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CSM posted:Why the
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Sep 10, 2014 08:40
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? It's still way too high.
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LemonDrizzle posted:And then we'll build a unified European military in which each division speaks a different language and uses different gear! We were supposed to have a few unified European battalions already; basically quick reaction forces in case of emergencies or small-scale brushfires that we could quickly put out. The story of those is loving hilarious. They never stood a loving chance against the might of the arms industry of the different EU countries. I have a friend who worked on trying to get these unstuck for a year, and basically it's 3x nowhere. It's not as good as DG Market's attempt to make a common European market for arms sales - basically the French don't want anything that isn't French made, the Austrians want Austrian stuff etc etc. We have a couple of these behemoths like BAE, Dassault, Vickers and whoever those Swedish guys are competing for the smallest defence budgets (especially after the crisis) and basically being propped up by the Member States. Junior G-man fucked around with this message at 09:08 on Sep 10, 2014 |
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Sep 10, 2014 09:05
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Carlos Moedas(Portugal) got the Investigation, Innovation and Science Commission. I want to see our ministers spin that poo poo as "A very important position on the decision making of Europe", like they were doing when the rumours pointed torwards the Jobs and Social Security brief. This is our reward for giving international politics the giant that is Zé Manel Barroso.
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Sep 10, 2014 09:50
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Giving the economic vice presidency to Finland is basically saying "full steam ahead on austerity", isn't it?Junior G-man posted:We have a couple of these behemoths like BAE, Dassault, Vickers and whoever those Swedish guys are competing for the smallest defence budgets (especially after the crisis) and basically being propped up by the Member States.
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Sep 10, 2014 09:56
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LemonDrizzle posted:Giving the economic vice presidency to Finland is basically saying "full steam ahead on austerity", isn't it? We'll have to wish them good luck on that since big parts of their export economy will collapse if the conflict with Russia stays for long.
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Sep 10, 2014 10:23
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Yeah, the Ukrainian conflict might be where the austerity chickens come home to roost for Finland. FYGM is not such an appealing policy when your own economy is going down the toilet. As a Finn, I'm torn between the desire to see Katainen (and most of the Finnish establishment, natch) eat crow and the dread of having to live in a dystopian hellscape.
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Sep 10, 2014 10:49
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Antti posted:Yeah, the Ukrainian conflict might be where the austerity chickens come home to roost for Finland. FYGM is not such an appealing policy when your own economy is going down the toilet. Even if Finland's economy goes to poo poo I don't see why that would stop neo-liberals from advocating austerity. They'd just have to advocate it in Finland this time. Now maybe the Finns in general won't like it, but if public opinion had an effect on enacting neoliberal austeritarian policies we'd never have had to deal with this poo poo in the first place.
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Sep 10, 2014 10:59
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Electronico6 posted:Carlos Moedas(Portugal) got the Investigation, Innovation and Science Commission. I want to see our ministers spin that poo poo as "A very important position on the decision making of Europe", like they were doing when the rumours pointed torwards the Jobs and Social Security brief. This is our reward for giving international politics the giant that is Zé Manel Barroso. That's not nearly as funny as a guy who helped destroy social security and jobs getting to do that in yurop 
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Sep 10, 2014 11:03
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http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-984_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/about/juncker-commission/structure/index_en.htm - New Structure in project teams. And the results are in - and look nothing like the leak last week. lokicubed fucked around with this message at 11:29 on Sep 10, 2014 |
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Sep 10, 2014 11:22
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lokicubed posted:http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-984_en.htm This part at least is the same: quote:As the President-elect announced in this speech before the European Parliament on 15 July, he has also created a Commissioner specifically for Migration (under Dimitris Avramopoulos) to prioritise a new policy on migration that will robustly tackle irregular migration, whilst at the same time making Europe an attractive destination for top talent. Reminder that Greece has built
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Sep 10, 2014 11:30
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Oh my God they put the UK in charge of financial regulation. An old school UK Tory as the head regulator. We're all doomed. Good to see that the Belgians still managed to get hosed though. Who the gently caress put Malta in charge of Environment and Fisheries  At least we get Hogan for agriculture, he should be alright, but he's gonna have to pick up the pieces from the crap Ciolos reform.
