Free Republic

The European Commission is to launch a formal investigation into whether tax breaks used to attract international companies breach the EU’s state aid rules. The probe, which is likely to target Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, is set to be announced at a news conference on Wednesday (11 June) by EU competition chief Joaquin Almunia. Irish broadcaster RTE on Tuesday reported the launch of an investigation into the arrangements of US-based software giant Apple, but EU officials have also been gathering information on tax deals in Luxembourg and the Netherlands since last autumn. EU countries have promised to crack down...

The Republic of Ireland has become the first country in Europe to try to pass a law banning the sale of branded cigarette and tobacco packets. The proposed legislation would force tobacco firms to use plain packaging, removing all logos and trademark colors from cigarette packets. Irish Minister for Health James Reilly said the ban would help to save lives. …

A European Citizen’s Initiative (ECI) has called on the EU to stop funding abortion in developing countries. The European Commission has dismissed it outright. EurActiv France reports. The EU’s executive stuck to its guns and refused to limit direct or indirect European finances for abortion in developing countries. The EU is the number one aid donor in the world and differs from the United States, where funding for abortion is not permitted in development aid. The rejected demand was presented by a citizen initiative called One of Us, which has collected over one million signatures across seven EU member states....

German officials will visit Tehran on Sunday for talks on Iran’s nuclear drive, top Iranian negotiator and deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said on Tuesday. The meeting will follow similar discussions with American, Russian and French negotiators this week ahead of the resumption of political talks between Iran and the main P5+1 group of world powers on Monday in Vienna. …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on a trip in Sweden listened to British, Swedish and Dutch arguments against appointing Jean-Claude Juncker as the next EU commission chief. Invited by Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, Merkel joined her counterparts from Britain and the Netherlands for a two-day trip complete with a lake boat excursion at Reinfeldt’s summer residence in Harpsund, near Stockholm. The four leaders were set to hold a press conference on Tuesday morning after their talks. Officially, the Juncker appointment was not on the agenda. […] Nominating top candidates, a novelty which EU political families and the European Parliament came...

For 26 years Pyros, a Pyrenean brown bear, has enjoyed life as an undisputed alpha male. But he could be about to pay a price for that dominance. Following the birth of a cub who is both his daughter and granddaughter, Spanish scientists have declared his overwhelming sexual vigor is a threat to the survival of the colony. Scientists say they must now choose between taking Pyros into captivity or castrating him—although they are not certain even the latter will prevent his dominant behavior from hindering the population’s recovery. …

The fight over who will become the next Commission president has reached Berlin. And that means that an issue that was already one of the most complicated that Merkel has ever faced has become even more so. The number of contradictory interests is unusually large. She wants to keep Britain in the European Union, she doesn’t want to antagonize the SPD, she doesn’t want to anger people within her own party and she doesn’t want to be seen as the one who ignored the election result and prevented election victor Jean-Claude Juncker from taking what many see as his rightful...

Politicians are so busy squabbling over extremism that they are failing to tackle it. Shortly after midnight on Tuesday, the Home Office website published a letter from the Home Secretary, Theresa May, to the Education Secretary, Michael Gove. In it, Mrs May asked some rude questions about why his department had not acted earlier to investigate accusations of Islamist infiltration of schools in Birmingham. This was heat-of-the-night stuff. One government department is not supposed to publish its attacks on another. The error was tacitly acknowledged: on Thursday afternoon, the letter was taken down from the website. As has been reported,...

President Barack Obama has nominated a big-dollar political fundraiser for the president and the CEO of an economic and political advisory firm, Jane Hartley, to be the U.S. ambassador to France. Hartley is the CEO of Observatory Group and raised more than $500,000 for Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. …

This morning the BBC and Euronews TV were carrying what was advertised as the D-Day commemoration at Ouistreham beach in Normandy, France. What started as a tribute to the wonderful veterans, who were seated in the hot sun whilst the elites relaxed under the structures built for the occasion, quickly degraded into mindless, godless pandering for World Socialism by International Banking's puppet administrator in France, Hollande. Just when I thought they would proceed with something sensible, Hollande gave way to a most disgusting, new world order, fabian socialist, godless, modern dance propaganda infomercial for totalitarian statist globalist new world order....

