afraid of being left behind. Some of the criticism against Merkel is voiced in Germany, the national parliament (Bundestag) and even within her own government.

EurActiv: Merkel faces internal critics on 'competitiveness pact' (updated 14 February 2011).


Gunnar Hökmark MEP

How can anyone expect fiscally responsible states to bail out profligate ones? Some people support German views about reforming public finances.

The prominent Swedish MEP, Gunnar Hökmark (EPP, Moderaterna) wrote an article for the newspaper Sydsvenskan: ”Ny stabilitetspakt behövs i Europa” (10 February 2011). According to Hökmark, reforms are needed on two tracks. Public deficits and debt levels have to be brought under control. Reforms are needed to stimulate competitiveness and entrepreneurship.

Hökmark wants stricter rules for what he calls the new stability pact.


Atlantic Review

Joerg Wolf, in the Atlantic Review, came out in defence of the German calls for fiscal responsibility, reminding readers of the fable about the ant and the grasshopper: NYT Criticizes German Leadership (10 February 2011).


Next Finance

On Next Finance, Stephen Macklow-Smith asked the crucial question: What would it take to solve the eurozone crisis? (10 February 2011). The European Union tends to be a chorus of voices, not necessarily all in tune. The European leaders need to take decisive action to design mechanisms that are properly funded, flexible, sensible, and not simply focused on ‘punishing’ markets.

Although some suggestions were offered, the big question was left hanging.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Multilingual Bloggingportal.eu now aggregates the posts from 753 Euroblogs. Keep updated on EU affairs and improve your language skills.

P.S. 2: Political and macroeconomic guidelines emanating (or not) from the European Council at the top are indispensable, but details of internal market reform (Single Market Act) and the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020 flagship initiatives) are going to be among my recurring themes as well. On my Euroblogs I want to discuss legal and political issues relevant to European enterprises, jobs, employers and employees, consumers and citizens, especially in cross-border situations.

Hopefully my blogs succeed in educating and guiding readers towards relevant sources. For me the blogs offer continuous updating and a discipline of study as basic training for my teaching and legal counseling activities.

My blogs are: Grahnlaw (in English), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish), as well as usually downstream the trilingual Grahnlaw Suomi Finland (later, with more sediment).

If we share and interest in the European economy, business, politics or law, we could get acquainted through Twitter @RalfGrahn or Facebook.

Thursday 17 February 2011

EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) 15 February 2011

The video of the Eurogroup press conference Monday, 14 February 2011, has now been posted on the Council website, under the heading European Stability Mechanism. You can also find the video recording of the press conference following the official Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) 15 February 2011.

Here is an overview of the Ecofin documents published, even if they reflect only some of the macroeconomic issues being discussed.


Ecofin conclusions

The Ecofin conclusions seem to be available in English only, at this stage:

3067th Council meeting Economic and Financial Affairs; Brussels, 14 February 2011 (document 6514/11; 18 pages)

The date is still wrong, because the meeting took place 15 February 2011.

The general and thematic conclusions form a hefty reading package. The issues include economic governance, steps on savings taxation and anti-fraud agreements, guidelines for the 2012 EU budget and preparation of the March European Council.


European Semester

Separate conclusions about macroeconomic and fiscal guidance were adopted, but only English and French language versions are accessible at this time (document 5991/11):

Council conclusions on European Semester: macroeconomic and fiscal guidance; 3067th ECONOMIC and FINANCIAL AFFAIRS Council meeting; Brussels, 15 February 2011 (5 pages)

Conclusions du Conseil sur Semestre européen: Orientations macroéconomiques et budgétaires;
3067ème session du Conseil AFFAIRES ECONOMIQUES et FINANCIERES; Bruxelles, 15 février 2011


Combating tax fraud

There are English, French and Hungarian versions of the conclusions concerning efforts against tax fraud (document 6554/11). Here is the English text:

Combating tax fraud: Adoption of directive on strengthened mutual assistance and the exchange of information (document 6554/11; 2 pages)


EU budget 2012

The member states agreed on guidelines for the negotiations regarding the budget of the European Union for 2012 (document 5895/11). There seem to be 22 language versions available, described as drafts. Here are the budget guidelines in English:

Draft Council conclusions on the budget guidelines for 2012 (9 pages)

***

It is intellectually stimulating to have the common euro currency, but basically 17 (or 27) different national economic policies.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Yesterday foreign minister Carl Bildt presented the annual foreign policy statement of the Swedish government in the parliamentary debate: Utrikesdeklarationen 2011 in Swedish and the Government Foreign Policy Statement 2011 in English.

