New Europe Print Edition Issue 993

NEWEUROPE19th Year of Publication | Number 993 | 1 - 7 July, 2012 | € 3.50 www.neurope.eu

BAKU – On 28 June, the Shah Deniz II

consortium selected the Nabucco West

pipeline for one of two possible routes to

carry Caspian gas to western Europe.

Two days earlier, Turkey and Azerbaijan

signed a contract for the construction of

the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline

(TANAP).

On 29 June, in a speech at the Crans

Montana Forum in Baku, Azerbaijan’s

President Ilham Aliyev said the agree-

ment between Azerbaijan and Turkey to

build TANAP “is one of the most impor-

tant of our energy policy”.

Elshad Nassirov, Vice President of

Azeri state oil company SOCAR, told

New Europe at the same venue that

“TANAP could be considered as a

breakthrough because it’s the first real

transportation deal which is connecting

the production and the consumption”.

Next year, Shah Deniz II is expected to

decide on the entire route for its gas and

whether it wants the last stage of the

journey to take a southern route through

Italy via the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline

(TAP) or a more northern route into

Austria via Nabucco West. Asked if

SOCAR prefers TAP or Nabucco,

Nassirov said they have different mar-

kets. He added that SOCAR and the

government of Azerbaijan need to stay

neutral noting that the producers or the

investors will decide which is the most

effective, commercial and profitable

route.

European Union leaders have agreed to

the formation of a single supervisory

mechanism for the Eurozone.

Following the European Council sum-

mit on 28 and 29 June, EU leaders have

agreed to short-term measures aimed at

stabilising countries under financial

pressure.

Speaking at the conclusion of the

meeting, European Commission presi-

dent, Jose Manuel Barroso said that the

European Council,and separate meeting

for the 17 member Eurozone countries

“delivered what our citizens, our interna-

tional partners and investors have been

asking for. It has delivered a robust set of

answers which should significantly

strengthen confidence in Europe's finan-

cial stability”.

His comments echoed the upbeat sen-

timents of European Council President,

Herman Van Rompuy’s from the previ-

ous night, when he said that EU leaders

had effectively ensured that the single

currency was “irreversible”.

Discussions dragged on longer than

expected after both Spain and Italy

threatened to withdraw support for a

growth and jobs pact, not seen as partic-

ularly contentious, as they pushed for a

direct fund for bailing out troubled

Eurozone banks, a fund that could also

be used for lowering debt costs.

They got what they wanted. In addi-

tion to the government leaders agreeing

to a supervisory mechanism, the

European Stability Mechanism (ESM),

which comes into force in July, is to be

used to recapitalise failing Eurozone

banks, without adding to the debt bur-

den of member states.

The summit agreed to increase the lend-

ing capacity of the European Investment

bank (EIB) to €60 billion, an overall

increase of €10bn. As part of an overall

package for growth and jobs, the EU has

added to this an allocation of unspent struc-

tural funds of €55bn, to be spent on youth

employment strategies and small and medi-

um-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as

€4.5bn in project bonds, money to be spent

on energy, transport and broadband infra-

structure initiatives. The Eurogroup have

been asked to implement the decisions of

the council by 9 July.

But will summit deal reassure markets?

Azerbaijan moves closer to EU gas market

· Page 3

Euro 'irreversible'POLITICSThe valuable Principalsthat kept American andEuropean States free &united for decades, are nowseriously threatened...

·Page 5

·Pages 12-13

ROMANIAThe last days in Romaniawere very hot and tensionedon the issue who could repre-sent the country to theEuropean Summit...

·Page 6

EU-USThe President of theInternational RepublicanInstitute (IRI), Lorne Craner,discusses relations between theEU and the US...

·Page 7

SECURITYFranco Frattini has outlinedthe five major principles thatwill be discussed by the EPP'sad-hoc working group on for-eign affairs...

·Page 8 Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy

and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso give a press conference after a second day

of the European Union leaders summit in Brussels on June 29, 2012. Leaders from the 17 Eurozone

countries sealed a dramatic deal to direct emergency measures at crisis-hit Italy and Spain and boost

the embattled economy, sending markets sharply upwards. |AFP PHOTO / GEORGES GOBET

Europe needs a common prosecutor andgreater integration if it is effectively tack-le cross-border fraud, Giovanni Kessler,Director General of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has said.Speaking to New Europe following apresentation at the European Parlia mentin Brussels, Kessler said that co-ordinat-ed actions between member states areoften effective, they are not enough in theongoing fight to combat fraud in theEuropean Union.

Prosecutor for Europe

·Page 9

Who needs themusic business?

5

CULTURE

ANALYSIS | New Europe NEW EUROPE1 - 7 July, 2012

NE 15 YEARS AGO

What happens when you decide to hold a press conference during the last 10 mins of the Euro 2012 quarter final?Journalists watch the match.

The Shooting Gallery

In 1997, three former soviet bloc nations were invited to join NATO, Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland. This wasachieved after loud protests from Moscow. The formal membership came two years later. At the 1997 NATO Summit,the three nations held a joint press conference, where they announced, "We see the invitation extended to our three statesas the beginning of the NATO' s enlargement process. On this very special day, we also think very much about other coun-tries aspiring for membership in NATO. It is our firm belief that NATO will gradually invite other European democra-cies that wish to join it and meet the criteria for membership. It is our intention to assist this process."

Not a matter of life and deathThe single currency has been saved; according to European

Council President, Herman Van Rompuy, the euro has

proved itself to be an irreversible financial and political

project. At the habitually dubbed ‘marathon’ discussions,

EU leaders talked long into the early hours of 29 June, cau-

tiously putting in place the beginnings of a banking union.

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which is due

to get going in July, will be used to recapitalise failing

banks and stabilise bond markets. The ability of the ESM

to fund banks without impacting on national debts will,

says Van Rompuy, break the “vicious circle” between banks

and governments.

Italy and Spain, seen as the culprits for allowing the talks

to drag on as long as they did after Mario Monti and

Mariano Rajoy stalled support for a growth pact, eventual-

ly got something of what they wanted after it was agreed

that the bailout fund can be used to lower both country’s

borrowing costs.

Monti said he was satisfied with the outcome of the deal,

and said that if Italy was indeed to ask for assistance under

the ESM, it would not amount to the same situation as

Greece, Ireland or Portugal. He said that the Troika will

not be visiting Rome any time soon. Also looking satisfied,

as noted by the national press, was Rajoy, finally getting

what he has wanted for a long time, direct recapitalisation

by a European fund.

The French financial newspaper, Les Echos, also noted the

show of strength by both governments, calling it ‘le coup de

force de l’Italie et L’ Espagne’, but, oddly, the German press

had a different interpretation. According to Sûddeutsche,

the ‘government agrees on immediate measures for Spain

and Italy’. Such, seemingly, is the magnamity of Berlin.

Following the ESM breakthrough, the Irish Prime

Minister, Enda Kenny, was in a hyperbolic mood, saying

that the meeting represented a “seismic shift” in European

policy. The deal is expected to bring with it some allevia-

tion of the terms of the Irish bailout.

Elsewhere, there were the usual squabbles, between

growth and austerity countries, Eurozone and non-euro-

zone members and France and Germany. This time there

was even the added attraction of Victor Ponta and Traian

Basescu, which may have accounted for the over-abun-

dance of Romanian journalists (prompting one Council

official to suggest they “are only here to watch the fight”),

and which led to one or two highly contorted press con-

ference questions.

Herman Van Rompuy’s first press conference of the night,

delayed long after it should have taken place, was badly-

timed; coming as it did minutes before the conclusion of

the European Championship semi-final football match

between Germany and Italy (to which we can add to the

list of spats). Unfortunately for him, the match was being

shown in the press bar, as a broadcast of his own event went

unnoticed. It wasn’t long before video footage of the inter-

ested spectators (interested in the match, that is) was doing

the rounds on the internet, in a way that recalled the for-

mer Liverpool manager, Bill Shankly’s famous quip that

“some people believe football is a matter of life and

death...I can assure you it is much, much more important

than that”.

As the euro was being preserved in one room, in another

life (and death) was being celebrated in all its combative,

partisan glory.

EDITOR

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ISSN number: 1106-8299

ANALYSISNew Europe |NEW EUROPE

1 - 7 July, 2012

European Union leaders have agreed to the for-mation of a single supervisory mechanism forthe Eurozone.

Following the European Council summit on28 and 29 June, EU leaders have agreed toshort-term measures aimed at stabilising coun-tries under financial pressure.

Speaking at the conclusion of the meeting,European Commission president, Jose ManuelBarroso said that the European Council,andseparate meeting for the 17 member Eurozonecountries “delivered what our citizens, our in-ternational partners and investors have beenasking for. It has delivered a robust set of an-swers which should significantly strengthenconfidence in Europe's financial stability”.

His comments echoed the upbeat sentimentsof European Council President, Herman VanRompuy’s from the previous night, when hesaid that EU leaders had effectively ensuredthat the single currency was “irreversible”.

“We have agreement on a compact forgrowth and jobs that turns words into concreteaction and into financing commitments, and itsets out the levers for mobilising funds”, Bar-roso said. “We have also recognition that wecannot separate the debate on growth from thedebate on the EU budget.”

He added that the EU has reached a “con-vincing vision” for economic union. We have “aclear commitment to a banking union”, whichwill be “designed in a way that fully respects theintegrity of the single market. At the same time,we recognise that there are member states that

will not want to participate in some areas thatare predominantly linked to membership of theeuro, now or in the future.”

Discussions dragged on longer than expectedafter both Spain and Italy threatened to with-draw support for a growth and jobs pact, notseen as particularly contentious, as they pushedfor a direct fund for bailing out troubled Euro-zone banks, a fund that could also be used forlowering debt costs.

They got what they wanted. In addition tothe government leaders agreeing to a supervi-sory mechanism, the European Stability

Mechanism (ESM), which comes into force inJuly, is to be used to recapitalise failing Euro-zone banks, without adding to the debt burdenof member states.

The summit agreed to increase the lendingcapacity of the European Investment bank(EIB) to €60 billion, an overall increase of€10bn. As part of an overall package for growthand jobs, the EU has added to this an allocationof unspent structural funds of €55bn, to bespent on youth employment strategies andsmall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),as well as €4.5bn in project bonds, money to be

spent on energy, transport and broadband in-frastructure initiatives

The Eurogroup have been asked to imple-ment the decisions of the council by 9 July.

A statement issued on behalf of the Eu-rogroup asked “the Council to consider theseProposals as a matter of urgency by the end of2012. When an effective single supervisorymechanism is established, involving the ECB,for banks in the euro area the ESM could, fol-lowing a regular decision, have the possibilityto recapitalize banks directly. This would relyon appropriate conditionality, including com-pliance with state aid rules, which should be in-stitution specific, sector-specific oreconomy-wide and would be formalised in aMemorandum of Understanding. The Eu-rogroup will examine the situation of the Irishfinancial sector with the view of further im-proving the sustainability of the well-perform-ing adjustment programme. Similar cases willbe treated equally”.

In addition, the Council agreed to concludenegotiations on the multi-annual financialframework (MFF) by the end of the year. “TheMFF discussions are always interesting politi-cal negotiations. They are not just about howmuch we can spend and where the moneycomes from, but also where we spend it andhow we spend it. They are about more than justmoney”, Van Rompuy said after the meeting.

Negotiations on the MFF will continuein October, and are due to conclude inDecember.

EUROZONE

EU agrees first steps to banking unionMonti and Rajoy get their way

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy arrives for a press conference after a second day of the European

Union leaders summit in Brussels on 29 June 29. | AFP PHOTO/JOHN THYS

EU leaders have agreed to support therecapitalisation of European bankswithout increasing government debt.

Following lengthy discussions at theEuropean Council, Herman VanRompuy, council president, announcedthat leaders had agreed on a new €10billion capital injection for the Euro-pean Central bank (ECB), as well as€60bn in unused structural funds to beused for tackling youth unemployment,and the creation of €4.5bn worth ofproject bonds for infrastructural im-provements. The European StabilityMechanism (ESM), he said, wouldnow be able to lend directly to troubledbanks without adding to governmentdebt. He also said an EU-wide super-visory body would be created.

Speaking after the nigh time session,Van Rompuy said that he believedleaders had come to a good conclusion.Earlier, both Italy and Spain had beenstalling discussions on the €120bn

growth pact, in return for support forshort-term measures aimed at easingthe cost of credit.

According to Van Rompuy, the dealreached ensures that the single currencyis now “an irreversible project”.

On the issue of growth and employ-ment, EU leaders had “a good discus-sion”, according to Van Rompuy,something that European ParliamentPresident, Martin Schulz, had spokenabout earlier to mixed reactions.

As widely anticipated, an injection ofcash into promoting growth and jobswas announced by Van Rompuy,amounting to €120 billion, €10bn ofwhich will come from the EuropeanInvestment Bank (EIB), and the onlypart of the package that can be trulydeemed ‘new’ money.

The growth agenda, he said, signals,the EU’s “unrelenting commitment” toEurope’s financial future. He addedthat an agreement on the future fiscalpolicy of the European Union wouldbe completed before the year’s end.

ECONOMY

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By Cillian Donnelly

| New Europe NEW EUROPE

ANALYSIS1 - 7 July, 2012

BERKELEY – We economists who aresteeped in economic and financial history – andaware of the history of economic thought con-cerning financial crises and their effects – havereason to be proud of our analyses over the pastfive years. We understood where we were head-ing, because we knew where we had been.

In particular, we understood that the rapidrun-up of house prices, coupled with the exten-sion of leverage, posed macroeconomic dangers.We recognized that large bubble-driven lossesin assets held by leveraged financial institutionswould cause a panicked flight to safety, and thatpreventing a deep depression required active of-ficial intervention as a lender of last resort.

Indeed, we understood that monetarist cureswere likely to prove insufficient; that sovereignsneed to guarantee each others’ solvency; andthat withdrawing support too soon impliedenormous dangers. We knew that premature at-tempts to achieve long-term fiscal balancewould worsen the short-term crisis – and thusbe counterproductive in the long-run. And weunderstood that we faced the threat of a joblessrecovery, owing to cyclical factors, rather thanto structural changes.

On all of these issues, historically-mindedeconomists were right. Those who said thatthere would be no downturn, or that recoverywould be rapid, or that the economy’s real prob-lems were structural, or that supporting theeconomy would produce inflation (or highshort-term interest rates), or that immediate fis-cal austerity would be expansionary were wrong.Not just a little wrong. Completely wrong.

Of course, we historically-minded economistsare not surprised that they were wrong. We are,however, surprised at how few of them havemarked their beliefs to market in any sense. Onthe contrary, many of them, their reputationsunder water, have doubled down on those be-liefs, apparently in the hope that events will, foronce, break their way, and that people might thusbe induced to forget their abysmal forecastingtrack record. So the big lesson is simple: trustthose who work in the tradition of Walter Bage-hot, Hyman Minsky, and Charles Kindleberger.That means trusting economists like Paul Krug-man, Paul Romer, Gary Gorton, Carmen Rein-hart, Ken Rogoff, Raghuram Rajan, LarrySummers, Barry Eichengreen, Olivier Blan-chard, and their peers. Just as they got the recentpast right, so they are the ones most likely to getthe distribution of possible futures right. But we

– or at least I – have gotten significant compo-nents of the last four years wrong. Three thingssurprised me (and still do). The first is the fail-ure of central banks to adopt a rule like nominalGDP targeting or its equivalent. Second, I ex-pected wage inflation in the North Atlantic tofall even farther than it has – toward, even if notto, zero. Finally, the yield curve did not steepensharply for the United States: federal funds ratesat zero I expected, but 30-Year US Treasurybonds at a nominal rate of 2.7% I did not. Thefailure of central banks to target nominal GDPgrowth remains incomprehensible to me, and Iwill not write about it until I think that I haveunderstood the reasons. As for wages, even withone-third of the US labor force changing jobsevery year, sociological factors and human-net-work ties appear to exercise an even stronger in-fluence on the level and rate of change – at theexpense of balancing supply and demand – thanI would have expected.

The third surprise, however, may be the mostinteresting. Back in March 2009, the Nobel lau-reate Robert Lucas confidently predicted that theUS economy would be back to normal withinthree years. A normal US economy has a short-term nominal interest rate of 4%. Since the ten-year US Treasury bond rate tends to be onepercentage point above the average of expectedfuture short-term interest rates over the nextdecade, even the expectation of five years of deepdepression and near-zero short-term interestrates should not push the 10-Year Treasury rate

below 3%. Indeed, the Treasury rate mostly fluc-tuated between 3% and 3.5% from late 2008through mid-2011. But, in July 2011, the ten-year US Treasury bond rate crashed to 2%, and itwas below 1.5% at the start of June. The normalrules of thumb would say that the market is nowexpecting 8.75 years of near-zero short-term in-terest rates before the economy returns to nor-mal. And similar calculations for the 30-yearTreasury bond show even longer and moreanomalous expectations of continued depression.

The possible conclusions are stark. One pos-sibility is that those investing in financial mar-kets expect economic policy to be sodysfunctional that the global economy will re-main more or less in its current depressed statefor perhaps a decade, or more. The only otherexplanation is that even now, more than threeyears after the US financial crisis erupted, fi-nancial markets’ ability to price relative risks andreturns sensibly has been broken at a deep level,leaving them incapable of doing their job: bear-ing and managing risk in order to channel sav-ings to entrepreneurial ventures. Neitheralternative is something that I would have pre-dicted – or even imagined.

J. Bradford DeLong, a former deputy assistantsecretary of the US Treasury, is Professor ofEconomics at the University of California atBerkeley and a research associate at the Na-tional Bureau for Economic Research.Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2012.

POLITICS

The perils of prophecy

There has been a serious backlash inresponse to the European Commis-sion’s ill-fated video, “Science: it’s a girlthing” since it was released, andhastily withdrawn, late last week. Thevideo, which was supposed to en-courage more women to take up ca-reers in science, has been roundlycriticised as sexist, demeaning andcounter-productive. Rather thanweigh in on that debate, I prefer tofocus on the underlying issues whichcontribute to women being under-represented in the scientific profes-sion, particularly in developingcountries. It may sound obvious, butbefore a girl can fulfill her dream ofbecoming a scientist, she needs to ful-fill her dream of going to school inthe first place. Unfortunately, girls indeveloping countries do not alwayshave this opportunity: around theworld, there are 75 million girls out ofprimary and lower secondary school.

For several reasons, girls are unableto exercise their right to receive, andbenefit from, education. Young andfemale, they face dual challenges andare discriminated against in virtuallyevery area of life. They are more likelyto suffer from malnutrition; be forced

into an early marriage; be subject toviolence or intimidation; be trafficked,sold or coerced into the sex trade; orbecome infected with HIV.

The unique barriers that girls faceare particularly pronounced duringtheir adolescence, as girls approachadulthood. For example, they are atgreater risk of experiencing sexual vi-olence, harassment and abuse whichoften goes unpunished and is one ofthe main challenges preventing girlsfrom enjoying the same educationalrights as boys. It limits girls’ enrol-ment, undermines participation and

achievement, and increases girls’ ab-senteeism and dropout rates, mean-ing that they are less likely tocomplete secondary education - thevery years girls would be making de-cisions about their future careers, suchas whether to study science.

Harmful gender stereotypes, rein-forced either consciously or subcon-sciously both at home and at school,constrain girls’ lives and prevent themfrom fulfilling their potential. Ifteachers or others falsely communi-cate that girls are less capable of learn-ing subjects traditionally regarded as

being “more appropriate” for boys,such as science, mathematics and en-gineering, confidence dips and girlsare more likely to lose interest in pur-suing these paths.

We need to break this pattern ofgender stereotyping if we are tochange this picture. Educating girls isone of the most powerful tools inbreaking the cycle of poverty and se-curing long-term, sustainable and in-clusive development. Research showsthat if adolescent girls stay in schooland obtain real skills, they will earnmore in future, marry later, and havefewer and healthier children.

Teachers and parents have an im-portant role to play in enabling andencouraging girls to attend schooland, from there, learn the skills theyneed to succeed in life. To help ensuregirls stay in school, and learn some-thing while they are there, we need tochanges attitudes, create safe environ-ments and provide girls with positiverole models to look up to.

When schools are more girl-friendly, it encourages full and activeparticipation in the classroom, build-ing the self-confidence to take onsubjects like science.

This means looking the school interms of the relationships within it,and considering whether resources,such as desks and textbooks, are dis-

tributed equitably and fairly. Everygirl, every child, has the right to a safeschool environment, and we mustwork with duty-bearers at all levels –global, regional, national and local –to uphold this right. Girls also bene-fit from having people to aspire to. In-creasing the number of female scienceteachers, for example, can spark girls’interest and challenge the notion thatit’s not “a girl thing”.

Through our Because I am a Girlcampaign, we aim to improve thelives of 400 million girls through pol-icy change in support of genderequality and girls’ rights, including theright to receive a quality education.Educated girls are empowered girls.Education allows them to transformtheir own lives and the lives of thosearound them.

Yes, science is a girl thing, for girlseverywhere, but real improvements ingender equality and girls’ rights are re-quired before we are likely to see morewomen in the scientific profession. Ifthe EU is serious about bucking thetrend, it should start by making gen-der and education the red linethrough its 2014-2020 budget for ex-ternal action, rather than investing inill-advised gimmicks.

Karen Schroh is Head of the EU Office at Plan International

EDUCATION

Science: It’s a girl thing - so is school

A young girl plays 'Paper, Scissors, Rock ' with BERTI, a robot developed by UK labs

at the Science Museum, London, Britain|EPA

By Karen Schroh

By J. Bradford DeLong

ANALYSIS

New Europe |NEW EUROPE1 - 7 July, 2012

“Life’s Greatest Treasure Lies in Human Per-sonality and Dignity regardless of Nationality orReligion”!

These valuable Principals that kept Americanand European States free & united for decades,are now seriously threatened by the “Cannibaliza-tion” of Democracy that has been initiated by the“Masters of World Economy”!

The “Masters of World Economy” consist oftwo main Groups of people who control tightlythe following Universal Centers of Influence:

1) The “Multinational Trusts” who Monopolizealmost all Goods and Services and

2) Certain “Financial Trusts” who Monopolizethe Circulation of Money and all InvestmentProducts and their Derivatives. They also controlall three “Rating Companies” who “ExclusivelyRate” the financial status of Countries and Cor-porations.

The first Group, Monopolizes the War Indus-try, Energy, Telecommunications, Food, Chemi-cals, Pharmaceuticals and other Industries that areCrucial in maintaining the Survivorship of all So-cieties.

The second Group, Monopolizes the Produc-tion and Circulation of Money and Manipulatesto a great extend all Investment “products” and“CDS’s”

“Multinational Trusts”“Multinational Trusts” do not like “Surprises”!

This is why they are always prepared to face, eventhe most far-fetched scenarios!

These logical fears that could effect any of us,forced these Universal Powerful Centers of Influ-ence to start Cooperating at least to the level offacing common enemies. This is the reason theymanaged to create “Trusts” and support them byfinancing heavily their “Corpotate Lobbying” inWashington and Brussels.

The “MWE” and their Golden Boys, mainlythe Politicians, exploited the complexities of theSciences of Law and Government, and instead ofprotecting the members of Societies who are notfamiliar with these “Complexities”, they abusedthem to cover up their Dictatorial Tacticts!

Everyone knows that everything can be legallyand convincingly described, positively or nega-tively with numerous hypothesis and reasoning.

This was the first Intentional “Cannibalization”of Democracy that converted our Democratic So-cieties into Camouflaged “Parliamentary Dicta-torships”! Dictatorships say: We Decide andOrder. Bribed Parliements say: We Decide andLegalize!

“Financial Trusts”The second Group that consist the “Masters of

World Economy” are the “Financial Trusts”. Thecontrolling shareholders of the “FT” are the sameIndividuals who control the shares of all saidMultinational Industrial and Trade Conglomer-ates. A swiss study that took years to be completedrevealed that 145 families control the same num-ber of parent companies of most Industrial, Trade,Service Organizations and Financial Institutionsin the world.

They monopolize exclusively the Productionand Circulation of Money, mainly the two mostpowerful currencies, the US Dollar and the Euroand in addition, they control the fluctuation of theprices of precious metals, such as “Gold”, “Silver”etc. Having the absolute monopoly on the circu-lation of Money, they have created and imposed toall Societies exrhobitant costs, not only to guar-antee their huge profits, but in order to haveenough money to bribe anyone who stands on theway. Their main Crime against Society is that themembers of the “Masters of World Economy”have been carried away by their “Greed” and man-aged to convince Societies and Corrupt Govern-ments that “Unlimited Borrowing” for LivingExpenses and for a “Country’s Operational Ex-penses” is “OK”!

Naturally, now Societies have totally under-stood, that this type of lending money to any one,without any assessment of his economic ability torepay back his loans, was consciously intentionaland motivated by two specific ulterior unethicalmotives:

First, to control the country-borrower and con-fiscate “legally” its estate and wealth, and Second,to Reinforce their world Dominance 100%.

This practice must be outlawed as soon as pos-sible. The Lender must face serious consequenseswhenever he lends Money to Individuals, Corpo-rations or Countries, knowing that the BorrowedMoney cannot be repaid back!

Greece and the rest of the PIGS countriesDear Citizen of the European Union:Please, do not blame the Greek People for the

Economic problems the European Union is fac-ing. Our real enemies hide in some boardroomswhere we cannot reach them, nor influence themor harm them in any way whatsoever.

The only thing we can do, however, is to callupon their Humanity, because we do believe theypossess it, and remind them that history that willeffect their children and grand children is beingwritten as it happens! Since the names of thesesuper powerful individuals have been circulating

worldwide through the Internet, we do no thinkthey want to be described as Cruel & Inhumanwho allowed their “Greed” to destroy the onlyDemocracy the world has experienced.

Every Citizen of the western Societies does be-lieve in “Capitalism” and “Free Enterprise” as bothproved to be the only “Cells” of Democracy thatproduce “Wealth” in a fairly Just manner, not cost-ing Anything to Anyone! They only “offer bene-fits” to Society!

It is therefore very dangerous to observe theseextremely useful Enterprises metabolizing them-selves in Hungry Animals who are outfor…Blood!

2,500 Greek family men have committed Sui-cide during the last six months! And hundred ofthousands more have been guided out of businessby our Irresponsible and Corrupt Politicians whoare fully supported by Greece’s Suppliers ofWeapons, Oil, Chemicals, Food, Medicines etc.

