Belgian PM Yves Leterme offers to stand down...Again

By BBC News

Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme has decided to resign after a key partner withdrew from his governing coalition.

Mr Leterme visited King Albert to tender his government's resignation following an emergency cabinet meeting on Thursday.

The king did not immediately accept Mr Leterme's resignation.

The collapse of the government threw into doubt the scheduled parliamentary debate on a law that would ban full-face Muslim veils being worn in public.

It would have been the first such law introduced by a European country.

Third resignation

The coalition fell apart after the Flemish liberal party, Open VLD, withdrew over a long-running dispute on the rights of French speakers living in Dutch-speaking areas near the capital Brussels.

"There was no other choice but for the government to resign," Finance Minister Didier Reynders told reporters.
It is the third time Mr Leterme, 49, has offered his resignation to the king.

The first time, in July 2008, he offered to quit because of failures to patch up the rift between the Dutch-speaking Flemish and French-speaking Walloons.

The king refused to accept his resignation - but accepted it in December the same year, amid allegations that the government had interfered with the courts.

Mr Leterme, however, returned as prime minister after his replacement, Herman von Rompuy, was elected president of the European Council....(Remainder)

Belgium's Coalition Government Collapses

By Lisa Bryant
Voice of America

Belgium's coalition government collapsed for the second time in a little more than a year when a key party withdrew its support and Prime Minister Yves Leterme tendered his resignation.

It was not immediately clear whether Belgium's King Albert will accept Prime Minister Yves Leterme's resignation, following the collapse of his five-month-old coalition government.  But it seems like an old story.

Mr. Leterme also resigned as prime minister in late 2008 over a banking scandal.  He returned to power last November when former Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy was tapped to become the first, full-time head of the European Union.

This latest resignation is a fallout of Belgium's long-term power struggle between the country's French-speaking Walloons and Flemish-speaking majority.

The latest disagreement centers on special rights for Walloons living near Brussels.  A key coalition member, the Flemish liberal Open VLD Party, pulled out of the government, frustrated over the failure to resolve the dispute....(Remainder.)

Airport Crisis Frustrates Travelers, and Airlines

By Steven Erlanger, Jack Ewing and Nicola Clark
The New York Times
Photo by Fabrice Coffrini (AFP)

PARIS — As a large part of European airspace remained shut down for the fourth day Sunday and the towering fountain of ash from an Icelandic volcano showed no signs of letting up, questions about the long-term impact of the eruption were being raised in a continent trying to recover from recession.

Britain’s National Air Traffic Services extended its ban on flights across its airspace until at least 1 a.m. Monday, prompting the country’s flag carrier, British Airways, to announce the cancellation of all of its flights scheduled for Monday.

Airline officials were having a hard time hiding their frustration with the situation. On a conference call Sunday with airlines hosted by Eurocontrol, the Brussels-based agency that coordinates air traffic management across the region, one airline representative sharply chastised national civil aviation authorities for being inconsistent in applying flight restrictions and stressed that the flight bans were creating “a serious economic issue for us.”

With airlines eager to reposition aircraft and flight crews scattered across the region, some governments began allowing limited, low-altitude flights without passengers. Germany’s civil aviation authority said it had allowed several such ferry flights by Lufthansa, Air Berlin and Condor airlines overnight. Such flights are being operated under so-called visual flight rules, whereby pilots navigate by sight, rather than relying on their cockpit instrument panels....(Remainder)

EU probes Flemish anti-French discrimination complaints

The European Union said it is investigating complaints that Flemish authorities outside Brussels are actively discriminating against non-Flemish buyers of public housing.

By Expatica.com

BRUSSELS -Tensions between the core French and majority Dutch-speaking communities at the heart of the federal Belgian state have risen in recent years as parties advocating full autonomy for wealthier, northern Flanders have flourished.

The rift has widened with television reports this week that mayors in Flemish districts around the capital are giving preference in the sale of publicly-developed housing stock to Flemish buyers, in an effort to maintain their "Flemish character."

Verbal deals with developers or real estate agents ensure municipal authorities are able to vet interested buyers first.
The practice is said to go back years, and would run counter to the publicly-held position in French-speaking communes or the officially bilingual capital city.