P.S. 2: Political and macroeconomic guidelines emanating (or not) from the European Council at the top are indispensable to know, but details of internal market reform (Single Market Act) and the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020 flagship initiatives) are going to be among the recurring themes as well. On my Euroblogs I want to discuss legal and political issues relevant to European enterprises, jobs, employers and employees, consumers and citizens, especially in cross-border situations.

Hopefully my blogs succeed in educating and guiding readers towards relevant sources. For me the blogs offer disciplined study as basic training and continuous updating for my teaching and legal counseling activities.

My blogs are: upstream Grahnlaw (in English), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish), as well as usually downstream the trilingual Grahnlaw Suomi Finland (later, with more sediment).

If you are interested in the European economy, business, politics or law, we can get acquainted through Twitter @RalfGrahn or Facebook.

Sunday 13 February 2011

Franco-German competitiveness pact: Transparently yours

No specific proposals for the Franco-German competitiveness pact were put forward at the European Council 4 February 2011. They were presented earlier, in Berlin, if we believe the media reports.

My latest blog posts, European Council: Pangloss meets Candide, continued (10 February 2011) and (in Swedish) Sverige i EU och Europeiska rådet (12 February 2011) left me with many unanswered questions about the Franco-German initiative regarding the Eurozone.

Let us give transparency and good governance a fair shot by looking first at the official materials.


European Council conclusions

The conclusions from the European Council are available in 23 EU languages, and we turn to the English version:

European Council 4 February 2011: Conclusions; document EUCO 2/11; 15 pages

After the strategic challenges of energy and innovation, the conclusions turned to the economic situation on page 10 (paragraphs 26 to 31), promising decisions at the March European Council meeting.

Annex I is a statement by the heads of state or government of the euro area and the EU institutions (pages 12-13), but no Franco-German plan is presented or openly discussed, despite muddled language about further steps to improve competitiveness (last paragraph).

The following part of the conclusions from the European Council is the treaty based report by the president Herman Van Rompuy to the European Parliament (PCE 30/11; 8 February 2011). Egypt and the Mediterranean region are followed by remarks about the ”long term structural challenges”, energy and innovation. About halfway into the second page, Van Rompuy turned to the economic situation, but did his outline of the comprehensive package on 24 and 25 March 2011 present the plans of France and Germany?

No specific proposals were put forward at the European Council, said Van Rompuy, but he offered some hints regarding the way forward (page 3):

The Heads of State or Government of the 17 Eurozone countries also discussed how to achieve a stronger economic convergence, by working closer together in national policies increasing competitiveness. Instead of only looking at the outcome (for instance the annual deficit), one could also look at the policies upstream of the outcome. That is something new. A common currency requires more common policies.

I welcome the fact that Member States of the Eurozone feel a stronger need for economic coordination beyond the macro-economic surveillance which we decided in the Task Force Report, which already opens new avenues.

Now our political commitment has to be translated in practical terms: what areas, which tools, what limits? To examine that, I was given a mandate to consult all Heads of State or Government of the Eurozone, and report back, identifying concrete ways forward in line with the Treaty, between now and March, and in close cooperation with the President of the Commission. We will also involve the leaders of the interested non-euro countries. The heads of state and government of the Eurozone will discuss this report in the middle of March.

No specific proposals were put forward at the European Council last week. And, as I said in London three weeks ago: "Economic policy coordination is not about uniformity - our points of departure are often different - but we must pull in the same direction."

I am convinced that we will find yet more agreement on the way forward between now and March.

Spiegel International

What do we know about the un-specific or un-forwarded German and French proposals?

