5th September, 2004
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Brussels
unveils 'more intelligent' euro rules
Proposals
to reform the EU's beleaguered economic rules were unveiled
on Friday in a bid both to restore confidence in the Stability
and Growth Pact and to end the rows between member states that
have dogged the Pact in recent years. See here
Swedish Social
Democrats split on EU Constitution
Local members of the ruling Swedish Social Democrat
party in Malmö on Monday evening revolted against their party leaders
and joined calls for a Swedish referendum on the EU Constitution.
Read about the revolting social democrats here
Czechs might
vote on EU Constitution in June 2005
The new government in Prague could hold a national referendum
on the EU Constitution as soon as June next year, the Czech Prime
Minister Stanislav Gross said on Monday. See here
…but Estonians will have no say
The
Estonian government has decided not to have a referendum on
the proposed European Constitution. The final decision on ratifying
the treaty will be taken by the parliament. Go
here
EU GMO moratorium still
applies
According to an article in AgBioView, what was heralded as a
turning point for accepting GM crops in the EU now appears to
be "a farce". When the EU decided to allow imports
of Syngenta's biotech Bt-11 sweet corn last spring, the industry
breathed a sigh of relief. It was the first biotech approval
in six years. Was the EU finally making strides to end its five-year
moratorium on approval of new biotech crops? It seems not.
According to WTO rules, says Kim Nill, technical issues director
for the American Soybean Association, "If the EU approves
one new biotech product, they're no longer considered to be
blocking biotech's progress. In this case, they (the EU) knew
Syngenta wasn't going to actively market sweet corn there."
The fallout is that the EU has as much as two to three more
years before they'll have to approve another biotech product
to remain in compliance with WTO rules. "The farce of Bt-11
approval has given them breathing space," says Nill. "This
whole approval issue has taken a step backward. It's a joke."
Currently, there are about 30 GM products and foods awaiting
approval for import into the EU. "Even if they march forward
at one every six months, it's just too slow," says Nill.
"The products are already outdated in the US by the time
they get through the approvals."
GM Trade war delayed: US fights to prevent scientists
being called in
The outcome
of the transatlantic trade dispute on GM foods has been substantially
delayed as scientists are called in to debate the safety of
GM foods and crops. The move is a blow to the Bush Administration
who fought to stop any debate over scientific safety. The US
had argued in its WTO submission Comments
on the EC's final position whether to seek scientific advice,
that there is "no need or value in consulting experts".
And these are the people who accuse their opponents of being
“anti-science”. The dispute concerns the continuing
(see above) moratorium on new GM food and crop approvals by
the EU and the Union’s recently-introduced raft of legislation
which, though far from perfect, is too strong for Bush junta
stomachs. See
here
and here
European Commission takes action on Sellafield checks
Anti-nuclear
campaigners slammed the government's "cavalier" attitude
to the running of the Sellafield nuclear plant yesterday after
the European commission launched legal action over its inspection
regime, writes Adrian Roberts.
The
European Court of Justice will hear that Britain has not given
proper access to EC inspectors - who are required to check on
material being stored at the Cumbria site to ensure that it
is not being diverted from peaceful purposes - for over five
years.
The
European Commission said that the legal action is "to demand
that the British authorities comply with their responsibilities"
over access to an area of Sellafield know as "pond B30."
The
"pond" contains deadly fuel which corroded years ago
while awaiting re-processing and is now in the form of radioactive
sludge.
Commission
vice-president Loyola de Palacio said that several problems
had arisen with the pond between 2000 and 2002.
"We have not been able to get this commitment from
the British government and we have not been able to get them
to draw up a clear plan of action," she added.
The
Environment Agency also admitted that British Nuclear Fuels
(BNFL) will be allowed to continue releasing a radioactive gas
blamed for 100 cancer cases a year.
After
a decade of trying to enforce the planning condition, the Agency
said that by the time BNFL could build a facility to control
the Krypton 85 gas, the Thorp reprocessing plant which produces
it is likely to have shut.
Friends
of the Earth nuclear campaigner Roger Higman noted that, for
years, Sellafield had been run in a cavalier way.
"Nothing
seems to trouble the BNFL board. However, the blame must be
put on their political masters the government, they need to
tell the board to get it's act together," he said.
Greenpeace
nuclear campaigner Jean McSorley agreed saying: "Despite
the fact that B30 is recognised as one of the most hazardous
nuclear stores in the world, BNFL has not acted quickly enough
to tackle the increasing danger this plant poses."
