NeoCon2::"Committee for a Strong Europe."

by RogueTrooper Mon Oct 3rd, 2005 at 08:23:57 AM EST

This is taken directly from TPMCafe.com

Here is a little scoop for TPMCafé: Bill Kristol, Robert Kagan, Gary Schmitt and other members of PNAC (the Project for a New American Century) are launching a new club called "Committee for a Strong Europe." They just began inviting politicians and pundits from both side of the Atlantic to join. The honorary chairmen will be the former Spanish prime minister José Maria Aznar and Senator John McCain.

By "Strong Europe", of course, they don't mean "A Europe in which governments would be strong enough to say no to any crazy American military invasion plan,"  but the statement of principle of the committee is so broadly crafted than many people could sign it. The purpose is to promote democracy, to have a stronger economy, to keep confidence in our values, etc.

However, knowing where this statement comes from, when I read  "We believe both the United States and Europe should invest adequately in their armed forces so as to have strong militaries capable of serving in a wide variety of missions around the world",  I can't help but hear a little whispering voice adding: "it's especially true for you, you goddamn tight-fisted European wimps!"

For the original link:
http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/10/2/13718/6784
and their statement
http://libe-usa.blogs.com/CSE.html

Some thoughts:

I can't help but feel that this has more to do with just military spending.

I was under the impression that a strong, and unified Europe was something the neo-cons oppossed. Is this a change in strategy or a spilt?

The Poverty of Anglo-Saxon Economic Models

by RogueTrooper Fri Aug 26th, 2005 at 02:16:37 PM EST

Promoted from the diaries ~ whataboutbob

Poly Tonybee believes that the British Government is too scared to admit it's own culpability in the Gate Gourmet scandal. She is probably right.

The spectacle of the Gate Gourmet picket line will linger on in public memory. The sight of low-paid, middle-aged Asian women in unaccustomed revolt will stay indelibly linked to BA, which so cavalierly contracted out its reputation along with its lowest-paid workers. Desperate to recover its mistake, BA has offered Gate Gourmet an extra £10m to help resolve the dispute.

But that £10m has a certain delicious resonance. David Bonderman, the US financial tycoon who founded and runs Gate Gourmet's parent company, spent exactly that same sum on his birthday party recently. He hired Bellagio, LA's most extravagant casino, and entertained his guests by hiring the Rolling Stones and Robin Williams. He is estimated to be worth about £15bn. His Gate Gourmet employees, however, were on £12,000 until they were sacked to hire cheaper agency workers, mainly from Somalia and Eastern Europe. "That's the way the world is," wrote one airline analyst this week, with a metaphorical shrug. "That's globalisation", as if gross inequity were immutable destiny - which it is not.

Charming.

Bra wars: Europe strikes back

by RogueTrooper Fri Aug 26th, 2005 at 04:34:54 AM EST

Larry Elliott, The Guardian's economics editor has some commentry on the recent scraping of the Multi-Fibre Agrement; and Europe's ( mostly ) succesfull attempts to save both face and textile jobs

This week, however, reports that there are shiploads of ladies underwear lurking in the English Channel due to a decision to limit imports from China, have elevated trade to the lead item on the BBC news. And, while it is tempting to dismiss "bra wars" as a typical silly season story - especially since there are actually no boat loads of D cups at anchor off Dover - there is more to it than that.

more after the break...

Franco-German axis obsolete, says Sarkozy

by RogueTrooper Wed Jul 6th, 2005 at 01:45:56 PM EST

It would seem that Interior Ministers of the Big5 ( France, Germany, Italians, Spanish and the Brits ) European States were meeting in Evian today.

The French interior minister, Nicholas Sarkozy, sounded the death knell for the 50-year-old Franco-German alliance yesterday and suggested instead a core group of six European states.

Mr Sarkozy, who is a potential candidate for the French presidency in 2007 and who has fraught relations with the president, Jacques Chirac, said the Franco-German alliance was no longer practical in an EU of 25 states.