Well before the EU summit, Spiegel International reported that the ”competitiveness pact” was ready, but there was still discussion about how to make Merkel's plan a reality, in the long but highly interesting article: An Economic Government for the Euro Zone? Merkel's Plan Could Transform the European Union (31 January 2011).

In the second part of the article, Der Spiegel quotes extensively from a plan written at the German Chancellery, with outlines of the coordinated tax, wage and social policies that the national states in the eurozone would have to agree to. The article pointed out the problem of sanctions, where earlier weaknesses have led to disappointing outcomes (Stability and Growth Pact, Lisbon Strategy). Der Spiegel expected experts in the European capitals to examine the proposals from Berlin during the coming days.

In the third part, Spiegel Online calls it wishful thinking to imagine that peer pressure would guarantee success for the competitiveness pact. Some of the targets and time-frames are unrealistic, but in the end there might be even more resistance in Berlin than in Brussels. For good measure, the article throws in long-standing and apparently unresolved differences in approach between Germany and France regarding economic government.


Summit reporting

President Nicolas Sarkozy described the pact for competitiveness as a ”structural plan” to respond to the challenges faced by Europe, according to The Wall Street Journal (via Dow Jones): Merkel, Sarkozy Want Euro Zone Competitiveness Pact In March (4 February 2011).

Germany and France will set out proposals for tighter economic and fiscal coordination, reported Deutsche Welle from the summit. Germany is determined to secure stricter budgetary commitments from other euro zone member states in exchange for agreeing amendments to the EFSF. The article Merkel and Sarkozy propose tighter coordination in euro group (4 February 2011) offered vague outlines of the proposals:

In their proposals for economic coordination, France and Germany will lay out plans for stricter fiscal discipline, including the idea of a "debt brake" that would establish a constitutional limit on deficits, and calls for more regular euro zone summits to better coordinate economic management.

”We want to increase our competitiveness and grow closer together within the Eurogroup and also invite other countries to take part," Merkel said.

Germany's ideas also include raising the pensionable age depending on a country's demographics, limiting wage increases, and agreeing a common tax base for corporations.

However, in Merkel, in Reversal, Urges Rescue of Euro, already before the summit The New York Times had this to say about the contents and transparency (3 February 2011):

In Berlin, Mrs. Merkel’s adviser, Uwe Corsepius, briefed European Union ambassadors on the ideas this week and a draft document, prepared by one German ministry and circulating in Brussels, identified six priorities.

These are: abolition of wage indexation systems, agreement on mutual recognition of education qualifications, creation of a common base for assessing corporate tax, adjustment of the pension systems, establishment of a national crisis management regime for banks and new legal measures to force countries to commit to tough fiscal policies through a “debt alert mechanism.”

Under the plan, countries will be measured against economic indicators, their progress verified by the European Commission.

According to the World from Berlin, in Spiegel Online International, together with French president Nicolas Sarkozy, chancellor Angela Merkel presented her plan for saving the common currency at a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels, in a closed-door lunch session: 'Europe Doesn't Need More Germany' (4 February 2011).


Not specific, not presented?

Are you confused? If no specific proposals for the Franco-German competitiveness pact were put forward at the European Council 4 February 2011, they seem to have been presented to the EU member states some days earlier in Berlin, if we believe the media reports.

However, in these intergovernmental spheres, taking decisions as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen of the European Union seems to have been completely forgotten, as have the benefits of public deliberation of known proposals as a keystone of democratic governance.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Written in French by Nicolas Gros-Verheyde, Bruxelles2 is dedicated to the foreign, security and defence policies of the European Union. B2 is one of the ”must read” blogs for people interested in European affairs.

P.S. 2: On my Euroblogs I want to discuss legal and political issues relevant to European enterprises, jobs, employers and employees, consumers and citizens, especially in cross-border situations.

The guidelines emanating (or not) from the European Council at the top are indispensable, but details of internal market reform (Single Market Act) and the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020 flagship initiatives) are going to be among the recurring themes.

Hopefully my blogs succeed in educating and guiding readers towards relevant sources. For me the blogs offer disciplined study as basic training and continuous updating for my teaching and legal counseling activities.