A
CND spokesman said: "Sellafield desperately needs decommissioning
and clearing up. The site is littered with dangerous legacies
that need dealing with now, rather than delaying and extending
the problem."
But
a Department of Trade and Industry spokesman claimed that the
issues involved in the dispute with the EC are not connected
to safety or environment-related controls.
This report first appeared in the Morning Star, Britain’s
socialist daily. Go to http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/
Czech government
to insist on people’s democratic right to reject GMOs
The Social
Democratic cabinet of Stanislav Gross would like Parliament
to return the chance to decide on GMOs to the public, and has
submitted a bill to the Chamber of Deputies that would allow
for this. Haven’t they heard this is the 21st Century?
Read the full story here
Dutch agriculture minister refuses
action over animal transport
Dutch Agriculture Minister Cees Veerman, current holder
of the Presidency of the EU Council of Agriculture Ministers, has categorically refused to commit himself
to establishing a maximum time for the transport of farm animals. The refusal came in answer to a question from
Dutch left Euro-MP Kartika Liotard of the Socialist Party, the
Netherlands’ affilaite of the United Left group (GUE-NGL)
of 40 MEPs.
Mr Veerman expressed his unwillingness
to act during a meeting of the Agriculture Committee of the
European Parliament. Ms Liotard reminded Mr Veerman of the terrible
conditions in which animals are transported, and said she was
unable to understand why he was unwilling to act to limit the
duration of journeys: "You can measure how civilised a
society is by the way it treats animals. Veerman´s response
can only lead to the neglect of animal welfare.”
Under pressure, the minister claimed that he was prepared
to support legislation to improve certain aspects of the transport
of animals, but was unclear about the details.
Ms Liotard’s response was that “My party the
SP proposes that the minister quickly makes good this omission
and comes forward with concrete proposals.”
Mr Veerman also spoke about the role
of the state as regards agricultural policy. For the Agriculture
Council to take place in Lisse in the Netherlands on Tuesday,
7 September he has prepared a discussion paper, "Agriculture
under the public eye", in which he argues for a discussion
of the division of roles between the EU and major food corporations. He believes that as far as food policy goes
there should be less EU legislation and that more should be
left to the industry to regulate itself.
Ms Liotard does not agree: “What I wanted to hear
from Veerman was that issue such as food safety, environmental
protection and animal welfare will always remain matters for
the public authorities.” She heard no such assurance, reason
enough, she says, for
the SP to keep a close eye on discussions and developments during
the Dutch Presidency and instigate actions to keep up the pressure.
Media Declares
War on Anti-War Protests
The August 26, 2004 New York Daily News headline blared:
ANARCHY, INC. The idea, of course, was to paint the upcoming
RNC protests with the broad brush of corporate media propaganda.
An influential ingredient of wartime spin is shaping public
perception of the anti-war movement. As a result, coverage of
demonstrations is usually a tepid combination of low crowd estimates
and footage of police arresting “unruly” protestors.
Read all about the US media's distortion of last week's anti-Bush
demonstrations in New York City here
Activists brave Junta Groupies to
launch protests
Fernando
Suarez del Solar, June Brashares and Medea Benjamin were just
three of the courageous activists who braved the lunatic far
right assembled at the Republican National Convention in New
York City, managing to infiltrate the conference centre to lodge
their protests. Mr Suarez del Solar had strong personal reasons
to risk his neck amongst the assembled pro-Bush junta forces.
His son, Marine Lance Cpl. Jesus Alberto Suarez del Solar Navarro
died in Iraq on March 27, 2003 that Bush’s friends might
line their pockets. He held a sign on the convention floor:
"Bush Lied, My Son Died." Ms Bashares and Ms Benjamin
are activists with Code Pink, a women's peace group. Ms Benjamin
held a banner which read: "Pro-Life -- Stop the Killing
in Iraq." Find out more about Code Pink here
More lies
from the Junta
In his Republican convention speech last Thursday evening,
Junta Jefe George W. Bush claimed: "After more than a decade
of diplomacy, we gave Saddam Hussein another chance, a final
chance, to meet his responsibilities to the civilized world.
He again refused, and I faced the kind of decision that comes
only to the Oval Office -- a decision no president would ask
for, but must be prepared to make. Do I forget the lessons of
September 11th and take the word of a madman, or do I take action
to defend our country?"
