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France’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that Paris should recognize a Palestinian state only if doing so would help achieve peace, not as a symbolic gesture. However, if negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel fail, Paris “would not shirk its responsibilities” but would recognize the Palestinian state, the minister, Laurent Fabius, said in answer to a question in parliament. His remarks came a day after British lawmakers voted to recognize Palestine. Their vote will not alter government policy, but it does carry symbolic value as Palestinians pursue international recognition. “From the moment when we say that there are two states,...

The European Commission published a study on Monday (13 October) providing the first full dataset on energy costs and subsidies for the 28 member countries across the different power generation technologies, revealing that the largest share of public intervention in the energy sector has been in favor of solar and on-shore wind energy. The results show that in 2012, the total value of public intervention in energy in the member countries has been between €120-140 billion. The report finds that the largest amounts of current public support in 2012 went to renewables, in particular to solar (€14.7 billion) and onshore...

Britain’s anti-EU UK Independence Party said on Sunday it would use its growing success to try to secure an early referendum on leaving the European Union, after its support hit a record high of 25 percent in an opinion poll. The poll, published days after UKIP won its first elected seat in Britain’s parliament at the expense of Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party, suggested it could pick up more seats than previously thought in a national election in May. UKIP favors a British exit from the European Union, known as a “Brexit”, and tighter immigration controls. It has shaken...

A controversial demand for a new deregulation spree shredding the rules for doing business in the European Union is to be unveiled on Tuesday in Brussels. Edmund Stoiber, the former leader of Bavaria, will propose that all small and medium sized enterprises enjoy virtually blanket exemption from the rules governing business practices. His proposal for a “bonfire of red tape” has an explicitly political agenda, aimed at reversing public perceptions of Brussels as a “bureaucratic monster”. British officials are said to be delighted with the Stoiber report and panel participants said that Michael Gibbons, chair of the UK’s regulatory policy...

As many as 2.5 million French men and women live abroad—and more are leaving every year, mostly heading to London. The French Foreign Ministry said 1.6 million people left the country last year, The Independent of London reported Saturday. The data include those who had registered at French consulates abroad. “The real figure is twice as high,” Hélène Charveriat, the delegate-general of the Union of French Citizens Abroad, told the Independent. […] “Young people feel stuck, and they want interesting jobs. … Businessmen say the labor code is complex, and they’re taxed even before they start working. Pensioners can also...

Eurozone in danger of repeating Japanese stagnation, IMF chief warns By Benjamin Fox BRUSSELS - International Monetary Fund boss Christine Lagarde has warned that the eurozone risks following Japan and falling into a prolonged cycle of recession and stagnation. Speaking on Thursday (9 October) ahead of the IMF's annual meeting in Washington DC, Lagarde said: “We have also alerted to the risk of recession in the eurozone", putting the likelihood of a drop in output at "between 35-40%, which is not insignificant". “We are not saying that the eurozone is heading towards recession, but we are saying that there is...

This year the Taxpayers’ Alliance (BdS) has focused on unprofitable businesses run by local governments in its annual “Black Book” of government waste—but still found space to name and shame some of the biggest money sinks in Germany. […] The BdS is campaigning for local administrations to limit themselves to infrastructure and basic services for their citizens in local ventures, rather than some of the luxury offerings including cinemas and spas from certain communes. That’s businesses like a saltwater fish farm in the Saarland, 600 kilometers from the sea, and a loss-making publicly-owned vineyard are in the organization’s sights. But...

The Bavarian Farmers Association (BBV) is calling foul on new rules proposed by the European Union Commission to ban cow dung from hillsides with a gradient more than 15 percent. The goal is to avoid water pollution by stopping nitrates from leaching into ground waters. “We demand that Germany stops this ban,” said Upper Bavaria BBV president Anton Kreitmair at Wednesday’s protest. “Slurry and dung are not pollutants, but valuable fertilizers.” The protest had no placards or slogans—just Doris the cow, wearing a plastic sheet tied around her rear end by farmer Johann Huber. “We have no regular Pampers; the...

German industrial production dropped at its fastest rate since 2009 in August, weighed down by falling manufacturing and construction output. The latest set of poor economic figures have prompted fears of a recession. […] Manufacturing output fell by 4.8 percent and construction output was down by 2.0 percent while energy construction output edged up by 0.3 percent, the (economy) ministry calculated. It blamed the fall in August on the summer break, saying production output was affected “by the late position of the summer holidays”.

Rebels claim that Moscow closes borders for volunteers from Russia and suppliers of freights to Donbass. To supporters of "the Russian spring" arises more and more questions from law enforcement agencies. Experts consider that the power intends to interfere further with private initiatives in the help to rebels of DNR and LNR. According to the field commander from DNR Oleg Miller, initially, when the Ukrainian crisis only inflamed, people with the weapon weren't allowed to pass neither in, nor out. But, as he claims, the border wasn't protected effectively that gave the chance to carry out big convoys with people...

