EU Financial perspectives 2007 - 2013 : Focus on Strasbourg before 2008-2009 horizon, (but with a busy March 2006) !

       Developments point at 2007-2008-2009 political rendez-vous.
But you're wrong if you think that it'll leave you time to be lazy at 2005/2006 Christmas - New Eve..  And that's why :

EU Financial Perspectives 2007 - 2013 : A feeling that "something" might happen before the line goes down..

    UK prime minister, Tony Blair, needed more than anybody else a deal now, because, as BBC puts it, "In June" 2005 he was "accused of bad behaviour and causing a crisis in the EU because he rejected a deal then. To cause a 2nd crisis in a year of shocks would have meant Blair would have been cast as a demon in Europe's mythology"...

    Various EuroMPs, British included, recently accused the UK EU 2005 presidency to give "nothing except Turkey" to the EU, and more had started to denounce risks against Civil Liberties by a controversial EU Directive on mobile phones and Internet data retention, voted this week in Strasbourg :

    EU Parliament Rapporteur, German EuroMP Alvaro, resigned when his pro-citizen amendments were rejected, denouncing a "sell-out" by a tight majority accused to prefer "citrons to diamonds". Civil LIberties Committee President, Jean-Marie Cavada, told "SeNas" that such incidents show that "Europe needs a Government" and "European Monitoring for Citizens Freedoms' respect", to avoid any risk that, in future, undemocratic national Governments might abuse of such Laws, as in the Past. "Initially, UK's proposal faced reactions. But London Bombings occured the same day we had a meeting for "Data retention" EU Directive, and hesitations faded away".

British JHA Minister Clarke said he was "very satisfied" for the Personal Data Retention deal. He spoke under heavy Security measures, but in the absence of EU Parliament's Rapporteur, EuroMP Alvaro, and among strong criticism on UK Government's initial proposals on EU Funds.

    Blair felt that Strasbourg's symbol might help : Exceptionally, he came to the European capital of Human Rights to visit EU Parliament on Thursday noon, before meeting anyone else in Brussels, later-on. And, for once, despite EuroMP's strong criticism, he guessed right :

 
Blair in Strasbourg : Red carpet after EuroMPs ..saw red on EU funds controversy before decisions.
EU Parliament's Rapporteur, Böge, expressed EuroMPs' feeling at the initial British proposal : - "It's a Provocation !", he told SeNas..

    As new German chancellor, Angie Merkel, said, main EU proposals had been previously "fine-tuned" through Franco-German "cooperation" with President Chirac, followed by "open and honest negotiations with the British".

    Preceded by Strasbourg EU Parliament's public debates, (and Franco-German Summits in Paris and Berlin, half-way from here, allowing SeNas attend both), Brussels' EU council's main conclusion points back to ... Strasbourg, focusing on political developments of 2008 - 2009 :

 

Franco-German couple looked like a strong enough pilar for EU in Berlin's Glienicke Castle summit Merkel - Chirac (under the careful eye of Government Spokesman Wilhelm), ..while "Paris square" looked bright at famous Brandenbourg's door...

    - The substance of Brussel's over-night compromise is to open a possibility for reforming EU Budget's structure (including Agriculture) at 2008-2009, while UK will be decelerating its Rebate on EU Enlargement funds progressively, with a possibility to start in 2008 or 2009...

    Both processes are due to conclude at 2013, when the UK must complete its Rebate's overall deceleration, while France and other EU countries may agree to start Agricultural and other EU Funds' reduction.

    - Decision-Time's Dates for these issues coincide with important Political choices that French and EU Citizens have to make almost at the same period : French Elections during 2007 - 2008, followed by EU Elections on 2009 for a new European Parliament in Strasbourg.

    This two-steps' Timing, seems conforted also by the fact that, immediately after EU Council, WTO called to slash funds to Agricultural exports from the end of 2013, and scheduled a "substantial" review of aids before 2010.

    According to some observers, chancellor Merkel might have kept a rather compromise-oriented line in British-chaired December 2005 EU Council, but next day many German Media looked rather happy : Her coalition-partner, social-democrat Foreign Minister Walter Steinmeier was glad to announce, one day later, that the unique German hostage in Irak's history, a woman Archeologist and aid-worker, Ms Osthoff, had been suddenly released. Denials from a group that they had kidnapped her, and a black-out on how release was obtained at the outcome of 2005 EU Council, reminded the similarly unclear circumstances of the kidnapping and the release of French hostages after 2004 EU Council's decision to start accession negotiations with Turkey.

    Meanwhile, the finalisation in Brussels of EU financial deal paves the way for a March 2006 debate on EU Enlargement's Strategy, and gives an opportunity to relaunch European construction dynamics :

    - It's not with a slim increase of only +1,23% in EU Budget, as EU Commission vainly asked, and even less with just +1,04%, as it was fixed in Brussels, that Europe could reply to the huge challenges of Globalisation, generate Citizens' energy for an efficient Political contruction, and succeed to seize Historic opportunities to develop its role in the World.

    An important new opportunity, this time for homefully much-neaded far-reaching decisions on European Strategy will be given on March 2006,
when a Franco-German Summit in Berlin will again be followed by EU Parliament's public debates in Strasbourg, before an informal EU Summit.

    But, at the same time, a Franco-German-Russian Summit Chirac-Merkel-Putin might take place at Tomsk on March 2006, at the eve of Russia's 1st CoE Presidency in History, which will extend from May to November 2006.

    During this exceptional period, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov's proposal, at CoE's Heads of State and Government Warsaw Summit, May 2005, to hold a 1st "Summit of Summits" in Europe, bringing together Heads of State and Government from all European and Paneuropean organisations : EU, CoE, OSCE, etc., might extend Strasbourg' links not only up to .. Vladivostoc, but even to Washington; USA being a main OSCE member...

    => 2005 Christmas and 2006 new year's eve should be used not only as Holidays, but also for urgent brain-storming, to create much-needed New Ideas for Europe !

SAKHAROV-prize 2005 co-winners looked logically well-placed at EU Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee this week in Strasbourg : - "When you say that EU will suspend a deal with a foreign country unless it respects freedom of speech, you should really do so, otherwise you'll be discredited ! ", warned Robert Mesnard of NGO "Reporters without borders". He was accompagnied by the wife of a Cuban dissident freed from jail in 2004, who denounced that Friends of other dissidents had been delayed too much to come to Strasbourg on time, (reminding interdictions for Turkey's Kurdish dissident Leyla Zana in 1995, or South Africa's Nelson Mandela). And a Nigerian lawyer against dilapidation of women accused for adultery, who said, on the contrary, that things went better in her country, even if everything wasn't settled at a few northern regions and in other countries.

RWB at EU's Press Conference : Interesting remarks, but ..Half-empty of arguments  for journalists ?

But when Mesnard announced that RWB will focus on Cuba's "dictatorship", while praising "Turkey's extraordinary progress on freedom of speech", as he said, (even if it's "not yet a Democracy", since "it still hinders RWB to visit because of criticism made in the Past"), and accused all those who may complain for any kind of oppression of freedom of press in Europe to "insult" "prisoners in China or Cuba", observers regretted the fact that RWB only started to be invited in Strasbourg by CoE after July 2000, and expressed the hope that Mr. Mesnard will be permanently invited in the future to open, public debates here by his "friend", Jean-Marie Cavada, President of EU Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties in (and around) the EU...