The EU has threatened to take action against Jewish settlers after Israel backed the building of 1,466 more homes on Palestinian land. EU countries said in a joint communique on Thursday (5 June) that the move is “unhelpful to peace efforts” and called on Israel to “reverse the decision”. They added that if it does not comply, they will “act accordingly” and “fully and effectively implement existing legislation in relation to settlements”. …

URL: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-06-05/u-dot-s-dot-increases-trade-with-iran-europe-is-not-happy

The European Union (EU) on Thursday condemned Israeli announcements earlier in the day and on Wednesday night to build another 3,300 housing units in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem. The EU said it is “deeply disappointed” by the Israeli plans to build more Jewish homes in the Biblical heartland of Israel. […] European diplomats told Walla! that by announcing the construction, Israel was “playing with fire,” threatening that the construction “will cause international isolation and damage to Israel.” …

President Barack Obama said Thursday that it’s hard to see how Britain would benefit by leaving the European Union given that the 28-nation bloc’s decisions “have an enormous impact on its economic and political life.” Britain must make its own choice, Obama said, but insisted that it is always an asset for the United States to know one of its closest allies “has a seat at the table in the larger European project.” …

US leader Barack Obama has promised to defend Poland and other NATO allies against potential Russian aggression. “I’ve come to Warsaw today—on behalf of the United States, on behalf of the NATO alliance—to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to Poland’s security. [The NATO treaty’s] Article 5 is clear—an attack on one is an attack on all,” he said in a speech in the Polish capital on Wednesday (4 June). “Poland will never stand alone. But not just Poland—Estonia will never stand alone. Latvia will never stand alone. Lithuania will never stand alone. Romania will never stand alone,” he added. “These are...

Germany’s defense minister plans to equip the country’s newly all-volunteer military with better childcare, more attractive barracks and Internet access—giving it a facelift as it competes with business for new recruits in a humming economy. Ursula von der Leyen, who became Germany’s first female defense minister in December and is widely considered a potential successor to Chancellor Angela Merkel, on Wednesday set out plans to put €100 million ($136 million) over the next five years into dusting off the Bundeswehr’s starchy image. …

The European Union and United Nations on Tuesday offered public backing for the Palestinian unity government sworn in a day earlier in Ramallah. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, said during a meeting with PM Rami Hamdallah that the UN backs the unity government and hopes it will meet the needs of Palestinians in the West Bank Gaza and East Jerusalem. Hamdallah assured Serry that the government would commit to all previous agreements signed by the PLO. The office of the EU High Representative said in a statement that the government was an “important step in...

Not much has been heard from former British Prime Minister Tony Blair lately. But in recent days, he has waded into the debate surrounding the next EU Commission president. In an interview, he also predicts that the British will vote to stay in the European Union. […] “I believe that Britain ultimately will vote to stay in Europe. In the end, the British understand the folly of leaving Europe. I don’t accept that the British are as anti-European as everyone says. It is a matter of fact that no-one has ever won an election on a platform of hostility to...

Before the European Parliament election last month, voters were told the poll would also determine the next Commission president. In a silent putsch against the electorate, Angela Merkel is now impeding the process. She fears a loss of power and Britain’s EU exit. […] … Merkel had hardly begun her speech last Friday before she got right to the point. With her hands set on the podium in front of her in the Regensburg University auditorium, she said: “I am engaging in all discussions in the spirit that Jean-Claude Juncker should become president of the European Commission.” German news agency...

A bill designed to allow police access to EU airline passenger details would help prevent future attacks by suspected terrorists inside Europe, says the European Commission. EU home affairs spokesperson Michele Cercone on Monday (2 June) told reporters in Brussels the 2011 EU passenger records name (PNR) proposal—which has been stalled due to opposition from the European Parliament—“could facilitate the endeavors of the member states” to fight what he said was a growing internal security threat. The proposal would oblige airlines flying to and from the EU to hand over the personal details of the passengers onboard. The renewed interest...