Tag Archives: European Union

Reality Check

Reality Check: EU Replacing U.S. as Global Leader After Trump Leaves Iran Deal?

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The president of the European Commission says the the EU needs to replace the U.S. as a global superpower because President Trump has announced that the U.S. will pull out of the Iran nuclear deal.

Jean-Claude Juncker had strong words. But is he right?

Let’s give it a Reality Check you won’t get anywhere else.

“At this point, we have to replace the United States, which as an international actor has lost vigor, and because of it, in the long term, influence…”

Those are the words of EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker during an address to Belgium’s Flemish Regional Parliament in Brussels. He says that the European Union should take over as global leader because the U.S. “no longer wants to cooperate” with the world, as it’s abandoning the Iran nuclear deal.

Is the EU posturing after President Donald Trump said the new U.S. sanctions against Iran would impact anyone who deals with Iran, including companies in the EU?

One sign indicating EU is posturing is talk of sanctioning the U.S.

According to Reuters, EU officials are revamping a blocking statue used by the governing body in the 1990s to threaten then President Bill Clinton’s administration when the U.S. tried to penalize foreign businesses trying to work with Cuba.

It worked, coupled with a political strategy, and Washington backed down.

Basically the statue blocks EU companies from following U.S. sanctions, and doesn’t recognize court rulings enforcing U.S. penalties for non-compliance. But it’s never actually been used, and is seen by EU governments as more of a warning to the U.S. than anything.

Now, the idea that Europe should or would replace the U.S. as global leader is somewhat silly at this point.

Through NATO, the United States uses its massive military to protect and pay for protection for 27 European nations, with the U.S. spending more than double and in some cases triple for defense.

But the underlying concern behind Juncker’s statements are the very real questions about the reasons for President Trump’s decision to leave the Iran nuclear deal, especially when the IAEA says Iran is in fact following the agreement.

The IAEA Director General released a statement last week stating, “As requested by the United Nations Security Council and authorised by the IAEA Board of Governors in 2015, the IAEA is verifying and monitoring Iran’s implementation of its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA.

“Iran is subject to the world’s most robust nuclear verification regime under the JCPOA, which is a significant verification gain. As of today, the IAEA can confirm that the nuclear-related commitments are being implemented by Iran.”

So what you need to know is that there are actually multiple story lines here.

The EU leadership posturing, stating the U.S. should no longer be the world leader—that isn’t really worth debating.

The IAEA saying that Iran is following the deal—that is something we need to pay attention to.

And finally, the biggest, most under reported story line so far—the fact that Israel is pushing this decision at the same moment that nation launching military strikes against Iranian positions in Syria.

Again, that is the question here. Is the U.S. going to be dragged into another Middle East war, this time alongside Israel against Iran and Syria?

That’s Reality Check. Let’s talk about it, right now, on Facebook and Twitter.

International, Privacy, Social Media, Technology, US

Facebook Dodges New EU Privacy Regulations

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Amidst apologies over mishandling user data and the affirmation that the company is “offering everyone who uses Facebook the same privacy protections, controls and settings, no matter where they live,” the social network recently confirmed plans to shift all users outside the European Union (EU) to a Terms of Service agreement governed by US regulation. Currently, EU users agree to Terms of Service (ToS) under Irish law as the majority of Facebook’s EU user base is located in Ireland.

The move comes after EU announced plans to roll out a new, “game changing” policy aimed at protecting user privacy. The new regulations, dubbed the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), would fine companies that breach user privacy up to 4% of their annual profits. For Facebook, that would mean about $1.6 billion dollars based on 2017 reports.

Earlier this month, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook would adhere “in spirit” to GDPR guidelines worldwide, but he did not confirm if this meant that US users would receive the same protection as those in the EU. The GDPR would affect up to 70% of Facebook’s user base, and moving users in Africa, Asia, Australia and Latin America from non-EU to US-governed terms and conditions would exempt Facebook from following GDPR guidelines. The social platform opened operations in Ireland in 2008, taking advantage of low corporate tax rates.

Under the new EU regulations— which will take effect next month— Facebook will have to ask users for permission to use their information for advertising purposes, but there will be no option to decline. This means that Facebook will continue to use their own data on user behavior in order to show targeted ads, and users will have to accept these terms via “permission screens” in order to view certain content.

According to a April 17th Facebook blog post, “People in the EU will start seeing these requests this week to ensure they have made their choices ahead of GDPR coming into effect on May 25. As part of our phased approach, people in the rest of the world will be asked to make their choices on a slightly later schedule, and we’ll present the information in ways that make the most sense for other regions.” However, Tuesday’s announcement about shifting users to ToS governed by US legislation raises questions about the motives behind the move as doing so means that Facebook will not be subject to GDPR sanctions.

