Almere-Digest

April 14, 2015

EU-US trade pact to miss 2015 deadline - "Europe should not sell its soul to the devil" - by Benjamin Fox

A 2015 deadline to agree a landmark trade deal with the United States is likely to be missed, EU trade officials have conceded.

"We cannot exclude that it may take longer," Latvian foreign minister Edgars Rinkevics, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, told reporters following a meeting of EU trade ministers on Wednesday (25 March).

“We have to do our best to get an agreement but we don’t want to reach an agreement just for the sake of it,” he added. “The political will is there but there is an acceptance that it may take longer”.

“We are aiming to conclude this under the Obama administration … but I cannot give you a date,” said EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, who added that ratification of TTIP could get caught up in the next US presidential election cycle.

The race to replace Barack Obama will begin in earnest in autumn, when the Democratic and Republican parties begin their nomination process ahead of the presidential election in November 2016.

Trade negotiators have now concluded eight rounds of talks with a view to agreeing a transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP), but were given a provisional deadline of December 2015 by EU leaders to agree a draft text.

The most thorny issue for ministers remains the investor protection mechanism known as ISDS, which allows firms to take governments to court if they discriminate against them or introduce new laws which threaten their investments.

“ISDS is a hot potato,” conceded Rinkevics. He said there are “differences in opinion” amongst ministers, but added there is no indication that member states want to open up the EU-Canada trade agreement, which includes the controversial regime.

Note EU-Digest: A European Parliamentarian when asked about the TTIP and the ISDS controversy said. "The EU must not sell its soul to the devil by agreeing to the non-transparent TTIP - regardless of the 'fantastic' stories we hear about the economic benefits of the TTIP, we only need to look at the results achieved following the NAFTA agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the US."

"That agreement, which has now been in effect 20 years, still shows little improvement in the overall economic conditions of ordinary citizens in the participating countries."

"NAFTA has, however, certainly been a bonanza for the free-wheeling, uncontrolled, multi-national corporations - we must not repeat that in these negotiations with the US."

Read more: EU-US trade pact to miss 2015 deadline

UN cancer agency sees a cancer risk in Roundup and other pesticides

The UN's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said Friday that three pesticides, including the popular weedkiller Roundup, were "probably" carcinogenic and two others, which have already been outlawed or restricted, were "possibly" so. IARC classified the herbicide glyphosate -- the active ingredient in Roundup -- and the insecticides malathion and diazinon as "probably carcinogenic" on the basis of "limited evidence" of cancer among humans.

The insecticides tetrachlorvinphos and parathion were classified as "possibly carcinogenic" in the light of "convincing evidence" from lab animals, it said.

The classification, made by an expert panel, is not binding, said IARC, an agency based in Lyon, southeastern France, that comes under the aegis of the World Health Organization (WHO). "It remains the responsibility of individual governments and other international organisations to recommend regulations, legislation or public health intervention," it said.

Glyphosate -- introduced in the 1970s under the brand Roundup but now manufactured generically -- is the most-produced weedkiller in the world, the IARC said.

Agricultural use of it has surged since the introduction of crops genetically modified to be resistant to the chemical, enabling farmers to douse a field in one go to kill weeds.

"The general population is exposed (to glyphosate) primarily through residence near sprayed areas, home use and diet, and the level that has been observed is generally low," the IARC statement said.

The evaluation of glyphosate saw "limited evidence" of a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin lymphoma, as seen in studies in the United States, Sweden and Canada conducted among farm workers since 2001.

In 1985, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classified glyphosate as "possibly carcinogenic for humans" on the basis of experiments on lab mice.

UN cancer agency sees a risk in Roundup and other pesticides - Yahoo News

TTIP: German economy minister plays down boost from EU-U.S. trade deal: magazine

Germany's economy minister warned on Saturday against overblowi expectations for an economic boost from a trade deal between the United States and European Union but said the pact was needed to set high common standards for consumers.

The European Commission is trying to finalize a deal on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which some experts say could generate $100 billion a year in additional economic output on both sides of the Atlantic.

It would eliminate all tariff barriers between the United States and EU members, which together account for almost half the global economy.

"I don't believe in the wondrous calculations for economic growth from (the trade deal) TTIP," said Sigmar Gabriel, also chairman of Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) which shares power with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives.

"All the estimates about its impact ... give an impression of voodoo economics," Gabriel told Focus weekly

Read more: German economy minister plays down boost from EU-U.S. trade deal: magazine | Reuters

April 10, 2015

Netherlands - Armenia: Dutch parliament overrules “Armenian genocide” motion

The motion proposing to recognize 1915 events in Tukey as “Armenian genocide” was overruled by Dutch parliament with 78 pros against 63 cons today Friday 10th of April.

The Dutch Parliament also refused to approve a resolution prescribing to adopt in government’s official language “Armenian genocide” instead of “Armenian genocide issue” which has been used for many years.

The parliament also overruled another motion requiring to send King Willem Alexander, Prime Minister Mark Rutte or at least one of the Dutch Government ministers to Armenia to attend the so-called "commemoration genocide ceremony" which will be held on April 24. Instead the motion calling both Turkish and Armenian nations to develop mutual understanding and expressing the wish that any commemoration ceremonies would contribute to respect and acceptance between the two communities was overwhelmingly approved.