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Sep 10, 2014 13:20
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Junior G-man posted:Oh my God they put the UK in charge of financial regulation. An old school UK Tory as the head regulator. We're all doomed. But on the plus side we can get rid of all that nonsense about capping bankers' bonuses and take over Europe's financial services sector entirely, so there's that.
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Sep 10, 2014 13:24
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YF-23 posted:This part at least is the same: I don't think the EU, as a whole, considers that a bad thing.
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Sep 10, 2014 15:02
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LemonDrizzle posted:But on the plus side we can get rid of all that nonsense about capping bankers' bonuses and take over Europe's financial services sector entirely, so there's that. Hahaha, they already got around that by increasing the 'monthly allowance' instead. Some UK firms just doubled the amount you're allowed to spend on the company dime per month, so it was all functionally useless: quote:The EU imposed controls on banker bonuses, blamed for encouraging risk-taking by staff whose year-end haul was linked to their revenue-generating record, after taxpayers were forced to shore up lenders whose shaky finances were suddenly exposed in the financial crisis of 2007-2009.
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Sep 10, 2014 15:02
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Here's a decent summary of the changes for the new Commission:quote:-- The main changes in the new Commission --
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Sep 10, 2014 15:04
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quote:1. A new boost for jobs, growth and investment (led by Jyrki Katainen) RIP PIIGS, RIP France, RIP Italy
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Sep 10, 2014 15:49
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Electronico6 posted:
We also have a whole ocean of call center companies and under-the-table work in Chinese stores. That's all private investment man. Só năo trabalha quem năo quer 
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Sep 10, 2014 16:25
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Short-ish (5 mins) interview with Junker. I'm too fatigued to have an opinion at the moment. http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/videozone/nieuws/buitenland/1.2083633 Focus: belgian commissioner, difference with barrosso, small-ish discussion of austerity (implied anyway).
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Sep 10, 2014 18:17
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The grauniad has an interesting take on Juncker's appointments: he's basically saying "if you have a problem with [thing], fix it" to Europe's loudest whiners. France moans about wanting the regulations on budget deficits relaxed and its troubles with hitting the 3% ceiling, so their commissioner is put in charge of economic and monetary policy; Hungary is run by neo-fascists who want to create an "illiberal" society so they get put in charge of human rights; Greece complains that migrants use it as an entry point for the rest of the EU and other member states don't share the burden so it gets put in charge of migration and justice; the Dutch complain about EU overreach and the failure to delegate decision-making to the national governments so they get put in charge of subsidiarity; and the UK has had running battles with Brussels for years over regulation of the financial services sector so it gets put in charge of the continent's banks. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/10/european-commissioners-jean-claude-juncker-bluffs
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Sep 10, 2014 19:08
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LemonDrizzle posted:The grauniad has an interesting take on Juncker's appointments: he's basically saying "if you have a problem with [thing], fix it" to Europe's loudest whiners. France moans about wanting the regulations on budget deficits relaxed and its troubles with hitting the 3% ceiling, so their commissioner is put in charge of economic and monetary policy; Hungary is run by neo-fascists who want to create an "illiberal" society so they get put in charge of human rights; Greece complains that migrants use it as an entry point for the rest of the EU and other member states don't share the burden so it gets put in charge of migration and justice; the Dutch complain about EU overreach and the failure to delegate decision-making to the national governments so they get put in charge of subsidiarity; and the UK has had running battles with Brussels for years over regulation of the financial services sector so it gets put in charge of the continent's banks. Holy poo poo. Now: do poachers make for good foresters?