My blogs are: upstream Grahnlaw (in English), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish), as well as usually downstream the trilingual Grahnlaw Suomi Finland (later, with more sediment).

If you are interested in European business, politics or law, we can get acquainted through Twitter @RalfGrahn or Facebook.

Wednesday 9 February 2011

European Council Act Two: Pangloss meets Candide

This was the outcome of Act One.

The latest European Council conclusions are available in all 23 official EU languages.

The conclusions in English:

Conclusions of the European Council (4 February 2011) (document EUCO 2/11; 15 pages)


Act Two

Whereas the real decision makers tend to hide their differences by saying nothing or by fuzzy language, the second act is played out in public, for the enlightenment and entertainment of the spectators.

According to Article 15(6) TEU, the president of the European Council shall present a report to the European Parliament after each meeting. With a few days for the president to sort out the impressions, here is what the MEPs were served regarding Egypt and the Euro-Mediterranean region, energy, innovation and improving economic governance (financial stability in theEurozone):

Speech by Herman VAN ROMPUY President of the European Council at the European Parliament; 8 February 2011 (3 pages)

The press service of the European Parliament offers a summary of the discussion as a whole, with leaders appearing according to group size: MEPs question President Herman Van Rompuy on the outcome of the EU summit (8 February 2011).

EUbusiness tells us that the plans of France andGermany for the Euro area discipline have not received universal acclaim: Euro-MPs slam Franco-German eurozone 'pact' (8 February 2011).

Valentina Pop of EUobserver writes in the same vein: MEPs vent fury at Van Rompuy over Franco-German economic plan (8 February 2011).


Dichotomy

The official information oscillates between good news and nothing to report (Pangloss), whereas MEPs and media are drawn towards what is brewing behind the scenes (Candide).

If the German and French governments have plans for stricter fiscal discipline in the Eurozone, they seem to have earned their share of criticism for failing to inform other member states, europarliamentarians and EU citizens in a timely and open manner.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Greek debt and the ”grand bargain” is the latest post on the Brusselsblog (Financial Times), one of the ”must read” blogs in the Euroblogosphere.

P.S. 2: On my Euroblogs I want to discuss legal and political issues relevant to European enterprises, jobs, employers and employees, consumers and citizens, especially in cross-border situations. Details of internal market reform (Single Market Act) and the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020 flagship initiatives) are going to be among the recurring themes. Hopefully my blogs succeed in educating and guiding readers towards relevant sources. For me the blogs offer disciplined study as basic training for my teaching and legal counseling activities. My blogs are: upstream Grahnlaw (in English), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish), as well as usually downstream the trilingual Grahnlaw Suomi Finland. If you are interested in European business, politics or law, we can get acquainted through Twitter @RalfGrahn or Facebook.

Following the European Council #euco discussion

Are we going to develop a consensus on (new) Twitter hashtags concerning EU institutions and activities, I wondered in the latest blog post on this theme: European Council: Continued #euco discussion on Twitter (8 February 2011).

Inviting comments, there were also a few remarks about the European Union and the use of social media by European leaders, journalists and citizens.

@AnttiTimonen, a press adviser of the EPP group, admitted that there is much noise regarding the #EP hashtag and seemed supportive of #europarl.

From the viewpoint of the European Union #EU is another hashtag which tends to drown.

We'll have to check later to see if there is going to be more of a #euco discussion on Twitter and blogs.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. In addition to The Week in Bloggingportal, the Bloggingportal.eu blog has a new feature: The Month in Bloggingportal. The continually growing multilingual aggregator Bloggingportal.eu brings you the posts from 743 Euroblogs, part of an emerging European public online space. Keep up to date and improve your language skills!

P.S. 2: On my Euroblogs I want to discuss legal and political issues relevant to European enterprises, jobs, employers and employees, consumers and citizens, especially in cross-border situations. Details of internal market reform (Single Market Act) and the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020 flagship initiatives) are going to be among the recurring themes. Hopefully my blogs succeed in educating and guiding towards relevant sources. For me the blogs offer disciplined study as basic training for my teaching and legal counseling activities. My blogs are: upstream Grahnlaw (in English), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish), as well as usually downstream the trilingual Grahnlaw Suomi Finland. If you are interested in European business, politics or law, we can get acquainted through Twitter @RalfGrahn or Facebook.