"We have received two complaints based on fundamental liberties in European Union treaties and in particular relating to the purchase of private property," said a European Commission spokeswoman.

Chantal Hugues told a daily press conference that the EU's legal guardian was taking the complaints "seriously," less than three months from Belgium assuming the revolving chair of the bloc.

The EU guarantees its half a billion citizens the right to free movement across the 27 member countries but regularly receives complaints linked to policies in Flemish areas on the doorstep of its capital Brussels....(Original here.)

Euro rallies after ministers agree Greece bailout terms

By Richard Wray and Graeme Wearden
The Guardian

The euro rallied this morning after the eurozone's finance ministers agreed the terms of a €30bn (£26bn) bailout fund for Greece, ahead of a crunch week for the heavily indebted nation.

The European single-currency unit jumped about 1% in early trading to $1.3691 against the US dollar, its highest level in nearly four weeks. It also gained 1% against the Japanese yen and reached nearly 88.5p against the pound, as it clawed back some of its recent losses during the Greek crisis.

The relief spread to global stock markets, which hit an 18-month high. In London, the FTSE 100 broke through the 5800-mark for the first time since June 2008. Financial stocks surged in Athens, with shares in National Bank of Greece jumping by more than 10%....(Remainder here.)

EU sees upswing in antisemitic attacks, report says

By Andrew Rettman
EU Observer

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The number of antisemitic incidents mushroomed in many western EU countries in 2009 due to an organised anti-Gaza war campaign, a new study says.

Incidents in the UK jumped 69 percent to 924, while the number of violent attacks tripled. Incidents went up by 75 percent to 832 in France. Sharp upward trends also took hold of Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, the Nordic countries and Spain.

The figures, published at the weekend, were compiled by the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism at the Tel Aviv University in Israel.

Looking at the number of violent incidents in absolute terms, the UK and France lead the EU league table, followed by Germany, Belgium and Austria. Relatively high numbers are also seen in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden.

The vast majority of incidents concern vandalism of Jewish sites or chanting antisemitic slogans at rallies. But some are more disturbing.
In January in Odense, Denmark, a young Danish-Palestinian man shot and wounded two Israelis manning a Dead Sea products stall.

(Remainder here.)

Europe Readies for Cross-Border Direct Debit Launch

By Agence France-Presse

Expatica.com

The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) direct debit programme lets companies and individuals organise standardised monthly euro payments in 32 countries from a single bank account.

Brussels -- Europe steps up a drive to harmonise electronic payment systems with the launch of a cross-border direct debit programme on Monday but there remain notable gaps in the service.

The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) direct debit programme lets companies and individuals organise standardised monthly euro payments in 32 countries from a single bank account.

The main beneficiaries will include the likes of mobile phone companies, energy or telecommunication suppliers.

For example, a Polish nurse working in Ireland could have a mobile operator in Warsaw debit a Dublin account each month to pay her elderly mother's cell phone.

Some 2,500 participating banks will offer the service in November and all European banks must make it available within a year, according to the European Central Bank.

However, cross-border direct debits are not available in France -- which is to delay implementation until November 2010, the deadline for the 16 countries that use the euro currency.

"It's also up to the banks at this stage," says the European Banking Federation (EBS) while insisting that "the majority" are ready to come on board.

The transformation of everyday financial transactions across Europe began with the arrival of euro notes and coins eight years ago and then the launch of European bank transfers.

The SEPA system covers the 27 European Union countries, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

It is based on BIC and IBAN identification numbers which follow a standardised format across Europe....(Original.)

Joe Biden in Poland & Czech Republic

US Vice President Seeks to Smooth Feathers in 'New Europe'

By Gregor Peter Schmitz
Spiegel

US Vice President Joe Biden heads to Eastern Europe on Tuesday, the first such trip by a high-ranking Washington official since President Barack Obama scaled back the missile shield program in September. Many are concerned that the US is turning its back on the region.

It's good to be the US vice president these days. Joe Biden gets to fill his days with such pleasant duties as speaking to Democratic campaigners in New Jersey, addressing a group of supporters in Pennsylvania and attending banquets with party allies. It seems that wherever he goes, President Barack Obama's deputy is greeted with applause.