It is therefore a paradox to hear German andother European Politicians to criticize Greeks fornot being able to put their house in order and or-ganize their Economy, when they are the oneswho are Bribing Greek Politicians for decades inorder to sell their weapons and hundreds of otherGerman Products and Services. Everyone inBrussels knows, one by one, all Greek CorruptPoliticians and they also know that most of themhave been re-elected recently during the June 17,2012 Elections, because they managed to terror-ize Greeks with the threat that if they do not votefor them,Greece will be thrown out of the EU!

If the German Leadership was really interestedin keeping the European Union together, protectits financial stability and help Greece get out ofthe trap, it was their duty to reveal the names ofall corrupt Greek Politicians who were named ina list that was filed in the German Courts by theex CEO of Siemens in Greece, Christoforakos!Such a move would have cleared Greece of mostof their corrupt Politicians and would give Greecea new chance to put its finances in order. Onewould expect effective Government Procedures,such as Germany’s or Norways’s, to be offered tothe new Government of Greece and to othercountry members, in order to speed up all thenecessary reforms that are now garded tightly bythe present Political parties and their associates!These simple steps could fight corruption to itsroutes and produce Wealth that can reduce thecontinuous disastrous Borrowing that guidedGreece to Bancrupsy. The European Goal mustbe to support the “Production of Wealth” - not“Borrowing Wealth” just because the Banks ac-quire billions in profits disregarding the destruc-tion of Societies.

Such Hypocrisy cannot be easily bypassed!It is in the hands of the Leaders of the Euro-

pean Union to create “True Democratic Princi-pals” that the Ancient Greek Philosophers offeredthe world. The permanent European Goal shouldbe one and only:

To constantly find Ways to Secure and Protectthe Human State-Citizen from the HumanState-Authority.

The biggest enemy of Democracy is the ex-tremely powerful “Subjectivity” that controls man’sway of thinking and acting.

Numerous Research Studies in the USA and inEurope in reference to all “Corporate Social Re-sponsibility” Activities produced this revolutionarymessage: If you really intend to convince us thatyou do Care for “Society’s” Needs, you must placein your Strategic Goal, “Society” next to your“Profits”!

(Cover story of Harvard Business Review, Jan-uary/February issue, 2011, We must correct Cap-italism. by Michael Porter and Mark Kramer).

In Greece, for instance, the “System” has extin-guished the meaning of Democracy by applyingthe known, “Party Discipline” to the members ofthe Parliament of the party that is in Power andforces them to vote all bills the Party is submittingfor approval. Any member who refuges to com-promise is automatically thrown out of the party.The members of Parliament that belong to theparty that is in power, do not have the right to ex-ercise their own judgement! Unbelievable as itsounds, it happens to be absolutely true.

Another very provocative fact that “Cannibal-ized” the Greek Democarcy” is that the “System”dictates that the majority of the members of allParliamentary Committees, that are formed to in-vestigate scandals, must consist of members of theparty that is in power, that is supposedly under in-vestigation!

The “System” also, has stripped the Judicialbody of Greece from all Prosecuting and Investi-gating Powers that are related to Governmentaland Parliamentary members and has assignedthem to the…. Parliament! Further more in orderto make it absolutely impossible to send any offi-cial to court they limited provocatively the inves-tigating periods of time, guiding thus all cases tobe erased for ever!

New Europe must adopt common contempo-rary Principals that must be adopted by all Coun-try-Members. These Principals will guarantee theapplication of “True Democracy” as the famoustext of Baron de Montesquieu “The Spirit ofLaw” explained the meaning of the true Separa-tion of the Three Powers of Democracy. This isthe only way to limit the corruption that is goingon for decades with the use of bribing Politiciansand influence the Law Makers by the use of“Corporate Lobbying”

The way “Democracy” operates nowadays inmost European Countries has been “Cannibal-ized” exactly for this reason: Absolute Separation& Absolute Autonomy of the three Powers ofDemocracy does not exist in any EuropeanCountry! (Government, Law Makers, Judicial).This enabled “Corporate Lobbying” to infect“Democracy” to day’s levels.

A simple and effective Method of Control thatwould be difficult to manipulate, would be to es-tablish Two out of the Three Powers of Democ-racy to be Constitutionally Authorized on arotating basis, to control each one of the ThreePowers, with Prosecuting and Judging Powers, sothat, all Powers will become subject to severe equalcontrols and face penalties whenever they proveto abuse the powers the Citizens are grantingthem.

Phillip Morakis is Past President, New York CityJaycees Foundation, Corp.

POLITICS

How democracy has been cannibalisedAn open letter to European Citizens

By Phillip Morakis

Roman Emperor Polyvius (one of the best) under the

influence of Aristoteles, Plato and others, had separated

the separation of powers (legislative, executive, judiciary).



The last days in Romania were veryhot and tensioned on the issue whocould represent the country to theEuropean Summit: Prime Minister orthe President. Traian Basescu hasproven time and again that he is inca-pable of cooperating to advanceRomania’s interests. The president isonly interested in fostering a climate ofhate and mistrust and does not act foradvancing Romania’s interests.

The president disregards the mes-sage that the citizens of Romania havesent him, after they voted in an over-whelming proportion the candidatesof the ruling coalition in the recentlocal elections. He is mustering all hisstrength and influence with the Con-stitutional Court judges in order toprevent a young progressive leader tosupport the growth measures Europeneeds in order to overcome the eco-nomic crisis. The president has man-aged, with help from the judges henominated to the Constitutional

Court, to transform a semi-presiden-tial republic into a presidential dicta-torship. His vainglorious ambitions isthe sole cause of the dirty campaignorchestrated to prevent the legitimateGovernment, supported by almost60% of the electorate and by a Parlia-

mentary motion granting it a politicalmandate, to represent Romania withdignity and in good faith at the Euro-pean Council.

We wonder what European credi-bility retains a president that does nothave the support of the Government,

a democratic and transparent mandatefrom the Parliament and the trust of90% of the citizens.

The recent weeks can be consideredthe pinnacle of Basescu’s disregard fordemocratic values and norms. Theinstitutions he or his proxies controlare doing the utmost to block legalinquiries into the illegalities commit-ted by his closest allies and friends.

Romania is facing a huge socialproblem as a result of the president’spolicies. The austerity measures he hassupported have led to a drastic increaseof poverty and inequality. The presi-dent is supporting the same hatefuland divisive policies that have broughtRomanians on the brink of underde-velopment and hardship. USL is try-ing to show Romanian citizens thereare still reasons for hoping that thingscan change and that a fairer and lesscorrupt society can truly be built.

The Prime Minister Victor Pontais fresh from a reunion of the SocialistGroup in the European Union, whichtook place in Bucharest. The meeting

was considered a success and thePrime Minister was greeted as one ofthe politicians of the future. All themore, he is regarded as a leader of thepresent, who has the political will tosupport alternative projects forEurope’s recovery.

Ponta’s presence in the EuropeanCouncil has a very important meaningfor the European Union as well as forRomania: the shift towards growthpolicies gains an important supporterat the table where capital decisions aremade for the future of the EU. Upuntil now, President Basescu has qui-etly and obediently backed austerity inBruxelles, going back home to applycruel bloody austerity policies throughhis government. Now, Victor Pontawants to voice his cabinet’s will to backand apply a different view and policies,based on stimulating growth and cre-ating jobs.

Corina Cretu is Vice President ofthe S&D Group in the EuropeanParliament

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta leaves after the first day of the European

Union leaders summit in Brussels on 29 June, 2012 | AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYS

By Corina Cretu MEP

POLITICS

Romania is side-tracked by the President’s ambitionPonta’s presence in the European Council means more support for growth policies

New Europe speaks with Serge Brammertz,Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tri-bunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

You just met the MEP’s for an update onyour work, how is it going with the cooperationprocess in the countries of the formerYugoslavia?

I had a meeting in the EP with the AFETCommittee to provide an update on theprogress in trials and appeals, the cooperationprovided by the countries of the formerYugoslavia to our office and progress of warcrimes prosecutions in these countries, whichmy office is actively supporting. I took theopportunity to thank the European Union, itsinstitutions and Member States, for the supportprovided to my office and called for the contin-ued assistance to national war crimes prosecu-tions in the former Yugoslavia.

Our court is still very busy, with eight trialswith 17 accused currently ongoing, includingthe cases against Mladic and Karadzic. To sup-port these trials, we rely on cooperation of States,in particular, from Serbia, Croatia and BiH, toobtain access to documents, archives and wit-nesses. In our latest report of May to the UNSecurity Council, we stated that the day to daycooperation of States of the former Yugoslaviawith my office fully met expectations. The mainobstacle in the past years in Serbia’s cooperation,the non arrest of the fugitives, has now been

removed. However, we have asked Serbia tointensify its investigation to determine howICTY fugitives could evade justice for so long.We would like to know if ICTY accused havereceived support from state officials. Withregard to Bosnia, we remain concerned aboutthe slow progress of the so called ‘national warcrimes strategy’, which was adopted in 2008with the aim of developing an updated central-ized record of war crimes cases and prosecutingall war crimes cases within a set timeframe.There are still hundreds of cases to be prosecut-ed in relation to more than 2000 persons. It’s

clear that political support will be needed with-in the country and from outside but moreresources are also needed - that is additionalqualified prosecutors and more investigators tobring those cases to an end.

Can Europe still play an important role onhelping the tribunal?

Having been in the position of Prosecutor ofthe ICTY during the past four and a half years,I’m convinced that the incentives that the EUhas put in place, and in particular the condition-ality policy of linking the EU enlargementprocess with the full cooperation with the tribu-nal, has been a very efficient tool. The EU’sICTY conditionality policy has been a criticalfactor which contributed to the arrests of allremaining fugitives, including Karadzic, Mladicand Hadzic. This policy will remain essential toensure that these countries continue to cooper-ate with the Tribunal and thereby adhere to therule of law.

Which was the most difficult part of your jobon the field?

Before joining the ICC as a Deputy Prosecu-tor in 2002, I worked for 15 years as a prosecu-tor in Belgium. There are differences with workat the international level. At the national level, ifa crime is committed you normally have directaccess to the crime scene, you have ready accessto the resources you need, you work within aclear legal framework and, finally, you will havethe necessary support from the political level

and public opinion. The situation is very differ-ent in the context of international investigations.For example, when investigating the Srebrenicagenocide, due to security reasons, it took morethan a year for the first ICTY investigator tophysically access the crime scene. This of coursehad a negative impact on the ability to secureevidence. We also have a limited number ofinvestigators we could send to the places wherecrimes were committed and we are working incountries where unfortunately many of thoseprosecuted in The Hague, are still considered asheroes.. Finally, I believe that the most impor-tant challenge over the years has been to con-vince the countries from the former Yugoslaviato agree to cooperate with our office, in particu-lar, to the arrest of the fugitives.

Talking about the Mladic trial, which is theroad map?

The trial against Ratko Mladic started on 16May with the opening statement of the prose-cution. The presentation of the evidence willstart on 9 July, with the testimony of the firstwitness; a victim who witnessed crimes com-mitted in Bosnia in 1992. The trial may be com-pleted by the end of 2014, when the Tribunal isexpected to close. If there is an appeal, it will behandled by the so called ‘residual mechanism’which is the organisation which will take oversome of the remaining functions of the ICTY.As the Tribunal is entering the final phase of itswork, the emphasis on domestic war crimesprosecutions and the challenges they face willincrease. We need to ensure that our colleagueprosecutors in the States of the formerYugoslavia continue to have access to our largedatabase of documents, which has some ninemillion pages of documents, and ensure thatthey are effectively used to prosecute war crimescases at the national level.

Serge Brammertz, Prosecutor for the International

Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at

a press conference in Scheveningen, The Netherlands, 22

July 2011. | EPA/EVERT-JAN DANIELS

By Federico Grandesso

INTERVIEW|SERGE BRAMMERTZ

Balkans war trials; the long road to justiceProsecutor: ‘the problem is the low intensity investigation by Serbia’’

ANALYSISNew Europe |

NEW EUROPE1 - 7 July, 2012

The President of the International Re-

publican Institute (IRI), Lorne Craner,

in an exclusive interview with New

Europe discussed the relations be-

tween the EU and the US. He stressed

the need to improve relations between

the US and Europe, as natural allies

and partners in the changing world.

Craner was visiting Brussels as a

part of the traditional Transatlantic

Think-Tank Conference co-organised

by the IRI and the think-tank of the

European People's Party (EPP), the

Centre for European Studies.

Craner, who was a part of the US

State Department under Colin Pow-

ell, emphasised that the transatlantic

relationship has not been on the suffi-

cient level since 1990s, with little being

done in the new millennium to im-

prove it. “What I observed during the

Bush administration was that when

you don't talk to people, than you

don't understand them”, he pointed

out and added that communication is

the key to transatlantic co-operation.

The IRI president stressed that the

initiative he and the EPP president

Wilfried Martens started in 2005 is

aimed at “trying to mend together the

relationship”. He underlined that the

fabric of the relationship started tear-

ing before the Bush administration,

during nineties, “it tore a lot more dur-

ing Bush, it was not mended by

Obama”.

He pointed out that both the EU

and the US have spent too much time

arguing over 15% of issues they dis-

agree on instead of focussing on the

85% which they fully agree on.

Craner rejected the recent statement

of the European Commission Presi-

dent, José Manuel Barroso, that the

US is responsible for the current Eu-

rozone crisis, saying those two crisis

are not “completely unrelated” but that

there were factors in Europe which got

“the crisis going here that had nothing

to do with the US”.

“Greeks not paying taxes has noth-

ing to do with Americans buying

houses that they couldn't afford. It is

the same motivation, but they are also

two separate crisis”, he said. The IRI

president also criticised the US Presi-

dent Barack Obama for blaming the

crisis in Europe on the lack of a tangi-

ble economic recovery in the country.

“On both sides of the Atlantic,

everybody is figuring out you can't

have too much debt,” Craner said, and

added that the solution is “to get con-

trol over the public spending such that

you can decrease debt”.

Referring to a potential EU-US free

trade agreement, as a means to boost

economies on both sides of the At-

lantic, Craner said that the Republi-

cans have always been in favour of free

trade as long as the terms “are negoti-

ated correctly”.

The IRI president also reflected on

the potential for a joint transatlantic

approach to the Arab spring, empha-

sising that democratisation is a long

process and that societies in Northern

Africa and the Middle East should not

be judged a year later if “after the cen-

turies of dictatorship, they couldn't get

it right”. “I've said it since the first day

in Tunisian streets and Tahrir square

that this is a 10, to 15 to 20 year tran-

sition,” he stressed.

Craner pointed out that if the West

is not prepared to invest a couple of

decades in the democratisation

processes in Arab spring countries,

“Iranians, Saudis and others will be

happy to take our place”. He empha-

sised that “it's really important for the

west to be engaged, that we work with

people who share our values”, and “to

make sure there will be second, and

third and forth elections”.

He underlined that “when the US

and Europe work together...and in-

volve people from whatever region,

there is very little we cannot get done,

whereas the Europe or the US on its

own would have a much harder time”.

Arguing in favour of a steady long-

term democratisation strategy for the

region, Craner also denounced the ar-

guments that Islamic nations could

only be democratised and secularised

under the military dictatorships or

with the high level of military involve-

ment in civil affairs, as it was the case

with Turkey.

He rejected the arguments that it

would be impossible to have democ-

racy in MENA countries, due to dif-

ferences in mentality and religion. “I

used to hear the same thing about

Latin Americans, that the Catholic

church created the system, that they

could never have democracy. I studied

Asia when I was young, I was always

told that the Confucianism and the

fact they grew rice communally would

mean they could never have democ-

racy. I just dislike the idea that some-

how the people in Middle East are

completely different mentality than

the rest of the world and therefore

cannot have democracy,” Craner said.

INTERVIEW|LORNE CRANER

IRI president urges closer EU-US co-operation

By Ivan Delibasic

The President of the International Republican Institute (IRI), Lorne Craner |Centre for European Studies | DAVID PLAS PHOTOGRAPHY

At the age of 16, following years of racist taunts fromneighbouring kids and unwanted – and unwarranted -attention from the police, Maajid Nawaz decided tobecome an “Islamist”. It gave him, he says in his up-coming autobiography Radical, an assertive new iden-tity that brought him respect amongst the gangs ofSouthend, UK, where he grew up. It also led him to theradical group Hizb al-Tahrir, to thirteen years of lifecommitted to the cause, imprisonment in Egypt, and,eventually, a life beyond fundamentalism. Now he leadsthe counter-extremism think tank Quilliam, advisesgovernment ministers on tackling extremist Islam andworks to reverse radicalisation by taking on argumentsand countering them.The fact that Nawaz’s story began at school is a salu-tary reminder not only of how deeply prejudice isrooted, but of the consequences that it can have downthe line. That our attitudes are set in childhood haslong been known, and many teachers have observedkids of diverse backgrounds playing together at the ageof five, only to see the same children jeering at eachother across the playground at the age of 12. In a post9/11 era, with stereotypes about “violent jihadists” stuckin the minds of many, intolerance is apparent every-where, and schools are no exception. The end result isthat Muslims today are increasingly experiencing dis-crimination that ranges from lost opportunities in ed-ucation, housing, health and jobs, to name-calling andphysical attacks.No country can function well when such cracks appear,and governments are keen to act. Laws exist every-where in Europe to ensure that citizens enjoy equalrights and freedom from discrimination, but attitudesare harder to change. Whilst public awareness cam-paigns have some effect, it is far more effective to buildopen-minded and respectful attitudes from primaryschool onwards. That is the reason why the Council ofEurope, along with the OSCE and UNESCO lastweek launched a set of guidelines designed to helpteachers – indeed anyone involved in education policy- to find ways to combat anti-Muslim behaviour in theclassroom.The Guidelines – available in five languages – are thefruit of a process of consultation across the whole of Eu-rope and tap expertise from schools, youth organisations,politicians and academia. The aim is to give educators –both at primary and secondary level and in non-formaleducation – a blueprint for action in the classroom, start-ing from the assumption that teachers, no matter whattheir background, will be ready to share basic humanrights values with their pupils. They include tips rangingfrom how to create inclusive discussions, to strategies forworst-case scenarios, mopping up violent incidents intheir immediate aftermath and preventing further con-flict in the future. Attitude changing lessons are sug-gested, such as delving into Islamic history andphilosophy and exploring its scientific and cultural her-itage. The guidelines also encourage partnership with thewider community; engaging in online discussion groups,or asking local religious leaders to talk about the beliefsand practices of Islam.Maajid Nawaz’s story shows the strength of sharing atschool age. Teenagers carry forward their parents’prejudice and those on the receiving end are eithervictimised or radicalised. Teaching tolerance is notjust about promoting “democracy” or “diversity”: it isalso the most effective shield against extremism andviolence.

New Europe content partner

Respect begins at SchoolBy Gutenberg



The NewWorld

The New World has a big challenge in a complex time ofcrisis. The New World agenda is in large sense a contractof trust in a more connected world, where the interde-pendence between countries is an essential condition fora stronger investment in innovation, creativity and knowl-edge as the key drivers for grew in the future. The NewWorld is the right answer for the difficult questions weare facing. In this New World we must be capable ofbeing different, ambitious and global. In these times of crisis, the New World is also a great op-portunity for Europe. The global economic situation ofEurope is becoming difficult: the european companies arefacing more and more the strong competition from com-panies from Middle East and Asia, Public Accounts ofmost of the european countries are facing unsustainabledeficits, Unemployment is very high. That´s why a NewContract of Trust for Europe is more and more an im-perative. The New World must be supported by somestrategic proposals that demand for a new operationalagenda. Europe and the New World must be very cooperative indeveloping this new strategic agenda. Europe mustknow how to integrate in a positive way most of the cit-izens from the New World countries that come to de-velop new businesses. Social cohesion is done with theconstructive participation of the citizens and it is moreand more necessary an effective attitude of mobilizationfor this effort. Integration with quality must be the rightword in this new time of agenda as an answer for the newchallenges that demand new answers and solutions.The New World Agenda has also an important dimen-sion related to science and innovation. Universities andCompanies must perform a new strategic partnershipcentered in the objectives of the added value, creativityand knowledge. This is the basis for a future effective im-plementation of the New EU2020 Strategy, which mustbe followed by the New World. All these countries havestill a strong opportunity to implement an agenda of in-novation – the opportunity is more and more a fact andcan´t be lost.Culture is another important dimension for the NewWorld Agenda. The European and the New Worldcountries cultures are a unique asset. Europe and theNew World must be able to involve other global partnersin the construction of integrated projects focused on thedevelopment of culture as a driver for development. Thereinvention of culture is itself a very innovative way to in-volve more and more the European and the New Worldactors in this project for the future.The New World Agenda is an Agenda of Future. Europemust have a very intelligent attitude towards the new ca-pability that these emergent economies are facing in aglobal complex world in crisis. The European resources,from scientists to entrepreneurs, in cooperation withpoliticians and other social actors, must understand thisand give effective signs of change in a better future.

Francisco Jaime Quesado is the General Manager of theInnovation and Knowledge Society in Portugal, a publicagency with the mission of coordinating the policies forInformation Society and mobilizing it through dissemi-nation, qualification and research activities. It operateswithin the Ministry of Science, Technology and HigherEducation


By Francisco Jaime Quesado

In an exclusive interview, the formerEuropean Commissioner and Italianminister for foreign affairs talksabout the foreign affairs objectivesthat will underline the foreign andsecurity policy of the European Peo-ple’s Party; including widening rela-tions with the EU’s southern andeastern neighbours, and strengthen-ing relations with NATO and theUS.

Former Italian Foreign Minister andVice-President of the European Com-mission Franco Frattini has outlinedthe five major principles that will bediscussed by the European People’sParty’s (EPP) ad-hoc working groupon foreign affairs.

In an exclusive interview Frattiniexplained: “There are several mainpriorities which one of them is theeastern dimension of EU foreign pol-icy, and that is also to increase thefocus on the western Balkans andhave a greater role of supervising itsdevelopment.”

“There is also the southern dimen-sion to consider of the Europeanneighbourhood, and how to ensurethat Europe is a major protagonistconsidering the Arab springs, and thesituation with Tunisia, Libya andEgypt, and of course Syria and theemergency situation that exists there.”

The working group also wants tostrengthen Europe’s relationship withthe US, with cooperation over NATOroles on the agenda.

“Another main pillar of the workinggroup will be to relaunch our relation-

ship with the US, and we are particu-larly interested in implementing a newNATO strategy, where we should belooking to broaden the scope of ouroperations, but this will be discussed atthe next NATO summit.”

“We should also think about howwe can extend the cooperation be-tween the EU and the US in how wecan face the international economiccrises together, and also how we canovercome obstacles in trade agree-ments to achieve a smoother path ofcommerce.”

Religious and human rights alongwith more controlled immigrationcomplete the list of policy areas thatthe EPP wishes to concentrate on.

“There are issues related to humanrights and we need to discuss, and howto better protect human rights evenoutside of Europe.” Frattini continued.

“For example in Christian commu-nities like in Nigeria, we should makeit a priority in to protect the rights ofChristian minorities, and Europe needto do more than it has done.”

“Immigration where it is illegalshould also be looked at, they gain em-ployment in industries such as agricul-tural, and we need a strategy for thisissue in a human way.”

Frattini is also confident that theworking group can be of influence andproduce results.

“The working group will have sev-eral eminent personalities there, andthere will be members of national andEuropean parliaments from 16 differ-ent member states.”

“Although what is special is our con-sultation with civil society, in Septem-ber there will be exchanges of ideas

where different proposals will be pre-sented and part of a consultationprocess. We have also invited the com-munity of bloggers who have been ap-proached for the first time by the party,so we have a broad range of opinionsto be discussed.”

Without pointing the finger to-wards any parliamentary group, Frat-tini feels that Brussels has not beenproactive enough on foreign affairs,with a more muscular approachneeded.

“I think that Europe needs to takemore stronger positions on interna-tional affairs. The weaknesses fromEurope have included how it hasdealt with the Arab developments;the Mediterranean sea is what Eu-rope, Africa and the Middle East allhave in common, and we need to bemore proactive.”

“Also in particular religious rightsneed to be protected more, and Europeneeds to take the initiative more in theemerging countries such as the BRICnations, Europe’s foreign policy shouldbe stronger.”

Despite several different countriesand organisations taking part Frattinibelieves that the EPP can pull to-gether, and present a united front inattempting to solve foreign policy is-sues.

“The EPP will be in the conditionto present some original ideas to havea improved strategy in the interna-tional arena.” He concluded.

In October the party will convene inBucharest for their next annual con-gress, where the final conclusions ofthe working group are expected to berevealed.

INTERVIEW | FRANCO FRATTINI

More muscular approach to EU foreign policy needed

By Peter Taberner

Former Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini speaks during a join press conference with Deputy Chairman of the Libyan National Transition Council

(NTC), Mahmoud Jibril (R), in Tripoli, Libya, on 30 September 2011. According to Frattini, the EU needs "to take more stronger positions on international

affairs. The weaknesses from Europe have included how it has dealt with the Arab developments". | EPA/MOHAMED MESSARA

ANALYSISNew Europe | NEW EUROPE

1 - 7 July, 2012

Europe needs a common prosecutorand greater integration if it is effectivelytackle cross-border fraud, GiovanniKessler, Director-General of the Euro-pean Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) hassaid.

Speaking to New Europe following apresentation at the European Parlia-ment in Brussels, Kessler said that co-ordinated actions between memberstates are often effective, they are notenough in the ongoing fight to combatfraud in the European Union.

Kessler, was invited by the newCRIM committee of the EuropeanParliament, which tackles organisedcrime in the member stes, for an ex-change of views on the extent and im-pact of organised crime in the EU andits connection with fraud against theEU budget.

Starting his presentation Kesslershowed some concrete data on thisissue: “To have some figures on the ex-tent and impact of organised crime de-tected during its administrativeinvestigations, OLAF has analysed 375cases closed in 2009 and 2010. Accord-ing to OLAF's provisional assessment,among the 375 cases we analysed, 35 ofthem met at first glance the criteria es-tablished in the Council FrameworkDecision of 2008 for organised crimeHence, we could establish that OLAFcases related to organised crime amountto only 9.3% of the total number ofcases, but their financial impact ac-counts for more than 43% of misusedEU funds as the financial impact ofthese 35 cases amounted to more than€750 million.”