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Sep 10, 2014 19:13
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LemonDrizzle posted:The grauniad has an interesting take on Juncker's appointments: he's basically saying "if you have a problem with [thing], fix it" to Europe's loudest whiners. France moans about wanting the regulations on budget deficits relaxed and its troubles with hitting the 3% ceiling, so their commissioner is put in charge of economic and monetary policy; Hungary is run by neo-fascists who want to create an "illiberal" society so they get put in charge of human rights; Greece complains that migrants use it as an entry point for the rest of the EU and other member states don't share the burden so it gets put in charge of migration and justice; the Dutch complain about EU overreach and the failure to delegate decision-making to the national governments so they get put in charge of subsidiarity; and the UK has had running battles with Brussels for years over regulation of the financial services sector so it gets put in charge of the continent's banks. Luddites complain about new-dangled steam technology, put in charge of technological development. Or, maybe we could go with South Africa has mild problem with black people, put in charge if equality.
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Sep 10, 2014 19:54
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Clearly Juncker is an accelerationist and has decided to run the EU into the ground.
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Sep 10, 2014 20:44
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Orange Devil posted:Clearly Juncker is an accelerationist and has decided to run the EU into the ground. I guess the real question is, what part will turn out to be more powerful: the existing bruesselist system with its inherit drive for stability according to its internal rules, or the people that are now filling its holes (even if they are important holes) with their intensions of running that poo poo into the ground. Edit: vvv Exactly Nektu fucked around with this message at 06:32 on Sep 11, 2014 |
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Sep 10, 2014 21:07
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I would bet on the bureaucracy every time.
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Sep 10, 2014 21:26
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YF-23 posted:Even if Finland's economy goes to poo poo I don't see why that would stop neo-liberals from advocating austerity. They'd just have to advocate it in Finland this time. Now maybe the Finns in general won't like it, but if public opinion had an effect on enacting neoliberal austeritarian policies we'd never have had to deal with this poo poo in the first place. Oh I'm not saying it'd have any bearing on what would actually happen, but I would look forward to all the FYGM people (and there are a lot of them in Finland all across the spectrum) getting hosed over by the tit-for-tat.
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Sep 11, 2014 08:58
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As long as austerity is still kicking god won't truly be dead. It's the religion of the new age.
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Sep 11, 2014 09:48
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Hearings for the Commissioners-designate have started in the European Parliament, you can check out the action here: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/hearings/ Among the highlights today was the new Environment Commissioner not so much promising to deliver on the Environment, but to 'simplify rules'. By the way, he reports to the EC Vice-President for jobs and economic growth, and nothing in that guy's job description says poo poo about the environment.
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Sep 29, 2014 21:34
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So what's to be made of Germany finally making good on their threat to tear Ireland's economy up by the roots and turn the country back into a glorified potato plantation? http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ae979ad0-4708-11e4-8c50-00144feab7de.html#axzz3Ema8wh2Y quote:Apple will be accused of prospering from illegal tax deals with the Irish government for more than two decades when Brussels this week unveils details of a probe that could leave the iPhone maker with a record fine of as much as several billions of euros. Are we likely to see further attempts to enforce corporation tax harmonization within the eurozone?
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Sep 30, 2014 08:54
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LemonDrizzle posted:Are we likely to see further attempts to enforce corporation tax harmonization within the eurozone? I sure hope not. Ireland is having it hard enough without the server farms and call-centers moving out.
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Sep 30, 2014 08:58
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LemonDrizzle posted:So what's to be made of Germany finally making good on their threat to tear Ireland's economy up by the roots and turn the country back into a glorified potato plantation?  Isn't that more of a (probably useless) attempt to better ones position when negotiating tax rates with the big players? But eh, divide and conquer, right? Put those fools against each other and watch while they fall other each other in their urge to undercut and sell themselves out cheap. (Yea, it will totally work, we are hosed)
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Sep 30, 2014 11:26
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LemonDrizzle posted:Are we likely to see further attempts to enforce corporation tax harmonization within the eurozone? Who's the EU boss currently? Jean-Claude Juncker? The guy from Luxembourg? Oh yeah sure I expect a lot will be done to fight against tax havens, hahahahahah.