The European Commission on Tuesday proposed scrapping a mandatory requirement to label tar sands oil as highly polluting after years of industry opposition. The new proposal abandons one obstacle to Canada shipping crude from tar sands to Europe and is likely to draw strong criticism from environmental campaigners and Green politicians. It is suggested in a revised draft law on how refiners report the carbon intensity of the fuel they supply. The debate about labelling tar sands, also known as oil sands, dates back to 2009 when EU member states approved legislation with the aim of cutting greenhouse gases from...

In Europe, even Mickey Mouse is getting a bailout. The Disney resort on the outskirts of Paris is getting a financial lifeline from owner The Walt Disney Company to handle rising debt and a decline in visitors at a time of economic uncertainty in Europe. The €1 billion ($1.3 billion) lifeline will see the park’s California masters take control of Euro Disney, which runs Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studios Park. Until now, the U.S. company owned only 40 percent of the theme park operator, alongside Saudi prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal and a host of small European investors who originally...

Tens of thousands took to the streets in Paris and Bordeaux Sunday to demonstrate for what protesters called “traditional family values” and against assisted pregnancies and surrogacy. The demonstrations were organized by the «Manif pour Tous» (“Protest for Everyone”) group that waged an ultimately unsuccessful grassroots movement against the adoption of same-sex marriage in France last year. Their target this time is medically assisted procreation techniques for lesbian couples and surrogacy, which must be “fought at all costs,” according to the group’s president Ludovine de la Rochère. …

From 1994 to 2011, the European Union donated €4.26 billion to the Palestinian Authority through various channels—and this figure does not take into account individual EU states’ donations to the PA. Much of this money went to finance the Palestinian Arab war against Israel through daily incitement, diplomatic warfare and salaries to terrorists. Europe has also been very careful in selecting its symbols, especially now that Jews are fleeing the old continent, plagued by anti-Semitism. […] I can list many other examples of the European incitement against the Israeli people. But I hadn’t imagined that Brussels could have even considered...

Plans for new settlements in East Jerusalem pose a threat to peace and Israel’s relations with the European Union, the 28-member bloc said on Friday, joining the United States in its criticism of the decision. The strong language from the European Union, the biggest aid donor to the Palestinians, who seek statehood in territories captured by Israel in the 1967 war, echoes criticism from Germany, France and Washington. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the decision to build 2,610 homes in Givat Hamatos would be the first new settlement in the East Jerusalem area for 15 years. “This represents a...

A rusty truck and abandoned oil pumps form part of the French Oil Museum in Alsace. In the mid-18th century, the region was the cradle of the oil industry and provided 5 percent of French needs before fading into insignificance in the 1960s when the barrel lingered around $15. Now with oil prices hovering around $100, a dozen fields are pumping again. The activity near the Rhine on the German border does not amount to an oil boom. The region provides 1 percent of French oil production, which is just under 2 percent of European output. Nonetheless, 13 wells are...

Sweden’s new prime minister said Friday that his government will recognize a Palestinian state, a move that drew praise from Palestinian officials. In a declaration listing his government’s priorities, Social Democratic leader Stefan Lofven told lawmakers that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be resolved through a two-state solution requiring “mutual recognition” and a will from both sides to co-exist peacefully. “Therefore Sweden will recognize the state of Palestine,” Lofven said. …

For years, the Mail has campaigned against the insidious and remorseless undermining of the sovereignty of Parliament and our judicial system by the remote, unaccountable European Court of Human Rights. From demanding that prisoners should get the vote to halting the deportation of terrorists who hate this country’s values, it is synonymous with judgments that fly in the face of common sense and the interests of the British people. Indeed, judicial activism in Strasbourg—and, remember, some ECHR members represent countries with populations smaller than the London borough of Islington—has warped the original noble intentions of the British authors of the...

A city in western Germany will start a controversial project on Wednesday to employ alcohol and drug addicts to clean the streets in return for beer, tobacco, food and small amounts of cash. Social workers will closely oversee the project dubbed “Pick Up” in a dilapidated area around the central railway station of the industrial city of Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. An initial six people will sweep streets and collect garbage in return for €1.25 per hour, a warm meal and three bottles of beer after their shift, as well as tobacco for smokers. …

A group of over 50 European Parliament members has nominated a controversial Egyptian activist for the prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, despite his having advocated the assassination of Israelis and political leaders in Egypt and called for an end to the State of Israel. Alaa Abdel Fattah, 32, an Egyptian blogger and political activist, has been arrested numerous times by Egyptian authorities since the eruption of a popular revolution in the country in early 2011. Abdel Fattah, who boasts 626,000 followers on Twitter and 156,000 on Facebook, was released on bail September 15 after being charged with organizing...