Author Rahul Mahajan, who wrote Full Spectrum Dominance: U.S. Power in Iraq and Beyond, asks people to cast their minds back to what really happened:
"The entire world was watching. Yet the president of the
United States now brazenly lies about the central question of
how the war started. George Bush says his choice was between
trusting Hussein and war. In fact, Iraq had been undergoing
intrusive weapons inspections for months before the attack.
Iraq allowed inspectors into the country in November 2002. Iraq
turned over 12,000 pages of documents to comply with UN Security
Council Resolution 1441's disclosure requirements. Both UNMOVIC
head Hans Blix and Mohammed el-Baradei of the IAEA had expressed
confidence that continuing inspections might be able to account
for all unresolved issues in a matter of months. Blix withdrew
the inspectors only in March 2003 after Bush stated that the
U.S. was about to attack. At the time inspectors withdrew, Iraq
was destroying its al-Samoud 2 missiles, as prescribed by UNMOVIC
because they were slightly over the range limits in some tests
- information that was contained in the original disclosure."
Mr Mahajan added: "Weapons inspectors had been
absent from Iraq since December of 1998 when they were withdrawn
by UNSCOM head Richard Butler at the urging of the Clinton administration
before the 'Desert Fox' bombing campaign."
For more on Bush’s lies, see:
"White House Claims: A Pattern of Deceit"
March 18, 2003 (just before the attack on Iraq)
here
Bush's War Case: Fiction vs. Facts, October 9, 2002
(shortly after a major Bush address and just before the Congressional
vote on authorizing war) here
Full
reports on the Juntafest (sorry, Republican Convention) can
be found at http://nyc.indymedia.org
The Vanishing Corporate Profits Tax
Tax laws were set up within the nation state bordered phenomenon
and now we have to deal with the global borderless phenomenon.
In the current globalised economy, countries are competing for
foreign investment by reducing corporate profit tax, thus relying
more on consumption and personal income tax to finance social
services, and when that fails, reducing them. Transnational
corporations are able to manipulate tax obligations by reporting
smaller profits in high-tax countries and high profits in low
tax countries (transfer pricing). In a recently published paper,
Howard Wachtel argues that tax rates are artificial political
constructs, having nothing to do with market forces of comparative
advantage. They are simply a means to get one country to compete
with others. Wachtel proposes a new way of ensuring TNCs meet
their tax obligations which would not only put a stop to transfer
pricing but would provide a source of finance for global development.
His proposal was received with great enthusiasm by the Chirac
Commission, which includes representation from ATTAC and was
set up late last year to look into a global fund for development.
Read the full article here
Green Left
Weekly, Australia's
socialist newspaper, #596, September 1, 2004 now available at
http://www.greenleft.org.au/index.htm This week's main story: Venezuela's Bolivarian
revolution: People power victory. "The Venezuelan government's
victory on August 15 is not only a victory for the people of
Venezuela, but for working people worldwide. The Venezuelan
voters' decisive rejection of the right-wing bid to recall President
Hugo Chavez has demonstrated what is possible when the interests
of working people are put before those of big business."
Read the full article here
Censored!
Sonoma
State University's student run media research group Project
Censored has announced the release of Censored 2003, the latest issue of its
annual publication. The report consists of
a compilation of the year's 25 most significant news
stories that were overlooked or under-reported by the major
US national news media, as well as chapters on the grass roots
media democracy, media ownership maps, real news about US involvement
in Palestine, Haiti, Iraq, and more.
With
an introduction by Greg Palast and the political cartoon commentary
of Tom Tomorrow throughout, this year's book covers critical
issues facing the American public this election year, as well
as being of interest to people who live outside the US, no country’s
media being entirely free of the practices and problems which
Censored 2003 draws to our attention.
Chapter 1's list of the top 25 stories focuses on politics,
economics, foreign policy, food and health, the environment,
energy, domestic policy, and the military.
"We
define censorship as interference with the free flow of information,"
says Peter Phillips, Director of the Project. "Corporate
media in the United States is interested primarily in entertainment
news to feed their bottom-line priorities.
Very important news stories that should reach the American
public often fall on the cutting room floor to be replaced by
sex-scandals and celebrity updates."
The
Sonoma State University research group is composed of nearly
200 faculty, students and community experts who review about
1000 story submissions for coverage, content, reliability of
sources and national significance. The top 25 stories are submitted to a panel of judges who then rank
them in order of importance.
Current judges include, Norman Solomon, Michael Parenti,
Cynthia McKinney, Howard Zinn, and 20 other national journalists,
scholars and writers.
Censored 2005
can be purchased on the project's website at http://www.projectcensored.org