In the US, a complaint filed on April 6 with the Federal Trade Commission accused Facebook of abusing user privacy through facial recognition practices after changes made this year to the site’s privacy policy allowed the company to scan photos for biometric data without consent.

Addressing reporters at Facebook corporate offices, Facebook Deputy Chief Privacy Officer Rob Sherman said that “Facebook users will be able to limit the kinds of data that advertisers use to target their pitches” but the option to opt-out completely will not be available. Sherman also added that “People can choose to not be on Facebook if they want.”

Last week, Ben Swann reported in a Reality Check episode about issues of privacy and data collection that were widely publicized following the news of personal data mishandling by Cambridge Analytica.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTxQf3qtjpk

 

Editor’s Pick, Featured, International, Politics

Greece Rejects Further Austerity Measures

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In a landmark referendum, Greek voters rejected a bailout deal on Sunday that was proposed by the European Union and International Monetary Fund and would have required greater austerity measures in exchange for emergency funds.

The vote signals a victory for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras who promised to reject further austerity when he came to power in January. Although there were rumors from opposition parties that Greece was voting on whether to remain a part of Europe’s joint currency, Tsipras said that the vote was not requiring a “rupture” with Europe.

Following the vote in which over 61 percent of voters favored rejecting a bailout that would lead to greater austerity in the country, Tsipras called the results a “victory of democracy,” and said the country has “proved even in the most difficult circumstances that democracy won’t be blackmailed.”

The New York Times noted that despite several stories from the country’s media- which is “dominated by Greek oligarchs”- about citizens not having access to deposits and losing gasoline and medicine after the European Central Bank severely limited financial assistance to Greek banks a week before the referendum, many voters were “tired of more than five years of soaring unemployment and a collapsing economy,” and did not want to accept the EU’s bailout offer because it would impose even more “pension cuts and tax increases, without debt relief.”

Despite the country’s vote to reject the EU’s bailout, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis resigned on Monday under pressure from European leaders after he infuriated them when he “compared Greece’s creditors to terrorists,” according to The Guardian.

Varoufakis announced his resignation in a blog post, writing that he will considers it his duty to “help Alexis Tsipras exploit, as he sees fit, the capital that the Greek people granted us through yesterday’s referendum,” and that he will “wear the creditors’ loathing with pride.”

“Soon after the announcement of the referendum results, I was made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants, and assorted ‘partners’, for my… ‘absence’ from its meetings,” Varoufakis wrote. “An idea that the prime minister judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement. For this reason I am leaving the Ministry of Finance today.”

Varoufakis, who said that Tsipras thought his absence from Eurogroup meetings could be helpful in “reaching an agreement,” will be replaced by Euclid Tsakalotos, Greece’s deputy foreign minister for international economic affairs.

The Guardian reported that in speculating a further deal, “European leaders are calling on Athens to make the first move,” and while French finance minister Michel Sapin said it was up to the Greek government, Finland’s finance minister Alexander Stubb said talks could only restart when Greece agrees to “necessary reforms,” German chancellor, Angela Merkel, will begin talks with French president François Hollande on Monday evening.

All 19 Eurozone leaders are expected to gather on Tuesday for an emergency summit to discuss possible reform proposals from the Greek authorities.

Business, International, Politics, Technology, US

EU Files Charges Against Google For Market Abuse, Antitrust Violations

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On Wednesday, the European Commission sent a Statement of Objections to Google, claiming that the company has abused its dominant position in the market place, and has manipulated the operating systems on Android devices to create favor for Google’s Apps.

A statement from the Commission claimed that Google has infringed on EU antitrust rules by stifling competition and harming consumers in the European Economic Area through the practice of “systematically favoring its own comparison shopping product in its general search results pages.”

Margrethe Vestager, the European Union Commissioner in charge of competition policy, released a statement saying that the Commission wants to ensure that the EU’s antitrust rules are being followed.

“The Commission’s objective is to apply EU antitrust rules to ensure that companies operating in Europe, wherever they may be based, do not artificially deny European consumers as wide a choice as possible or stifle innovation,” Vestager said.

Vestager added that she is concerned Google “has given an unfair advantage to its own comparison shopping service, in breach of EU antitrust rules.”  

“Google now has the opportunity to convince the Commission to the contrary,” Vestager said. “However, if the investigation confirmed our concerns, Google would have to face the legal consequences and change the way it does business in Europe.”

In an investigation the Commission started in Nov. 2010, it came to the conclusion that Google “gives systematic favorable treatment to its comparison shopping product,” called “Google Shopping,” on its search results pages, by “showing Google Shopping more prominently on the screen.”