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Sep 30, 2014 11:36
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Cat Mattress posted:Who's the EU boss currently? Jean-Claude Juncker? The guy from Luxembourg? Funnily enough, Luxembourg is on the chopping block as well - their dealings with Fiat are under similar scrutiny to Apple's in Ireland and while Juncker may want to protect his homeland, both France and Germany are deeply pissed off by smaller countries trying to play beggar thy neighbour with corporation tax and essentially colluding with multinationals to rob the rest of Europe. e: the Commission's preliminary decision on the Apple investigation has been released: http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/cases/253200/253200_1582634_87_2.pdf Looks like Apple and Ireland are hosed - the Commission has minutes from two meetings between Apple and Irish representatives in which they explicitly describe engineering Apple's tax margins and link them to investment and new jobs. LemonDrizzle fucked around with this message at 12:58 on Sep 30, 2014 |
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Sep 30, 2014 12:40
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LemonDrizzle posted:Funnily enough, Luxembourg is on the chopping block as well - their dealings with Fiat are under similar scrutiny to Apple's in Ireland and while Juncker may want to protect his homeland, both France and Germany are deeply pissed off by smaller countries trying to play beggar thy neighbour with corporation tax and essentially colluding with multinationals to rob the rest of Europe. Of course that won't work because they managed to ruin half of europe before achieving that and have no idea how to get out of that. Beggars can't be choosers....
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Sep 30, 2014 14:33
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Nektu posted:And for good reason. Wasn't that one of the original plans for the EU? To form a block thats powerful enough to not get bend over by each big multinational in turn? The EU will get right on that, just after it signs TTIP with the US and after most of Europe governments privatized their public services to Chinese and Russian corporations.
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Sep 30, 2014 15:32
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Electronico6 posted:The EU will get right on that, just after it signs TTIP with the US and after most of Europe governments privatized their public services to Chinese and Russian corporations. Chinese maybe, not Russian considering the way we're going.
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Sep 30, 2014 16:14
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Libluini posted:Chinese maybe, not Russian considering the way we're going. If it wasn't for the US, the EU would have dropped the matter ages ago.
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Sep 30, 2014 17:00
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Electronico6 posted:The EU will get right on that, just after it signs TTIP with the US and after most of Europe governments privatized their public services to Chinese and Russian corporations. I would be really interested to know if that poo poo is "just" ideologically motivated, or wether the people in power basically see that fight as a lost cause and follow the logic that its better to be the valued house-slave instead of one of the farmhands that die by the dozen each month.
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Sep 30, 2014 17:18
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Nektu posted:I would be really interested to know if that poo poo is "just" ideologically motivated, or wether the people in power basically see that fight as a lost cause and follow the logic that its better to be the valued house-slave instead of one of the farmhands that die by the dozen each month. It's 100% ideologically motivated. With a population of over half a billion and a GDP of nearly $20 trillions, two independent nuclear powers and two permanent seats at the UNSC, over 50 000 patents per year, densely-developed infrastructure, worker productivity among the highest in the world, etc. Europe has the potential to be a powerhouse stronger than even the USA. But they prefer petty internecine squabbles and racing to the bottom.
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Sep 30, 2014 18:44
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It seems the hearings are not going very well! There's quite some fighting going on between the EPP and PES. For those of you paying attention: yes they both are part of the coalition. Canete (ESP, EPP, Climate action and energy) refused to answer questions about his family's activities in the oil sector. He did say that he, his wife and his son have all sold their shares in "small oil companies". Also had to start his hearing with apologies for such gems as “Holding a debate with a woman is complicated, because showing intellectual superiority could be seen as sexist.” Moscovici (FRA, PES, Economic and financial affairs, tax and customs) has failed as finance minister in France, according the EPP. Navracsics (HUN, EPP, Education, culture, youth and citizenship) is Hungarian and a member of Fidesz. This is the EU thread, so you all know who Victor Orban is and why the affiliation might be a problem. Hill (GB, ECR, Financial stability, financial services) could give no opinion on eurobonds, had trouble answering specific questions in detail.
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Oct 2, 2014 14:56
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willemw posted:Hill (GB, ECR, Financial stability, financial services) could give no opinion on eurobonds, had trouble answering specific questions in detail. 
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Oct 2, 2014 15:05
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