Brussels Briefing
A nasty row has broken out between those behind the One of Us campaign and the European Commission, including Science and Research Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.
One of Us is very active in the US, collecting 1.8m signatures to force the commission to consider its request for a revision of the rules on funding research involving stem cells and no funds for bodies that directly or indirectly facilitate abortion.
The commission rejected the request, saying the EU had only recently updated its legislation on the issue and pointing out that EU funds cannot be used for research that destroys embryos.
DSW brings together groups opposing the One of Us move, and says it is contrary to the interests of the 222m women in developing countries that need voluntary family planning services. It says 47,000 women die from unsafe abortions annually.
She is looking at the €350 billion — a third of the EU budget for 2014-2020 — earmarked for less developed regions and managed jointly by the Commission and member states.
Aimed at creating growth and jobs, tackling climate change and energy dependence and reducing poverty and social exclusion, she is asking if policies respect fundamental rights and if complaints are being dealt with properly.
“If there are complaints that EU money is used to ‘institutionalise’ persons with disabilities instead of helping to integrate them, the Commission clearly needs to ensure the matter is investigated and corrective action taken if needed,” she said.
With the job of finding the next president of the European Commission in hand, countries are deciding who to nominate as Commissioner.
Such a pity this is a decision taken frequently by the Taoiseach and rarely with a view to getting the best portfolio and playing a real role.
No public debate, no open discussion in the Oireachtas, no invitation for CVs. The Irish, well able to handle complex issues in referenda on treaties, should have no trouble taking part in a debate on ensuring every decision is taken in the best interests of Europe that includes Ireland.
Why not aim high — see what Catherine Day the European Commission’s top bureaucrat is doing next and look for the job of EU foreign affairs chief? Or will it be just a matter of which politician can be spared or fancies a well-paid job in Brussels?
Countries often give up trying to find out who exactly owns companies they suspect of money laundering billions of euro for organised crime.
Not even those involved in the firms know exactly who is the beneficiary of their business, according to Moneyval, the unit in the Council of Europe that looks into such activities.
It has gained a lot of credit for helping the Vatican Bank become squeaky clean and for sorting out the bad oligarchs from the good ones banking in Cyprus.
These were just two of the 25 jurisdictions that it monitored last year, according to its annual report, and it hopes this week’s G7 meeting in Brussels will heed its advice to dig deeper into who exactly owns what in their countries.
Britain, in its constant need to assert its superiority over the rest of the continent, has now turned to in-fighting.
UKIP, who topped the poll in the European Parliament elections and the Tories — the main UK government party — has its own political group in the EU Parliament.
Both parties have been trying to poach MEPs from the other’s group to become the largest eurosceptic body in the European Parliament.
There is a danger that UKIP may not win over MEPs from 7 countries as required, even as both they and the Tory inspired ECR appear willing to take on some seriously nasty people who don’t believe in democracy or human rights.
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