Monday 7 February 2011

Twitter discussion about the European Council #euco

The Grahnlaw blog post Busy week in Brussels: EU politics and governance (5 February 2011) looked at the General Affairs Council (GAC) and the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) preparing the ground for the European Council, as well as ”summit” preparations and materials.

European Council conclusions and Twitter (4 February 2011 meeting), on Grahnlaw Suomi Finland (6 February 2011), offered a short guide to the different editions and language versions of the conclusions from the ”summit”.


Twitter #euco

The blog post noted that there was some common ground under the Twitter hashtag #euco with messages from European leaders and reactions from journalists and EU citizens.

If the political leaders have not discussed much with citizens, @Dana_Council of the EU Council press office @EUCouncilPress has invited further discussion about the #euco hashtag.

Since then, we notice one of the important functions of Twitter put to use. Toute l'Europe has broadcasted its informative post about the results of the European Council (in French): Conseil européen : vers un marché unique de l'énergie en 2014.

The Bloggingportal.eu blog announces The Week in Bloggingportal: Where the hell is Ashton? The inactivity of the EU high representative Ashton was cruelly contrasted with the blogging and tweeting activities of Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt.

We see the importance of perceptions, partly created through social media use – blogs, Facebook and Twitter – although in Ashton's case lack of drive and weak language equaled her feeble media presence.

@eDiplomat promises a briefing by Richard Werly on EU diplomatic challenges in 2011. At this stage we have an announcement, but nothing wrong with that. Somehow news has to get around, and Twitter is an effective means.

My own blog post in Swedish highlights existing strategic reports (Europe 2030 and Mario Monti), now available in all official languages, paints a background picture and describes how the proposals have been received. Here success or failure for us Europeans will be determined at European Council #euco level.

As I see it, the #euco hashtag can be put to various good uses, as long as the tweets deal with the strategic level the 29 characters of the European Council are supposed to act on (impetus for EU development, political directions and priorities), within the limits of 140 characters.

Lengthier arguments and discussions have to take place elswhere, such as on blogs, but announcements, short reactions and discussions are possible on Twitter, if the interest is there.

Perhaps communication and social media experts want to add their wiser remarks, while we are waiting for Godot to make his appearance in the form of discussion by and with the European leaders.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. In addition to The Week in Bloggingportal, the Bloggingportal.eu blog has a new feature: The Month in Bloggingportal. The multilingual aggregator Bloggingportal.eu brings you the posts from 738 Euroblogs, part of an emerging European public online space. Keep up to date and improve your language skills!

P.S. 2: My Euroblogs aim to discuss legal and political issues relevant to European enterprises, jobs, employers and employees, consumers and citizens, especially in cross-border situations. Internal market reform (Single Market Act) and the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020 flagship initiatives) are going to be among the main themes. Hopefully my blogs educate and guide towards relevant sources, and I remain open to suggestions. For me the blogs offer disciplined study as basic training for teaching and legal counseling. My blogs are: upstream Grahnlaw (in English), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish), as well as usually downstream the trilingual Grahnlaw Suomi Finland. If you are interested in European business, politics or law, we can get acquainted through Twitter @RalfGrahn or Facebook.

Saturday 5 February 2011

Busy week in Brussels: EU politics and governance

With the General Affairs Council (GAC), the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) and the European Council, it was a busy week in Brussels politics. Here is a roundup of my main blog posts (often the second on the same theme, downstream) about the meetings and reflections on governance, including openness and transparency.

There are, in addition to fairly extensive references to documents, critical assessments of how the EU institutions work, as well as positive comments about praiseworthy efforts to get EU citizens on board.

