Five EU countries call for new military ‘structure’
Five leading EU countries, but not the UK, have said the Union needs a new military “structure” to manage overseas operations. The foreign and defence ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain issued the call in a joint communique after a meeting in Paris on Thursday (15 November).
Van Rompuy: financial tax to form part of EU budget
The much vaunted EU financial transaction tax (FTT) is set to be hard-wired into the EU budget, with most of its revenue going directly to the EU. A paper prepared by EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy…where leaders aim to agree a mandate on the budget framework for 2014-2020, would deduct FTT revenues from national contributions to the annual EU pot.
In Greek mythology, the Phoenician princess Europa was abducted and raped by the king of the gods, Zeus. But her image will from next year replace pictures of windows and doors on euro banknotes as a security and decorative feature.
Speaking in Germany, Blair said that a Europe-wide vote on the position, currently held by Herman Van Rompuy and decided on by EU heads of state as part of their usual institutional wrangling, would help bring the EU closer to its citizens. There have already been similar calls in EU circles for a directly elected president of the European Commission. It is possible that Blair covets this position for himself; he was mooted in 2009 – although according to the man himself, he didn’t actively seek the position – when Van Rompuy was given his first two-and-a-half year mandate.
Euro zone seen sinking into recession as Germany struggles
The euro zone likely slipped into its second recession since 2009 in the July-September period, as the three-year debt crisis slowed economic growth in Germany to a crawl. Economists expect EU statistics office Eurostat to say on Thursday that the bloc’s output shrank 0.2 percent in the third quarter, as it did in the second quarter.