After the presentation of the relevant

figures, Kessler put the accent on amethodological problem, he said:“Themain message I would like to give is thatwe can’t tackle the international organ-ized crime only at national level becauseif you do this you are running the riskof never focusing on the crime in itsmore international dimension and wewill not get to a general picture. Thenwhen we talk about the investigativestage certainly there will be a nationallevel of investigation but we also needan international action because other-wise we will not see the wider context,we need to work together with our Eu-ropean colleagues, we need to have legalcooperation and exchange of informa-tion and this is the point were we are in-adequate and slow at the momentbecause we too focused on the nationalinvestigation level. Our investigativetools are from the last century and theyare insufficient to tackle the organizedcrime, this problem is an importantmatter of concern not only in Italy. Weneed now more advanced tools and an'European investigative body', an officewho has got the power of exercise thepenal action in front of the Europeantribunals, Olaf has, for the moment,only an administrative power”.

According to Kessler, Europe shouldproceed on a more advanced path,speaking to New Europe he said “crimesagainst the EU budget often cross na-tional borders.

We know that close co-operation andco-ordinated actions in the memberstates are necessary but not enough. Eu-rope needs further integration and acommon prosecutor for all memberstates in order to successfully investigateand prosecute complex cases involvingseveral jurisdictions”.

“A European public prosecutor's of-fice (EPPO) would ensure a coherentand timely prosecution of crimes againstEU financial interests in all MemberStates. Then we need also a substantialcriminal law with common definitionsfor all the EU countries to avoid lack ofjurisdiction, to avoid the possibility toexploit the differences of definitions ofcrime or the lack of definition of crimeor, for example, details like the time bar-ring”

An impact assessment then is underway for the EPPO and several optionsare being examined. The impact assess-ment is expected to be completed at thebeginning of 2013. The EuropeanCommission intends to make a proposalon the EPPO in 2013.

Some MEP’s have asked Kesslerwhich European country has thehighest number of cases. According tohim, “It’s very hard to give figures be-cause organized crime and corruptionare a transnational phenomenon with-out borders. For this reason, we risk tosee only the a superficial part of theproblem”. Closing the debate, MEP Sarah Ludford, a British Liberal, ex-pressed skepticism on the EuropeanProsecutor proposal.

“How this prosecutor who wouldhave to collaborate with the nationalbodies, could work better than euro-just ?”, she asked, to which Kesslerreplied that “we have to pass from acooperation approach to a integratedand European one taking obviouslyinto consideration the cooperationwith the agencies and with the officesof the national prosecutors. This smalloffice would be a sort of central officewhere the EU prosecutor would belinked with all national prosecutors”

By Federico Grandesso

OLAF

European prosecutor needed incombating cross-border fraud

Director General of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), Giovanni Kessler: A European public prosecutor's office would ensure a coherent

and timely prosecution of crimes against EU financial interests in all member states" | EPA/MICHAEL REYNOLDS

Human rightsprotection is key tonew global armstrade treaty

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has beenplagued by almost two decades of conflict which haveresulted in the deaths and suffering of millions. In acountry ravaged by unlawful killings, enforced disap-pearances, torture, and sexual violence, the supply ofarms has continued unabated despite a UN arms em-bargo. Since 2000, China, France, South Africa and theUSA have sent arms to the Kinshasa authorities. Thissupply has become the main source of weapons for mostarmed groups operating in the east of the country,whose numerous human rights abuses over the years arenotorious. In a climate of widespread impunity, naturalresources continue to be illegally exploited. Easy accessto arms is a glaring example of the failure of existinglaws to control the weapons trade. Every year around the world, the irresponsible transferof weapons, and their abuse, contributes to half a mil-lion deaths. These shipments lie behind the bulk of theworld’s human rights violations, which include killing,rape, recruitment of child soldiers, and forcing millionsto flee their homes. This trade has also assisted brutalcrackdowns by regimes throughout the Middle Eastand North Africa in response to popular uprisings.Only last month, Russia tried to transfer arms and am-munition to Syria, while Bahrain, still in the throes ofunrest, continues to benefit from US arms imports. The only existing international standards are the UNCharter, including UN Security Council arms embargoes,and the UN Firearms Protocol. While embargoes are se-lective and often too late to make an impact, the Proto-col does not apply to interstate transactions. This meansthat these instruments generally fail to prevent the trans-fer of weapons to countries where they are likely to incitehuman rights violations. What’s more, they don’t addressthe question of arms dealers and brokers. But the attempt to regulate the arms trade is movingone step in the right direction with the opening of aUN conference in New York starting on 2 July to ne-gotiate a global arms trade treaty. Following a decadeof campaigning by supportive governments and civil so-ciety organisations, Amnesty International included,this is a historic step for two reasons. It recognises thefailure of existing controls, and it envisages a legally-binding regulatory framework which would seek com-mon international standards for the import, export andtransfer of conventional weapons. Amnesty International has long sought global regulationof the arms trade and has stressed the need for humanrights to be a major consideration. Our central demand isthat the treaty includes a ‘golden rule’ preventing the saleor transfer of weapons where there is a substantial risk oftheir being used to commit or facilitate serious violationsof human rights or humanitarian law. We are also de-manding a treaty to regulate all conventional weapons,cover all aspects of the international arms trade, from bro-kering to financing, and ensure transparency. Since five of the world’s top ten arms exporters are EUcountries, the Union’s backing for a strong global treatyhas been crucial from the outset. Though EU-widerules on arms transfers, in place since 2008, can providea model for the rest of the world, implementation andenforcement are often lacking. If treaty negotiationsthis month are to have a successful outcome, the EUmust show greater leadership and recognise that it stillhas much to do to prevent its own arms from beingused to commit atrocities, and by ensuring that the finaltreaty addresses the grave human rights problems en-gendered by one of the world’s last major unregulatedindustries.

Nicolas Beger is Director, European Institutions Office, Amnesty International


By Nicolas Beger

EU WORLD |New Europe NEW EUROPE1 - 7 July, 2012

Europe benefits from the highest food safetystandards in the world. It can also boast some ofthe best animal health standards. Despite thishowever, EU companies face many challengeswhen exporting animal-derived products. Theuse of food safety and animal health as a tradebarrier for imports has increased considerablyand sometimes imports are blocked due to un-reasonable sanitary and phytosanitary restric-tions. So can we really say that Europeananimals are amongst the healthiest in theworld? Can we say that food in Europe isamong the safest in the world?

At the IFAH-Europe conference held on 21June 2012 in Brussels stakeholders working infood safety, food supply and animal healthcame together to discuss the contribution of theanimal health industry to Europe’s food safetyand to highlight the various successes in termsof management of disease outbreaks. The EUis the largest exporter of agri-food in the world,valued at over €105 billion in 2011. CatherineGeslain-Lanéelle, Executive Director of theEuropean Food Safety Authority (EFSA), as-sured the audience that Europe enjoys one ofthe best food safety systems in the world, sup-ported by comprehensive scientific advice allalong the food chain, from farm to fork.

At times however it seems that the role andcontribution of animal health towards a safe,secure and sustainable food supply is over-looked. Animal health really does mean public

health as well. 60% of all infectious diseases inpeople have their origins in animals. And al-though health schemes are in place betweenpublic authorities, farmers and vets to preventdisease as much as possible, animals can still getsick and require treatment. In terms of our foodsupply, the OIE estimates that 20% of globalfood production is lost due to diseases infarmed animals. The only way to ensure thehealth of our animals is to safeguard veterinarymedicines and vaccines as essentials tools forvets and farmers. As the representative body ofmanufacturers of veterinary medicines, vaccinesand other animal health products in Europe,IFAH-Europe believes that in order to meetfuture critical challenges head on the industryneeds a more efficient veterinary legislation that

will help stimulate innovation and increaseproduct availability across all markets. Innova-tion means being ready for new and emergingdiseases.

Take bluetongue for example. In 200845,000 outbreaks of bluetongue were reportedacross Europe. This number dropped to 1,118in 2009 and by 2011 to just 39 cases. The ani-mal health industry has played a key role in thebluetongue story thanks to stringent preven-tion and control measures including vaccina-tion programmes. This huge decrease in thenumber of cases not only means a lesser impactfrom a herd health perspective but can also helpto avert losses in farm productivity, market dis-ruptions and a decline in international trade.

Whilst the industry is proud of these ad-

vances it must not rest on its laurels. IFAH-Eu-rope is actively working along with the EU in-stitutions and various stakeholders to promotea harmonised approach to regulation. By fullyimplementing the single market principle inthe authorisation process of veterinary medi-cines in the EU - meaning that a company sub-mits one dossier, which has one Europeanscientific assessment and with one decision formarketing authorisation - the availability ofthese medicines to protect the health and wel-fare of all animals across the EU will be ensured.

Europe needs science-based decisions andrational arguments both from a legislativeperspective and a trade perspective. Anymeasures from slaughter to trade bans that re-sult after outbreaks (such as bluetongue) mustbe carefully examined and based on scientificevidence to avoid weakening the agriculturaleconomies of exporting nations. This will notonly increase our preparedness for future dis-ease outbreaks from both a health and a tradeperspective, but will contribute to the sus-tainable supply of safe food.

Declan O’ Brien is Managing Director,In-ternational Federation for Animal HealthEurope (IFAH-Europe). In this role, he haschaired the European Technology Platformfor Global Animal Health and is the Proj-ect Coordinator for the DISCONTOOLSproject. He is a member of the DG SancoAdvisory Group on the Food Chain andAnimal and Plant Health.

By Declan O’ Brien

ANIMAL CARE

Innovation in Animal Health: Key toEnsuring Safe Food and Public Health

Cattle traders discuss the problems concerning disease bluetongue in an almost empty cattle market inPurmerend, the Netherlands, 2006. At the time, very few cattle were available because of the transportationrestrictions, recommended by European Union veterinary experts. Since 2008, reported cases of the diseasehave been declining in the EU | EPA/MARTIN MOOIJ

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EU WORLD New Europe | NEW EUROPE

1 - 7 July, 2012

Connie Hedegaard, the EU’s EnvironmentCommissioner, has decried the outcome of theRio+20 UN conference that just concluded inBrazil as something no one was happy with.

That is a pity. The outcome does a lot moreto foster the sort of global framework Europeneeds to rekindle economic growth than themeasures advanced by environmental NGO's.

Europe has also been given helping handfrom an unexpected source - the BRIC nationswho exercised a decisive influence on the out-come at Rio.

The overriding message was action to im-prove the environment must not be at the costof economic growth. This principle was struck20 years ago at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.

It had to be reaffirmed because leading envi-ronmental groups, like WWF, supported by theEuropean Commission’s Environment Direc-torate, and some key member states like theUK, wanted to overturn it.

They were pushing for the UN to promote a

global green global economy and to replace thestandard tools for economic management withecological tools and concepts. For example, thecondition of "Natural Capital" should be thebasic measure of economic success. WWF'seconomic strategy was to reduce productionand consumption.

In light of the debt crisis in Europe and theEU, just how far out of touch with the realworld is Europe's environmental communityfor it to propose measures that would reduceeconomic growth?

While activists in developed countries clearlyneed some re-education about the economicfacts of life, those in developing countries, andthe BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China andSouth Africa) in particular, do not. With a bil-lion people still below the poverty line, theyknow that measures to improve the environ-ment must not come at an economic cost.

Nor do they have to. Mainstream economistshave pointed out for years that until developingcountries reach a certain level of prosperity, theycannot actually afford to protect the environ-

ment. It suits anti-growth environmentaliststo ignore that economic growth is a prerequi-site for environmental protection.

Forgetting this truth was one of the reasonsthe Copenhagen Climate Change conference,which Mrs Hedegaard was initially charged tomanage, so spectacularly failed. The global reg-ulation of greenhouse gas emissions that devel-oped countries pressed for came at too high aneconomic cost.

And the example of that failure was whyBrazil, as chair of the UN conference, so deter-minedly and skilfully brought the Rio confer-ence to a successful conclusion, reflecting aglobal consensus which included the membersof the EU. Not only does the RIO+20 outcomereassert as a global need the importance ofmaintaining economic growth, as much a pri-ority now for Europe as the developing world,it advances environmental objectives which arepracticable and not divisive and proposes workin new areas like ocean conservation.

WWF's demands that commercial forestrybe frozen and land clearing for agricultural de-

velopment cease, were set aside. Instead theoutcome reasserts the UN consensus thatforests be sustainably managed and biodiver-sity protected in accordance with establishedinternational agreements.

This is not enough for either WWF orGreenpeace. The latter has announced it willattack the finance industry for funding devel-opment of growth-enhancing natural resourceindustries. WWF is implementing a strategyto enlist businesses to promote green protec-tionism to advance its environmental goals.

It is hard to see how working people inGreece, Spain and Ireland will see this a rele-vant to them today. It is an odd turning of thewheel that it is the BRICS - not environmen-tal activists - that are now acting in the interestsof working people in Europe.

Alan Oxley is chairman of pro-developmentNGO, World Growth, and is a former Aus-tralian Ambassador to the GATT, and servedas GATT Chairman. He attended the recentRio+20 Summit.

ENVIORONMENT

Rio: BRICs proved decisive

For the past few years, a project called “One City,One Book” has been running in my nativeDublin. It’s a simple concept: during the monthof April everyone is encouraged to read the sameliterary classic.

I’ve decided to import the idea to Brussels andgive it a political edge. So I call on all folk abovethe age of 15 to borrow or buy Destruction Mas-sive by Jean Ziegler before the end of July. Thosewho cannot understand French are urged tocheck out the book as soon as it is published inEnglish (with the title Betting on Famine) thiscoming autumn.

Ziegler, a former UN special rapporteur on theright to food, mixes personal observations withsharp analysis to illustrate how global hunger isnot an accident of nature but the consequence ofdeliberate policy choices made by an unaccount-able elite. He opens with a heartbreaking accountof how nurses in Niger have to turn away starv-ing children due to a lack of resources. That isnot a problem suffered by the corporate giantswho are the target of his fury. Ziegler emphasisesthat a small number of leading companies oftenhave more finance at their disposal than the gov-ernments of the countries where they are head-quartered. Just 10 firms control one third of theworld’s market in seeds. Six control 77% of themarket in fertilisers. The European Union is de-picted – accurately – as a vassal of big business.There is a slightly comic scene involving DavideZaru, an Italian diplomat tasked with represent-ing the EU at meetings of the UN HumanRights Council in Geneva. One morning lastyear an exasperated Zaru confessed that he wasunable to help Ziegler win support for a motionrecognising the rights of peasants. The text in

question denounced the grabbing of land by pri-vate interests and accused both investors engag-ing in this practice and governments who backedthem of causing a rural exodus, mass unemploy-ment and worsening poverty.

For a good clue as to why this message wasunpalatable for EU officials, we can go back to astatement Ziegler made in 2007. “Producingbiofuels with food is criminal,” he said. SeveralNorth American and European trade associa-tions were so incensed with his comments thatthey complained about him to Kofi Annan, thenthe UN secretary general.

The situation is now a little more nuanced.The production of biofuels is a central factor be-hind the grabbing of land in Africa. Yet ratherthan using food crops, many of the players in thismurky game have recently chosen jatropha, apoison, as the fuel source for the SUVs congest-ing our roads. A recent study by the campaigngroup ActionAid, however, explained how the

proliferation of jatropha plantations is causingmalnutrition rates to climb.

In 2009, the British-registered firm Sun Bio-fuels started clearing land in Kisaware, Tanzania,to set up an 8,200 hectare plantation. By themiddle of last year, it had planted 2,000 hectaresof jatropha. ActionAid undertook a survey ofpeople from the 11 villages whose land was takenover for the plantation. More than 80% of re-spondents said they had not received any pay-ment from Sun. Meanwhile, the area devoted tofood crops has fallen by 14% and local harvestsby 11% in order to make way for jatropha. De-clining incomes have meant that many villagers,including children, can only afford two meals aday, whereas they previously ate three.

Nearly 5% of Africa has been bought by pri-vate interests since 2000, according to Land Ma-trix, an online database. This means that an areathe size of Kenya – one of the continent’s biggestcountries – has been snatched up.

The EU appears determined to accelerate thephenomenon of land-grabbing, even if it doesn’tstate so openly. In 2007, the EU’s governmentsagreed a collective target of ensuring that biofu-els power 10% of all car and truck journeys by2020. A chorus of sensible voices have subse-quently demanded that the goal be suspendedor scrapped. Among them were the EuropeanEnvironment Agency, an official EU body. Notonly has the EU’s top institutions refused to heedthese appeals, they have set additional targets forincreasing biofuel use. Before Sun Biofuels wentinto administration in the second half of last year,it received a major contract from Lufthansa. TheGerman carrier is participating in an EU-spon-sored initiative to allocate two million tonnes ofbiofuels for aviation annually by 2020.

EU officials maintain that the biofuels theyare promoting will meet “sustainability” criteria.But the way that the discussions have beenframed leads to the unavoidable conclusion thatthe officials consider “sustainability” as no morethan one of those buzzwords they utter withoutconviction. Some €4.7 billion is likely to be spenton biofuel research as part of Horizon 2020, theUnion’s next multi-annual science programme.Energy and transport firms are intimately in-volved in shaping the projects that will be fi-nanced. A “biofuels technology platform” set upfor this purpose brings together Volvo, Airbus,Total and Volkswagen.

This club of polluters says it wishes to “radi-cally cut” greenhouse gas emissions and wants usto believe that biofuels will enable it to do so. Solong as the club rigs the game, the EU will re-main in denial. Tackling climate change requiresus to become less dependent on the car andplane. The biofuels bonanza prevents that truthfrom being told.

ENVIORONMENT

Face the truth: Europe’s biofuels bonanza causes hunger in Africa

By David Cronin

By Alan Oxley

A drop of biofuel E10 slips from a fuel nozzle at a petrol station in Bamberg, Germany, 2011. The introduc-tion of biofuel to petrol stations in Germany has now ceased due to severe stagnation of sales | EPA/DAVID EBENER

On 28 June, Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz II con-sortium, led by BP and Statoil, selected the Na-bucco West pipeline as one of two possibleroutes to carry Caspian gas to western Europe,BP and Azeri state oil and gas companySOCAR said. "The Nabucco West project,with a route running from the Turkish-Bulga-rian border to Baumgarten (in Austria), hasbeen selected as the single pipeline option forthe potential export of Shah Deniz Stage II gasto Central Europe," BP said in a statement."Development of the South East Europe Pi-peline (SEEP) project (led by BP), which hadbeen assembled by Shah Deniz partners in col-laboration with Bulgaria, Romania and Hun-gary, will cease," it added.

In February, the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline(TAP) was selected for a possible southernroute, beating off competition from anotherrival, ITGI. Next year Shah Deniz II will de-cide on the entire route for its gas and whetherit wants to ship via the southern route throughItaly or the northern route via Hungary andAustria.

Nabucco West hailed the decision as a majorstep towards diversifying Europe's gas suppliesaway from Russia and boosting security of sup-ply. The Nabucco West Proposal, supported byall six shareholders, was submitted by NabuccoGas Pipeline International GmbH on 16 May.

Reinhard Mitschek, Managing Director,Nabucco Gas Pipeline International GmbH,commented: “This decision is an importantmilestone for the Nabucco project and a majorstep towards the final investment decision. Na-bucco delivers freedom of choice to gas consu-mers and will contribute considerably to the

security of supply in Europe. We look forwardto a successful cooperation with the producers.”

The 1,300-kilometre gas pipeline will tran-sport gas from the vicinity of the Turkish-Bul-garian border through Bulgaria, Romania andHungary to Austria with off take stations ineach transit country.

EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oet-tinger also welcomed the decision. "With thispre-selection, we are a step closer to getting gasdirectly from Azerbaijan and other countries inthe Caspian region. Whatever the final deci-sion on the whole route from the eastern part ofTurkey to Europe, Azerbaijani gas is certain tocome to Europe," Oettinger said in a statement."This is a success for Europe and for our secu-

rity of supply."TAP also welcomed the decision. In light of

the recent Shah Deniz decision, Kjeitl Tun-gland, Managing Director of Trans-AdriaticPipeline (TAP) said: "I am pleased to see thatthe Shah Deniz consortium’s decision-makingprocess has taken another important step for-ward with the choice of a potential central Eu-ropean route. This now clears the way for theultimate decision between TAP and NabuccoWest. TAP remains the most advanced of thetwo projects, especially in terms of financingand permitting. We believe that its clear eco-nomic, commercial, technical and strategic ad-vantages make TAP the strongest contender inthis competition and the best option for both

Europe and Azerbaijan." The announcementfollows an inter-governmental agreement bet-ween Turkey and Azerbaijan on 26 June, pro-viding a vital connection in the form of the $7billion Trans-Anatolian natural gas pipelineproject (TANAP), planned to carry Azeri na-tural gas across Turkey to the edge of Europe.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan andAzeri President Ilham Aliyev signed the dealat an Istanbul ceremony to launch a project, setto be completed in six years, to pipe 16 billioncubic metres of gas a year from Azerbaijan'sShah Deniz II field. "Today's signing is themost important step in completing the legalframework for this project," Erdogan said in aspeech at a signing ceremony. "This projectwon't just deepen ties between our countries, itwill create an organic tie between Azerbaijanand Europe via Turkey."

Turkey has a 20% stake in TANAP, whileAzerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR holds80%. In March, a Turkish Energy Ministry of-ficial said Turkey may raise its 20% stake in theproject. Construction is expected to start at theend of 2013 or in early 2014, and the project'sfirst phase is seen ready in 2018.

Under the project, some 10bn cubic metresof gas is planned to be shipped to Europe, whileTurkey will get the remaining 6bn cubic me-tres. The project is designed to be expandable to30bn cubic metres and ultimately 60bn cubicmetres. Erdogan said the link will initially carryfuel from Shah Deniz II, then from other Azerisources.

"Additionally, gas from the other side of theCaspian could be directed to the TANAP pipe,transiting via Azerbaijan," Erdogan said.

ENERGY & CLIMATE

|New Europe NEW EUROPE1 - 7 July, 2012

AzerbaijanAfs Sangachal, one of the world's largest oil and gas terminals on the coast of the Caspian Sea, 45

kilometres south of Baku, Azerbaijan, 28 June 2012 |NEW EUROPE

The Deputy Chairman ofGazprom's Board of Directors andChairman of the ManagementCommittee, Alexey Miller, stated on29 June at the opening of the com-pany’s annual general shareholdersmeeting that ‘The first gas suppliesvia "South Stream" pipeline will ar-rive in Bulgaria in December 2015’.

Miller was cited by the Russian in-formation agency Bestnik Kabkazasaying that the ‘South Stream’pipeline which will reach Europethrough the Black Sea will be builtin several consecutive parts - at first,it will be built only one branch of thepipeline, while later on two otherbranches will be introduced at thesame time. The last fourth part willbe constructed independently.

In addition to the information thatthe first commercial gas supplies viathe ‘South Stream’ pipeline will reachBulgaria in December 2015, Millersaid that the supplies will be regu-lated at intervals during the year andin accordance with the system‘1+2+1’. He added: ‘By the end of2017 or the beginning of 2018, 63bncubic metres will reach Bulgarianshores with the further distribution

of the target market with the furtherdistribution of the target market’.

Furthermore, the deputy chairmanof the board of directors informed thatno increase in the funding of the proj-ect was planned and said that ‘SouthStream’ was fundamentally differentcompared to other pipeline projectsbecause half of the transit tariff will bepaid not by the transit countries, butfrom the Russians themselves. This is

due to the fact that half of the mar-itime sector of the newly built sectionof the pipeline belongs to Gazprom.

Last but not least, Miller recog-nized that ‘Gazprom enters into akind of race in the Southern GasCorridor where it will be expected tocompete with Nabucco West for theopportunity to be the first to openbig amounts of shipments of gas toEuropean consumers’.

ENERGY|GAS PIPELINE

First gas supplies via South Stream expected in December 2015

The joint venture between the Russian LUKoilEcoenergo and the Italian ERG Renew, LUK-ERG Renew, concluded a deal on the acquisi-tion of 100% of the shares in the wind powerstation near the town of Dobrich (Bulgaria).

As Neft Russia informed, the deal amountedto about 52 million euro. The media recappedthat the capacity of the wind power plant,which became operative in 2009, was 40 MW,thus representing 10% of the wind energy mar-

ket in Bulgaria. Neft Russia also reminded that LUKERG

Renew signed in February this year an agree-ment on the purchase of the assets with Raif-feisen Energy & Environment. However, the

closing of the transaction is still to be approvedby the antitrust authorities in Bulgaria.

The joint venture company LUKERGRenew was established in May 2011 with theaim of fulfilment of renewable energy projects.

ENERGY|RENEWABLES

Russian-Italian joint venture acquires Bulgarian wind power plant

ENERGY|GAS PIPELINE

Shah Deniz consortium backs Nabucco West asAzerbaijan, Turkey ink TANAP pipeline deals

By Stanislava Gaydazhieva

ENERGY & CLIMATENew Europe|NEW EUROPE

1 - 7 July, 2012

Contracts and insurance for Iranian oil will no longer be validunder terms of sanctions as of 1 July, the European Union andthe Council said, confirming that sanctions passed in Januarytargeting Iran's oil sector passed would be enforced as an-nounced. They said the sanctions will go into force as plannedstarting on 1 June.

"Following a review of the measures the council confirmedthat they would remain as approved in January," the EU state-ment said. "From the same date, EU insurers may no more pro-vide third-party liability and environmental liability insurancefor the transport of Iranian oil," the statement also said. "Theobjective of the EU remains to achieve a comprehensive, long-term settlement on the basis of meaningful negotiations betweenthe global powers (Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, theUS) and Iran."

Meanwhile, Greece had asked for a delay in the implementa-tion of the EU ban because it relies on Iranian oil to meet its en-ergy needs. But EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton saidthat there is no change in terms of how EU is going forward on1 July. "The sanctions that have been agreed will be imple-mented,” she said on the sidelines of the meeting in Luxem-bourg. "My ambition, my real ambition, is to try to resolve thisas quickly as possible. We look for what further pressure wereare able to do and these discussions continue pretty much con-sistently, to persuade Iran to come and negotiate with us," sheadded.

Two weeks ago, delegates from permanent UN SecurityCouncil members Britain, China, France, Russia and the UnitedStates, plus Germany, agreed with their Iranian counterparts inMoscow to stage a new meeting in Istanbul on 3 July.

ENERGY|OIL

EU confirms sanctions on Iranian oil

Uranium minefields have already beencreated in Kazakhstan and they are op-erating based on modern technologies.Earlier, Russia and Kazakhstan signed acomprehensive programme for co-oper-ation in the nuclear industry.