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: EU General Affairs Council 31 January 2011 (30 January 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland, in Swedish: Egypten anslöjar EU:s utrikespolitik (Utrikesrådet 31 januari 2011) (31 January 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland, in Finnish: EU:n yleisten asioiden neuvosto valmisteli Eurooppa-nevoston kokousta 4. helmikuuta 2011 (1 February 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Miracle of European Council conclusions (4 February 2011) (2 February 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland, in Swedish: EU-rådet mörkar samordningen av ekonomisk politik och budgetpolitik (3 February 2011)

Grahnlaw: European Semester and Annual Growth Survey: Governance by mushroom principle (3 February 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: European Council 4 February 2011: Main issues (4 February 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: European Council 4 February 2011: Energy (4 February 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: European Council 4 February 2011: Eurozone solutions? (4 February 2011)

Eurooppaoikeus, in Finnish: Eurooppa 2030 -hanke: Haasteet ja mahdollisuudet (5 February 2011)


In future blog posts we return to the results of the meeting of the European Council 4 February 2011.



Ralf Grahn


P.S. The multilingual aggregator Bloggingportal.eu brings you the posts from 737 Euroblogs, part of an emerging European public online space. Keep up to date and improve your language skills!

P.S. 2: I am happy if you want to read my Euroblogs, which aim to discuss legal and political issues relevant to European enterprises, jobs, employers and employees, consumers and citizens, especially in cross-border situations. Internal market reform (Single Market Act) and the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020 flagship initiatives) are going to be among the main themes, upstream on Grahnlaw (in English), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish), as well as usually downstream on the trilingual Grahnlaw Suomi Finland. If you are interested in European business, politics or law, we can get acquainted on Facebook and on Twitter @RalfGrahn.

Thursday 3 February 2011

European Semester and Annual Growth Survey: Governance by mushroom principle

The impact of these heartening messages from president Herman Van Rompuy would be even more positive if the (European) Council did less to keep EU citizens in the dark.


Annual Growth Survey

When the Commission presented the ”clear direction on where Europe should be heading in the next year, with ten pressing actions focussed on macro-economic stability and fiscal consolidation, structural reforms and growth-enhancing measures” (IP/11/22), it told us that the Annual Growth Survey consists of different parts:

1. Communication of the Commission: "Annual Growth Survey: towards a comprehensive response to the crisis".
The first part focuses on urgent key messages, which cover the fiscal, macro-economic and "thematic" areas. They represent a selection of issues, which should be addressed as a matter of priority by the Heads of State or Governments when they meet at the March European Council.

2. Progress Report on Europe 2020
It reviews the situation as regards the EU headline targets, the draft NRPs and the reform path envisaged by the Member States.

3. Macro-economic Report
It provides the macro-economic outlook and pinpoints measures that have the highest potential of delivering positive growth-enhancing effects.

4. Joint Employment Report
It reviews the employment situation and labour market related policies. It is also the basis for the "Joint Employment Report", to be adopted jointly by the Commission and the Council in accordance with article 148.5 (TFUE).

The Annual Growth Survey is accompanied by a:

5. Proposal for a Council Decision on employment guidelines.
This is a technical extension of the Employment guidelines adopted only a few months ago, to comply with a legal obligation of adopting such guidelines annually.

Finding the information

The first part, the communication from the Commission, is easy enough to find. On the legal portal Eur-Lex, 22 language versions are available, and among them in English:

Annual Growth Survey: advancing the EU's comprehensive response to the crisis; Brussels, 12.1.2010 COM(2011) 11 final (10 pages)


GAC: Findings and proposals

Monday, the General Affairs Council (GAC) took stock of implementation of the ”European Semester”, as a part of reformed EU economic governance. The Commission presented main findings of its first annual growth survey (Council document 18066/10) and the Hungarian presidency made proposals for implementation during the first part of the European Semester, while there is still need for added detail concerning the second phase, from 25 March 2011 (page 9):

3064th Council meeting General Affairs; Brussels, 31 January 2011 (document 5640/11)

It did not seem to trouble the ministers that the proposals and draft proposals were not presented to the public.

If we search the Council website, only the first part of the package is public, i.e. the communication COM(2011) 11 (Council document 18066/11), although even here the Council caused a raised eyebrow. At some point, for some reason, the communication had been reclassified from ”Limite” to ”Public”, meaning it too had been under wraps.