But this week is likely to be different. On Tuesday, Biden begins a four day visit to Eastern Europe, stopping at Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania, where he is not very popular. Poland and Czech Republic are particularly unimpressed by the Obama administration because the US president recently put the missile shield -- that had been promoted by his predecessor George W. Bush as a defence against Iranian midrange and long-range missiles -- on ice. Instead of the complex system involving long-range rockets envisioned by Bush, Obama wants a system that uses more conventional SM-3 rockets based on ships or in Turkey, the Balkans and perhaps also in Eastern Europe.

It wasn't just the decision itself that angered the Poles and the Czechs as much as the way it was communicated. Obama first called his Eastern European counterparts in September via a phone call at around midnight European time -- after the first reports had appeared in the US media. The reaction in Poland was harsh. The Polish tabloid Fakt wrote "the US has sold us out to the Russians." Former Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek complained that Obama's decision demonstrated that the US "was no longer interested" in the region....(Remainder.)

Europe Concerned as Dollar Decline Continues

A number of European countries have embarked on a slow recovery following the economic collapse late last year. But with the euro now at a 14-month high against the dollar, euro zone officials worry exports could suffer.

By Spiegel
Photo: Reuters

The signs of a recovering global economy are everywhere. Global stocks are up 75 percent from the deep lows seen in the darkest days of the financial crisis, many banks and other financial institutions are reporting a return to profits and a number of countries have emerged from recession.

But one development has some in Europe concerned that the path to recovery in Europe's single currency zone could be riddled with obstacles: The dollar continues to weaken against the euro. The result is that European exports -- one of the primary engines behind Europe's fragile recovery -- are becoming more expensive in the United States and in a number of Asian countries that have pegged their currency to the dollar.

On Tuesday, a euro was going for $1.4976, just off its 14-month high of $1.4994 seen on Monday. Many, though, expect the dollar to continue its fall against the euro with a return to the $1.60 rate seen in the summer of 2008 a possibility.

'Excessive Volatility'

Finance ministers from countries belonging to the 16-member euro zone addressed the issue at a Monday meeting in Luxembourg. "It is a problem that we are working on," Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg's finance minister and chairman of the euro group, told reporters. "We spent quite a long time discussing exchange rates."

Jean-Claude Trichet, head of the European Central Bank, said that Europe has "a vested interest in a solid and stable currency system" adding that "excessive volatility and disorderly movements on exchange markets are bad for economic and financial stability."...(Remainder.)

Václav Klaus, from Russia with love

He describes himself as "a European dissident" and the Russian media has welcomed him with open arms. On a state visit this week, the Czech President showed that he is keen to develop economic and personal ties with Moscow — a policy which Hospodářské Noviny remarks is not without its disadvantages.

By Ondřej Soukup and Vladimír Šnídl
Hospodářské Noviny
Photo:  AFP

Václav Klaus' state visit to Russia comes just a few days after he provoked an outcry in Europe by imposing yet another obstacle to his signing of the Lisbon Treaty. In Moscow he told his hosts that he was "seriously concerned by the plan to reinforce European integration."

Klaus is one Czech politician who is not afraid of adopting a strongly pro-Russian stance, unlike Mirek Topolánek's government, which backed a policy of stronger links with the United States until it collapsed in April.

On the occasion of a visit to the United States in September, Klaus declared that Moscow was much less of a threat to the Czech Republic than an over-regulated European Union. In a recent interview with [the neo-conservative American daily] the Washington Times, he averred that "the political system and freedom in Russia is now the highest and the best in the history of Russia in the last two millennia."

Russian media idol

When he was prime minister from 1992 to 1997, Václav Klaus generally adopted a pro-western line. It was only after he left the government that he began to explicitly criticize European integration and the United States. This change of course was later confirmed when he expressed his reservations about NATO's bombardment of Yugoslavia in 1999.

It was also during this period that the Russian media first took an interest in him. Today, many Russian journalists actively promote Klaus to the extent that he now occupies much more space in the Russian media than all of the other Eastern European leaders. His statements on "the gratuitous Russophobia" of the Western elites are especially popular with pro-Kremlin journalists, and also with the renowned Russian political analyst Mikhaïl Delyagin, who in a recent article on the Lisbon crisis presented an alleged quote from Klaus, which states that accession to the European Union has resulted in considerable financial losses for the Czech Republic....(Remainder.)