"Now we have reached production vol-ume of 4,000 tonnes of uranium per year.And soon, the level of production willreach 6,000 tonnes of uranium per year.In other words, we and our Kazakh part-ners are ahead of the implementationschedule of our joint programme," thehead of Posatom, Segey Kiriyenko, toldKazakh and Russian journalists.

According to him as a part of the pro-gramme Kazakh-Russian joint ventureshave been created and are already operat-ing in Kazakhstan, citing Yuronionvam,majority share of which is owned byRosatom, as an example.

"I appreciate the leadership of Kaza-khstan for the timely accepted decisionson the establishment of this enterprise.Thus, they supported the process of inte-gration between our countries,"Kiriyenko said.

In turn, the Kazakh specialists are alsoinvolved in joint projects that are carriedout in Russia. “Originally we intended tocreate a commercial centre for uraniumenrichment. Now we are actively work-ing on its creation,” Kiriyenko said. "Ourtask is to reach a certain level of five mil-lion separative work units (it is a counta-ble quantity in terms of uraniumenrichment)," he recalled.

Originally, it was supposed to establishthis centre in Angarsk, but the Kazakhside expressed their wish that it would beinteresting for them to create such a cen-tre at the Russian plant in Novouralsk,which is more modern, more powerfuland more promising.

The Russian side agreed with the de-sire of Kazakh partners. The preparatorywork lasted about a year. And on 28 May,

the Kazakh side told that they had ac-cepted all our conditions. Then, on 5June, a working group approved the en-tire financial model of the project.

"I think that next year we will have aphysical production, in other words,Kazakhstan will receive as well the en-riched uranium on our co-production,"Kiriyenko said.

In addition, he said, that within theframework of the integrated programmefor co-operation between Kazakhstanand Russia there is a project of potentialconstruction of nuclear power plant inKazakhstan. But when and where theplant will be built in Kazakhstan is aquestion to the leadership of the energysector of this country.

For the Russian side, it is importantthat new nuclear power plant in Kaza-khstan would be a fully functional andmodern enterprise. Its future capacity de-pends on the results of the analysis of en-ergy requirements of Kazakhstan.

It is known that during a recent visit ofRussian President Vladimir Putin to As-tana, Kazakh President NursultanNazarbayev said that it is decided that theestablishment of nuclear power plants areto be implemented in partnership withRussia. "We are waiting for a responsefrom the power industry of Kazakhstanon two issues: the necessary volume ofthe energy capacity and where such a sta-tion is required. The project which we canoffer will fundamentally depend on theseissues. Previously we have worked outwith Kazatomprom a version of the in-novative tank with the capacity of 300MW, Vbr300," Kiriyenko said.

According to him, Russia is ready topresent an innovative tank. It is suc-cessfully used in submarines, and it wastested for reliability. "Once we, jointlywith Kazakhstan, are able to imple-ment this project, we will be able to sellit to third countries," the head ofRosatom said.

ENERGY|NUCLEAR

Russia to help open Kazakhenriched uranium enterprise

SOCAR VP –TANAP connects producers andconsumers

BAKU – Azerbaijan’s Sangachal, one of the world's largest

oil and gas terminals on the coast of the Caspian Sea, is an

impressive site. Located 45 kilometres south of Baku, San-

gachal is fully operational and natural gas from Azerbaijan’s

massive Shah Deniz field is already sold from there. The ter-

minal will also be expanded to receive gas from the second

phase of Shah Deniz.

On 28 June, the Shah Deniz II consortium, led by BP and

Statoil, selected the Nabucco West pipeline for one of two

possible routes to carry Caspian gas to western Europe, BP

and Azeri state oil and gas company SOCAR said.

Two days earlier, Turkey and Azerbaijan signed a contract

for the construction of the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline

(TANAP). Some experts believe that TANAP may be later

connected to the reconfigured Nabucco West, which envis-

ages the transportation of Azeri gas from Turkish-Bulgar-

ian border to Austria’s Baumgarten.

Next year, Shah Deniz II is expected to decide on the entire

route for its gas and whether it wants the last stage of the

journey to take a southern route through Italy via the Trans-

Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) or a more northern route into Aus-

tria via Nabucco West.

On 29 June, in a speech at the Crans Montana Forum in

Baku, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev told a full-audi-

torium at the Heydar Aliyev Center that the agreement be-

tween Azerbaijan and Turkey to build TANAP “is one of

the most important of our energy policy”.

SOCAR Vice President Elshad Nassirov told New Europe

at the same venue that “Nabucco Classic” started at the

Georgian-Turkish border and the size and the finance

needed for that pipeline was not corresponding to the pro-

duction. “Therefore TANAP is a shorter or smaller version

of the transportation across Turkey. So if production was not

ready to transport gas through the Nabucco Classic for its

value, cost and transportation tariff, then [Turkey’s] Botas

transportation system was not ready to immediately take our

gas to the western Turkish border, from this point of view, of

course, TANAP could be considered as a breakthrough be-

cause it’s the first real transportation deal which is connect-

ing the production and the consumption,” Nassirov said.

Nassirov reminded that Azerbaijan and Turkey signed a

memorandum of understanding on TANAP on 26 De-

cember. But now three documents were signed: An agree-

ment between SOCAR and Botas about their participation,

an inter-governmental agreement and host governmental

agreement. He expressed the hope that the latter two im-

portant agreements will be ratified by the Turkish Parlia-

ment. “These documents are, from the point of view of

protection of investments, stronger than the IGA [inter-

governmental agreement] for Nabucco,” he said.

Asked if SOCAR prefers TAP or Nabucco, Nassirov said

they have different markets. He added that SOCAR and

the government of Azerbaijan need to stay neutral noting

that, according to the production sharing agreement rat-

ified by the parliament, the producers or the investors will

decide which is the most effective, commercial and prof-

itable route. Moreover, the government doesn’t want to

interfere in order not to insult the governments of those

countries which will be excluded from the transportation,”

Nassirov said. For now, the focus will be on Shah Deniz

and the Sangachal Terminal.

[email protected]

follow on twitter @energyinsider

Energy Insider

By Kostis Geropoulos

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, front left, listens to the head of Posatom, Segey Kiriyenko, during avisit to the Kalinin NPP, Tver region, Russia, 12 December 2011. |EPA/ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/RIA NOVOSTI

Next week, the European Parliament will vote on

the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

(ACTA). ACTA contains heightened civil en-

forcement and intrusive criminal measures. It

lacks an analysis of extra-territorial privatised en-

forcement, this endangers European companies

and citizens.

Many US Internet companies operate on a

global scale and apply US law extra-territorially,

on EU companies and citizens. This is a disturb-

ing trend. ACTA adds an obligation on the US to

stimulate cooperative efforts within the globally

operating US business community. The US - and

other ACTA parties - can use this to harm EU

competition and citizens. The business commu-

nity is not interested in guaranteeing fair compe-

tition or fundamental rights. Extraterritorial

criminal measures are also a grave concern.

Because of the complexity of intellectual prop-

erty rights legislation, innovative businesses are

often forced to operate in a legal "grey zone".

This will make EU companies and their cus-

tomers vulnerable to foreign extraterritorial meas-

ures. The European Convention on Human

Rights and the EU Charter of Fundamental

Rights do not protect EU companies and citizens

against foreign extraterritorial measures.

The Internet is a key enabler of innovation and

fundamental rights. ACTA's civil measures will

have a chilling effect on innovative companies.

ACTA introduces damages based on retail price,

they may turn out extremely high. ACTA con-

tains intrusive injunctions and provisional meas-

ures, including against third parties, like software

suppliers. Companies must become more risk ad-

verse, even when the activity they are engaged in

may ultimately be legal. Further pressure on com-

panies and citizens comes from ACTA's criminal

measures against everyday computer use, includ-

ing against "aiding" and "abetting".

ACTA will have anti-competitive effects

stretching beyond the markets it seeks to regulate.

It will create an environment where large com-

petitors will have major advantages over smaller

firms and start-ups, even extra-territorially. ACTA

will have a chilling effect on innovation, start up

companies, Internet service providers and mass

digitization projects.

ACTA will foreclose future legislative im-

provements in response to changes in technology

or policy. The Union should retain much needed

policy space.

Since the ACTA partners already have a high

level of protection of intellectual property rights,

a 2011 study commissioned by the European Par-

liament International Trade committee concludes,

that there does not appear to be any immediate

benefit from ACTA for EU citizens.

Emerging economies like China, Brazil and

India will not sign ACTA, as ACTA endangers

their development and access to medicine and

knowledge. Germany’s Federal Ministry for Eco-

nomic Cooperation and Development advises

developing countries against signing ACTA. As

they are emerging economies, the German min-

istry should also have advised Eastern European

countries not to sign ACTA.

Five European Parliament committees advise

the plenary to withhold consent to ACTA. The

Parliament would seriously compromise its cred-

ibility should it vote in favour of ACTA. The

Commission would like the Parliament to wait

for the European Court of Justice's opinion on

ACTA and fundamental rights. This would be a

wrong approach. The Court's test is a marginal

one on fundamental rights. The Parliament's

committees also looked at broader issues, like in-

novation and access to medicine. The Parliament

has to take a political decision.

Some suggest to ask guarantees from the

Commission to ensure legal clarity. Such guar-

antees can only be empty. They are not binding

on the Commission nor on companies, here and

outside Europe. Furthermore, ACTA's inter-

pretation may ultimately depend on external

dispute resolution panels. ACTA does not bring

solutions, nor benefits, but only unacceptable

risks. The Parliament has to take a stand and re-

ject ACTA.

Ante Wessels is Secretary of Vrijschrift.orgFoundation

TECHNOLOGY

|New Europe NEW EUROPE1 - 7 July, 2012

“Europe has a huge potential, butwe have to make good decisions”,said Gunnar Hökmark, MEP andvice chair of the European Peo-ple’s Party (EPP) at the Europe'sDigital Future conference on 26June,in Brussels.

Digitalisation has become a re-ality of life and something thatcountries need to communi-cate,drive progress, create growthand design innovative possibilitiesin our social and economic every-day-life.

Therefore, how can Europe ob-tain the potential to improve itstechnological skills? According tothe conference attendants, thecontinent must work at both Eu-ropean and local level.

Thirty years ago, we even knewhow the internet could change ourlives and today we can't imagine aworld with out it. Society changesyear by year, and these modifica-tions are also due to a technologi-cal development, which advancesever more rapidly and is no longerpossible to stop. “Do you thinkthat apps are the end of the his-tory?”, asked Hökmark, “of coursenot. In the future we will ask 'Doyou remember when we hadapps?”

In the context of the current cri-sis, “the world is not looking forthe same solutions” and we can'tcarry out the identical actions thanyears ago, he added. Today, “thesolution for Europe is the com-petitiveness”; China and U.S. areinvesting more in technology than

Europe, however “we have thebiggest economy, while they havethe biggest markets.”

Likewise, according to Hök-mark, the continent must workvery hard to obtain challenges andit should base its actions on learn-ing, developing and educating. Forinstance, “we need to secure thatin the EU we have the capabilityto have mobile data traffic”, be-cause in 2017, he said, the figureof this information shared be-tween devices will multiply by ten.“More traffic means more eco-nomical activity”, and that's whatEurope needs now.

To give an example of the digi-talisation at local level, MarkusBlume, a Bavarian MP, explainedhow the program 'OffensiveBavaria 1.0' converted a “cultural

state into a technological state.” Byinvesting on technology over theyears, the German state grew evenmore than the whole country, butnow “we want more.”

The next plan, 'Bavaria 3.0', isbased on innovation, supportedeconomic policy and an strong vi-sion. Within these principles, on-line education and, specificallye-learning, are issues that Bavariawants to encourage, because itdoesn't means only to use a com-puter on classrooms, “technologyis important to educate”, he said.

E-Governance can provide thebasis for new models of citizenparticipation, which help increasethe transparency of political deci-sion-making.

Thereby, to create possibilitiesto participate, the country needs to

look for more options to solve itsdelay on this kind of models,Blume explained.

In addition, he didn't want tocompare emerging Europeancompanies with existing giantssuch as Google or Facebook,which constitute the 'first wave' inthe technological world, but hedeclared that “Europe has the po-tential to be the second wave.”

To implement the radio spec-trum, facilitate cable connections,help European foundings and im-prove to 5GB the internet targetproposed by the European Com-mission on the 2020 Strategy, iswhat Europe needs to “be in thelead.” “I don't know how we aregoing to be in 2020”, concludedHökmark, “but I can secure thatwe will be the best.”

DIGITAL FUTURE

'The solution for Europe is the competitiveness'

TRADE

ACTA endangers innovation and fundamental rights

MEPs debate the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement in the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament, Brussels, on 19 June. | European Parliament

By Ante Wessels

By Nerea Rial

INTERVIEWNew Europe |

NEW EUROPE1 - 7 July, 2012

Vic Godard is regarded by many as

the best British songwriter never

to have had a hit, but the lack of

chart success has not deterred him

from producing great songs out-

side the traditional music industry

and earning the respect of his

peers.

Many people will not have heard

of him, but he has been a key fig-

ure since the beginning of punk,

when Malcolm McLaren, the Sex

Pistols manager asked him to form

a band to fill a support slot.

Godard, like many others, was

exhilarated by punk because it of-

fered an opportunity to be creative,

“I was glad I was around in that

era because I don’t think I would

have got involved in music in any

other era. Punk allowed people to

be creative, a time when people

found themselves.”

“We had a group of people at

college that had a look that was

different, and we got a group of

four from them. One person

owned an acoustic guitar, so he

had to be in. Right at the start we

had a make believe band with a

name, Subway Sect, and I think

that’s why Malcolm approached

our guitarist and asked to see us

practice and that’s what started it

all off,” he explains.

But a group that had precious

little expertise with their instru-

ments, still had to meet the high

standards of McLaren before

being let loose on stage.

“McLaren came to see us and

said we were awful, but he liked us,

I think it was the band name, and

he said if we worked hard for a

week, he’d come and see if we’d

improved. We practiced really hard

for a week, we were all unem-

ployed, apart from me, and I was

doing a night shift as a washer up

in a burger place, so we practiced

all day, every day.”

He continues, “We had four

songs, or the words to four. Even

at the sound check the Sex Pistols

came along and stopped us after

20 seconds, saying “you can’t play

that”. Steve Jones (Sex Pistols gui-

tarist) just looked confused be-

cause we were out of tune. He

tuned the guitars, but it was still

out of tune and Steve said “you’re

playing the wrong notes”, but we

ignored him and carried on any-

way.”

After a beginning like this, the

young Goddard was determined to

improve the band’s musicianship

and his own songwriting, moving

in a different direction to other

bands around.

Part of this was that they had

wider influences than most, “That

came from Television and Talking

Heads. The others, like the Clash

and Sex Pistols who did the more

straightforward stuff were influ-

enced by the Ramones, we saw

them and liked them, but we did-

n’t want to be like them.”

But Godard wasn’t just looking

West, having a more European

sensibility, “Yeah, with Rob (gui-

tarist), we were heavily into

French new wave films and we

used to go and see them in the

late night cinemas after gigs. I’m

also into stuff like Emil and the

Detectives and a French one a

Hundred Million Francs, Belle

and Sebastian; we just latched

onto anything European.

“I don’t know why. Perhaps it

was because we weren’t that mad

on America, all the other bands

seemed to be into America, not so

much the music, but the look,

leather jackets, denim, and that

was what we violently didn’t like so

we were trying to go the opposite

way. That might have had some-

thing to so with it, but we liked the

music, the Velvet Underground,

Television and so on.”

For those not familiar with the

late 70s music scene, punk was re-

garded as an explosive reaction

against a time when Britain ap-

peared to be falling apart and the

stars of the time were living the jet

set lifestyles, further and further

away from their fans and their

lives. While some bands churned

out punk thrash after thrash, it was

getting very difficult to hear Vic

Godard and the Subway Sect.

There were few music stations on

the radio and fewer who would

play this music, the TV was trying

to avoid the raucous musicians in

favour of more business friendly

fare. This was the time when the

single was king, but Godard found

it very difficult to get a record deal,

“That was down to management

issues. Our manager also had The

Clash, which were the number one

thing, we were just an after-

thought. We never had anything to

do with contracts, because Bernie

Rhodes did it all. He used to have

meetings with the record compa-

nies without telling me!”

There were some good sides to

this near invisibility. Godard be-

came an enigma, often whispered

that they were the best band you’ve

never heard.

“We’ve always found ways to get

round the record industry, in vari-

ous ways. With me it’s becoming a

postman,” the singer says, “Ever

since 1986, I’ve always funded

everything I’ve done myself, with-

out going to any record labels.”

Although Subway Sect have

continued playing, the music busi-

ness doesn’t look too healthy to

Godard, “It doesn’t exist. If you

look at all the major labels, they

have just faded away to a minute

rump. In the 70s, they were the

music business and Rough Trade

and all the independent labels

were on the periphery. Now they

are the music business The EMIs

have all got their drinks businesses,

they’ve diversified into games.

They’ve faded away, it’s a lot better

now.”

As far as he is concerned, they

have no future, “They’ll be gone in

ten years, won’t they, your EMIs.

Virgin will probably be doing a

space shuttle, they’ll have diversi-

fied into something different.”

Godard does have a future, be-

cause of technology. What differ-

ence has that made to him?

“It’s everything, because of my

wife, who does all the computer

side of things, books the gigs,

makes the records and so on. It’s a

way of circumventing the work

record labels used to do. Even the

promoters do everything over the

internet now, so you don’t even

need an agent.”

That must put control back in

the artist’s hands? “It does. It gives

you total control. If we’d had all

that back in the punk era, the

world would be at our feet!” he ex-

claims.

Asking about the thorny issue of

copyright leaves the singer looking

unconcerned, “It doesn’t affect me,

we don’t even put bar codes on our

CDs! We are the pirates! We don’t

do distribution deals, we sell

everything ourselves. We don’t re-

ally sell in shops because the

amount they pay you, it costs you

more to make, than you get.”

Do you see ‘virtual labels’ taking

off ? “We’ve already got them! It’s

what we do, look on our website

and you’ll see. Vinyl is going down

in price, dramatically. A couple of

years ago it was too prohibitive,

but now coasts are going down and

in 5 years time there could be as

much vinyl around as there are

CDs”

But with his reputation and as a

working musician, the ‘nostalia cir-

cuit’ beckoned.

“We got offered a thousand

pounds for a punk festival in

Blackpool and people really en-

joyed it but we felt so out of place

in there that I said to the band that

if we keep doing this we might

earn more money but in a few

years we’d get fed up. It’s like a

dead end street.

“There’s loads of groups that

probably make a living out of it,

but then it’s just a job and I’ve got

a job with the Post Office, I don’t

want another one! I do gigs be-

cause I like them and I wouldn’t

want to play just our punk songs.”

That one performance also re-

minded him of something, “We

weren’t really punk, when it comes

down to it. We didn’t look like

them, we didn’t sound like them

and we didn’t have words like

them. We wanted to be different.”

Godard continues to be differ-

ent, and working with a wide

range of projects with different

people, including Irvine Welsh and

Edwyn Collins.

What is striking is that Godard

has played the game his own way,

doing whatever he needed to fi-

nance the next record or tour, and

has stayed true to the initial punk

philosophy, but has moved in

many musical directions.

At the heart of his musical jour-

ney is hard work and a dedication

to his craft. Although he may not

have anything like the fame he de-

serves, he does have the respect of

his peers, including Paul Cook, the

former Sex Pistols drummer who

has joined the band.

Godard’s story is also of a mav-

erick who has made his own path

outside the industry that has

crushed so many talents in the

past.

MUSIC

Who needs the music business?Punk legend, Vic Godard speaks to New Europe

By Andy Carling

Vic Godard, legend, postman.|Photo by Nigel Bailey

BRUSSELS AGENDA | New Europe | NEW EUROPE1 - 7 July, 2012

BRUSSELS AGENDA New Europe | Page 17

NEW EUROPE1 - 7 July, 2012Welcome to NE’s Brussels Agenda. All you

need to know for a complete professionaland personal life in Brussels.

Would you like to advertise in New Europe’s BrusselsAgenda? Ask for more info [email protected] ordon’t hesitate to call us at +32(0)2 5390039

An initiative of the Foundation for the Arts, Brussels

LAST MINUTE TICKETS FOR SHOWS & CONCERTS AT -50%

Avec le soutien de LA COMMISSION COMMUNAUTAIRE FRANÇAISE

Tickets for half price for performances and concerts on the same day. Arsène 50 offers you every day a wide range of performances, advises you in your choices and takes care of your reservation.

www.arsene50.be

Ticket sale: - At BIP, 2-4 rue Royale (Place Royale) 1000 BruxellesTuesday to Saturday, from 12.30 pm to 5.30 pm- Online on www.arsene50.beTuesday to Saturday, from 2 pm to 5.30 pm

Salle à l’étage ● Banquets - réunions - Terrase en été

Cosmo Cuisine

Av. de Tervueren,1051040 Etterbeek - Bruxelles

Tel: 02/ 732 43 31Fax: 02/ 733 61 17

Karagiozis Exposed, 27 July, Bozar

To get a taste of a unique type of theater,

shadow puppetry might be the perfect

thing. Karagiozis Exposed presents a

witty, fun and interactive show while

also sending a message of tolerance and

respect. The show is part of Bozar’s

Focus on Cyprus, which showcases

Cypriot creativity.

Shadow theatre is a Greek tradition that

draws from its Ottoman counterpart but

has developed its own identity over the

ages. This type of theater used to be per-

formed by uneducated laymen as enter-

tainment and a satirical social commen-

tary. Puppeteers enhance the perfor-

mance by being skilled at performing

several distinct voices and improvising

episodes and interludes.

Audience will get to take a journey into

the world of the folklore protagonist

Karagiozis. The show uses a subtle blend

of key episodes in Greek memory and

regional Cypriot and Turkish cultures.

The audience will watch as puppeteer

Antonis Tsiotsiopoulos struggles to keep

Karagiozis under control as he fights to

explore the potential of being human. A

twist is put on typical shadow theatre

when the character actually comes to life

and jumps out from behind the stage.

Despite its laughs, Karagiozis Exposed

is a performance about oppression and

an attempt to become free. The show has

a serious note that makes an appeal to

conversation as a means of creating tol-

erance and respect for everyone’s identi-

ty and freedom.

“The dialogues are clever, the idea

authentic and at long last we can speakof an outstanding performance,” Politis

newspaper has said about the show.

The free show will be performed twice

at 13:30 and 16:30.

RosiaMontana2006“Rosia Montana 2006”exhibition, 12 July, Bozar

In 2006, Romanian min-ers and workers in theenergetic field faced ashakeup when theRomanian governmentdecided to move thesecompanies into privatehands. Along with this,the gold mine Rosia Montana. A Canadian company bought the mine and is trying to exploit the goldresources with cyanides. The mine is still closed, but a heated debate still rageson the issues of pollution, poverty and unemployment rates in the area. A month before the mine closed, photographer Cosmin Bumbut capturedmoments of these mine workers that showed different angles of their jobs.Bumbut was able to capture the stories of the miners, but also the story of thehuman relationship to landscape. Audience will get a chance to visually understand these stories at the “RosiaMontana 2006” exhibition at Bozar. The exhibit opens 12 July and remains openuntil 12 August. “Rosia Montana 2006” is part of Bozar’s Summer ofPhotography.

RESTO BITES

La Table d'Arthur43 Rue Froissart 43, BrusselsTel 02 231 1777www.latabledarthur.com

If you are looking for something other than traditional Belgianbrasserie food, this is definitely the place for you.Light, tasty and healthy are the watchwords at this restaurant,opened last November by Frenchman Renan Minoche and hispartner Laurence Jourdain.The brightly-coloured 30-seat interior sets the tone for theFrench/Belgian cuisine, all freshly made and delicious.Look out for the ever-changing menu of the week, popular withstaff at the nearby EU institutions, which includes a main coursefor €16 or two courses for €21.Mainstays of the fixed menu include a wonderful sea bass andbeef.The chocolate cake is so good that Renan, who has worked intop hotels all over the world, was once offered to "sell" the recipeto a customer. The restaurant also seats 20 outside, can bebooked for special occasions and also does takeaways. There's a10% discount for people working in the EU and other localcompanies. Closed at weekends but open from 10am til late,Monday-Friday.It is actually named after the couple's young son Arthur andyou'll love the food as much as they clearly love him!Highly recommended.

TAKE A LOOK

Place de la Monnaie - MuntpleinSituated right next to one of Brussels' most busy shoppingstreets, Rue Neuve, this square boasts a 300 year old theatrebuilt by the then-financial advisor to the governor of theSpanish Netherlands, for public perfomances of opera, drama,and ballet. Up until around a year ago, the square's fountainsand benches served as a resting place for tired shoppers to putup their weary feet and heave a sigh of pleasure as they lookedaround the bustling square, drinking in the sight of the historictheatre and Parisian cafes dotted around the square. You may imagine the grumbles when Belgian authoritiesannounced that they were fencing in the whole square withtheir customary garish blue and yellow construction fences,hiding the theatre from the view of the public, and forcing theshoppers to wind their way around the square using the tinynarrow little paths set out for them by the builders. Toes werestubbed, shopping bags were knocked against other purchases,the atmosphere was crowded and claustrophobic.

Some events may require registration

6 July- Brussels Beach Inauguration

Quai des Péniches- 17h-23:30

Each year Brussels can enjoy the sum-

mer sun with beach chairs, umbrellas,

terraces and the cities very own beach.

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of

the beach, the inauguration will

include parades, shows, fireworks and

a sound and light show.

11 July- Hwaum Chamber Orchestra

Center for Fine Arts 20:00

The Hwaum Chamber Orchestra is a

Korean ensemble with an internation-

al reputation, known for its dual reper-

toire of music by celebrated Western

composers and new works of its own.

It regularly performs in museums and

major galleries, surrounded by works

of art.

2-7 July- Korean singing course and

conference

Maison de la Creation

Listen to Korean singing, given by

Min Hye-sung and attend a course of

pansori a genre of Korean traditional

music.

9-13 July- Summer course Farm of

the Maximilian Park

Farm of the Maximilian Park

Children from 5 to 10 years of age will

be able to learn about life on the farm.

Activities will help teach children

about respecting the environment and

give them an introduction on sustain-

able development.