In addition to the charges regarding market abuse, the EU has opened a formal antitrust investigation into Google’s involvement with the operating system on Android devices.

The Commission noted that since 2005, Google has “led development of the Android mobile operating system,” which has resulted in smartphone and tablet manufacturers who use the Android operating system entering into agreements with Google to “obtain the right to install Google’s applications on their Android devices.”

According to the Commission, the investigation will focus on “whether Google has entered into anti-competitive agreements or abused a possible dominant position in the field of operating systems, applications and services for smart mobile devices.”

Vestager said that because smartphones and tablets “play an increasing role in many people’s daily lives,” she wants to make sure the markets in Europe “can flourish without anticompetitive constraints imposed by any company.”

RT noted that companies such as Microsoft, TripAdvisor, and Streetmap have also made antitrust allegations against Google, claiming that “it uses its search engine to promote its own products, giving an unfair advantage over its competitors.”

Google released a statement on Wednesday, in response to the European Commission’s questions about Google’s partner agreements. The company highlighted the fact that all partner agreements are voluntary, and that while Android devices can be used without Google, the company’s Apps “provide real benefits to Android users, developers and the broader ecosystem.”

Google has 10 weeks to respond to the Statement of Objections, and it has the option to challenge the Commission in court.

The New York Times reported that if Google is found guilty of the charges, the Commission would have the option to levy a fine that “could exceed €6 billion,” which is about 10 percent of Google’s most recent annual revenue, and could be the “largest single fine yet levied in such a case.”

International, Politics

Historical Victory by Syriza Party in Greece Sparks Bailout Negotiations with Europe

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Greece’s radical left-wing Syriza party took control following a historical election on Sunday, which sparked negotiations about the future of Greece as a member of the European Union, amid the new prime minister’s demands for a debt write-down.

According to The Guardian, for the first time since the “euro crisis” began in Greece in October 2009, Greek voters have “roundly rejected the savage spending cuts and tax rises imposed by Europe,” which reduced the country to poverty.

During his victory speech, Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the Syriza party, described the win as hope having made history in Greece.

“The sovereign Greek people today have given a clear, strong, indisputable mandate, ” Tsipras said. “Greece is leaving behind the destructive austerity, fear and authoritarianism. It is leaving behind five years of humiliation and pain.”

The New York Times reported that “eurzone finance ministers” met in Brussels on Monday to “begin negotiations with the Greek government on the terms of financial support,” with the warning that the “talks would be arduous.”

According to Bloomberg, while the finance ministers from the 19 nations in the area “signaled their willingness to do a deal with Tsipras,” they would only agree to one if the new Greek prime minister “drops his demand for a debt write-down.”

BBC News reported that there was a lot of concern in the financial market, due to the fact that on Monday, the euro “briefly touched an 11-year low against the dollar, before recovering to trade almost 0.7% higher against the US currency.”

During a news conference on Sunday, former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who led the conservative New Democracy party, acknowledged that the Greek people have spoken.

“My conscience is clear. I received a country which was almost destroyed and I was asked to hold a hot potato and I did that,” Samaras said. “We managed to take the country out of deficit, out of recession.”

The Guardian reported that the new party in power is seeking to “redraw the political map of Europe,” by forming a coalition “united only by their desire to defy the European financial establishment and shrug off the constraints of austerity.”

BBC News noted that although the Syriza party wants to renegotiate Greece’s €240bn, or $270bn bailout by international lenders, EU leaders “have warned the new Greek government that it must live up to its commitments to the creditors.”

International, Politics, US

Obama Joins The EU in Imposing New Sanctions on Russia

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On Tuesday, after accusing the Kremlin of supporting anti-Kiev militias in eastern Ukraine, and threatening to cripple the Russian economy, the United States, along with the 28 nations that comprise the European Union, announced a new series of sanctions against Moscow that could take place as early as August 1, 2014.

According to The Washington Post, the European measures were “the strongest against Russia since the Cold War, with the potential to sway Russian decision-making in a way that previous penalties have not.”

The EU released a statement saying that they agreed to enact these sanctions, in order to “limit access to EU capital markets for Russian State-owned financial institutions, impose an embargo on trade in arms, establish an export ban for dual use goods for military end users and curtail Russian access to sensitive technologies particularly in the field of the oil sector.”

According to RT, the EU’s decision to impose sanctions on Russia came after several months of European leaders increasing pressure on the Russian government by “extending visa bans and asset freezes for a number of individuals that the EU considers responsible for Moscow’s policy toward Ukraine or close to the ones who are.”