The other parts of the annual growth survey, the annexes dated 14 January 2011, and which are of real public interest, are not accessible:

Annex 1 Progress report on Europe 2020
Annex 2 Macro-economic report
Annex 3 Draft joint employment report



So much for openness and transparency. Instead of stimulating discussion about real issues and mobilising engagement for EU2020 and other economic reforms Europe sorely needs, the Council inexplicably continues to apply the mushroom principle, keeping EU citizens in shit and in the dark: Belgian EU Council presidency legacy (6 January 2011).

Sancta simplicitas!



Ralf Grahn



P.S. The Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union runs a fairly active blog, written in English by two officials, Urkuti György and Ódor Bálint. The two latest posts are relevant to the upcoming European Council meeting tomorrow, Friday.

P.S. 2: I am happy if you want to read my Euroblogs, which aim to discuss legal and political issues relevant to European enterprises, jobs, employers and employees, consumers and citizens, especially in cross-border situations. Internal market reform (Single Market Act) and the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020 flagship initiatives) are going to be among the main themes, upstream on Grahnlaw (in English), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish), as well as downstream on the trilingual Grahnlaw Suomi Finland. If you are interested in European business, we can get acquainted on Facebook and on Twitter @RalfGrahn.

Tuesday 1 February 2011

Immaculate conception of the European Council 4 February 2011

Ahead of the European Council ”summit” on Friday, 4 February 2011, we looked at the preparatory General Affairs Council (GAC) in the blog post: An energetic and innovative European Council? (29 January 2011).

Yesterday the foreign ministers and the ministers for Europe representing the EU member states laboured to bring us the following conclusions, currently available only in English:

3064th Council meeting General Affairs; Brussels, 31 January 2011 (asiakirja 5640/11)

(I have published some general GAC remarks in Finnish.)


Ensuring follow-up

According to Article 16(6) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), the General Affairs Council shall ensure the follow-up of meetings of the meetings of the European Council...

Yesterday's GAC left us with this memorable, elegant and enlightening sentence concerning the follow-up to the December 2010 meeting (page 8):

The Council took stock of the follow-up being given to the European Council's meeting on 16 and 17 December.

No need to burden the public with any explanations, clarifications, document references or links to relevant documents.

St Matthew knew: Neither cast ye your pearls before swine.

***

Just in passing, let it be known that the Council has provided us with an additional opportunity to ascertain the decisions to be followed in the first place. They have published, in English:

The European Council in 2010 (about 46 pages)

In the introductory part, president Herman Van Rompuy discusses the work of the European Council in 2010. The second part contains the conclusions of the six meetings in 2010, all conveniently in one place. The conclusions of the December meeting duly begin on page 42 for us to read.

The publication is available in Dutch, French and German as well.

Readers of other languages still find the conclusions on the web pages of the (European) Council, as before.


Preparation

Coordination and preparation are the GAC tasks indicated first in Article 16(6) TEU, so let us turn to the preparatory contribution yesterday: Preparation of the February meeting.

The first sentence of the conclusions of the General Affairs Council admirably bring us 'in medias res' (page 8):

The Council examined the draft conclusions for the European Council meeting to be held in Brussels on 4 February.

If we fast-forward to the concluding sentence, leaving out the chaff in between, we may marvel at:

Revised draft conclusions will be submitted to the European Council.

Despite drawing inspiration from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe, this is probably as close as you ever get to the miracle of transubstantiation or the immaculate conception in temporal affairs. Miraculously the immaterial draft conclusions turn into revised draft conclusions, unseen by the 'profanum vulgus', untouched by any agent.

Never mind that you would expect the proposals going in to the most important official institution of the European Union to be public knowledge and openly discussed well before the decisions, even guidelines, affecting 501 million people are taken.

Evidently, good governance does not start at the top.

As long as the European Council acts like a summit, the General Affairs Council remains a joke.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Blenderlaw is the enjoyable legal blog with a transnational twist, written by Caronline Bradley.


P.S. 2: I am happy if you want to read my Euroblogs. The internal market and the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020 flagship initiatives) are going to be among the main themes, upstream on Grahnlaw (in English), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish), as well as downstream on the trilingual Grahnlaw Suomi Finland. We can get acquainted on Facebook and on Twitter @RalfGrahn, too.