3 and 5 July -Folklore Ommegang

Grand-Palace

The Grand-Palace will relive the 1549

procession organized for Charles V

and his son Philippe II. More than

1,400 extras will bring a whole period

of history back to life. The festivals

will include: actors, folk and historic

groups, horses, puppet and theaters

Brussels Agenda 6 -12 July

WORKsuggest your event for our agenda: [email protected]

PLAYsuggest your event for our agenda: [email protected]

Hwaum Chamber Orchestra, 11 July,20:00, BozarHwaum Chamber Orchestra, which has cre-ated an international reputation, will put on aperformance that shouldn’t be missed. Theorchestra’s name literally means “painting andsounds,” and it uses visual arts as an inspirationfor its praised works. Hwaum ChamberOrchestra is a Korean ensemble that wasfounded in 1996 and has a unique twist fromother groups. The string ensemble is made ofless than sixteen members and is led by agroup of four leaders, rather than a sole con-ductor. The orchestra has created a name foritself by its repertoire of music by celebratedWestern composers and new works of its own.Using visual arts as its inspiration, the ensem-ble regularly performs in museums and majorgalleries. Kyung Sun Lee, originally fromSeoul, will perform as the first violin duringthe show. Lee has gained acclaim as a soloistand chamber musician. She has been calledthe most intelligent soloist and has beenpraised for her clarity and strong sense of style.Lee was awarded a bronze medal in theQueen Elizabeth Competition. Tickets for theperformance cost €20.

Karagiozis ExposedFor more on events in Brussels checkwww.agenda.be

10 July - The Bank Resolution Fund: For

the EU or for the Eurozone?

13:00 - 14:30, Madariaga College of Europe

Foundation.

The College of Europe Foundation will be

hosing a discussion reflecting upon the finan-

cial crisis and possible solutions. Questions are

focused primarily on the moral hazard of pro-

viding certain types of bailout schemes. The

Controversy will be moderated by Pierre

Defraigne, Executive Director, Madriaga-

College of Europe.

11 July-What Went Wrong with the ECB?

13:00 - 14:30, Madariaga College of Europe

Foundation.

The College of Europe Foundation will be

hosing a Citizen’s Controversy event, which

will feature speakers such as Cinzia Alcidi,

Research Fellow, CEPS – Centre for

European Policy Studies, and Philippe

Legrain, Principal Adviser and Head of the

Analysis Team, BEPA – Bureau of European

Policy Advisers. The discussions will focus on

the role and responsibilities of the ECB in the

light of the current economic situation.

12 July- Master class: Using the new

VoteWatch website to access and analyze the

voting records of the European Parliament

and the Council

09:30 - 17:00, VoteWatch Europe, Résidence

Palace.

VoteWatch Europe will be offering a class pro-

viding an in-depth analysis of the current vot-

ing behaviors within the European Parliament

and the Council of the EU. Further,

VoteWatch’s new website will be explained in

detail in order to show how it can be used

effectively.

Hwaum Chamber Orchestra

GERMANY· SPAIN · PORTUGALNew Europe | Page 18 THE EUROPEAN UNION1 - 7 July, 2012

SPAIN|ECONOMY

Weaker economy in Q2The Spanish central bank says the troubled economy de-clined further in Q2 and is likely to contract more than theprevious three months 0.3%. The central bank reports thata decline in industrial production and lower consumer de-mand “indicate activity has continued to diminish at agreater rhythm”. The shrinking economy has an unem-ployment rate of slightly below 25%.

PORTUGAL|TELECOMS

Portugal Telecom announcesrefinancing extension Portuguese telecommunication company Portugal Tele-com, SGPS SA (PT) on June 27 announced that, in lightof current macroeconomic environment and financial mar-ket conditions, its Board of Directors has decided to adopta more prudent financial strategy to enhance the Com-pany’s financial flexibility through increased debt reductionand extension of debt maturities. PT announced that theBoard of Directors approved, for fiscal years 2012 to 2014,a shareholder remuneration policy comprising of an annualcash dividend of €0.325 per share and a share buy-backprogramme of €200 million for the three-year period,equivalent to an additional €0.225 per each outstandingshare. The Board of Directors also approved the launch ofa Public Bond Subscription Offering in the Portuguesemarket for the general public, denominated ‘‘PT Fixed RateBonds 2012/2016’’. The bonds have four-year term and re-ceive a fixed interest rate of 6.25% (Gross Nominal An-nual Rate) per year, to be paid semiannually. The offer sizeis €250 million, which can be increased by the issuer dur-ing the offering period The Board of Directors remainsconfident about PT´s cash flow generation but a more pru-dent financial strategy substantially reduces financial risks.The Company is now refinanced until the end of 2015,shall be reducing leverage and shall have more flexibility tocontinue to invest in the development of its business.

GERMANY|AUTOS

Germany to produce PeugeotGeneral Motors is preparing to build future versions of theCitroen C5 and Peugeot 508 cars at its Ruesselsheim plantin Germany, it was reported. By shifting production of thetwo models from its Rennes plant in the western French re-gion of Brittany, Peugeot Citroen (PSA) would likely needto close the factory. "There is such a scenario that is cur-rently being negotiated in a serious manner with theFrench," a senior German union official, Armin Schild,said. Opel called the report "pure speculation" in a state-ment late last Tuesday. "The area of manufacturing is notcurrently an element of the alliance agreement betweenGM and PSA. The two partners are discussing the areas oflogistics, purchasing and engineering," said GM's Euro-pean brand. Jean-Luc Perrard, the head of Peugeot's Frenchplant in Rennes where the two models are built, had saidin a French newspaper interview in May that Peugeotplanned to halt production of the midsize C5 when its suc-cessor is transferred to a GM plant. Peugeot, which de-clined to comment on the interview at the time, also wouldnot provide a statement on Tuesday's newspaper report.The German paper further reported last Tuesday that Opelwas planning severance packages for 1,500 workers eachin its home plant in Ruesselsheim, Germany, as well as inZaragoza in Spain. Opel denied the report, saying it onlyoffered individual packages in both plants, and estimatedthat the number of workers affected in Ruesselsheim werebelow 100. "We are in exchange adding new workers instrategically important areas," Opel personnel chief HolgerKimmes said in the statement.

Some 85% of medium-sized Germancompanies are planning to invest thisyear, but relatively few will run to thebank to borrow money, a study releasedon 28 June by the Deutsche Bankshowed, The Local reported.

The survey of 200 financial decision-makers in companies with sales of morethan € 25 million was conducted byTNS Infratest in April and May andobtained by the Handelsblatt newspa-per. The size of the planned investmentsis astounding, the paper wrote. Some41% plan to put in between € 500,000and € 2.5 million, while 16% plan tospend between € 2.5 million and € 5million, with nearly an equal percentageplanning to invest less than € 500,000.

And perhaps equally noteworthy ishow the company's plan to finance theirinvestment.

Nearly 75% expect to use money theyalready have, with only a quarter goingto the bank for new credit.

For those following the heated dis-cussion about the euro, this shouldcome as no surprise. Chancellor AngelaMerkel has been urging her Europeancolleagues to get their financial housesin order and not spend more than theyproduce. This survey would suggest thatGermany’s medium-sized companiesoperate in much the same way as itschancellor.

The companies surveyed said theirplanned investment spree was aided bylow interest rates, a positive investmentclimate and the need to make up for re-duced investment some years ago whenthings were even tougher economically.Also some 62 percent said governmentsubsidies for energy efficiency projectswere behind their decision.

But despite the positive climate an-other survey published last Thursdayshowed a slight increase in the numberof firms going bankrupt. Some 32,000firms are expected to go under during

2012 - an increase of about 2,000 overlast year.

And due to the bankruptcy ofSchlecker, once Germany's largestdrugstore chain and the ongoing diffi-culties in the solar industry, the finan-cial damage from bankruptcy rose by55% in the first half of this year to reach€ 16.2 billion, with the number of en-dangered jobs up 40,000 to 150,000.

Those workers are unlikely to behelped by the increase in medium-sizedfirms' investment, as most firms saidthey were not planning to increase thenumber of jobs. Some 27% are andtwo-thirds said their investments werebeing made to maintain the employ-ment they had.

Some two-thirds planned to buy newmachines or invest in their infrastruc-ture and more than a fourth said theywanted to invest in real estate. A tenthsaid they were planning to buy anotherbusiness.

Mid-sized firms plan to invest - with own cash

GERMANYECONOMY

According to the Quarterly National Accounts, released bythe Statistics Portugal Instituto Nacional de Estatística(INE), in the first quarter of 2012, GDP in Portugal de-creased 2.2%, in real year-on-year terms, after a 2.9% fall infourth quarter of 2011, the central bank of Portugal ‘Banco dePortugal’ reported in its monthly bulletin published.

This evolution was driven by a less negative contribution ofdomestic demand to GDP year-on-year rate (-6.4 p.p after -10.3 p.p in the previous quarter) reflecting less negative vari-ations in all its components. In what concerns net exports(whose contribution to the year-on-year rate of change ofGDP decreased (from 7.4 p.p. in the fourth quarter of 2011to 4.2 p.p. in the first quarter of 2012), imports registered asignificantly less negative variation while exports accelerated

(from 6.6% to 7.9%, in year-on-year terms).In May 2012, the monthly coincident indicator for the

year-on-year evolution of economic activity, calculated byBanco de Portugal, increased vis-à-vis the previous month.In the same period, the monthly coincident indicator for theyear-on-year evolution of private consumption, calculated byBanco de Portugal, increased vis-à-vis the previous month.

Regarding private consumption, in the three-month pe-riod ended in April of 2012, the retail turnover index 3 re-leased by INE, decreased 7%, in real year-on-year terms(-6.2% in the first quarter of 2012). In the three-month pe-riod ended in May 2012, sales of light passenger vehicles, in-cluding four-wheel drive, fell 40.3% (-48.4%, in the firstquarter of 2012).

GDP falls 2.2% in Q1 2012PORTUGALECONOMY

Job hunters in Hannover will welcome the investment by business.| AFP PHOTO / JOHN MACDOUGALL

AUSTRIA · SLOVENIA · MALTANew Europe| Page 19

THE EUROPEAN UNION1 - 7 July, 2012

ITALY|ECONOMY

Public debt reached €1.7 trillionFigures released by the National Institute of Statistics andEconomic Studies reveal that Italy’s public debt had reached€1,789.4 billion, a €72.4 billion euros rise compared to Q42011. As a percentage of GDP, the debt amounted approx-imately to 89.3%, +3.3 point increase compared to Q4 2011.The growth of the general government net debt was lower,a 1€7.9 billion rise compared to Q4 and represented ap-proximately 79.3 % of the GDP, +0.5 point increase com-pared to Q4 2011.

AUSTRIA|JOBS

Too few apprenticesAustria has a shortage of trainee positions according to newstatistics. Across the country there are around 8,000 adoles-cents looking for an apprenticeship - and only 4,000 posi-tions are available in the branches of tourism, gastronomy,and industry. Austrian career's service, the AMS, claims thatthe lack of apprenticeships is a worsening problem. Only inLower Austria were the figures against the trend, with thenumber of apprenticeship position increasing, while thenumber of adolescents looking for vacancies fell. Neverthe-less there are around 700 young people looking for an ap-prenticeship position even now in Lower Austria, with only295 vacancies. Especially positions in offices, metal work andtrade are rare - in contrast to professions such as roofers, elec-trical installation technicians, and butchers where there is ac-tually a shortage of apprentices.

SLOVENIA|DEFENCE

EU requests Slovenia to implementEU defence procurement rulesThe European Commission has requested Slovenia to no-tify within the next two months the measures it is taking toimplement EU rules for defence procurement (Directive2009/81/EC), Balkans reported on 25 June. The Commis-sion is concerned that Slovenia has failed to fulfil its com-mitments under the Directive regarding procurement ofarms, munitions and war material (and related works andservices) for defence purposes, as well as the procurement ofsensitive supplies, works and services for security purposes. Ifthe Directive is not fully implemented in all Member States,companies and taxpayers are denied the benefits of easier ac-cess to a more open, transparent, pan-European defencemarket. The deadline for implementing the Directive inquestion was 20 August 2011. Slovenia has not yet commu-nicated any measures to do so. The Commission's requesttakes the form of a reasoned opinion. If the Slovenian au-thorities do not notify the Commission of their implement-ing measures within two months, the Commission may referthe matter to the Court of Justice of the European Unionand may request the Court to impose financial penalties.

MALTA|ECONOMY

Industrial producer price index upProvisional data released by Malta’s National Statistics Of-fice indicates that in May, the producer price index for totalindustry increased by 0.8% over the previous month. Inter-mediate and consumer goods went up by 1.5% and 0.1% re-spectively, while the other main industrial groupings remainedstable. Producer prices for the domestic market remained sta-ble when compared to the previous month, with the excep-tion of the consumer goods sector which edged up by 0.1%.Overall, producer prices in the non-domestic market wentup by 1.3%, in view of a rise of 1.6% and 0.1% in the inter-mediate and consumer goods sectors respectively. Prices forcapital goods registered no change on the previous month.

In May 2012 the total producer price index decreased by0.3% with respect to the previous month; the index of pro-ducer prices fell by 0.3% on domestic market and nochange on non domestic market. The percentage changeof the average of the last three months compared to theprevious three months was +0.9% (+1.0% on domestic

market and +0.5% on non domestic market).The index rose by 2.2% compared with May 2011

(+2.3% on domestic market and +1.6% on non-domesticmarket).

Meanwhile, provisional data on consumer prices, leadsto a prediction that of inflation.

Industrial producer prices fall, consumer prices upITALYECONOMY

Austria’s latest power station is green and on stream.|VERBUND

Austria’s most powerful new thermalpower plant has gone live after it wasinaugurated in Mellach, Styria, Aus-trian Independent reported.

Austria’s most modern thermalpower plant replaces a total of five oldthermal power plants that were firedwith lignite or oil.

As a result, the new CCGT savesup to two million tons of CO2 annu-ally. Given that operation is highlyflexible and not dependent on theweather, the Mellach CCGT will be-come the backbone of the securepower supply in Austria.

The long-established VERBUNDlocation in Mellach/Styria was Aus-tria’s largest power plant constructionsite for three whole years.

Up to 1,200 tradesmen were busyon site at any one time, putting in atotal of over three million hours ofwork in Mellach. The result of theireffort is the Mellach CCGT, Austria’smost modern thermal power plant.

When online, the new CCGT willsave up to two million tons of CO2 ayear. Combined electricity and heatgeneration means that the plant canproduce clean, particulate-free districtheating of an unprecedented environ-

mental standard for the Graz area.With a capacity of 838 megawatts

(MW), the Mellach CCGT is themost powerful power plant in Austria.Some 1.4 million homes can there-fore count on a reliable power supplyfrom Mellach, even when the fluctu-ating electricity generated by windand solar plants is not available be-cause of the weather.

At the heart of the two generatorsare highly efficient gas turbines man-ufactured by Siemens in Berlin. Withthe downstream steam turbines, thepower plant achieves electric effi-ciency of 59.2% and if steam is recov-ered for district heating its efficiencycan be increased to virtually 80%, thusmaking the best possible use of natu-ral gas as the fuel.

The general conditions for gas-fired power plants continue to remainchallenging.

Firstly, huge subsidies are availablefor expanding wind and solar poweralthough it fluctuates considerably.And secondly, the profitability of gaspower plants supplementing supplythroughout Europe is limited.

What is responsible for this are thestill relatively low wholesale prices for

electricity on the one hand and long-term, oil index-linked and thereforeexpensive gas supply contracts on theother.

Due to these circumstances VER-BUND’s half year results will be ad-versely affected by the MellachCCGT.

In the medium term, the companyexpects demand for capacity to rise onthe European electricity market, en-suring that gas-fired power plants canbe operated economically.

VERBUND is Austria’s leadingutility and one of the largest produc-ers of hydroelectricity in Europe. TheGroup generates more than fourfifths of its electricity from hy-dropower, supplemented with ther-mal and wind power.

Including its equity interests, VER-BUND serves over four million con-sumers and trades electricity in 19countries. In 2011, annual revenue to-taled €3.9 billion with around 3,000employees.

With its subsidiaries and partners,VERBUND is involved in generat-ing, transmitting and supplying elec-tricity, international trading anddistribution.

AUSTRIA

ENERGY

Largest thermal plant fires up

UK · BELGIUM · NETHERLANDS · LUXEMBOURGPage 20 |New Europe THE EUROPEAN UNION1 - 7 July, 2012

NETHERLANDS|ECONOMY

Economy shrinks 0.8% in Q1 2012According to the second estimate released by the Sta-tistics Netherlands, the Dutch economy shrank by0.8% in the first quarter of 2012 compared with thesame quarter last year. This second estimate of eco-nomic growth is 0.3 of a percent point higher than thefirst estimate published on 15 May. Economic growthcompared with the previous quarter has been adjustedupwards by 0.5 of a percent point. As a result, insteadof shrinking by 0.2%, the economy grew by 0.3%. Theeconomic picture is thus more positive than previouslyoutlined. The quarter-on-quarter development hasbeen corrected for working day and seasonal effects.The first quarter of 2012 had 1 working day extra. Inthe first quarter of 2012 there were 26 thousand feweremployee jobs than in the same quarter in 2011. Thisis a decrease of 0.3%. This second estimate of the num-ber of jobs is 0.1 of a percent point lower than the firstestimate. After correction for seasonal effects, thenumber of jobs is 31 thousand lower than in the fourthquarter of 2011. Wages per working year were 0.6%higher in the first quarter of 2012 than in the samequarter last year. This increase is well below the col-lectively agreed wage rise of 1.3%.

BELGIUM|ECONOMY

Producer price index of industry downIn May 2012, compared to the previous month, theproducer price index of industry excluding construc-tion has decreased by 0.3%. A split of this figure in en-ergy and the rest shows a decrease by 2.8% for energyand an increase by 0.2% for total industry except en-ergy. A further breakdown of total industry except en-ergy obtains +0.4% for intermediate goods, exceptenergy, +0.4% for capital goods, +0.2% for durableconsumer goods and ‐0,3% for non‐durable consumergoods, Statistics Belgium reported on June 25. Whenthe general producer price index is subdivided accord-ing to destination, a rise of 0.3% on the domestic mar-ket and a fall of 0.9% on the non‐domestic marketscan be observed. Compared to May of the previousyear, the producer price index of total industry exclud-ing construction has increased by 3.1%. For the do-mestic market it rose by 2.5%, for the non‐domesticmarkets there was a rise of 3.6%.

LUXEMBOURG|TELECOMS

Tango rolls out its 4G network in Luxembourg Tango, the Grand Duchy's second largest mobile op-erator by subscribers, announced that it has obtainedauthorisation to launch LTE technology and also an-nounced the rolling out of its 4G network in Luxem-bourg. Tango is now offering 4G at up to 20Mbit/sand this speed will rise as the coverage is rolled out tothe rest of the country. This innovation helps to bringsignificant improvements to the ease of use and per-formance of all mobile services, and especially the In-ternet. Over the summer, the first customers withTango LTE USB sticks will be able to test the powerof 4G on their laptops, before it becomes available toeveryone else. Tango is the leading alternative mobileoperator in the Grand Duchy and recently renewed its2G licence for 15 years, allowing the company to offerLTE (Long Term Evolution) technology. It has alsoannounced the imminent rolling out of its 4G networkacross the whole of Luxembourg.

Expanding Britain's nuclear reactorfleet could boost the UK economy bymore than £ 5 billion and create 32,000jobs, a report commissioned by atomicplant developer EDF Energy said on 26June, Economic Times reported.

Nuclear energy policy in Britainmust first provide long-term guaranteesto investors before the manufacturingand economic gains can be realised,EDF said, at a time when uncertaintyover renewable subsidies and new nu-clear plants threatens the future of low-carbon power generation in the UK.

Britain is trying to woo nuclear in-vestors by reforming its electricity mar-

ket in a way that guarantees a minimumprice for producers of low-carbon en-ergy, including nuclear power, but un-certainty over details of the reform haskept investors wary.

The government had said it will needabout 18 gigawatts (GW) of new non-renewable power generation capacity,which also includes nuclear, by 2025 tomeet its energy and climate change tar-gets.

EDF Energy said its decision onwhether to invest in building four newnuclear plants with combined output of6.4 GW in Somerset and Suffolk at theend of 2012 will hinge on the evolution

of nuclear policy between now andthen.

"If the government makes a clearand credible long-term commitmentto nuclear energy in the form of along-term nuclear energy strategy,and if it has all-party support indoing so, then UK industry can bereasonably confident that there willbe a steady stream of work and con-tracts in the future," it said.

The report also found that UKelectricity export revenues may morethan double to £ 1.2-1.7 billion perannum by 2030, based on currentpower prices.

The Dutch cabinet will not be signing the ACTA treaty, inline with parliamentary wishes. The anti-piracy bill for the in-ternet ACTA, which is meant to be signed by European coun-tries, the United States and Japan, has been under fire for sometime. Its opponents fear it will be misused to prevent peopleillegally downloading films and music from the internet, Ex-patica.com reported.

The Dutch Freedom Party submitted a motion urging theDutch government not to sign. Green Left MP Arjan ElFassed asking the government to look into whether the treatycontravened civil rights, before deciding to sign. Both motionswere supported by a majority of the House. The governmenthas followed their lead.

Interior Minister Maxime Verhagen said the motions were“superfluous and premature”, because the government was

waiting for a ruling by the European Court of Justice on theissue. The court is considering whether ACTA does indeedinfringe on civil rights. However, the ruling is not expectedbefore the end of the year.

On 4 July, the European Parliament will debate the treaty.It’s expected to reject it. Four influential European Parliamentcommissions have already said no to ACTA. A majority ofEuropean MPs think the treaty infringes on internet freedom.

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement ACTA ismeant to harmonise international standards for the protec-tion of the rights of producers of music, films, pharmaceuti-cals, fashion and various other products. Combatting piracy isjust one side of the controversial treaty. Its opponents call it the“Censorship Law”, because it will drastically limit internetfreedom.

The Netherlands refuses to sign ACTANETHERLANDS TRADE

More UK nuclear could add 32,000 jobs

UNITED KINGDOMNUCLEAR

Sellafield Nuclear plant in Seascale, Cumbria generates jobs as well as controversy.| EPA/Owen Humphreys

POLAND · HUNGARY · CZECH REPUBLIC THE EUROPEAN UNION

New Europe | Page 21

1 - 7 July, 2012

CZECH REPUBLIC|ECONOMY

Central bank main rate at record lowThe Czech central bank changed its main interest ratefor the first time in two years, by cutting it to a recordlow of 0.5%. The change was widely predicted by fi-nancial experts, noting that domestic demand haddropped and government borrowing costs reachedrecord lows and my incoming austerity measures to re-duce the nation’s budget deficit. Governor MiroslavSinger told reporters “That would mean a further rel-ative curbing of demand, which allowed us to ease theconditions.” The central bank also dropped its Lom-bard rate to 1.5%, while leaving the discount rate un-changed at 0.25%. The new interest rate levels comeinto effect on 29th June. The discount rate was left un-changed because some legal rules still use a multipleof the discount rate in sanction and similar provisionsas a basis for calculating penalties, fines, sanction fees,etc. From the perspective of the spirit of the law thebank deemed it justified to keep the sanction amountsabove zero in such cases.

HUNGARY|TRANSPORT

Bombardier MAV to test railway carriagesBombardier MAV has won a HUF 1.7 billion orderto test and certify 157 carriages of state-owned rail-way company MAV, Bombardier MAV managing di-rector Peter Orban said. Bombardier MAV, a jointventure of MAV and Canada's Bombardier, will fill theorder for MAV's maintenance unit between 1 July andthe end of March, next year, Orban said. BombardierMAV has also tested and certified Italian carriages, andit has revamped carriages for railway companies inSwitzerland, Norway and the Czech Republic, he said.Bombardier MAV had revenue of HUF 8.7 billion in2011. Bombardier holds 65% of the JV, MAV owns25% and 10% of shares are in the hands of employees.

POLAND|FINANCE

Poland sets up Swiss swapThe Swiss National Bank (SNB) and National Bankof Poland (NBP) have concluded a Swiss franc/zlotyswap agreement. In the event of tensions in the Swissfranc interbank market, the facility enables the NBP toprovide Swiss franc liquidity to banks in Poland. Allswap transactions require the SNB’s prior approval.The term of the swaps is one week. The two centralbanks do not anticipate that this agreement, which hasbeen concluded as a precautionary measure, will needto be called upon.

HUNGARY|TRANSPORT

Hungary to buy back RailCargo Hungaria stakeHungary’s government is in talks on reacquiring a stakein Rail Cargo Hungaria, the former cargo unit of state-owned railway company MAV, Real Deal Hungary re-ported. Regaining a stake in Rail Cargo Hungaria, whosepredecessor was acquired by Rail Cargo Austria, thecargo unit of Austrian railway company OBB, in 2008,would give MAV and OBB a joint presence on marketsin the Balkans and Asia Minor, according to reports. TheNational Development Ministry confirmed that OBBchief Christian Kern was in Budapest for talks with Na-tional Development Minister Zsuzsa Nemeth and MAVchairman-CEO Ilona David.

Hungary to restart uranium mining in Mecsek Hills

Wildhorse Energy has announced on27 June that the Hungarian govern-ment has formally pledged its supportfor the development of a joint venturewith state-owned companies to restarturanium mining in the Mecsek Hills,Portfolio Hungary reported.

The JV was formed between Wild-horse Energy, state owned Mecsek-Oko (MO) and Mecsekerc (ME), andHungarian Electricity Works (MVM)which is the owner of Paks NuclearPower Plant.

WHE Managing Director MattSwinney said the Mecsek Hills Ura-nium Project is a "highly important his-torically producing strategic asset,which is one of Europe’s largest ura-nium projects with a total Inferred Re-source of 48.3 million tonnes at 0.072%uranium (U3O8) for 77Mlbs ofU3O8."

"The Hungarian nuclear sector con-

tinues to grow as the country seeks themeans to diversify its fuel generation ca-pabilities and reduce its reliance on im-ported energy sources," he added.

WHE is an AIM and ASX listedcompany focused on developing under-ground coal gasification (UCG) anduranium projects in Central and East-ern Europe.

The Hungarian government’s reso-lution is "a major step in the develop-ment of this strategically importanturanium deposit", which combinesWHE’s 42.9 sq km Pécs-Abaliget ura-nium license and MO’s adjoining 19.6sq km MML-E uranium license,WHE said.

The project has an exploration targetof an additional 55-90 Mlbs of uraniumwith a grade range of 0.075-0.1%,which makes it one of the largest ura-nium deposits in Europe.

The current deal is of "particular im-

portance when considering its impacton the national economy, the potentialto create employment and its favourableeffect on the security of energy supply,"WHE added.

