http://openeurope.blogactiv.eu Open Europe is an independent think tank contributing bold new thinking to the debate about the direction of the EU. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:21:49 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It seems that the lack of scrutiny for Parliament since the Lisbon Treaty came into effect is not restricted to the SWIFT agreement. Documents from the European Scrutiny Committee point that three additional measures have been limited to only four weeks scrutiny time because of the failure of Ministers to ... http://openeuropeblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/left-waiting.html The Spanish EU Presidency yesterday decided to shelve a vote on the proposed AIFM Directive on hedge funds and private equity due to "a last-minute intervention by Gordon Brown", according to the FT. The talks apparently stalled on British concerns over the protectionist elements of the Directive, which could see ... http://openeuropeblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/weve-been-here-before.html Today, the Lisbon Treaty has been in force for 100 days. The result? A more democratic and open EU? A Union which voters have an easier time understanding and identifying themselves with? Simpler and more 'streamlined' institutions? Not quite.On it's 100th day in force, the fundamental flaws of the ... http://openeuropeblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/nightmare-lisbon-treaty.html The German-led calls for an IMF-style bailout fund for the EU have caught most people on the hop, including the French, and the lack of detail suggests that the practicalities are only now being worked on inside the German Finance Ministry.French officials have said that there are two fundamental issues ... http://openeuropeblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/threat-or-opportunity.html More news on the eurozone front this weekend as we learned that France and Germany are preparing plans for an IMF-style European Monetary Fund (EMF). German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has said he will "present proposals soon" for a new eurozone institution that has "comparable powers of intervention" to the ... http://openeuropeblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/merkel-backs-imf-style-fund-for.html As riot police today were forced to use tear gas against violent crowds in Athens protesting against further Greek spending cuts to narrow the country's budget deficit (and save the eurozone), we recieved another reminder of German opposition to any cross-border rescue operation.Travelling to Germany today to meet with German ... http://openeuropeblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/karlsruhe-factor.html The EU's new Taxation Commissioner Algirdas Semeta has announced that he is planning to revive previously shelved plans for an EU-wide carbon tax, aiming to set a minimum levy of €10/tonne of CO2 emitted (although the exact level is a bit unclear) from energy sources such as petrol, coal, and ... http://openeuropeblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/taxing-questions.html A BBC documentary has revealed that Londoners will not benefit from a "pre-sale" of tickets for the Olympic games thanks to EU competition law, which prevents discrimination in favour of the host country. Despite having swallowed the increases on their council tax since 2006 in order to fund the games, ... http://openeuropeblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/great-clunking-fist.html Amid gloomy economic news about the state of Greece's public finances and impending austerity measures, former MEP and Greek singing legend Nana Mouskouri has today said she will donate her pension from her time as an MEP (1994-1999) to the public coffers to help Greece tackle its debt crisis.At around ... http://openeuropeblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/setting-good-example.html As the eurozone's flaws and weaknesses continue to manifest themselves in the midst of the Greek crisis, the appetite for the euro in Europe's far north is dminishing. In Denmark, the government has been forced to kick a referendum on the country joining the euro into the long-grass, following objections ... http://openeuropeblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/waking-up-to-smell-coffee.html