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european union

Posts Tagged ‘european union’

A hearty well done to the European Union for boosting unemployment to Sub-Saharan levels

Greece Financial Crisis

THE skill with which the EU has been managing the wider economy is shown delightfully in these new figures from Greece:

Overall unemployment has risen to an all-time high of 27 per cent, data showed on Thursday, while joblessness in the 15-to-24 age group jumped to 64.2 per cent in February from 59.3 per cent in January.

A 27% unemployment rate is higher than the United States had at the worst level of the Great Depression. And a 64% youth unemployment rate: that’s more like some godawful shanty town in the wilds of sub-Saharan Africa than anything else.

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Posted: 13th, May 2013 | In: Money | Comments (3)


Sock puppets: How the European Union spends your money

A GREAT little report out from the IEA today. No, I’m not saying so because I wrote it: I didn’t. But it shows quite how the EU spends some of that vast river of cash we send it each year.

  • Citizens have not been consulted directly, however. Instead they have been ventriloquised through ‘sock puppet’ charities, think tanks and other ‘civil society’ groups which have been hand-picked and financed by the European Commission (EC). These organisations typically lobby for closer European integration, bigger EU budgets and more EU regulation.
  • The composition of ‘civil society’ at the EU level is largely dictated by which groups the Commission chooses to fund. There has been a bias towards centre-left organisations, with a particular emphasis on those promoting policies that are unpopular with the public, such as increasing foreign aid, restricting lifestyle freedoms and further centralising power within EU institutions.

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Posted: 7th, March 2013 | In: Money, Politicians | Comment


European Union is looking into imposing import duties on cheap Chinese solar panels: facepalm

THE European Union is looking into imposing import duties on cheap Chinese solar panels. If they go ahead with this it will be one of the most ludicroulsy stupid things any government has ever done: yes, worse than a land war in Asia. Not as bloody or wasteful, but more stupid:

The UK could lose billions of pounds and thousands of jobs in the solar industry if the EU imposes tariffs on cheap imported panels from China, a report has claimed.

The European commission is investigating if solar panels coming into Europe from China are being sold below market value – known as “dumping” – and benefiting from unfair Chinese government subsidies.

The move by the commission, instigated last year, is the largest of its kind, with solar panels and key components worth more than £18bn exported from China to the EU in 2011.

It followed complaints from European solar manufacturers and could lead to anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties being imposed on Chinese-made panels to stop the cheap imports harming Europe’s domestic industry.

Facepalm.

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Posted: 25th, February 2013 | In: Money | Comment (1)


EU farmers push for faster spoiling milk (photos)

TO Belgium for the Europe Milk Demonstration, in which the versatility of milk is showcased by farmers with hoses. The famers, upset by what they see as unfair milk prices, squirt milk at the European parliament and police. The farmers also set barrels of hay and a pile of tyres on fire, sending plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky. They plan to stay put outside parliament until Tuesday afternoon.

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Posted: 26th, November 2012 | In: Money | Comment (1)


The Secret European Union budget deal that isn’t

THE European Union. It’s out to get you. The Daily Express says so. Today the Express yells “SECRET EU PLOT TO STITCH IP BRITAIN.” Macer Hall’s story is that EU officials are “stitching together an ‘alternative’ financial plan that could be agreed with the 26 other member states, leaving the UK isolated”. It’s about the EU’s next €1tn seven-year budget. Britain is the only country calling for a complete EU budget freeze. The long-term budget – 2014-2020 – requires unanimity.

THe “SECRET” the Express exposes was written about on November 15. Reuters reported:

European Union officials are examining legal options to side-step a possible British veto on the bloc’s long-term budget, in a bid to weaken Prime Minister David Cameron’s trump card in the talks, diplomats said.

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Posted: 20th, November 2012 | In: Money, Politicians | Comment


Why is Barroso lying to us about the Robin Hood Tax?

A CERTAIN Mr. Barroso tells us today that the Robin Hood Tax is a really wonderful idea:

Mr Barroso said the legal requirements and conditions had been met and he did not believe the tax would undermine the single market if it were imposed across limited parts of the European Union. “I am delighted to see that 10 member states have indicated their willingness to participate in a common financial transaction tax,” he said. “This tax can raise billions of euros of much-needed revenue for member states in these difficult times.”

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Posted: 24th, October 2012 | In: Money, Politicians | Comment


Europe gets united airforce – reach for the subsidies

THE European Union is to get its own airforce. Oh, Brave New World:

When European farmers turn their eyes skyward, they soon may have more than the weather to worry about. The more progressive aviation framework in Europe means that government monitors potentially have a new weapon in their arsenals–unmanned aerial drones–to enforce regulations, and they’re starting with agriculture. EU regulators are exploring potential aerial systems that can help them spot farm subsidy cheats and violators of Common Agricultural Policy rules.

…satellite images are unreliable. In some places, mountainous terrain makes for long shadows that obscure features on the ground. In places like Scotland, it’s overcast all the time.

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Posted: 9th, February 2012 | In: Money | Comment (1)


Libya And The IRA: Gaddafi’s EU And Sinn Fein Friends Vote Against No-Fly Zone

GADDAFI’S Libya still has some pals in the European Union. The EU press office tell us:

“‘EU governments need to stand ready for a decision in the UN Security Council on further measures, including the possibility of a no-fly zone’,” in compliance with a UN mandate and coordination with the Arab League and the African Union stressed MEPs in a widely-backed resolution (584 in favour, 18 against, 18 abstentions). During the debate, only the GUE/NGL group was against this idea.”

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Posted: 11th, March 2011 | In: Key Posts, Politicians | Comments (2)


David Cameron’s Flawed Debt Story

DAVID Cameron has been quiet on the banking crisis. Want to know why? It’s because he and his party have nothing meaningful to add:

Cameron is then directly quoted, saying: “I think that we have had a failure of regulation and we have had a debt boom that went on for far too long and it reached into parts of the economy it shouldn’t have done. The whole thing has become infected and it has got to be dealt with.”

A propos our previous post, Cameron is playing with fire taking this line. For sure, it is generally agreed that that has indeed been a “failure of regulation”, but by far the bulk of regulation, and the regulatory structures, are of EU origin. They are not within the gift of Cameron to change, without taking on the European Union, which the leader of the opposition shows no sign of doing. But to pretend that they are “Gordon Brown’s” is a very silly strategy indeed.

Isn’t it all the failure of capitalism?

Posted: 28th, September 2008 | In: Money, Politicians | Comments (8)