Elle sera l’une des attractions de “Twilight – Chapitre 5 : Révélation 2è partie” : la petite Renesmée, fille d’Edward et Bella se dévoile, cachée derrière ses parents, dans l’une des photos promo du dernier épisode de la saga.
A les voir dans Cosmopolis, Sur la route ou Blanche-Neige et le chasseur, on en croirait presque que Robert Pattinson et Kristen Stewart en ont fini avec la saga Twilight. Mais non, car le dernier épisode est toujours prévu pour le 14 novembre prochain dans nos salles. Le teaser et les affiches personnages nous l’ont récemment rappelé, et c’est aujourd’hui au tour d’une photo promo sur laquelle on peut distinguer la fille de Bella et Edward, Renesmée, cachée derrière ses parents. Interprétée par Mackenzie Foy, cette dernière avait déjà été révélée il y a plus d’un an, mais la revoir ici nous évite d’oublier qu’elle sera l’une des attractions de ce Chapitre 5. En attendant de la voir en action.
Le jeune cinéaste québécois Xavier Dolan (“J’ai tué ma mère”, “Les Amours imaginaires”), dont le “Laurence Anyways” sortira le 18 juillet, pourrait prochainement réaliser un film intitulé “Tom à la ferme”.
Le jeune cinéaste québécois Xavier Dolan (J’ai tué ma mère, Les Amours Imaginaires), dont le Laurence Anyways sortira en salles le 18 juillet, pourrait prochainement réaliser un film intitulé Tom à la ferme. Il s’agirait de l’adaptation d’une pièce de théâtre créée par Michel Marc Bouchard, qui a annoncé l’intention du cinéaste d’adapter l’oeuvre sur grand écran. L’histoire de Tom à la ferme : un jeune publicitaire se rend aux funérailles de son amant. Lorsqu’il rencontre la mère du défunt dans une ferme, il réalise qu’elle ne connaît rien de leur passé commun. Sous la menace du frère du défunt, il va lui cacher la vérité.
The Commission’s budget proposal will now be fought over by the European Parliament, many of whose members want an increase in payments beyond the proposed 6.8%, and the member states, many of which want the EU’s budget frozen, or cut in line with their own austerity budgets.
Giovanni La Via, an Italian centre-right MEP who will draft the Parliament’s views on the bulk of the 2013 budget (the part comprising Commission spending), called for a “realistic” – that is, higher – budget that would reflect actual spending obligations. He echoed fears voiced by Janusz Lewandowski, the European commissioner for financial programming and budget, that the 6.8% increase in payments might be insufficient to meet all commitments already made under the EU’s cohesion and agricultural policy.
La Via and Alain Lamassoure, a French centre-right MEP who chairs the Parliament’s budgets committee, have asked for a meeting with representatives of the European Commission and the Council of Ministers to clarify what payments are likely to come due under the 2013 budget. The meeting will take place next month
Increase in commitments
But La Via is not just seeking an increase in the budget for payments. He thinks commitments should also be increased. “We want to have more growth, more Europe, not less Europe”. “If we want to do that, we can’t then freeze our commitment appropriations,” he said.
“This is a defensive budget, but we should go on the offensive,” said Jutta Haug, a German centre-left MEP and vice-chair of the budgets committee.
But Richard Ashworth, the leader of the UK Conservatives in the European Parliament, said that any increase exceeding the rate of inflation was “unrealistic and unacceptable”. “As is the nature of European politics, this may well be an opening bargaining position from the Commission,” he said. “However, it is not a sensible approach to negotiations to submit a claim so outlandish that it can only provoke anger or incredulity.”
A national diplomat agreed with that assessment. “To increase by 7% is completely out of synch with these austere times,” he said. “It’s not smart politics.”
‘Spending out of control’
Mark Hoban, a junior UK finance minister, said that the Commission’s spending had got out of control. “I don’t know how else you would describe a 6.8% increase,” he said.
He added that the British government believed that “spending in Europe should be curbed” and pointed to administration as one area where costs could be reduced. “We should be seeing restraint,” he said. “That should apply across the board.”
He said: “It is wholly inconsistent with their call for restraint in member states’ spending, with welfare benefits being cut and overall spending going down.
José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, criticised the British government for demanding an increase in funding for the EU’s controversial nuclear-fusion project (ITER) while attacking other increases in the draft budget.
The draft budget foresees an additional €360 million for ITER, to be taken from the EU’s research programme. La Via said that this was unacceptable. “We have to keep a close eye on what’s happening [in budget negotiations] so that we don’t penalise these research projects, which are the only ones that can bring competitiveness to our companies,” he said. Neelie Kroes, the European commissioner for the digital agenda, managed to reduce the cuts to information technology funding sought by Lewandowski to pay for ITER from €150m to €80m.