Just hours after the announcement from the European Union, President Obama made an announcement of his own regarding relations with Russia. He stated that the US Treasury department was adding the Bank of Moscow, the Russian Agricultural Bank, the United Shipbuilding Corporation, and VTB Bank OAO to the list of Russian Federation-affiliated entities sanctioned by Washington.

“Today is a reminder that the United States means what it says and we will rally the international community in standing up for the rights and freedom of people around the world,” said Obama. “Because we’re closely coordinating our actions with Europe, the sanctions we are announcing today will have an even bigger bite.”

Obama accused Russia of setting back “decades of genuine progress,” by isolating itself from the international community. “It does not have to be this way,” said Obama. “This is a choice that Russia, and President Putin in particular, has made.”

According to The New York Times, despite the fact that European leaders have been reluctant to impose sanctions up until now, their decision today “reflected increasing alarm that Russia is not only helping separatists in Ukraine but directly involving itself in the fighting.”

The president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, released a statement saying that the sanctions enacted by the EU were “meant as a strong warning: illegal annexation of territory and deliberate destabilization of a neighboring sovereign country cannot be accepted in 21st century Europe.” He went on to write, “Destabilizing Ukraine, or any other Eastern European neighboring state, will bring heavy costs.”

A senior economist at Oxford Economics in London, Adam Slater, predicted that the sanctions imposed on Russia would be successful, saying, “These sanctions can have quite a substantial chilling effect on the Russian economy. That is probably a quite effective way to put pressure on Russia.”

However, analysts at Citigroup released a statement to their clients saying, “Although the latest sanctions increase the costs for Russia, Russia’s perceived national security interest calculus should not change meaningfully as a result. If anything, official Russian government statements have emphasized Russia’s capacity for self-reliance.”

Despite the fact that international monitoring groups found that there was no evidence of Russia relocating troops to the Ukrainian border or supplying anti-Kiev militants with weapons, Obama still insisted that President Putin’s administration was “firing artillery across the border, transporting more military equipment to the rebels and massing its own troops.”

“It’s not a new cold war,” insisted Obama. “What it is is a very specific issue related to Russia’s unwillingness to recognize that Ukraine can chart its own path.”

International

EU LEADER PUSHES FOR “ONE EUROPE GOVERNMENT”

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Vivane Reding, Vice President of the European Commission and the longest serving Brussels commissioner is ringing out a call across Europe for a “True political union” to be put on the agenda for EU elections this spring.
http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/reding/index_en.htm

The campaign for the EU (European Union) to become a “United States of Europe” will be the “best weapon against the Euro-skeptics.”

eu

“We need to build a United States of Europe with the Commission as government and two chambers – the European Parliament and a “Senate” of Member States,” says Ms. Reding. Many in the EU and similar institutions share her vision. The vision would transform the EU into a “superstate” and would relegate individual national governments and parliments to a minor role. Ms. Reding’s vision holds the European Commission supreme over governments, and individual sovereignty would be a thing of the past.

UKIP, the United Kingdom Independence Party, a “tea-party” like political group in England, has gained tremendous steam in the last two years as Brits bristle at waves of third world immigrants pouring into their country. Nigel Farage is their now famous leader. He issued a statement from UKIP saying that Ms. Reding has revealed the true choice for British voters to make at their polling stations.

“For people in power in Brussels, that is the only choice they offer, no reform, just a “United States of Europe.” On May 22, the British people must ask themselves if they want this, and vote accordingly,” said UKIP leader Nigel Farage. “I am sure people will say No to this centralist fanaticism.”

Ms. Reding’s vision illustrates the growing gulf between the commitment to an “ever closer union” in Europe; and Britain which is pushing to reduce the EU’s powers. An EU official said, “we assume Britain is leaving the EU, so we don’t even bother thinking about British sensitivities at the moment.”

“This debate is moving into the decision phase. In a little more than four month’s time, citizens across Europe will be able to choose the Europe they want to live in,” said Ms. Reding. “There is a lot at stake. The outcome of these elections will shape Europe for years to come. That is why voting is so crucial,” Ms. Reding continued.

The European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, said that the EU would use the memory of the troubles of WWI to warn against the yearning for Euro-skepticism, far-Right movements, and populist anti-Euro movements. He said leaning towards these separatists movements could lead to war in Europe again.
“No other political construction to date has proven to be a better way of organizing life to lessen the barbarity in this world.”

British papers are reacting severely today against Ms. Reding’s federalist leanings. They say she has ambitions to be the President of the European Commission and she simply sees herself as the head of this new union.

The Eurozone financial crisis, along with Europe’s immigrant woes, are causing nations to question how they benefit from a more tightly knit Europe.