"In a Europe of six members, the engine was obviously Franco-German," Mr Sarkozy told Europe 1 radio. "A Europe of 25 needs an engine of five at first and probably six, with Poland."

Chirac jokes about British food

by RogueTrooper Mon Jul 4th, 2005 at 10:58:58 AM EST

Ah, the old ones are the best ones. One can only pray to our merciful and loving God that Uncle Jacques refrains from regailling us with mother-in-law jokes.

French President Jacques Chirac is reported to have cracked jokes about British food at a meeting with the German and Russian leaders.

French newspaper Liberation says Gerhard Schroeder and Vladimir Putin laughed and joined in the banter.

"One cannot trust people whose cuisine is so bad," it quotes Mr Chirac as saying, within earshot of reporters.

A French government spokesman declined to comment on the report, which comes days before the G8 summit in Scotland.

Update [2005-7-4 11:13:46 by RogueTrooper]:to add something slightly more insulting.

Germany to breach EU deficit rule

by RogueTrooper Fri Jul 1st, 2005 at 07:15:52 AM EST

From the BBC

Germany looks set to face disciplinary proceedings after warning it is likely to break European Union (EU) budget deficit limits for another year.

Official figures showed that without policy changes Germany is likely to break the EU deficit cap of 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) until 2008.

It has already broken that limit every year since 2002, and is set to unveil a deficit of 3.7% of GDP in 2005.

Europe began action against Italy on Wednesday for breaking deficit rules.

The European Commission (EC) gave Italy until the end of 2007 to slash its deficit to below EU limits.

Italy's deficit stood at 3.2% of GDP in 2001, 2003 and 2004, and the EC has predicted it will record a 3.6% shortfall this year - before rising to 4.6% in 2006.

It looks like Germany will be sharing the same fate as the Italians.

Mr Eichel has claimed until recently that he could rein in the German deficit to 2.9% - in line with EU budget rules set out in the European Stability Pact.

The budget rulebook had been revamped after France and Germany repeatedly broke pact rules.

In December last year, the EC called a truce in its battle with the two over deficit limit breaches.

The move came after France and Germany vowed to run their budget deficits below the EU cap in 2005 - for the first time in four years.

But, the EC did warn the two were under close scrutiny and it would act if their fiscal situations deteriorated.

As a result of Mr Eichel's admission about the German budget the country now looks likely to face the same disciplinary fate as Italy this autumn.

Full text: Blair's European speech

by RogueTrooper Thu Jun 23rd, 2005 at 06:58:34 AM EST

It is an honour to be here in the European Parliament today.

With your permission, I will come back after each European Council during the UK Presidency and report to you. In addition, I would be happy to consult the Parliament before each Council, so as to have the benefit of the views of the European Parliament before Council deliberations.

This is a timely address. Whatever else people disagree upon in Europe today, they at least agree on one point: Europe is in the midst of a profound debate about its future.

Irish environmental law to be enacted by the Scottish Parliament?

by RogueTrooper Mon Jun 20th, 2005 at 08:26:49 AM EST

Plans for a law to make retailers charge 10p for a plastic carrier bag have been unveiled by an MSP at the Scottish Parliament.

Liberal Democrat Mike Pringle said money raised from the tax could fund environmental projects.

Peter Woodall, from the Carrier Bags Consortium, said the argument was the "the very worst case of junk science".

About one billion plastic bags are given away free in Scotland every year, but some stores now charge for them.

Well, naturally Mr. Woodall would find this a bad idea.

Mr Pringle insisted that the Irish experience had been a financial and environmental success.

He said: "The country has taken in 41.5m Euros since this started and it costs 350,000 Euros per annum, so in fact it has been very successful with the money raised.

Scotland has a slightly higher population than Ireland so that figure would probably be closer to 50m Euros. Could be good business for Scotland.

Full article from the The Beeb

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