‘Inconceivable’
Jan Kees de Jager, the Dutch finance minister, called the increase “inconceivable”.
Valérie Pécresse, France’s budget minister, said: “For us, it is simply impossible, unjustifiable and unacceptable that the EU demands of each of its members efforts to reduce deficits, to cut spending, and at the same time, it proposes an increase of 7% for its own budget.”
Michael Link, a state secretary in Germany’s foreign ministry in charge of the budget negotiations, said that it was hard to understand that the Commission continued asking for more money in its budget while member states were asked to make cuts.
Report says there is no need for EU law on shale-gas extraction.
Battle in the European Parliament over the rights and wrongs of drilling for shale gas has begun in earnest with the publication this week of a draft report for the environment committee.
Drawn up by Bogusław Sonik, a Polish centre-right MEP, the report concludes that there is no need for new European Union laws to regulate shale-gas extraction, arguing that existing laws governing drilling for conventional gas are adequate.
Environmental campaigners have been calling for specific EU legislation devoted to shale gas, which is extracted by hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”. They say that the practice, which blasts a mixture of water and chemicals into cracks in rock formations to extract the gas, poses a danger to water supplies. But the oil industry says extraction takes place too far underground to affect groundwater. Nevertheless, Bulgaria and France have both already imposed moratoriums on drilling for shale gas. Bulgaria’s was imposed in January, following substantial popular protests.
‘Misinformation’
Sonik told European Voice that public anxieties over shale gas were being fuelled by misinformation. He accused the Russian company Gazprom of spreading some of that information in order to keep Europe dependent on Russian gas. “The point of energy politics in the EU is to diversify the source, and, if it’s possible, to become energy-independent,” he said.
His report argues that all the chemicals used in the process should be registered, and says the EU should develop mandatory pre-authorisation requirements before shale-gas exploration can take place.
Sonik said that his home country, Poland, could greatly increase its proportion of locally sourced energy if it were able to exploit its shale gas. It would also wean the country off its dependence on coal. “It’s ideal for realising our goal to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions,” he said.
But Reinhard Bütikofer, a German Green MEP who is following the issue, accused Sonik of failing to address the risks posed by shale-gas extraction. “Water recycling is being mentioned, but the language is weak. Greenhouse-gas emissions are not raised as an issue. The polluter-pays principle should definitely be included, and improving the EU’s legal framework for fracking is underemphasised,” he said.
The Parliament’s industry committee, of which Bütikofer is a member, will also produce a report, being drafted by Niki Tzavela, a Greek member of the Europe for Freedom and Democracy group. An analysis conducted by the European Commission in January concluded that new legislation was not needed for shale-gas drilling. But Green MEPs want the Parliament’s reports to call on the Commission to propose such dedicated legislation. The environment committee will debate Sonik’s draft later this month, and vote on it in May, with a vote to follow in the plenary in June.
Commission president says there is growing support from EU leaders for pro-growth strategies.
José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, today promised a “growth initiative” to balance the European Union’s fiscal consolidation with measures to stimulate economic growth.
Speaking in Brussels after a meeting of the college of European commissioners today (16 May), Barroso said that national government leaders will discuss the initiative at an informal summit next Wednesday evening. Formal proposals would be presented at the regular June summit of heads of state and government.
Barroso said that the Commission will “push” on proposals that it has already put forward – for project bonds, an increase in the lending capacity of the European Investment Bank (EIB), and better use of the EU’s structural funds to promote growth.
He said that he had discussed the EIB’s role with Werner Hoyer, the bank’s new president, yesterday, and that they would propose using EU structural funds as collateral for EIB lending to countries in difficulty.
‘Ideas gaining ground’
“These ideas are gaining ground among European leaders,” Barroso said. “Now we need decisions.”
Barroso said that the proposals would build upon, but go beyond, the Europe 2020 strategy. Some of the strategy’s measures will be “accelerated”, he said.
He said that the updating of the EU’s single market act would also help address imbalances between European economies.
Figures published yesterday showed that first-quarter growth in the eurozone was flat.
Barroso said that the college of commissioners agreed to “apply the stability and growth pact intelligently” and to “use its inbuilt flexibilities”. The Commission will make country-specific recommendations on 30 May.
“Stability and growth go together, they are two sides of the same coin,” Barroso said.
Barroso said that there was no alternative to Greece’s bail-out programme and no space to renegotiate its provisions, but that it could be complemented by growth measures. “There is no way of changing the commitments taken by Greece,” he said.
He said that no alternative to the austerity programme offered less pain or better access to finance.
Greek election
He said that Greek voters had to take in the full picture before casting their votes in a general election next month. The date of the new elections were called today for 17 June. A general election on 6 May proved inconclusive and yesterday party leaders failed to agree a national-unity government.