The JV’s initial purpose will be toevaluate the necessary conditions torestart uranium mining in the MecsekHills with the ultimate aim of recom-mencing uranium mining at the Mec-sek Hills Uranium Project in Hungary.

In the event of positive findings fromthe evaluation the parties shall negotiatecomprehensive shareholder agreementsand transfer WHE’s and MO’s Ura-nium Licenses into the JV with the aimof recommencing uranium mining onthe Licenses.

Further detailed requirements re-garding the project company shall bediscussed with the Ministry of NationalDevelopment in the forthcomingweeks.

HUNGARYMINING

On 1 September, LOT Polish Airlines will move its opera-tions at JFK from Terminal 4 to Terminal 1. LOT will alsotransfer all Newark flights to JFK airport from 29 October.This move allows LOT to operate a larger number of flightsoffered from JFK and to provide a more consistent and at-tractive schedule for our New York passengers, particularlythose in the business community.

These changes lead to improved service to passengers trav-elling to and from New York but also for connecting trafficfrom LOT flights to over 80 cities within the United Stateswhich are operated by our US partners,. LOT recently an-nounced a new partnership with JetBlue at JFK. LOT'sanalysis shows that JFK has greater traffic potential thanNewark and better supports LOT's mid- and long-termnetwork strategy.

Terminal 1 at JFK, which is used by the world's largest air-lines, including many Star Alliance partners ensures a toplevel of service to LOT passengers. The changes in NewYork are an important part of the preparations to launchLOT's service on Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft in Janu-ary 2013.

"We believe that the consolidation of our flights from NewYork, and terminal changes at JFK will provide better serv-ice to our existing and future passengers, particularly in lightof our new partnership with JetBlue", said Marcin Pirog,CEO of LOT Polish Airlines.

Passengers already booked on suspended Newark serviceswill be offered a departure from JFK or a full refund of theirtickets and will be notified by their travel agent or directly byLOT.

LOT to Consolidate Warsaw -New York services at JFKPOLANDAVIATION

The new uranium mining areas approved by the government.|WILDHORSE

SWEDEN · DENMARK · FINLAND· IRELANDPage 22 | New Europe THE EUROPEAN UNION1 - 7 July, 2012

FINLAND|MARITIME

Return of the TitanicAustralian billionaire Clive Palmer and Finnish-basedship design company Deltamarin have concluded acontract according to which Deltamarin will be in-volved in the project to build a new Titanic, it was re-ported. Palmer plans to build a replica of the Titanicwhich, once completed, would sail between Englandand the United States, just like the original vessel.Deltamarin’s Sales Director Markku Kanerva told Ylethat Deltamarin has been commissioned to carry outa feasibility study for the project. The study will in-clude, among other things, a full review of the vessel’ssafety aspects. One of the challenges will also be re-producing the interior of the ship: the original Titaniccontained an abundance of wood, which is not possi-ble under the current fire safety regulations. In his in-terview with Yle, Kanerva said it will take severalmonths to complete the study. Based on the results,the decision will be taken whether the ship can be builtor not. Kanerva hopes that Deltamarin will also be in-volved in the actual design phase if construction isgiven the go-ahead. Palmer announced his plans inApril 2012. According to Yle, Palmer hopes that Ti-tanic II will be ready to make its maiden voyage in2016. The Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Oceanon 15 April 1912, causing the deaths of more than 1500 people.

SWEDEN|AUTOS

Volvo wants to build vehicles in USVolvo, the Swedish automaker owned by a Chinesemanufacturer, wants to build vehicles in the US, it wasreported. Obviously, it will be late to the party. Mostother automakers have come to realize that buildingvehicles in the U.S. is the only way to protect them-selves from changes in exchange rates that can makeimporting vehicles really expensive. That's what's hap-pening right now with Japanese imports. Volvo's an-swer isn't to build its own plant from the ground up,but rather find a US partner that could build vehiclesfor them. "In the medium term, five to six years, weneed to find a proper solution in North America,"Volvo CEO Stefan Jacoby said. "Building a plant our-selves is maybe more unlikely. I'm looking for a partnerthat could help us utilize a North American plant." Asfor Fiat, which already built minivans for Volkswagen,he said, "Fiat is obviously one of the alternatives."

IRELAND|PHARMA

Roche grumble overRoche pharmaceutical has announced that it is to con-tinue production at its manufacturing plant in Clare-castle outside Ennis in Co. Clare, RTE Irelandreported on 26 June. The company employs around 400people in Clare, which include over 300 permanentemployees and 100 contractors. The company's em-ployment and payroll is worth an estimated € 5 milliona week to the town of Ennis. The company also em-ploys 70 people at its commercial division at City Westin Dublin. Fears were expressed about the future of theplant in the past week after the decision of the com-pany to discontinue production of an anti cholesteroldrug Dalcetrapib on the Clarecastle site. The company,based in Basle, Switzerland then began a review of itsmanufacturing to assess the impact of the decision toend production of the drug. The company confirmedon 26 June evening that the plant at Roche is to stay inproduction following the assessment.

A US voice technology company already employing 1,000people in Europe is to open its international headquarters inDublin, creating more than 40 jobs, RTE Ireland reported on26 June. The company, Nuance, is based in Massachusetts andhas offices in 35 countries. The move is backed by IDA Irelandand the new jobs will be in sales, finance, management andhuman resources.

Nuance offers a range of products, including the ''Dragon''range of voice recognition and dictation software and theSwype keyboard for mobile phones.

Its customers include Audi, Barclays, BMW, BT,Deutsche Bank, the UK's NHS, the Revenue Commis-

sioners and Vodafone.Welcoming the new jobs, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise &

Innovation Richard Bruton said that a major part of the Gov-ernment's plan for jobs and growth is targeting growth sectorswhere Ireland has particular strengths and seeking to buildclusters of companies in those areas.

''The decision by Nuance to locate its sales and financialshares services centre in Dublin is a clear endorsement of Ire-land's strengths in the ICT area,'' commented IDA Chief Ex-ecutive Barry O'Leary. ''Ireland continues to provide anattractive business environment to assist global businesses likeNuance grow a strong presence in Europe,' he added.

Nuanced investment in DublinIRELANDBUSINESS

Two companies - EirGen Pharma andDanone Baby Nutrition - have an-nounced the creation of new jobs in thesouth east of the country, RTE Irelandreported .

Irish pharmaceutical manufacturer,EirGen Pharma, is to create 30 new jobsin Waterford. The move is being sup-ported by Enterprise Ireland.

And 45 new jobs are to be created inWexford as a result of a € 20 million in-vestment by Danone Baby Nutrition atits manufacturing plant in the town.

EirGen Pharma is an export-focusedcompany that specialises in the develop-ment, licensing and manufacture ofhighly specialised oncology drugs for theglobal pharmaceutical market.

"A central part of the Government'splan for jobs and growth is creating apowerful engine of indigenous, export-focused companies'', commented theMinister for Jobs, Enterprise and Inno-

vation, Richard Bruton."EirGen is a prime example of the

successful companies that will help driveour economic recovery. Through contin-ued implementation of the Action Planfor Jobs, I am determined to ensure thatwe can see more announcements likethis around the country over the comingyears," he added.

Meanwhile, the € 20 million invest-ment for Danone is supported by theGovernment through Enterprise Ire-land. It will see an expansion at the Wex-ford plant, which produces baby andinfant formula under the Aptamil andCow & Gate brands.

The € 20 million will fund a new pro-cessing and packing line in Wexford aswell as lead to increased employment inareas such as operations, food science,engineering and logistics.

The company said the expansions willdouble the capacity of the facility to

70,000 tonnes annually in finishedpacked product of brands including Ap-tamil and Cow & Gate.

Danone has been making Cow &Gate baby products in Ireland for thepast 125 years. The company also man-ufactures the Aptamil product range inMacroom and Wexford.

Construction of the new facilitystarted in March and is due to be com-pleted by January of next year with com-mercial operations starting in February.A total of 120 people are working on theconstruction phase of the project.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and In-novation Richard Bruton said thatbuilding and developing the country'smanufacturing industries is a key part ofthe Government's plans for jobs andgrowth, and it has committed to achiev-ing a net increase of 20,000 in the num-ber of people at work in this sector by2016.

Jobs boost for Wexford and WaterfordIRELANDBUSINESS

Ikea to invest in IndiaSweden-based furniture retailer IKEAhas approached the finance ministrywith a proposal to invest Rs 10,500 forsetting up of 25 stores in single-brandretail in the country.

The IKEA group, which sells officeand home furniture, proposes to invest€ 1.5 billion (Rs 10,500 ) through a100% subsidiary in single-brand retailtrading in India, sources said.

This would be the largest investmentin the single-brand retailing ever sincethe government has allowed foreign in-vestment in this sector.

The company has filed an applicationwith the Foreign Investment PromotionBoard (FIPB) through its adviser Titusand Co Advocates.

According to the proposal, IKEAwould be investing €600 million to open10 stores in the first stage. The remain-ing €900 million would be used to open15 more stores.

In January, the government has noti-

fied 100% foreign direct investment(FDI) in single-brand retail, paving wayfor global chains like Adidas, LouisVuitton and Gucci to have full owner-ship of their India operations.

Meanwhile, IKEA chief executiveand president M Ohlsson on 22 Junemet commerce and industry ministerAnand Sharma in St Petersburg anddiscussed about the investment plans inIndia.

BUSINESSSWEDEN

Indian Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textiles, Anand Sharma(L), gestures during ameeting with CEO President of Sweden's IKEA Mikael Ohlsson, in St. Petersburg on June 22,2012.| A FP PHOTO / HO/GERMAN PAVLOV/PIB

LATVIA · LITHUANIA · ESTONIA · SLOVAKIANew Europe | Page 23THE EUROPEAN UNION

1 - 7 July, 2012

LITHUANIA|EU AFFAIRS

Parliament approvesFiscal Stability TreatyLawmakers voted 80-11 with 21 abstentions to approve thepact, according to a vote count broadcast from Parliament inVilnius. The accord anchors balanced-budget rules in na-tional law, reports LETA/ELTA, referring to Bloomberg.On 31 January, 25 EU member states agreed on the Treatyon Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Eco-nomic and Monetary Union. The Czech Republic andGreat Britain will not take part in the agreement. Under thetreaty, EU member states agree to strengthen the economicpillar of the Economic and Monetary Union by adopting aset of rules intended to foster budgetary discipline througha fiscal compact, to strengthen the coordination of economicpolicies and to improve the governance of the euro area,thereby supporting the achievement of the EuropeanUnion's objectives for sustainable growth, employment,competitiveness and social cohesion.

SLOVAKIA|AUTO INDUSTRY

Volkswagen Slovakia produces its three millionth automobileThe three millionth automobile rolled off the productionline at Bratislava-based Volkswagen Slovakia since thecompany launched production in 1991, Slovak spectatorreported on 25 June. “In over more than 20 years of car pro-duction we have made 12 models,” said the CEO of theVolkswagen Slovakia, Albrecht Reimold, outlining the ex-tent of production at the facility in Bratislava. VolkswagenSlovakia is one of Slovakia’s largest investments, exporters,and employers in the private sector, employing 8,400 peo-ple, TASR wrote.

SLOVAKIA|DIPLOMACY

Finland and Slovakia discuss various forms of co-operationRecent developments in the European Union, the debt cri-sis and opportunities for further bilateral co-operation werethe key issues discussed at a meeting between Slovak Pres-ident Ivan Gasparovic and the speaker of Finnish parlia-ment, Eero Heinaluoma, on 23 June, Slovak spectatorreported last Monday. “I am glad that in the current crisiswe share the same views on preserving the EU as such, partlybecause Finland is the only Nordic country whose currencyis the same as ours – the euro,” said Gasparovic, as quoted byTASR. Both leaders agreed that the eurozone should en-large but Gasparovic said that the economic situation ratherthan the political situation of membership candidates shouldbe the main accession criterion in the future. Regarding fieldsof co-operation, Heinaluoma said that Finland has becomeincreasingly interested in trade and tourism.

SLOVAKIA|EU AFFAIRS

ESM passed by the Slovak parliamentThe European Stability Mechanism (ESM), a permanentrescue fund proposed by eurozone countries to deal withthe sovereign debt crisis and other fiscal problems, waspassed by Slovakia’s parliament on 22 June, Slovak specta-tor reported. In the end, 118 MPs out of 144 present votedin support, 20 voted against, one did not vote and five ab-stained. It was expected that Slovakia’s approval of theESM would sail smoothly through parliament as PrimeMinister Robert Fico’s party, Smer, holds a majority of seats.Fico had pledged that Slovakia would approve the legisla-tion before the end of June. Smer hold 83 seats and only 76votes were required in the 150-member chamber.

On 28 June, Lithuania's parliament gavethe green light to a consultative referen-dum on the construction of the Visagi-nas nuclear power plant (NPP).Lithuania's lawmakers voted 64-35 with25 abstentions to approve the draft lawtoday, LETA/ELTA reported.

The draft law proposing a referen-dum stipulates the following text forvoters: "I am in favour of constructing a

new nuclear power plant in the Repub-lic of Lithuania".

The consultative referendum is ex-pected to be held along with the up-coming parliamentary elections inOctober.

"I am happy a very important historicdecision allowing the further develop-ment of nuclear energy in Lithuania ...has been made," Prime Minister An-

drius Kubilius told reporters at parlia-ment, which backed the concession dealwith 74 out of the 141 seats in thehouse.

But the main opposition Social De-mocrat Party, which leads opinion pollsahead of the election, boycotted the votein protest at the cost of the project, esti-mated by the Finance Ministry at up to€6.8bn.

Parliament approves referendumon new NPP construction

LITHUANIAENERGY

The Public Utilities Commission believes the Regional Courtruling on Latvenergo electricity rates to be unfounded andcontradictory, and that part of the court's conclusions are notin line with the actual situation, therefore the commission willappeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, as the Public UtilitiesCommission representative Daiga Reihmane informed theNozare.lv business portal. "In the Administrative RegionalCourt's opinion, the existing electricity rates are too low," saidReihmane. "The ruling has mislead the plaintiffs and the pub-lic into believing that, since the ruling is in favor of the plain-tiffs, tariffs will possibly be reduced, although the court'sconclusions are just the contrary," LETA quoted Reihmaneas saying.

Furthermore, the Public Utilities Commission's Decree No.40 did not confirm the current electricity rates but lifted theprevious ones, therefore the court ruling does not cancel the ex-

isting electricity rates, added Reihmane.The court has deemed all tariff changes justified as well as

all tariff components, except for the trade service component,which constitutes just 1.3% of the tariff, and which, accordingto the court ruling, needs to be revised, said Reihmane, adding,however, that the Public Utilities Commission disagreed withthis part of the ruling too.

The Administrative Regional Court on June 25 ruled infavor of several private individuals and legal entities claimingthat Latvenergo differentiated electricity rates, adopted in Feb-ruary 2011, be lifted. The court overturned the Public UtilitiesCommission's Decree No. 40, adopted on 16 February 2011.

According to the current Latvenergo tariffs, householdsconsuming more electricity annually have to pay more. Thefirst 1,200 kilowatt/hours cost 8.25 santims per kWh. Whenthis limit is exceeded, the tariff is 10.74 santims per kWh.

Utilities Commission to challenge Latvenergo rulingLATVIA ENERGY

Estonian Minister of Economy andCommunications, Juhan Parts, will nei-ther assist Estonian water utilityTallinna Vesi's shareholders nor supportTallinna Vesi’s privatisation contract ina dispute with the Competition Au-thority of Estonia, the company said ina statement.

The company received a responsefrom the Minister of Economy and

Communications on 25 June 2012, to aletter from Tallinna Vesi's shareholdersdated 30 May 2012. In his response, theMinister stated he was unable to sup-port Tallinna Vesi's shareholders andthe privatization for the key reasons,mentioned in a letter.

The Ministry said in a statementthat: "The bases of forming water tar-iffs stipulated in the Public Water

Supply and Sewerage Act (PWSSA)14 applied before and at the time ofprivatization and the bases of formingwater tariffs stipulated in the PWSSAapplicable today have stayed un-changed in their essence since the lawwas enforced in 1999, includingamongst other things the justifiedprofitability component to be added tothe water tariff, LETA reported.

ESTONIACOMPETITION

Parts not to assist Tallinna Vesi's shareholders

An employee works in operating part in Unit Two of the now-closed Ignalina nuclear power plant (IAE), Visagina, Lithuania, 4December 2009. |EPA/VALDA KALNINA

GREECE · CYPRUS · BULGARIA · ROMANIAPage 24 | New Europe THE EUROPEAN UNION1 - 7 July, 2012

Romanian aluminium producer Alrohas announced $15m investments inthe first five months of 2012 to in-crease the energy efficiency of its op-erations, Romania Insider reportedon 28 June.

“Alro has always put a strong empha-sis on improving specific consumption,be it electricity, gas or other raw materi-

als”, said Alro CEO Gheorghe Dobra.The investments are part of a long

term energy efficiency program that hasseen over $77m investments since 2005.Between 2003 and 2011, Alro reducedelectricity consumption by 75% and gasconsumption 80% in its processed alu-minium division.

Dobra added that the lower energy

use per tonne of aluminium has partiallyoffset increasing energy costs.

Alro is a subsidiary of Vimetco NV, aglobal aluminium producer. The firmhas an installed production capacity of265,000 tonnes per year, making it thelargest aluminium producer in Centraland Eastern Europe when measured byvolume.

Alro invests $15m in energy efficiencyROMANIAENERGY

The Bulgarian arm of the ‘Anonymous’hacktivist group has uploaded a shortvideo on Youtube, threatening the Bul-garian bTV Media Group.

The video comes as a response to themedia coverage of the protests against thecontroversial Forestry Act amendmentswhich were introduced by the parliamentlast week.

The new amendments to theForestry Act were adopted and later ve-toed by the president on the groundsthat ‘on the one hand, it aims to pro-mote regional development, tourismand sport, while on the other, the lawcreates a reasonable suspicion of non-compliance with basic principles of theConstitution, the rights of citizens, Eu-ropean Union values and of unbalanceddecisions that will face irreversible con-sequences for the environment’.

The ‘Anonymous’ accused the Bulgar-ian bTV of ‘undertaking a series of ma-nipulations and insinuations during theorganisation of the protests against theamendments of the Forestry Act, of beingagainst free sharing of information be-tween people and against the freedom ofspeech’. Furthermore, bTV Media Groupwas accused of ‘aiming at the impositionof total censorship on freedom of speechand thought for the purpose of serving ofpersonal, corporate and political interests’.

In addition, the hacktivist group re-proached the media for ‘doing so, that itsown employees are afraid to cover objec-tively events because they knew that laterthe management would violate the prin-ciple of all viewpoints’. The group added:‘Currently, there is only one viewpoint atbTV - the viewpoint of the owner andexecutive director, who is a shareholder atFirst Investment Bank (FIB)’.

The video made clear that the ‘Anony-mous’ were not against the journalists inbTV Media Group and even felt ‘pity forthem’ because they realized ‘how painful itis for someone who wanted to do theirjob in a correct and objective way, to berestricted in doing so by the interest of themedia’.

The hacktivist group insisted that‘bTV, rather than environmentalists,apologizes for all contortions of journal-ism which took place in the past one year’.The ‘Anonymous’ added: ‘Otherwise, wewill consider each and every of their ad-vertisers and sponsors as our enemy’. Ad-ditionally, the hackers urged the citizensto abstain from watching bTV, as well asfrom buying products manufactured oradvertised by sponsors of the media.

The address of the hacktivist groupcame one day after the police in Sofia ar-rested one of its members-a twenty-yearold man who hacked the website of acompany, licensing public use of music.The man performed unauthorized accessto the admin panel of the site and he redi-rected users to freely available site repre-senting a template of the ‘Anonymous’.

In that respect, one could wonderwhether the newly uploaded video couldbe seen not only as a way of expressingdisapproval of media coverage of theprotests against the controversial ForestryAct amendments, but also as a means of‘revenge’ on the side of the ‘Anonymous’ inrelation to the arrest of one of their mem-bers. It seems that the threat of the'Anonymous' group had achieved its pur-pose and had a role to play in clarifyingthe facts around the controversial mediacoverage of the protests against theamendments in the Forestry Act becausejust a couple of days later the media pub-lished its official position on the issue.

The bTV Media Group admited thatit had made some mistakes in covering

the protests: 'We have made some mis-takes while covering the protests. Despitethe lack of intent, they understandablycaused outrage among some of our view-ers and created a false impression of bi-ased representation of events on bTV'.The media added: 'We recognize the re-sponsibility we bear towards the millionsof viewers. The fact that others are for-given for their mistakes, cannot be an ex-cuse for us to allow even the slightestinaccuracy and expect we will be forgiven.We realize that our responsibility comesfrom the immense influence we have inthe society'.

The expectations of the 'Anonymous'for an apology were also fulfilled as theBulgarian media apologized for mislead-ing the viewers and added: 'Of course, themistakes made have already been ana-lyzed and sanctions have been imposed.We will take all necessary measures toavoid repetition of these mistakes andomissions ever again'.

The bTV coverage of the protests wasalso criticized by the Council for Elec-tronic Media in Bulgaria whose chair-man called the reporting 'biased'.However, in his opinion, 'the media hasnot infringed the law on radio and tele-vision in any way'.

Even so, one can may ask why was anintervention of a hacktivist group neces-sary before the competent authoritiescould reach the conclusion that some-thing in the bTV media coverage of theprotests against the amendments in theForestry Act was wrong?

Anonymous’ threaten Bulgarianmedia, insist on an apology

BULGARIAMEDIABULGARIA|CRIME

Borisov in CRIM’s sightThe 'attacks' against Borisov in relation to his past activitiesincrease. The Austrian newspaper der Standardsaid on 27June that independent journalists have alerted the newly es-tablished Special Committee against Organised Crime,Corruption and Money Laundering (CRIM) in the Euro-pean Parliament about alledged criminal suspicions agianstBulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov. The suspicionsaround the PM’s past appeared from the release of docu-ments by the Wikileaks website. The sources were papers offormer US Ambassador to Sofia, John Beyerle, in which henamed the past relations of Borisov as ‘dark’ The papers ac-cused Borisov of being involved in large-scale methamphet-amines smuggling, illegal fuel transactions together with theBulgarian subsidiary of a Russian company, and money laun-dering via a Bulgarian bank whose manager at the time wasthe former girlfriend of Borisov, Tsvetelina Borislavova. Inaddition, according to the Austrian daily, the independentjournalists claimed that the information about the illegal ac-tivities of the prime minister came not only from accusedcriminals, but also from representatives of OLAF and Eu-ropol. The alert was carried out by Atanas Tschobanov,founder of the ‘bivol.bg’ (a website for independent journal-istic investigations), Assen Yordanov and the human rightsactivist Petar Pentschev who was member of the asssocia-tion for free speech ‘Anna Politkovskaya’. Furthermore, derStandard cited Borisov who said earlier that he was notgoing to comment on such allegations, but it was the workfor his country which he was doing that was to speak in-stead. As the Austrian media said, this is the second timewhen the Bulgarian PM is confronted with such type of al-legations. Not long ago, in 2007, the American ‘Congres-sional Quarterly’ magazine accused the then mayor of Sofiaof 'relations with the mafia’ and attributed to him ‘30 un-solved killings’. The accusations of the American media werebased on the secret analysis of an unnamed Swiss bank.

GREECE|GOVERNMENT

Deputies sworn in to Parliament On 28 June, Greece's 300 newly elected lawmakers weresworn in to Parliament, eleven days after the country's sec-ond election in six weeks left no party with enough votes togovern outright and leading to the formation of a three-partycoalition government. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras wasnot present at the ceremony, as he was recovering at homefrom an eye surgery over the weekend. His conservative NewDemocracy party, which came first in both the May 6 andthe June 17 elections, now heads a coalition government withthe traditional rival socialist PASOK party and the smallDemocratic Left. Designated new finance minister, VasilisRapanos, was rushed to hospital after a collapse and laterturned down the post for health reasons. Samaras has ap-pointed Yannis Stournaras in his place.

CYPRUS|ENERGY

Cyprus plans LNG plant To diversifying substantively the energy supply sources, theCypriot government is planning to establish and construct aLiquefaction of Natural Gas (LNG) plant in Cyprus, pro-viding a flexible hub that would link the large quantities ofnatural gas of the broader Mediterranean and would trans-port them to the European and the Global market, an-nounced Cypriot President Demetris Christofias, during hisspeech at “The 2nd Gulf Intelligence Levant Energy Forum”under the title: “The Future of Cyprus as an Energy Pro-ducer”, held in Nicosia on 26 June. The Council of Minis-ters recently decided that the competent MinisterialCommittee will proceed with the necessary procedures forthe establishment of an LNG plant in Cyprus, he added.

The ‘Anonymous’ accused the Bulgarian bTV of ‘undertaking a series of manipulations and insinuationsduring the organisation of the protests against the amendments of the Forestry Act |AFP PHOTO/STR

By Stanislava Gaydazhieva

NORWAY · ICELAND · SWITZERLANDNew Europe | Page 25PARTNERS

1 - 7 July, 2012

Aker goes BrazilianNorwegian engineering company, Aker Solutions, is invest-ing in a new multi-purpose service site for its drilling equip-ment business in Brazil, significantly expanding its capacity toserve the country's fast-growing drilling market, Norway Postreported.

The $100 million development will also include substan-tial production, assembly and testing capacity, to provide localcontent to support the country's large drilling rig-buildingprogramme.

The 335 000m2 facility in Macaé on Brazil's east coast isabout 8 times bigger than Aker Solutions' current facility innearby Rio das Ostras, reflecting expected growth in the com-pany's activities in the country.

"Our investments in Brazil demonstrate our ambitions togrow in one of the most exciting offshore markets in theworld, and our commitment to contribute to and develop thecountry's oil and gas industry. Aker Solutions' commitmentto local content in Brazil is second to none," said Luis Anto-

nio Araujo, Regional President for Aker Solutions in Brazil.The new Macae facility will host full drilling riser produc-

tion and maintenance services. This includes about 20 000m2 of indoor mechanical workshop space for riser and top-side equipment, with full crane and testing capabilities. Thesite will have capacity for about 700 employees.

The site will also include a state-of-the-art training centrewith capacity for up to four of Aker Solutions' market-lead-ing drilling simulators. The company today has two state-of-the-art dome training simulators in operation, offeringcustomers training support to improve the safety and effi-ciency of drilling operations.

Aker Solutions has supported drilling operators locally withequipment, systems and services since the 1990s. Today, morethan 35 drills ships and rigs operate in Brazilian waters, usingdrilling equipment from Aker Solutions.

