Meanwhile, out there in the real world…
European leaders converge on Brussels today for the Big Budget Summit – the European Council, which brings together the heads of state and/or government of the EU’s 27 members.
It’s not going to be pretty, what with the weaker states agitating for more money and the wealthier ones, with David Cameron at the vanguard, objecting vociferously.
“These are very important negotiations,” Cameron said as he arrived this morning. “And clearly, at a time when we’re making difficult decisions at home over public spending, it would be quite wrong — it is quite wrong — for there to be proposals for this increased extra spending in the EU. So we’re going to be negotiating very hard for a good deal for Britain’s taxpayers and for Europe’s taxpayers, and to keep the British rebate.”
Under pressure back home, Cameron is set to veto anything which will go beyond the €1 trillion of the 2007-2013 budget (the budgets are for seven years).
The money is used to fund development and farming programmes in the less developed parts of the European Union. It is about one per cent of the Union’s GDP.
The European Commission is lobbying for more spending, arguing that this is just what is required to spur growth in these troubled times. The Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, is at the meeting.
The Netherlands, Sweden and Germany want less spending, too. EU President Herman Van Rompuy is set to demand a real cut in the EU budget, to reflect similar action taken by member states themselves.
But other member states, led by Spain and Poland, will be – as expected – asking for more money for economic development.
A compromise might be a cut of €3 billion to €24 billion, meaning that much less will be done by way of programmes over the next seven years.
Each one of the member states has the right of veto over the budget, making this likely to be a battle that drags on into the weekend and might spill over into the new year.
The threat of veto has come in already from several states, and for reasons that are diametrically opposite.
If politics is the art of compromise, that is going to be tested to the limit now.
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mean while in Malta…….
Eddy Privitera, just told us that should we opt for the Sargas powerplant……..(from the Times online)
Eddy Privitera
Today, 12:24
L-investiment johorguh SARGAS Hekk niftar li kienu qalu xhur ilu meta John Dalli kien semmieha l-ewwel wiehed. Fill-fatt John Dalli kien ressaq dan il-progett lil Dr. Gonzi, izda ghal xi raguni stramba, intefa fil-kexxun !
And we should all believe Eddy Privitera on the basis of John Dalli being squeaky clean and oh-so-credible, I guess.
When I was Malta’s representative to the UN and its specialised agencies in Geneva, the USA decided to leave the International Labour Organization (ILO) because of its political bias, thus depriving the organization of a substantial part (about 25%) on its members’ annual contribution. The ILO did not go bankrupt, or cease to operate. It realised that it was carrying too much dead wood which could be discarded, and that it suffered from the ailment of profligacy that is endemic in international organizations not directly accountable to the public.
It also realised that much of the USA criticism was justified.
Today, the USA is back in the ILO which is a wiser organization.
The EU bureaucracy in Brussles, and the member states that provide the cash which this bureaucracy is handling without the endorsement of its own auditors, may wish to remenber the ILO experience.
The next seven year EU budget will not be as good as the previous one but hopefully it is strong enough to sustain the economic momentum Malta enjoys as a result of an additional injection of over 1bn euros.
With 300m less EU budget funds Malta may have a difficult task to sustain the economic growth we are now used to. The employment sector would be the first to be effected and a result other areas may follow.
Malta needs a strong, intelligent and dynamic leadership to guarantee continuity in the excellent economic performance and creation of wealth.
History has shown that the best option for continuity is definately a Nationalist party in government.
The bottom line is that no other party has ever had the foresight, capability and acumen to take Malta forward in such a meaningful and successful way.
Why do we always have to expect handouts? If we were really grown up about this, we’d aspire to becoming net contributors.
But we are not yet. Malta doesn’t get handouts but remains a net recipient until its economy gets to operate on an acceptable EU average. It is after all one of the main goals and missions of the EU.
We are eagerly hoping Malta becomes a net contributor. It would mean we have made the grade.
A little bit aside from this issue,
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121122/local/former-port-workers-protest-in-valletta.446426
Check out the video, 0:28, any idea what the woman is waving? Is it a picture of Alfred Sant?
The irony is sublime. Who’s next? KMB?
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2012-11-22/news/alfred-sant-to-contest-mep-elections-421593096/
Sant to contest MEP elections.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121122/local/alfred-sant-to-contest-mep-elections.446476
Oink, Oink, move over, it’s this little piggy’s turn at the trough
Labour is hoping that this EU thing lasts and will not go the way of the Tower of Babel which the exterior EU parliament building’s architecture resembles as the collapsed Tower of Babel of lore as portrayed in old paintings.
But what is really amazing with the PL is the conversion of St. Alfred that is every bit as amazing as the conversion of St. Paul.
