EU fears protectionism - EUbusiness Week no 432

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EUbusiness Week - Issue 432
13 February 2009
http://www.eubusiness.com
Your way through the EU information maze
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This Week's Top Stories
=======================
1. Romania, Bulgaria fall short of EU justice standards
2. Euro forecasters expect lower growth, inflation
3. France to maintain ban on Monsanto GMO maize
4. Internet firms move to protect European children online
5. European airlines seek flight cuts without losing slots
6. Swiss say big yes to EU labour

Publisher's Note
================
Tensions over protectionism will dominate the 1 March summit
on the economic crisis called by the Czech Presidency.
Economic nationalism is threatening Europe's internal
market, said SME employers' organisation UEAPME this
week, as France announced a big boost in support for its
car industry.

Economic Affairs Commissioner Almunia agrees that
discrimination based on producers' nationality is not
acceptable. This would ignore the lessons of the 1930s,
when protectionism contributed to a worsening of the Great
Depression as it choked global trade. Such measures
"appear to be able to solve the problems of a country
but afterwards they worsen problems for all", he said.
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234339321.89

Regards,

Nick Prag
Publisher, EUbusiness

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1. Romania, Bulgaria fall short of EU justice standards
-------------------------------------------------------
Bulgaria and Romania still fall short of European standards
on justice reform and fighting corruption, and will remain
under EU surveillance for the foreseeable future, a report
said on Thursday.
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234456321.58

2. Euro forecasters expect lower growth, inflation
--------------------------------------------------
Forecasters expect the eurozone economy to shrink by 1.7
per cent this year but grow by 0.6 per cent in 2010, a
poll by the European Central Bank shows.
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234436523.22

3. France to maintain ban on Monsanto GMO maize
-----------------------------------------------
France will keep a ban on genetically modified maize from US
biotech giant Monsanto until the environmental risks are
clarified, says French Prime Minister Francois Fillon.
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234451821.98

4. Internet firms move to protect European children online
----------------------------------------------------------
Seventeen Internet firms, including Facebook and Myspace,
have agreed to take steps to protect children in Europe from
abuse on social networking sites, the Commission says.
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234270026.53

5. European airlines seek flight cuts without losing slots
----------------------------------------------------------
European airlines are to seek EU support to help them
weather the economic crisis and hang on to precious landing
slots even if they are forced to reduce flights.
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234447323.09

6. Swiss say big yes to EU labour
---------------------------------
The Swiss shook off right-wing fears over job losses on
Sunday, voting resoundingly to prolong an EU free labour
agreement and extending the policy to workers from bloc
newcomers Bulgaria and Romania.
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234117921.42

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Inside the EU Institutions
==========================

Council Watch
-------------
Toxic assets: finance ministers said on Tuesday they would
coordinate their approach to "toxic assets" held by banks
in order to promote lending, while agreeing there was no
one-size-fits-all solution.
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234275421.49
Businesses should push part-time work: Eurogroup
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234214221.94
EU lays out voluntary space code
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234470730.74
http://www.eubusiness.com/European_Council

Commission Watch
----------------
Banks: EU leaders are planning tough rules for governments
that step in to prop up banks to bolster their national
economies in the global financial crisis, sources say.
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234197121.58
Serbia EU candidacy attainable in 2009: Rehn
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234461722.74
Commission on heightened alert against spying
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234370828.07
EU, Russia point fingers over rights abuses
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1233938821.38
http://www.eubusiness.com/Commission

Euro-Parliament Watch
---------------------
Turkey: MEPs warned Turkey Wednesday that its failure to
open up its ports to ships from Cyprus could undermine
its hopes of joining the Union.
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234372622.66
Czechs to vote in EU elections June 5-6
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234275432.54
Bank robbery in Parliament building
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234459922.02

In committee this week, the Legal Affairs Committee approved
legislation to extend the copyright term for music
recordings from 50 years to 95 years; the Internal Market
Committee said it's up to Member States to stop match-fixing
and fraud in online gambling; the Employment and Social
Affairs Committee said companies must be responsible for
the conditions of workers employed by their subcontractors;
and the Economics Committee and national MPs debated the
European Central Bank's potential role in helping to make
Europe's fragmented system of financial supervision more
effective.
Texts: http://www.eubusiness.com/Institutions/oeil
http://www.eubusiness.com/Europarl

EU diary
--------
16 Feb, Education, Youth and Culture Council
18 Feb, EP Plenary Session
19 Feb, Energy Council
23-24 Feb, Gen'l Affairs and Ext'l Relations Council
26-27 Feb, Justice and Home Affairs Council
1 Mar, Informal Meeting of Heads of State and Gov'ts
2 Mar, Environment Council

The Week Ahead: http://www.eubusiness.com/events/EUcalendar
Long-term diary: http://www.eubusiness.com/events/eu-diary

EUbusiness Community
====================

Comments of the Week
--------------------
Commenting on our piece "Cyprus launches EUR 300m stimulus
plan", Andreas Dionysiou writes:

"Unfortunately, Cyprus banks policies are the ones that are
going to kill the Cyprus economy. Did you know that the
lending interest rates in Cyprus at the moment are the
highest out of all the countries in EU? If the Cyprus
government waits and does not act quickly to persuade or
force Cyprus banks to lower lending interests rates the
Cyprus economy which is an economy based on tourism and
construction sectors will die an hour sooner."
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1233686822.66
http://www.eubusiness.com/discussion

Briefing
--------
Report on Progress in Romania
http://www.eubusiness.com/Romania/romania-progress.09

Report on Progress in Bulgaria
http://www.eubusiness.com/Bulgaria/bulgaria-progress.09

Safer Internet Day 2009
http://www.eubusiness.com/Internet/safer-internet.09
More briefings: http://www.eubusiness.com/guides

Policy Forum
------------
Commission advisory groups biased towards business
http://www.eubusiness.com/Environ/foe-press.09-02-12

EUROVIGNETTE directive: mixed results from Committee vote
http://www.eubusiness.com/Transport/ueapme.09-02-12

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Events
------
23 March, London: Revenue Management 2009
http://www.eubusiness.com/Members/iir

6 Apr, Sofia: Renewable Energy Congress
http://www.eubusiness.com/Energy/renewable-energy.09
More events: http://www.eubusiness.com/events

Jobs
----
Secretary General, European Youth Forum
http://www.eubusiness.com/Jobs/yfj-job.09-01-30

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http://www.eubusiness.com/Jobs/terena-job.09-01-31
More jobs: http://www.eubusiness.com/jobs

Links
-----
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http://www.eubusiness.com/SMEs/enterprise-awards
More links: http://www.eubusiness.com/links

Other news on EUbusiness this week
----------------------------------
Press groups condemn Commission's spying 'smear' 12-Feb
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234443722.18
Turkey will be EU-ready by 2013: foreign minister 12-Feb
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234444622.24
Eurozone factory output slump is record: EU data 12-Feb
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234434722.82
British pension deal for BT 'partially unlawful' 11-Feb
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234352833.6
EU to probe Lufthansa, Austrian Airline deal 11-Feb
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234353722.0
EU to launch environment project 'auction' 10-Feb
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234275434.92
EU to pay EUR 1.69m to jobless Spanish car workers 10-Feb
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234272722.82
EU court annuls Belgian cash injection in La Poste 10-Feb
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234264622.95
Economic crisis tests EU's golden rules 9-Feb
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1234144922.15

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