Work to prepare the land has already started and the site isscheduled to be fully operational in early 2014.

NORWAYBUSINESS

Going underground

Alþingi, the Icelandic parliament,agreed to changes to the transportplan, including three tunnels. Atunnel through Vaolaheioi in northIceland had already been approved;the others are by Dyrafjorour inthe West Fjords and Norofjorourin the east, Iceland Review re-ported.

The Dyrafjorour tunnel will beexpedited by three years with con-structions scheduled to start in2015. The Norofjorour tunnel willnot be postponed as had been dis-cussed and constructions are nowscheduled to start next year.

Inhabitants of the Fjaroabyggo

municipality in east Iceland hadprotested the delay of the No-rofjörour tunnel, handing over a pe-tition of more than 3,000 signaturesto the Ministry of the Interior.

Mayor of Fjaroabyggo PallBjorgvin Guomundsson attributedthe conclusion to the solidarity andfighting spirit of locals, who are ex-tremely satisfied with havingachieved their goal, he stated.

“We have waited a long time.Now we can guarantee the safety ofcommuters here and complete themerging process of municipalitiesin the region. A merge whichbegan in 2006,” Pall Bjorgvin said.

The budget for 2013 has yet tobe completed.

According to the transport plan,$9.6 million (€7.6 million) are tobe attributed to the Norofjorourtunnel in 2013 and ISK 2.5 billionin 2014. The total cost of the proj-ect is estimated at $83.7 million(€66.1 million).

The government’s leaders, PrimeMinister Jóhanna Siguroardottirand Minister of Economic AffairsSteingrímur Sigfusson, said in astatement that the project will befunded with the fishing tariffs theparliament accepted before goingon summer vacation.

ICELANDTRANSPORT SWITZERLAND|BANKING

Swiss Poland bank dealSwitzerland's national bank agreed on 25 June to adeal with its Polish counterpart to cover any cashshortages in Poland as borrowers face repaying loansin expensive Swiss Francs, Economic Times re-ported. "The Swiss National Bank (SNB) and Na-tional Bank of Poland (NBP) have concluded aSwiss Franc/Zloty swap agreement," the SNB saidin a statement. "The two central banks do not an-ticipate that this agreement, which has been con-cluded as a precautionary measure, will need to becalled upon." According to the terms of the "swap"agreement, SNB would have to approve any de-mands for funds by NBP for a maximum durationof one week. A spokeswoman for SNB said thatPolish households had "a relatively high volume" ofFrank-denominated loans that could require refi-nancing. The agreement was the second of its kindbetween the two countries since 2008 and similarto one drawn up between Hungary and SNB in2008, the spokeswoman said. "This (swap agree-ment) is because there is a relatively high volume ofoutstanding loans in Poland. There could be a highneed to refinance these loans there," said SilviaOppliger, SNB spokeswoman. "But this is a precau-tionary measure and we don't think it will have tobe activated. If it is needed, it is in place." Polandhas been suffering more than most because thecountry's households have the highest overall levelof Frank-related debt in Europe's emerging mar-kets, said UBS analyst Kilian Reber. Some 21.5% ofall mortgages and consumer loans taken out inPoland are held in the Swiss currency, Reber said."In my view there could be a follow-up (swap agree-ment) with Hungary, which has the second biggeststock of loans at HUF 5.4 trillion," he said.

NORWAY|BUSINESS

New power cables to the UK and GermanyNorway's Statnett is ready to begin preparations forthe installation of new power cables between Nor-way and Germany as well as across the North Sea tothe UK, Norway Post reported. Statnett, the Ger-man system operator TenneT and the German na-tional bank KfW are working together on theGerman project, which they believe can be realisedin 2018. Statnett has also entered into a partnershipagreement with the British company National Gridthat confirms plans to build a power cable betweenNorway and the UK. Scheduled for completion in2020, the cable will be the longest subsea powercable in the world. “I am very pleased with the op-portunities it provides for enabling cross-borderelectricity trading between Germany and Norway.The companies have found a good solution for bothcountries. This cable is an important step forward inthe good energy cooperation between our two coun-tries,’’ said Ola Borten Moe, Norwegian Minister ofPetroleum and Energy. Together, the two cables willstrengthen the North European electricity grid andthe supply security in Norway. The cables will beused for profitable trading of power in that elec-tricity will flow to Norway when prices in Germanyand the UK are lower than here. Similarly, we willimport when windmills abroad produce at full ca-pacity. When we experience dry years with highprices in Norway, we will import - and vice versa inwet years. Power trading will also help facilitate in-creased development of renewable energy produc-tion in both Norway and Europe, Borten Moe said.

Iceland’s roads are set for an upgrade after plans for a new set of tunnels were approved.| Christian Spröte

CROATIA · ALBANIA · SERBIA · BiHPage 26|New Europe CANDIDATES1 - 7 July, 2012

BiH | EU

Sejdic/Finci remain a barrier to SAAEuropean Enlargement Commissioner, Štefan Füle, launchedthe High Level Dialogue on the Accession Process with Bosniaand Herzegovina (BiH) on 27 June. The Council of the EUpreviously reiterated its unequivocal support for BiH's EU per-spective “as a sovereign and united country enjoying full terri-torial integrity”. The Council committed to further reinforcethe EU role in BiH as of July, by further increasing EU's pres-ence in the field and on economic matters, law enforcement andrule of law following the closure of EUPM. The EU foreignministers welcomed the political progress in BiH and formationof the Council of Ministers at state-level, as well as adoption ofthe State Aid and Population Census Laws, the passing of the2012 State Budget, and the reaching of a political agreement onstate and immovable defence property. Though there was a par-tial success, the European representatives say it is not enough.Füle admitted that the political situation in BiH was more sta-ble when he came up with the idea of starting the dialogue andpointed out that only some of the EU requirements were ful-filled. “I regret very much that you missed the window of op-portunity that the Council offered Bosnia and Herzegovina lastyear, when it indicated the minimum conditions for the entryinto force of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement anda possible European Union membership application," he said.The Council also deplored the lack of implementation of theexisting political agreements and the continued use of “divisiveethnic rhetoric”. Ministers also condemned any attempts tominimise or deny the Srebrenica genocide. The Council reiter-ated that BiH urgently needs to amend its Constitution to com-ply with the European Convention of Human Rights regardingthe Sejdic/Finci ruling about the political rights of ethnic mi-norities. Ministers confirmed that without improvements oflegal status of ethnicities other than three constituent nations –Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats – the entry into force of the Stabil-isation and Association Agreement (SAA) would not be pos-sible and BiH could not proceed its EU integrations.“Completing the implementation of the Sejdic/Finci ruling andhaving a satisfactory track record in implementing its obligationsunder the SAA/Interim Agreement would be key elements fora credible membership application to be considered by the EU,”ministers concluded. The European Commission’s High LevelDialogue on the EU accession process should help Bosnia andHerzegovina to understand how to prepare for the process of ac-cession to the EU. Füle stressed the accession process is longand challenging in political, economical and social terms withreforms that need to be undertaken to meet the requirementsof the European Union. Preparation for the steps and mecha-nisms introduced will determine how fast can the country reachthe accession.

ALBANIA | POLITICS

Albanian government undergoes reshuffleIn a reshuffle of the coalition cabinet, Albanian Prime Min-ister, Sali Berisha, appointed three new ministers and filled thespace left after the former Interior Minister, Bujar Nishani,was elected the country's president. The changes took placeahead of the decision about Albania's candidacy to the EUlater this autumn. The new Interior Minister is Flamur Noka,the former Foreign Affairs Minister Edmond Haxhinasto be-came a new economy minister, replacing Nasip Naco. Hax-hinasto is the fourth minister of economy the country has hadin the past three years. His place in Foreign Ministry was as-signed to the deputy mayor of Tirana, Edmond Panariti. An-other change was in the health department where Petrit Vasili,the former health minister was dismissed and replaced by thedeputy speaker of parliament, Vangjel Tavo. The Health,Economy and Foreign Affairs ministries, where the changesoccured, are under control of the junior governing partner, theSocialist Integration Movement (SIM).

A saint connects Europe in CroatiaThe town of Dugo Selo is the first town in Croatia whichhas been marked by the Footprint of Saint Martin ofTours, in 2007 making it a part of a cultural itineraryrecognised by the Council of Europe, connecting morethan 50 European towns which share the legacy of thesaint.

On 1 July, a signpost will be erected in Dugo Selo tomark one the key destinations in the life of the saint con-sidered to be a spiritual bridge across Europe. The proj-ect will involve the Cultural Centre of Saint Martin ofTours from Tours in France, where the saint served as abishop, and Hungarian town of Szombathely, where hewas born.

For that occasion, a group of 13 cyclists will ride from

Montescourt in France to Dugo Selo, nearly 1,500 kilo-metres.

Their journey, recreating the path of Saint Martin willbe filmed and the documentary will be presented in Oc-tober during the culture days of Croatia in France.

Also an international knight tournament, entitled“Templars on the land of Saint Martin” will be organisedand a dance choreography inspired by the life of SaintMartin will be presented.

Dugo Selo's deputy major, Ivan Gereci, said during hisrecent visit to Brussels, where he presented the projectsof cultural exchange and twinning to the EU officials, thatthe life of Saint Martin connects people and gives an ex-ample of cooperation in Europe.

CROATIARELATIONS

More than two months after the gen-eral election, Serbia seems to be on itsway to get the new government. On 28June, the Serbian President, TomislavNikolić, gave a mandate to form a gov-ernment to the leader of the SocialistParty, Ivica Dačić.

Dačić informed the president that hisSocialists (SPS) have managed to gatherthe necessary majority of 126 deputiesin the parliament to form the govern-ment. Aside from SPS, Nikolić's right-wing Progressive Party (SNS) and thecentre-right United Regions party(URS) should enter the new coalition.

SPS decided to break the talks withthe Democratic Party (DS) of the for-mer Serbian president Boris Tadić fol-lowing two months of sluggishnegotiations, after SNS offered Dačićthe prime minister's position. His SPS

came third in the election, after SNSand DS.

Dačić, who was a close associate of thelate Serbian dictator, Slobodan Miloše-vić, pledged that he would not return thecountry back to the 1990s and outlined,as priorities for the new governmentEuropean integrations, fight against cor-ruption and organised crime, and betterlife for citizens.

He pointed out that regardless ofhis support for Tadić in the presiden-tial run-off and SPS-DS pact, thepeople have decided in favour ofNikolić and his SNS. In addition, theSPS leader stressed that in the end itwas about his decision whether totake the ultimate responsibility forthe country or not.

Dačić pledged to continue the pro-European policies of the previous gov-

ernment that both his SPS and URSwere a part of and emphasised that hewould never even think about forming agovernment with Nikolić and his SNS“if anyone in the world assessed theywere anti-European”. The confirmationsof Nikolić's pro-European credentialsfrom Brussels and Washington obvi-ously played a significant role in forma-tion of the new government.

In the new government, the SPSshould control portfolios of the internalaffairs, education, infrastructure andhealth, the URS European integrations,finances and economy, as well as regionaldevelopment, while the rest should gothe to party which actually won the elec-tions – the SNS.

Party leaders announced that the gov-ernment should be formed within thenext two weeks.

Serbia to get a government after months of negotiations

SERBIAPOLITICS

Ivica Dačić got the mandate to lead the next Serbian government | AFP PHOTO / ANDREJ ISAKOVIC

TURKEY · FYROM · MONTENEGRONew Europe |Page 27CANDIDATES

1 - 7 July, 2012

TURKEY|WATER

EBRD announce grant to improve water servicesThe European Bank for Reconstruction and Developmentrecently announced a loan of €20 million to finance con-struction of Mezitli wastewater treatment plant in Mersin, aMediterranean port city located in the south of Turkey, witha population of nearly one million people. This is the firstloan by an international financial institution to a Turkishwater utility backed by a municipal guarantee, reads a pressrelease. The loan is part of EBRD’s strategy to support themodernisation of water and wastewater infrastructure inTurkey. EBRD said that the loan would be extended toMersin Water and Wastewater Administration (Meski), thewater utility company servicing the city. The EBRD financ-ing will be used to assist Meski’s further commercialisationby introducing key performance indicators, to support theproject’s implementation and to explore outsourcing of fur-ther functions such as meter servicing and maintenance.EBRD said in a statement that the loan would be utilised tofinance the design and construction of the Mezitli waste-water treatment plant – a second wastewater treatment plantin the city to serve the western part of Mersin.

TURKEY|REAL ESTATE

Edge Capital to invest in Turkey’s real estateLebanon-based investment fund Edge Capital in col-laboration with Turkish retail developer Turkmall plansto invest $250 million on Turkey’s real estate sector. Lev-ent Eyuboglu, Vice President of Turkmall said that thejoint partners have the potential to garner investmentsworth $1bn in Turkey’s real estate sector over the nextfive years, Zaman reported. He mentioned that joininghands with Edge Capital pave new ventures to similardeals with other Middle Eastern investment funds.Turkmall is renowned for its shopping mall projectsacross Turkey. Commenting on Edge Capital and Turk-mall deal, Edge Capital CEO Naji Boutros said that hiscompany will primarily focus on lodging, congress cen-tre and retail development sectors in Turkey.

TURKEY|TRADE

Turkey supports B-20's proposalsSpeaking at the B-20 Business Summit Trade and Invest-ment meeting in Los Cabos, Mexico, Turkish Prime Min-ister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey was supportingthe trade and investment working group of Business-20, apart of G-20 summit, Zaman reported. Erdogan said thatTurkey was supporting the summit in order to multilater-ally liberalise world trade, lift obstacles before trade and in-vestments and highlight importance of internationalinvestments for growth, development and employment. Heinformed that Turkey is simplifying legal procedures regard-ing investments and lifting administrative and bureaucratichurdles to increase investments. The premier told audienceat the summit that Turkey has developed a public-privatesector dialogue and cooperation model to boost competitivepower within the scope of investment atmosphere reform.Erdogan said the reform programme was conducted by In-vestment Atmosphere Rehabilitation Coordination Boardand Investment Advisory Board. The first one was a nationalplatform, and the second was working on multinational in-vestment perspective. In the period between 2002-2011,Turkey attracted $110.5bn of international investments. Al-though international direct investments in developing coun-tries were only up by 18.5%, this percentage was 76% inTurkey. The data reflects the belief of investors in Turkey’sstability and atmosphere of confidence.

During a visit to the Russian Federation, FYROM govern-ment team led by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski met withRussian President Vladimir Putin at the International Eco-nomic Forum held in the city, MRTOnline reported. Theforum garnered renowned experts, analysts, businessmen andpoliticians. The meeting added a fresh impetus to bilateral po-litical and economic ties in the coming years.

In course of talks, the FYROM government team pre-sented FYROM's investment opportunities and benefits at aforum hosted by the city's Chamber of Commerce and In-dustry. The team also had talks with managing teams ofGazprom, Stroytransgaz and LUKoil. Besides visit to theRussian Federation, the FYROM delegation paid a visit toMoscow Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, to hold business fo-rums for promotion of FYROM's investment benefits.

During the business forum in Moscow, Gruevski said thatRussia and FYROM may establish free trade zone. If the zoneis established, the volume of the mutual investments and tradewill be boosted several times. In fact, it is possible to establisha broad free trade zone between the countries in former Yu-goslavia and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kaza-khstan. FYROM has already signed such agreements with

Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Lichtenstein, almost all coun-tries from the former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Ukraine andMoldova.

Meantime at a a business forum in Russian city NizhnyNovgorod, Gruevski presented opportunities for investmentand doing business in FYROM before 60 companies. NizhnyNovgorod is the capital of the namesake region, which is oneof the fast-growing areas in the Russian Federation, includingdeveloped agriculture, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, au-tomotive and processing industries.

Novgorod Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairmanDmitry Krasnov offered specific steps towards launchingmore intensive co-operation with FYROM's companies andimplementation of projects. Krasnov stressed that the busi-ness community aims to establish specific information ex-change in order to realise concrete projects. Karsnov urgedcounterparts from the Economic Chamber of FYROM todevelop an e-register of companies, in order to facilitate the in-formation exchange between Nizhny Novgorod andFYROM. He expressed hope that the visit of the FYROMteam will be used as a starting point towards the establish-ment of successful bilateral economic co-operation.

Skopje, Moscow to boost political, business ties

FYROMDIPLOMACY

Spokesperson of the EU CommissionerStefan Fule, Peter Stano recently statedthat the recommendation of the Euro-pean Commission on launching acces-sion talks with Montenegro is clear. Heinformed that both sides will soon com-mence talks, Montenegro Times re-ported. Stano said that ECrecommendation was clear even if somecountries would not approve for open-ing of the talks between Brussels andPodgorica. Czech Republic recently ex-pressed support for EU and NATO bid.

Montenegrin Minister of ForeignAffairs and European IntegrationMilan Rocen met with his Czech coun-terpart Karl Schwarzenberg in Podgor-ica. In course of talks, Rocen hailed theCzech government for providing sig-nificant development assistance when itcomes to the issue of more balanced re-gional development of Montenegro. Heoutlined energy, infrastructure, environ-mental protection and development ofmedium and small enterprises as areasfor improving mutual co-operation.Minister Rocen welcomed the entryinto force of the agreement on eco-nomic co-operation and the work of theMontenegrin - Czech business forumand the Joint Committee for EconomicCo-operation.

He specially thanked the Czech Re-public for its open support to the EUenlargement policy and to Montenegroand the region of the Western Balkan’sintegration efforts. In turn, Czech For-eign Minister said he is confident thatMontenegro can really start its way to

the European Union. The two heads ofdiplomacy also signed today the agree-ment on co-operation in the area ofcombating crime between the twocountries.

Meanwhile, State Secretary for Eu-ropean Integration Ambassador Alek-sandar Andrija Pejovic recently paid anofficial visit to Finland. He met with of-ficials and representatives of state insti-tutions of Finland in charge of EUaffairs and had separate talks with StateSecretary for EU Affairs Kare Halonenand Director General for Europe at theMinistry of Foreign Affairs of FinlandJukka Salovaara, Montenegro Times re-

ported. In course of talks, the ambassa-dor discussed Montenegro's progress inthe earlier months with regard to align-ing the national legislation with the EUacquis as well as its practical implemen-tation. The ambassador stressed thatMontenegro is ready to start accessiontalks as it has made great headway in allseven priorities. He underlined the im-portance of the decision on the openingof the negotiation process for all chap-ters for continuing the reform process.He also highly valued Finland’s supportfor Montenegro, noting the fact thatFinland is one of the strongest support-ers of the Enlargement policy.

Montenegro EU accessiontalks to start soon

MONTENEGRO

EU AFFAIRS

Montenegrin Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Milan Rocen hailed the Czechgovernment for providing significant development assistance when it comes to the issue of morebalanced regional development of Montenegro. |BELGA PHOTO BENOIT DOPPAGNE

UKRAINE · MOLDOVA · BELARUSPage 28 |New Europe NEIGHBOURHOOD1 - 7 July, 2012

Criminal prosecution of former primeminister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenkoseems to have transformed into a realfarce. On 26 June, Ukraine's high courtpostponed the appeal of the oppositionleader against her seven-year jail termfor abuse of power until after the end ofits hosting of Euro. This means the keyhearing will take place once the spot-light is no longer on Ukraine which isco-hosting with Poland the Euro 2012football which wraps up with the finalin Kiev on 1 July. The decision marksthe second time in just over a monththat the High Specialised Court ofUkraine for Civil and Criminal Caseshas put off hearing the case after an-nouncing a similar postponement on 15May.

Tymoshenko's lawyer SergiyVlasenko, who had strongly objected tothe postponement request by the pros-ecution, said the authorities led byYanukovych wanted to string out theappeal to delay the case going to the Eu-ropean Court of Human Rights. Thedefence has to exhaust all possible legaloptions in Ukraine before taking thecase to the European rights court. "Thisis another piece of insanity in the Ty-moshenko case," he told reporters."Yanukovych does not want to see anyruling from the high court that could fi-nally allow the European Court to hearTymoshenko's appeal."

Tymoshenko, who is being treated at

the Kharkiv hospital, did not appear atthe court. The prosecution asked thecourt to send a special commission toaccess whether Timoshenko really can-not come to court or is using it as an ex-cuse. However, in accordance withUkrainian legislation, Tymoshenko is awitness and should not be examined bya commission if she cannot come tocourt. Moreover, German doctors saidTymoshenko’s health is in bad conditionand the reason for her absence may in-deed be compelling.

Tymoshenko was first arrested in Au-gust and then convicted in October on

charges of abusing her powers as primeminister in 2009 in a deal for gas im-ports from Russia.

She is serving her seven-year sentencein the eastern city of Kharkiv, whichhosted first round Euro matches, but iscurrently hospitalised outside jail withback pains. She was not present in courtfor the Kiev appeal.

Whatever the outcome of thisprocess, Tymoshenko faces other legalwoes including a second trial on chargesof fraud and tax evasion related to herwork at a Ukrainian gas utility sheheaded in the 1990s.

High court postponesTymoshenko appeal

UKRAINE

HUMAN RIGHTS BELARUS|DIPLOMACY

Minsk establishes embassy in NigeriaBelarus has established an embassy in Abuja after 20 yearsof maintaining diplomatic relations with Nigeria, the NewsAgency of Nigeria (NAN) reported. On 24 June, Belarus’Ambassador to Nigeria Vyacheslav Beskosty said the movewas part of efforts to further boost bilateral cooperation be-tween the two countries. He said Nigeria and Belarus hadin the past 20 years, been cooperating at the level of inter-national organisations such as the UN. "We have been sup-porting each other's candidates in various committees at theUN and other bodies," he said. The envoy added that bothnations had been involved in trade and investment with thevolume standing at 97.3 million dollars in 2011. Accordingto him, the figure accounts for rubber, cocoa and leather im-ports from Nigeria while Belarus' exports were in fertilizer,oil products and printing. He listed new areas of cooperationto include education and culture, saying that at least, 500Nigerian students were studying privately in Belarus. "Weare interested in investment and will be partnering withBauchi State to assemble Belarusian tractors. "Bauchi al-ready has a factory for this. It is a very good site. Since theywill be locally produced, the tractors will be affordable." Hesaid the partnership will also include technical assistance andcapacity-building for Nigerians.

BELARUS|AGRICULTURE

Belarus to provide agriculture machinery to CubaDuring a one-day visit of Belarus President AlexandrLukashenko in Havana, the former Soviet republic’s indus-try ministry signed an agreement with Cuba’s agricultureministry to provide new agricultural machinery. Lukashenkomade the stop in Cuba before visiting Venezuela, with whichBelarus has bilateral trade in excess of $1 billion a year. Bi-lateral trade with Cuba is in the $50 million range. In May,Minsk Tractor Works (MTZ) said it planned to sell Cuba“close to 100? Belarus-assembled 1523 model tractors.” Nodetails about the agreement signed in Havana were avail-able. During Lukashenko’s visit, Cuba’s ministry of light in-dustry and its counterpart in Belarus also signed amemorandum of understanding for modernization of agri-culture machinery in Cuba, and production of new house-hold appliances and tools on the island. No details aboutthese plans were available. Thousands of aging pieces of Be-larus-manufactured machinery are operating in Cuba thatrequire maintenance.

MOLDOVA|AVIATION

Moldova signs up to join EU common aviation areaMoldova has signed an air services agreement to make ita full aviation partner of the European Union, graduallyintegrating the former Soviet republic into the Europeancommon market. Under the agreement, which still needsto be ratified, Moldova and the EU will develop a com-mon aviation area based on common rules in key areassuch as aviation safety and security. Moldova will also har-monise its legislation with European standards and im-plement EU aviation rules covering such areas asenvironment, consumer protection, air traffic manage-ment, economic regulation, competition issues and socialaspects. In a statement the European Commission said:“Air transport is the single most important mode of trans-port linking the Republic of Moldova to most EU mem-ber states and has been growing steadily in recent years. Itis expected that the agreement will offer more travel op-portunities, more direct connections and economic ben-efits for both sides.”

Venezuela and Belarus signed on Tuesday more than 20 ac-cords to boost bilateral cooperation in the areas of oil and gas,industry, housing and agriculture, Xinhua reported. The agree-ments were signed by delegations headed by Belarusian Pres-ident Alexander Lukashenko and his Venezuelan counterpartHugo Chavez.

Lukashenko pledged his commitment to the agreements,saying "all the joint projects we have with Venezuela are goingto be delivered before deadline."

The projects include, among others, tractor and bus manu-facturing plants in the southwestern state of Barinas, the birth-place of Chavez,which were inaugurated during Lukashenko'svisit. For his part, Chavez stressed the strong ties between thetwo nations.

"We have built over these years not only a strategic Belaru-sian-Venezuelan alliance, but also a true brotherhood," saidChavez at the welcoming ceremony in the presidential palaceof Miraflores.

A key aspect of their cooperation is the transfer of technol-ogy from Belarus to Venezuela in the automotive industry andhousing construction sectors.

In the energy sector, Venezuela's state-owned oil companyPetroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and its Belarusian counter-part Belorusneft have signed deals to jointly explore mature

oil fields in Venezuela, as well as to look into production pos-sibilities in at least one block of the oil-rich Orinoco oil belt insouthern Venezuela.

In an interview with a state-run television station broadcaston Monday night, Lukashenko praised Chavez's strategic vi-sion in seeking the integration of Latin America and his ini-tiative to establish a relationship with Belarus as a gateway toEurope.

He also said Venezuela served as a stepping stone to the restof Latin America for his country.

"Hugo Chavez has done a lot so that we can begin a dialogwith other countries, such as Brazil, Argentina or Chile," saidLukashenko.

Venezuela and Belarus have strengthened their cooperationsince 2006 by signing some 200 accords that let Venezuela useBelarusian technology to expand its industrial capabilities, saidChavez.

The current visit gives the two countries a chance to reviewthe implementation of their cooperation accords which haveboosted bilateral trade from $6mn five years ago to some $2bnin 2011. Lukashenko arrived in the Venezuelan capital ofCaracas on late Monday from Cuba on the second stop of histhree-nation Latin America tour, which will also take him toEcuador.