Or the toupee’d one figured out it is one hell of a lucrative job to get piles of easy money as salary.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121122/local/alfred-sant-to-contest-mep-elections.446476
On another issue, I would like to share some thoughts I’ve written in regards to the spectacular news that Alfred Sant wants to contest the next MEP election.
On a different subject about the interesting Breaking news today. This Alfred Sant has always been an enigma to me and somehow masterfully continues to reenforce my opinion of him.
First to campaigned vigorously against the EU membership. He told us a bunch of lies about the EU and when he was elected as Prime Minter he rushed to freeze our application after all the hard work that the PN governments did to see our island as a member of the EU. Now, out of the blue he has the cheek to ask us for our vote to put him as our MEP.
What a country. What a joke.
I say no way. Over my dead body.
Let’s immediately dispatch Alfred Sant to Brussels.
Why wait till June 2014?
They’ll laugh their heads off.
Labour is a sick joke.
Did you hear about Alfred Sant contesting the next European Parlament MEP elections. I think this is a disgrace.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2012-11-22/news/alfred-sant-to-contest-mep-elections-421593096/
Now we have the tail wagging the dog. A candidate telling the party that he will be contesting in its name, this is outrageous.
Alfred Sant will be elected an MEP without lifting a finger, in the process he will bring us back memories of the twenty two leaded months under his rule.
My guess is that Joseph tried to sideline Alfred and the smart mathematician outwitted the ex-Super One reporter with this move.
There is never a dull moment in Maltese politics.
Will Alfred Sant threaten to bite other MEP’s noses off if contradicted ?
Lord help us all.
In case you missed this: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121122/local/alfred-sant-to-contest-mep-elections.446476
Alfred Sant wants to be an MEP, after all that BS about the ‘Svizzera fil-Mediterran’ Cool and relaxed.
This looks like a dog’s breakfast in the making.
Cameron & Co, proposes a substantial cut in the Budget, which on the surface may appear to make sense, but the consequences may even exacerbate an already dire economy.
Spending less means fewer capital projects which in turn, mean less jobs, less taxes to the State and therefore higher deficits.
The reverse is true if existing Budget levels (2007-2013) are maintained, preferably increased even if slightly.
It is a difficult situation since the threat of vetoes on either side of the issue will require time to allay and finally come to a compromise. No doubt Malta is caught right in the middle of this dilemma.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121122/local/gonzi-to-make-malta-s-case-as-the-eu-discusses-its-budget.446482
As I see it, Dr.Gonzi is in an awkward situation. If he says that the country has weathered the financial crises more successfully ( which is true) then most OTHER countries in the EU , we stand to lose a good chunk of EU funding whilst facing the influx of more foreigners arriving irregularly on our shores (or overstaying their holidays) in search of a better future . If we keep mum about our successes and ”nkarrbu il-guh u l’ghaks” as the others are doing, Mr. Prattikament-Prim Ministru will take political mileage to get more votes.
It’s a tails-I-lose-heads-you-win situation for Mr Prime Minister.
Even if the PM did not point out Malta’s economic success, relative to most other EU countries, statistics do not lie and are there for anyone to see.
No doubt. if the PM comes back (when an agreement is finally reached) with anything less than what Labour and Franco Debono will determine, he would be called to task.
The fact is that contrary to what the LP preaches, if Malta does so well as to become a net contributor, the standard of living, the wages, the GDP and other indicators would be at or better than the EU average.
Of course, it would be a much easier job for a Labour govt to sit easy and draw on EU funds than bust their butt to find meaningful, permanent and well paying jobs. Anything less would be going back to hiring thousands, digging ditches at ‘frozen’ minimum wages or ’16 year old early school leavers’ who were guaranteed a job by the 39 year old PM himself!
Never mind George Vella and all these pathetic and puerile EU heads of government. All aspiring primadonnas.
If you put them all together in a Magimix you will get next to nothing Barroso and all.
HardTalk tonight has shown the world the mettle out of which world class politicians and statesmen are made.
Shimon Peres nearing ninety, bless him.
More than sixty years on centre stage.
Stephen Sackur pressed him to the limits of highly professional journalism.
What a performance.
What a man.
I wonder what he must think of the Brussels circus and its clowns.
I wonder.
I will now watch the epic interview all over again on line.
My adulation of real men (and women) knows no bounds.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121122/local/gonzi-to-make-malta-s-case-as-the-eu-discusses-its-budget.446482
Are there any ex-prime ministers in the EU parliament?
I would think that this Alfred Sant thing is a climb-down for this man.
Or else he promised to give his salary to the Labour Party coffers – they need money badly.
It will not be very long now, for us to hear that KMB is thinking on similar lines. – Bless them.!! – Eddy Privitera, your comments, please
Miskin Joseph, kemm ha jkollu inqas flus. Will that be the excuse (besides ‘what the Nationalists left behind )”Stennew ” ha jghid