Barroso said that he had spoken by phone with François Hollande, France’s new president, this morning, and they had discussed the situation in Greece.
The former president of the European Central Bank argues for EU authorities to have the right to impose measures directly on countries that break eurozone rules.
The creation of Europe’s economic and monetary union is unique in the history of sovereign states. The eurozone constitutes a ‘society of states’ of a completely new type, one that transcends the traditional Westphalian concept of sovereignty.
Like individuals in a society, eurozone countries are both independent and interdependent. They can affect each other both positively and negatively. Good governance requires that individual member states and the European Union’s institutions fulfil their responsibilities. Above all, economic and monetary union means just that: two unions, monetary and economic.
Europe’s monetary union has worked remarkably well. Since the euro’s launch in 1999, price stability has been maintained for 17 countries and 332 million people, with average yearly inflation of just 2.03% – better than Germany’s record from 1955 to 1999. Moreover, the eurozone has created 14.5 million new jobs since 1999, compared to 8.5-9 million in the United States. This is not to say that Europe does not have a serious unemployment problem, but there is no obvious inferiority in Europe: all advanced economies must boost job creation.
Likewise, on a consolidated basis, the eurozone’s current account is balanced, its debt/GDP ratio is well below that of Japan, and its annual public-finance deficit is well below that of the US, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
The euro per se thus does not explain why the eurozone has become the sick man of the global economy. To understand that, one has to consider the weakness of Europe’s economic union.
For starters, the stability and growth pact (SGP), intended to ensure sound fiscal policies in the eurozone, was never correctly implemented. On the contrary, in 2003 and 2004, France, Italy, and Germany, sought to weaken it. The European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the small and medium-sized eurozone countries prevented the SGP from being dismantled, but its spirit was gravely compromised.
Moreover, eurozone governance did not include monitoring and surveillance of competitiveness indicators – trends in nominal prices and costs in member states, and countries’ external imbalances within the eurozone. (In 2005, long before the crisis, I called, on behalf of the ECB’s governing council, for appropriate surveillance of a number of national indicators, including unit labour costs.)
A third source of weakness is that no crisis-management tools were envisaged at the euro’s launch. For much of the world at the time, ‘benign neglect’ was the order of the day, particularly in the advanced economies.
Finally, the high correlation between the creditworthiness of a particular country’s commercial banks and that of its government creates an additional source of vulnerability, which is particularly damaging in the eurozone.
Fortunately, much progress has been made, including significant improvements to the SGP and the introduction of surveillance of competitiveness indicators and national imbalances. New crisis-management tools have been put in place. And there is a consensus that the EU’s stability and prosperity requires completion of the single market and obligatory structural reforms for all 27 members. A proposed banking union would help to separate the commercial banks’ creditworthiness from that of their government.
But none of this is enough. Instead of imposing fines on countries that transgress rules and ignore recommendations, as the SGP was supposed to do, the European Commission, the European Council, and – this is essential – the European Parliament should decide directly on measures to be immediately implemented in the country concerned. Fiscal and certain other economic policies should be subject to activation of a eurozone ‘federation by exception’.
The idea that sharing a single currency also means accepting limitations on fiscal sovereignty is not new. A ‘federation by exception’ merely draws the logical consequences from the ineffectiveness of the fines envisaged by the SGP, and is fully consistent with the concept of subsidiarity that has been applied since the SGP’s introduction: as long as national economic policy complies with the framework, there are no sanctions.
Perhaps the most important element of the ‘federation by exception’ would be its strong democratic anchor. Its activation would be subject to a fully democratic decision-making process, with clear political accountability. More precisely, decisions to implement measures proposed by the Commission and already approved by the Council would require a majority vote by the European Parliament – that is, those representatives elected from the EU’s eurozone members.
In such exceptional circumstances, the parliament of the country concerned should have the opportunity to explain to the European Parliament why it could not implement the recommendations proposed, while the European Parliament could explain why the eurozone’s stability and prosperity are at stake. But the final word would belong to the European Parliament.
In the past, I have suggested establishing a eurozone finance ministry, which would be responsible for activating economic and fiscal federation when and where necessary, and for managing new crisis-management tools like the European Stability Mechanism. It would also be responsible for overseeing the banking union, and it would represent the eurozone in all international financial institutions and informal groupings.
But, most important, ‘federation by exception’ would ultimately cease to be an exception. The finance minister would be a member of the EU’s future executive branch, together with the other ministers responsible for other federal departments.
From this perspective, the Commission presages a future European democratic government, as German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, who has proposed instituting an elected president, has suggested. The Council, meanwhile, appears to anticipate the European Parliament’s future upper house, with the lower house already elected by all EU citizens.
I am fully aware of the boldness of what I propose. But Europeans must learn the lessons of the recent past. We must clarify the nature of what must be done to secure governance that is both democratic and as effective as circumstances require.