Minsk, Carakas sign over 20 co-operation agreementsBELARUSDIPLOMACY

A supporter of jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, wearing a tee-shirt reading "Foot-ball fest in prison" stands next to a woman holding a picture of Tymoshenko, during a rally in frontof Ukraine's high court, Kiev, 26 June 2012. |AFP PHOTO/ SERGEI SUPINSKY

KAZAKHSTAN · TAJIKISTAN · TURKMENISTANNew Europe | Page 29NEIGHBOURHOOD

1 - 7 July, 2012

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon recently paid a visit to Riode Janeiro to attend the United Nations Conference on Sus-tainable Development, organised by the United Nations De-partment of Economic and Social Affairs, Asia-Plus reported.The United Nations convenes the United Nations Confer-ence on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio 2012 orRio+20, hosted by Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, as a 20-year follow-up to the historic 1992 United Nations Conference on Envi-ronment and Development (UNCED) that was held in thesame city. Rahmon took part at a joint event of UNESCOand UN-Water, Asia-Plus reported. Speaking at the meeting,Rahmon urged countries across the globe to adopt specificmeasures to improve water use and sanitation and contributeto the case of the environmental protection.

He also expressed concern over the problems such as dry-ing up of the Aral Sea and negative impact of such disaster onsocioeconomic development of the countries of the region. Toresolve the problem, Rahmon suggested creation of the re-gional strategy of use of water resources of Central Asia. Theaim of the conference was to secure renewed political com-mitment to sustainable development, assessing the progressand implementation gaps in meeting already agreed commit-ments and tackling fresh emerging challenges.

Meantime, two themes agreed by member states includegreen economy within the context of sustainable developmentand poverty eradication and institutional framework for sus-tainable development.

Within the framework of UN Conference on SustainableDevelopment in Rio de Janeiro, Rahmon met the President ofTurkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov. In course oftalks, the presidents discussed the implementation of agree-ments reached at the highest level, as well as broad prospectsfor diversifying mutually beneficial co-operation, Turk-menistan.ru reported.

Both are willing to prepare a package of government-to-government agreements and documents aimed at promotingfurther expansion of bilateral co-operation between theircountries. They also plan to bring bilateral educational and

economic co-operation to a higher level. The parties also dis-cussed aspects of interaction in the energy sector and transportand communications noting account geography and the tran-sit transport capacity of the two countries. Both sides agreedfor further expansion of trade and economic partnership builton a long term basis, the interlocutors stressed the importantrole of the joint Turkmen-Tajik intergovernmental commis-sion whose activity has increased recently, in this process. Re-gional and international issues of mutual interest were alsodiscussed. Berdymuhamedov invited Rahmon to visit Turk-menistan at any convenient time.

Tajik leader addresses Aral Sea problemsTAJIKISTANENVIRONMENT

More than 70 Turkish companies re-cently attended an expo held at theExhibition Centre of Ashgabat, Turk-menistanru reported. The expo wasdedicated to the construction indus-try and building materials industry ofTurkey. Within the framework of theexpo, the Turkish firms displayed their

achievements such as innovative con-struction techniques and electricalequipment, hardware, accessoriesmade of aluminium and plastic,plumbing, the full range of finishingmaterials necessary for the adminis-trative and residential buildings andmuch more. Addressing participants

and guests of the exhibition, TurkmenPresident Gurbanguly Berdimuhame-dov said he is “confident that the con-ference will promote cooperation be-tween builders and entrepreneurs ofboth countries and stimulate interestof the Turkish construction compa-nies in the Turkmen market.”

Turkish construction companies eye AshgabatTURKMENISTAN BUSINESS

TAJIKISTAN|DIPLOMACY

Tajik president meets with UN secretary-general in RioTajik President Emomali Rahmon met in Rio de Janeiro withthe United National Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. De-livering a message at the United Nations Conference on Sus-tainable Development, Rahmon said that conference wouldgive a new impulse to further development of world econ-omy. The sides discussed co-operation between Tajikistanand the United Nations in different fields. Rahmon is pleasedwith the level of co-operation with the UN agencies active inTajikistan and praised the United Nations role in tackling so-cioeconomic and security problems in Tajikistan. He ex-pressed hope that the United Nations would help Tajikistantackle problems connected with climate changes, ecology andanthropogenic disasters. The sides also discussed issues re-lated to efficient use of Tajikistan’s hydropower potential, en-hancement of transportation and communications sectors inTajikistan and establishment of peace and accord inAfghanistan, the president’s official website said. Rahmonpaid special emphasis to the National Development Strategybased on the MDGs, the crux of which comprise of achiev-ing energy independence, overcoming transport and com-munication deadlock and ensuring food security of thecountry. The Tajik Head said that the Strategy envisage theeffective and economical use of natural resources, which em-body the main element of “green economy”, as well as the en-hancement of social sector and protection of ecological systemare the component of reforms realised in Tajikistan.

KYRGYZSTAN|LABOUR

Parliament to cut benefits for MPs, servicemenA regular sitting of the third session of the MajlisiNamoyandagon of the fourth convocation, was recentlypresided over by its head, Shukurjon Zuhurov. At the sitting,Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parlia-ment has endorsed amendments to 14 laws providing for re-duction in scales of benefits for parliamentarians and officersfrom the power-wielding and law enforcement agencies sev-eral times. The president and the government submitted tothe parliament for consideration, Asia-Plus reported. Whilepresenting the bills, Minister of Finance Safarali Najmiddi-nov said that the amendments envisage the necessity of im-plementing economic reforms in the country and economicaluse of budgetary means. The amendments proposed to thelaws provide for setting the scale of post-retirement and in-jury-related lump-sum grants at the rate of three monthlysalaries. Currently, the monthly wage of a deputy of the Ma-jlisi Namoyandagon is 4,950 somoni. According to the min-ister, the current scales of benefits were set when monthlywages of police officers, prosecutors and judges fluctuatedfrom 13.00 somoni to 31.00 somoni. He mentioned that overthe past decade, their wages increased 100-150 times and thescales of benefits soared as a result. cutors and judges.

TURKMENISTAN|DIPLOMACY

Turkmen ambassador presents credentials to German PresidentAmbassador of Turkmenistan to Germany KhalnazarAgakhanov recently submitted his credentials to President ofthe Federal Republic of Germany Yoahm Hauk at BellevuePalace in Berlin, Turkmenistan.ru reported. During the talksheld at Bellevue Palace, both sides discussed issues relating totrade and economic relations, co-operation in the cultural fieldand exchange of experience in development of the legal anddemocratic state. Noting the future direction of the Turkmen-German partnership, the sides outlined high technologies, fi-nance and banking, energy, agriculture and chemicalindustries sectors.

Speaking at the meeting in the club of the Institute of Politi-cal Solutions (IPS), Serik Kozhakhmetov, Director General ofHigh Technologies Institute, an affiliated company ofKazAtomProm said that the international nuclear fuel bank,set to be established in Kazakhstan in 2013, is not feasible.

Kozhakhmetov said that the nuclear fuel bank will act as animage making project which projects Kazakhstan endeavoringto create open nuclear security system, Gazeta.kz reported.“The materials placed there will be owned by the IAEA (In-ternational Atomic Energy Agency); we will be just an ac-countable keeper. The presence of the nuclear fuel bank willshow the whole world that Kazakhstan hosts the project en-suring safe storage of somebody's materials,” Kozhakhmetov

said. Technically added on to say that the presence of 30-60tons of low-enriched uranium will not make any difference ormake the nuclear-radiation security deteriorate if stored at Ul-binsk Metallurgical Plant that has produced tens of thousandsof tons of nuclear fuel since its construction. Creation of nu-clear fuel bank would turn Kazakhstan, like Switzerland, inthe financial market but in nuclear energy sector. "In fact thisbank is an insurance against risks for uranium consumers andthose who produce it in the global system. Uranium is sold asany other commodity," the expert said. By 2103, the interna-tional nuclear fuel bank with the capacity of 60 tons is expectedto be created in Kazakhstan. The aforesaid project aims to en-hance non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

International nuclear fuel bank not feasible KAZAKHSTAN ENERGY

NASA handout picture released on 10 August 2001 shows the

shrinking Aral Sea, which was once the fourth largest lake in the

world, but has shrunk dramatically in response to increasing agricul-

tural irrigation demands. |EPA/NASA - HANDOUT

AZERBAIJAN · KYRGYZSTAN· UZBEKISTAN

Page 30| New EuropeNEIGHBOURHOOD

1 - 7 July, 2012

Corruption level high in Kyrgyzstan despite effortsSpeaking at presentation of a project en-titled “Promoting national budget trans-parency,” Parliament’s Vice SpeakerAsiya Sasykbayeva said that the level ofcorruption is still high in Kyrgyzstan de-spite all efforts, Irinnews.org reported.She said that corruption is stronglyrooted for past 20 years and difficult toovercome, which had further entailedtwo revolutions in the country. As a re-sult, Kyrgyzstan needs a new project now,added Sasykbayeva. It was recalled thatin February of this year, fight against cor-ruption were discussed at the meeting ofthe Council of Defence.

Many resources were utilized to re-move this evil and again a new project isrequired to yield tangible results, saidSasykbayeva. According to her, a newproject will ensure accountability of allbranches of government. She stressedthat the new project would aim trans-parency of income and property declara-tions of officials and the state budgettransparency. “I hope that together wewill make every effort to counteract thisevil,” Vice Speaker added. Wary of allcorruption schemes in Kyrgyzstan andthe people involved, the speaker ex-pressed hope to improve the lives of cit-izens with the help of the project.Speaking at the same presentation of theproject, the auditor of the Audit Cham-

ber, Uktomkhan Abdullaeva, said thatthe Audit Chamber must be an inde-pendent body in Kyrgyzstan.

According her, first of all, it is neces-sary to amend laws. “We have to startfrom budget reconsideration. Fromwhich perspective? If we are strainingafter efficient use of budget funds thenwe have to rely on program ground.

This regards all ministries and depart-ments. They are who have to define in-dicators of monitoring and request adefinite sum for these purposes,” said

Abdullaeva. She stressed that today theAudit Chamber is a supreme financialinstitution in Kyrgyzstan.

According to her, the Audit Chambermust be an independent institution andamendments to laws are needed. Besides,orders of the Audit Chamber must beexecuted fairly. In this regard, she pointedout that orders are sent to competent au-thorities but there is no feedback. As aresult, the Audit Chamber plans to es-tablish a special department to monitororders’ execution.

KYRGYZSTANCORRUPTIONUZBEKISTAN|DIPLOMACY

Tashkent tries to lure Chinese investmentsThe Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Repub-lic of Uzbekistan recently met with representatives of theState Property Committee of Uzbekistan and leadingChinese company Fosun International Ltd, Uzbekre-port.com reported. In course of talks, the company wasbriefed with detailed information and submitted materi-als regarding major hotels in the region most visited bytourists and have become recognised as centres of interna-tional tourism in Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara. Fosun isone of the largest privately owned conglomerates in China,which among other things, for the first time created andsuccessfully manages two private investment funds.

KYRGYZSTAN|BANKING

MP: Creation of Development Bank meet lucrative purposes Speaking at Parliament session, Member of ParliamentUlukbek Kochkorov said that creation of KyrgyzstanDevelopment Bank is aimed at meeting lucrative pur-poses of certain officials, Irinnews.org reported. “It be-come fashionable in the republic to invest millions somsfrom the state budget, and then to give for privatizationfor miserable money. The RSK Bank and Entrepreneur-ship Development Fund are being prepared for privati-sation now. I see no reason to open this bank, when wehave the same RSK Bank,” said Kochkorov. He believesthat document which envisages creation of such a bankshould not be approved as the government wants to cre-ate a body that will dutifully fulfill its needs.

AZERBAIJAN|HIGH TECH

Ministry to reduce customs duties for high-tech productsThe Ministry of Communications and InformationTechnology recently held a meeting in collaboration withthe ruling New Azerbaijan party. Speaking at the meet-ing, Azerbaijani Minister of Communications and In-formation Technology Ali Abbasov said that the ministryis preparing proposals to reduce customs duties on im-ported components for high technology products, newsagencies reported. The minister added that the duty forcomputers imported into the country is 3%, while thatfor the production of their components is 10-15% of theircost. According to Abbasov, imports exceed export ofproducts despite the dynamic development of ICT sec-tor in Azerbaijan. "In connection with the dynamicgrowth of the automation process of various state agen-cies we are observing a high level of imports into thecountry of high-tech products," Abbasov said.

AZERBAIJAN|BUSINESS

Baku to host Azerbaijan-Argentine business forumA delegation of envoys of Argentine companies involvedin agriculture, wine, oil, agrochemical, construction, textileand other industries recently paid a visit to Baku to attendthe Azerbaijan-Argentine business forum, news agenciesreported. This is the first visit of the Argentine businessdelegation to Azerbaijan. The forum is scheduled to takeplace on July3-4, news agencies learnt form Ministry ofEconomic Development (MED) of Azerbaijan. In end of2011, data released by State Statistics Committee of Azer-baijan showed that trade turnover between Azerbaijan andArgentina amounted to 36.45mn manat, 13.42mn manatwhich accounts for export. The export of Azerbaijanigoods increased by 786.6% last year compared to 2010.

The Azerbaijani State Property Com-mittee recently urged internationalconsultants to prepare a five-yearstrategic plan and annual plan of activ-ities, news agencies learnt from thestate committee. It should be notedthat preparation of the plan which isprovided for in the next 12 months,cover services provided by committee,staff development, preparation of tech-nical plans, IT-strategies. Internationalconsultants are already in Azerbaijan toconduct preliminary research and plan-

ning activities.According to the State Committee, in2012-2013 the formation of corporatestrategy and business plan for financing,real estate registration, planning for a sin-gle inventory, property management andresource mobilisation are provided for.Backed by the World Bank, the projectenvisages further improvement of thestate committee for the registration ofimmovable property. The State Committee will provide ac-cess to information on real estate

through the introduction of informationsystems. Statistical research will regularlymonitor the results in the new system forreal estate, sale, lease, mortgage, numberof operations. A rise in the number of legal transactionsconducted with real estate is expected, aspart of the work implemented by theCommittee in this regard. A thoroughanalysis of the results will be based on thenumber of real estate facilities input intothe system, transactions for buying andselling, mortgages and leases.

Azerbaijan begins preparation for real estate strategic plan

AZERBAIJANREAL ESTATE

UK's Special Envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan Mark Sed-will recently paid a visit to Tashkent. The envoy met with Lead-ership of the Foreign Ministry of Uzbekistan to discuss issuesof bilateral relations, Uzbekreport.com quoted the Uzbek For-eign Ministry as saying. British Ambassador Rupert Joy wasalso present at the talks. In course of talks, the parties exchangedviews on the Afghan problem.

London pays great attention to cooperation on ensuring sta-bility in Afghanistan. Last year representatives of the General

Staff of the UK Armed Forces repeatedly visited Tashkent todiscuss regional and international issues with the governmentrepresentatives. This year in February, during an official visit toTashkent British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond waswelcomed by Uzbek President Islam Karimov. They had talksat Defence Ministry of the Republic, where both sides dis-cussed current state and prospects of bilateral military and mil-itary-technical cooperation, as well as issues of regional securityand stability, settlement of the situation in Afghanistan.

Tashkent, London discuss situation in Afghanistan

UZBEKISTANDIPLOMACY

Kyrgyz men pull and push a donkey carrying water from a source, in the village of Shalta, 30 kilome-

tres south from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Corruption, clanship, state weakness, unsolved social and infra-

structure problems have plunged many people into a permanent poverty. |EPA/IGOR KOVALENKO

RUSSIA · GEORGIA · ARMENIANew Europe |Page 31NEIGHBOURHOOD

1 - 7 July, 2012

Russian gas monopoly Gazprom plansto launch an Israeli subsidiary that willhelp develop Israel's vast offshore gasreserves, according to news reports.Visiting Russia's President VladimirPutin met Israel's Prime Minister Ben-jamin Netanyahu on 25 June. Gazpromhas already expressed an interest in ex-porting liquefied natural gas (LNG)from Israel. But the Russian gas giantnow is reportedly looking at drilling aswell as transmission of offshore Israeligas.

In March the Tamar consortium,comprising Noble Energy, DelekDrilling, Avner Oil and Gas, Isramcoand Alon Gas Exploration, held talkswith Gazprom Marketing & Tradingfor the sale of LNG from the Tamaroffshore field.

Gazprom executives have been to Is-rael in the past to explore co-operationin gas and won a tender to producegasoline from oil shale in Israel's south,for which it expects to begin operationssoon, the Russian delegation said. Theyalso expressed interest in developing al-ternative energy projects, mainly insolar and to a lesser extent in wind.

Natural gas, aerospace and tourismwere among the areas of economic co-operation that Putin discussed with Is-rael during his visit.

The two countries did about$660mn of bilateral trade in the firstfour months of this year, with Israeliexports to Russia reaching $384mnand imports from Russia at $277mn,according to the Israel Export Institute.

Another area of interest to the Rus-sians is nanotechnology, where the twocountries have signed co-operationagreements.

The delegation also included the in-coming chairman of the Russian SpaceAgency Roscosmos, VladimirPopovkin, signalling the country's in-

terest in co-operation in aerospace aswell.

On the political talks, Putin cau-tioned against foreign interference inSyria during his visit to Israel. It was“unacceptable to think of mutual de-struction,” he said. “From the very be-ginning of the so-called Arab Spring,Russia has been persuading its partnersthat democratic changes should takeplace in a civilized manner and with-out external intervention.”

Israeli President Shimon Peres urgedPutin to play a bigger role in the regionand specifically to use his influencewith Tehran to dampen what Israel andmuch of the international communitysay are its nuclear arms ambitions. “Iask as a personal request that you makeyour voice heard against a nuclear Iran,against genocide,” he said.

He also warned of “a real danger thatSyrian chemical weapons will reach thehands of Hezbollah and al-Qaeda;please act with urgency to stop that un-acceptable situation.”

The two men took part in a cere-mony in the resort town of Netanyawhere they unveiled a monument com-memorating the Soviet Red Army’s tri-umph over Nazi Germany. Putin saidthe monument would serve “as a re-minder that the world is still fragile andwe should do our best in order for thecriminal Nazi doctrines, no matterwhat form or shape they take, to be leftin the past.”

Netanyahu also warned Iranian nu-clear weapons pose “a severe danger,first and foremost to Israel, but also tothe region and entire world.”

On 26 June, Putin visited the biblicalWest Bank town of Bethlehem wherehe praised his Palestinian counterpartfor what he said was a "responsible" po-sition in negotiations with Israel, frozenfor nearly four years, and said Russia

has no problem recognising a Palestin-ian state. Putin also offered veiled crit-icism of Israel, saying unilateral actions— an apparent reference to Israeli set-tlement construction on war-won land— is not constructive.

"We talked about ways of overcom-ing the dilemma of the Israeli-Pales-tinian peace process," Putin said on 26June. "I point out here the responsibleposition of President Abbas and his en-deavour to reach a peaceful settlementbased on a two-state settlement."I amsure that all unilateral actions are notconstructive," he added.

Later on 26 June, Putin travelled toJordan for talks with King Abdullah II.Officials said they talked about thebloodshed in Syria, stalled Mideastpeace efforts, Iran's nuclear program,Russian assistance to Jordan to build anuclear reactor for peaceful purposesand modernising an oil terminal in theGulf of Aqaba.

In the meeting, Abdullah called fora "political solution to the crisis in Syriathat would protect the unity and sta-bility of the country and end the vio-lence and bloodshed," a Royal Palacestatement said. He said that a solutionmust have an "Arab and internationalconsensus."

Putin and the king met in a confer-ence hall on the shores of the Dead Sea.Later, Putin inaugurated a Russianguesthouse in the baptismal site in thenearby Jordan River, where traditionsays Jesus was baptized by John theBaptist. Jordan's banned Tahrir, or Lib-eration Party, condemned Putin as an"enemy who is not welcome in Jordan.It called Putin "an arch enemy of Islamand Muslims," citing his close ties withAssad. "His visit to Jordan is an arro-gant challenge to the feeling of Mus-lims and a disdain of innocentbloodshed in Syria."

Visiting Russia's President Vladimir Putin sits next to his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres prior to an official diner in Jerusalem, 25 June

2012. |AFP PHOTO/LIOR MIZRAHI - PO

RUSSIADIPLOMACY

GEORGIA|DIPLOMACY

German Bundestag delegation in GeorgiaA delegation of the petition committee of the German Bun-destag recently paid a visit to Tbilisi. The delegation com-prised of Gunter Baumann (CDU/ CSU), Patricia Lips(CDU/CSU), Klaus Hagemann (SPD), Ottmar Schreiner(SPD), Holger Krestel (FDP), and Sabine Jünger (left party),Civil Georgia reported. The German MPs met with Geor-gian Parliament's chairman David Bakradze, as well as withGeorgian MPs. The delegation were acquainted with theprogramme of the German Society for International Coop-eration, aimed at reforming the court and meet with repre-sentatives of German political foundations operating inGeorgia. Sectorial meetings were also held with the chair-man of the Committee on Human Rights Lasha Tordia,Public Defender George Tugushi and chairman of the As-sociation of Young Lawyers Tamar Chugoshvili.

GEORGIA|BANKING

Central Bank cuts key rate to 5.75%After the fourth consecutive month of annual deflation inMay, National Bank of Georgia (NBG) recently reduced itsmain policy rate by 25 basis points to 5.75%, Civil Georgiareported. Last month Georgia’s inflation declined to 3.3%year-on-year and to 0.9 on monthly basis. NBG’s monetarypolicy committee said in a statement, that annual inflationrate would start “moderate increase” as of this month. How-ever the annual inflation rate will continue to remain belowgovernment’s target level during this year, as well as early2013. For this year, the government expected inflation rate tostand at 6%.

ARMENIA|ECONOMY

World Bank: Faster growth possible in Armenia Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian recently announced aGDP growth rate of 7% is his “primary expectation” fromhis government which was recently reshuffled due to lastmonth’s parliamentary elections, Armenia Liberty.org re-ported. Raler, the government expected the economy to ex-pand by 4.2% for this year. The World Bank and theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) made similar predic-tions early this year but revised them downwards, noting un-favorable global economic trends. In its global economicoutlook released couple of weeks ago, the World Bank saideconomic growth in Armenia will come in at 4.1% this year.Armenia’s GDP increased by 4.7% in the first quarter, datafrom the National Statistical Service showed. Commentingon Sarkisian’s expectation regarding economic growth,World Bank’s outgoing director for the South Caucasus,Asad Alam said the higher growth target could be achieveddepending on domestic and external factors. Speaking at ameeting in Yerevan, Alam said, “I think the 7% growth rateis achievable but it is based upon what the government isable to do in the remaining parts of the year and also theglobal economic environment.” He believes that the coun-try’s economy is capable of growing faster in principle. Ac-cording to Alam, economic growth could soar within end ofthis year on the back of the agricultural sector, which waslargely flat in the first few months of 2012, as well as “sig-nificant” infrastructure projects currently implemented bythe government. As a result, the aforesaid efforts can helpArmenia earn higher growth rates but at same time it alsodepends on the government programme itself and the pol-icy changes to be implemented. Reiterating World Bank’sviews, Alam said that improving the country’s flawed busi-ness environment is essential for sustainable growth. Henoted low competition in the economy remains a seriousproblem and a challenge for the Armenian government.

Russia’s Gazprom eyes Israel's gas sector

One of the stranger sights in the European Parliament is

the ease the pro ACTA lobby can move in the corridors.

At the recent International Trade Committee meeting,

where they were going to vote on accepting or rejecting

the trade deal, some were shocked and surprised to see

lobby groups setting up posters and displays and handing

out leaflets asking people to support ACTA.

The poster references a website, ACTA Facts. Well one

fact of ACTA is that copyright violators will be treated

very harshly.

We can only imagine that the penalties would be even

greater if copyright infringement was used to lobby par-

liamentarians.

The poster has a nice photograph of a container laden

ship, presumable to illustrate international trade.

It turns out that the picture is of the 2,524 TEU con-

tainer vessel "Aliança Santos” and belongs to the Ham-

burg Sud Group. The German group do allow photo-

graphs to be reproduced. On their website, they explain

the terms of use.

“Although the graphical material is made available free

of charge, it is protected by copyright. You may only use

these images for purposes of free editorial reporting and

with the attribution "Photo: Hamburg Süd". Any other

use requires approval. We kindly request a voucher copy.”

As no such credit appears, the copyright lobby has

clearly breached their own cause!

Digital activist Rick Falkvinge notes, “If the most fer-

vent proponents and lawyers of the copyright monopoly

can’t follow it in the most dire of circumstances, there is no

further pretending that a teenager or Joe Plumber should

be expected to.”

He continues, “This episode shows clearer than ever

that the copyright and patent monopolies are not intended

to be protective of innovation or protective of the econ-

omy. They’re obviously too complex even for their

strongest supporters and lobbyists to understand and ad-

here to. Rather, they are intended as legal clubs to be used

by the now-rich incumbents against resource-strapped up-

starts. The copyright and patent monopolies are only pro-

tective of the past, protective against the present and

future of innovation, creativity, and economy.”

We can only advise that, should anyone see this law

breaking poster in the European Parliament next

Wednesday, when ACTA is debated, that the good

deputies and officers will remove the illegal item and

perform a citizen’s arrest on the culprit.

In the meantime, we can only hope that the EPP is offer-

ing counseling, support and guidance to Marielle Gallo MEP,

who has suddenly come to realize that she’s been working for

a bunch of ruthless international soft terrorists!

KASSANDRA"The first job of the hostage negotiator is to as-sure safety. When they arrive on the scene, theremay be armed police, high emotion and generalconfusion in which hostages may get hurt."

Page 32 | New Europe

1 - 7 July, 2012

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Once Upon A Time in Brussels...

Follow me on twitter @Kassandra_NE

Calm at the centreThe Crans Montana Forum in Baku ( June 28 to July1), has unveiled the role of Azerbaijan as the drivingpower in the Caspian region, and its role as the stabiliz-ing element in a potentially unstable zone with borderdisputes being serious destabilization factors.Azerbaijan, however, despite neighbouring Armenia, inviolation of all UN resolutions maintains under occu-pation large parts of the country, is emerging as a stan-dard point of reference in an ever turning world.In the picture, from the luncheon hosted by PresidentIlham Aliyev and Mrs Mehriban Aliyeva Friday, 29June, (from L to R) Foreign Minister of AzerbaijanElmar Mammadyarov, SOCAR Vice President ElshadNassirov and our former Editor Basil Coronakis.

The leaflet distributed in the European Parliament.|RICK FALKVINGE

Pro ACTA lobby ignores copyright – when it applies to them!

The Hungarian President's website is breaking new ground byintroducing braille. Sadly, this isn't how touchscreens work, guys!

Could this be the future of EU Presidencies?

TouchingCyprus asks for bailout, opens EU Presidency

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