The DENK movement – a political organization established by Turkish people living in Netherlands – and being represented in the Dutch parliament with two deputies, stated that they have voted against the resolutions and they will continue to spend all of their efforts to block such future motions.

“Dutch parliament is not the right place to make a judgements about some unfortunate occurrances which happened some 100 years ago,” DENK deputy Tunahan Kuzu underscored.

Note EU-Digest: Good move by Dutch Parliament - before the Armenian Diaspora seriously can start accusing anyone about Genocide they should allow their own Government archives to be opened to international research teams to study historical documents on the issue, like the Turks have done. Present actions by the Armenian Diaspora on this issue are now seen by many political observers around the world more as a fund raising issue than anything else.

EU-Digest

Vatican - gay community: "Pope Frances speaks out of two sides of his mouth" - Vatican refuses gay French ambassador′s nomination

Italian gay activists have slammed the Vatican after it reportedly refused to accept France’s nomination for new ambassador Laurent Stefanini on the grounds of his alleged homosexuality.

French President Francois Hollande recommended 55-year-old Stefanini for the post in January, but the Holy See has so far failed to recognize his credentials French and Italian media reported on Friday.

"Clearly, even at the Vatican they do not practice what they preach," Flavio Romani, chairman of the Arcigay association said Friday in a statement, where he blamed "top prelates" of contradicting one of Pope Francis' most famous statements.

In 2013, the pontiff said that "if a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge?

The debate comes as tensions rise between the Holy See and France's Socialist government after gay marriage was legalized in 2013, much to the outrage of the Catholic Church and traditionalists.

Vatican officials have refused to comment on the allegation.

The Netherlands - Soccer: Nazi chants at Dutch soccer game expose an ugly blot on ‘the beautiful game’ and on the Netherlands - by Michael E. Miller

It was a beautiful day for soccer in the Dutch town of Utrecht. Spring sunshine filled the stadium as the local team, FC Utrecht, kicked off against perennial powerhouse Ajax Amsterdam.

As the beautiful game slowly played out on the field, however, things in the stands quickly got ugly.

“Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas,” sang a section of the home supporters towards the fans visiting from Amsterdam, a city historic in part for its Jewish community. “My father was in the commandos, my mother was in the SS, together they burned Jews, because Jews burn the best!”

The anti-Semitism was caught on video and quickly circulated among Dutch media. FC Utrecht issued an apology as Jewish organizations demanded action by soccer authorities.

The shocking chants weren’t an isolated incident, however. Instead, they were the latest in a string of anti-Semitic episodes that threaten to mar European soccer.

Discrimination isn’t new to European football, or soccer. The sport has long struggled with racism, a problem which resurfaced recently when Chelsea fans pushed a black man off the Paris metro, chanting: “We’re racist, we’re racist, and that’s the way we like it.”

Note EU-Digest This incident is not only an ugly blot on Dutch soccer fans, but also on Holland as a nation, and the rest of the world in general. Maybe, "We the People" should be reminded from time to time, that no one is better than another in this world of ours - we are also all equal when it comes to the bad things we do in life - it is only a question of our own perception, as to how we divine what is good, bad or worse. If you have the time, or want to take the time, please listen to the Easter Sermon of Tullian Tchividjian - http://www.crpc.org/mediaPlayer/#sermonvideo/688 - a Pastor in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which reminds us, pretty clearly, of this human flaw, know to some of us as hypocrisy.

Read more: Nazi chants at Dutch soccer game expose an ugly blot on ‘the beautiful game’ - The Washington Post

April 9, 2015

France: Marine Le Pen, Leader of France’s National Front Party, Splits With Her Father, Its Founder - by Suzanne Daley

Marine Le Pen, the head of France’s far-right National Front, has openly split with her father and the founder of her party, calling his recent comments, including those on German gas chambers, “political suicide” and an attempt to harm her.

In recent years, Ms. Le Pen, trying to clean up the image of her party as racist and anti-Semitic, has kept her distance from her father, Jean-Marie

Le Pen, 86, and his more extreme statements, even as he continued as the party’s honorary chairman.

But Mr. Le Pen made headlines over the last week, after he once again claimed that the Nazi gas chambers were a “detail” of history; praised the France’s collaborationist wartime leader, Marshal Philippe Pétain; and questioned whether France’s Spanish-born prime minister, Manuel Valls, was really loyal to France.

“Jean-Marie Le Pen seems to have descended into a strategy somewhere between scorched earth and political suicide,” she said. “His status as honorary president does not give him the right to hijack the National Front with vulgar provocations seemingly designed to damage me but which unfortunately hit the whole movement.”

She added that, with great sadness, she was calling a meeting of the party’s executive bureau with her father present “to find the best way of protecting the interests of the movement,” a statement that some experts took to mean that Mr. Le Pen may be expelled from the party altogether

Ms. Le Pen’s deputy and the party’s chief spokesman, Florian Philippot, soon said in a Twitter message, “The split with Jean-Marie Le Pen is now irrevocable and definitive.”