The regulation on the multiannual financial framework proposed by the European Commission requires unanimity among the member states and the consent of the European Parliament.
In other words, the Parliament can approve or reject the Council of Ministers’ version of the MFF but it cannot make changes.
Five legislative proposals from the Commission on the EU’s own-resources system, which are required for the MFF to become operational, have different rules for adoption. A decision on own resources is taken by the Council and requires ratification by the national parliaments; the European Parliament can only give its opinion. A regulation with implementing rules is adopted by a weighted majority of member states and with the consent of the Parliament (which can approve or reject but not amend the regulation). Three Council regulations on how to make the own-resources available are adopted by a weighted majority of member states after the Parliament gives its opinion.
Some 70 pieces of sectoral legislation require adoption by a weighted majority of member states and the Parliament. Without the implementing legislation, funds cannot be disbursed for specific programmes.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Martin Schulz
100 days in office for the Parliament’s president.
Is there anything that Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament, cannot do? That was Entre Nous’s first reaction on spotting a video on the European Parliament’s website entitled ‘One hundred days in office, saving the planet’.
The second reaction was: “Why does it take him that long?”
During the 20-minute clip, Schulz lists what he considers his achievements since taking over as the Parliament’s president from Jerzy Buzek on 17 January. He uses the video to denounce the “summit-isation” of European Union decision-making, argues that he has to talk to the world’s dictators in the name of spreading democracy, and refuses to rule out replacing José Manuel Barroso as president of the European Commission.
Rather disappointingly, “saving the planet” refers to an interview halfway through the film with Jo Leinen, a centre-left German MEP, on the need to invest in measures to tackle climate change.
While there is no guarantee the Reds would be crowned champions were the season called off altogether, the club is taking a safety-first approach
Liverpool have welcomed the decision to postpone the Premier League in an attempt to combat the coronavirus pandemic, despite the uncertainty over what it could mean for their expected title win.
While the disease originated in China, there are now coronavirus hotspots across much of the rest of Asia and Europe.
The global death toll has passed 5,000, while the confirmed number of cases has surpassed 125,000.
At the last count, 798 people had tested positive for coronavirus in the UK and 10 had died. With Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi among those affected, it was announced on Friday morning that the Premier League, FA, EFL and WSL had collectively agreed to postpone professional football in England in response to the outbreak.
While the Premier League will be on hold until April 4 at the earliest, the number of coronavirus cases in the UK is expected to rise considerably over the next few weeks and further postponements are possible.
Depending on whether games can feasibly be rescheduled, it remains conceivable that the season could be called off altogether.
Though nothing has been decided, there is no guarantee that Liverpool would be awarded the Premier League title by default were the season cut short. Jurgen Klopp’s side are currently top of the table on 82 points and, though their nearest rivals have a game in hand, they are an enormous 25 points clear of second-placed Manchester City.
Nonetheless, Liverpool have backed the decision to postpone the league season and are taking a safety-first approach.
“Liverpool Football Club continues to implement the government’s advice on the coronavirus outbreak and welcomes today’s Premier League statement to postpone all games, including Premier League, FA Cup, academy and Women’s Super League fixtures, in the best interests of players, staff and supporters,” read a statement on the club’s website.
“The club has implemented its own precautions across its sites to minimise the spread of the coronavirus by minimising contact where practicable and reinforcing the official medical advice for everyone to take responsibility for excellent personal hygiene.”
Along with the Premier League, FA Cup, Football League and WSL, all UEFA competitions including the Champions League and Europa League have been postponed.
Though they were knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid earlier this week, Liverpool’s league fixtures against Everton and Crystal Palace will be affected. Should the Premier League return on April 4, however, the Reds’ next game could be an away trip to face City at the Etihad.
This edition of European Voice is being published a day early because Ascension Day (17 May) is a public holiday in Belgium and, for good measure, the European Union institutions are also closed on Friday (18 May). Ascension Day is a public holiday in Portugal as well and the Portuguese had better savour it since public holidays there are being cut from 14 to ten.
Not content with slashing public-sector wages and raising taxes, the Portuguese government has devised another austerity measure: to do away with four holidays for a five-year period, starting in 2013. Two are commemorations of nationhood: 1 December, which marks Portuguese independence from Spain in 1640, and 5 October, which marks the formation of the Portuguese Republic in 1910. Two are religious holidays – All Saints’ Day on 1 November, and Corpus Christi, which falls 60 days after Easter.
The in-no-way-desperate measure, which is supposed to boost productivity, was taken only after discussion with the Vatican. So all of Portugal’s masters (the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Pope – not necessarily in that order) are involved in trying to revive the Portuguese economy.
Is it any surprise that celebrations of Portuguese independence are diminishing?