

EU Energy Commissioner Oetinger to EuroFora: Carbon Tax at EU borders = RES stimulant? (June Summit)

An anti-Carbon, CO2-based Financial Adjustment at EU's External Borders against Environmental Dumping by Foreign Countries who don't respect Climate protection rules as EU Companies, could act as an incitment to adopt "clean" Renewable Energy sources (RES), where EU could help by Technology transferts, EU Commissioner on Energy, Gunter Oettinger from Germany, agreed with "EuroFora", while a related Carbon Tax Debate was growing also with French EU Minister Lellouch's statements, after President Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi's Letter to EU Commission's Head, Barroso, in view of EU's forthcoming Summit in Brussels on June.
- "Eurofora" asked Oettinger if he finds that "a good Incitment to advance towards "Clean", Renewable Energy Technologies", "could be ..the idea to study a Financial Adjustment in the External Borders of the EU, against CO2 Pollution" by Foreign Countries, that EU could help by Technology Transferts : "Issues for June's EU Summit on which French President Sarkozy with German Chancelor Merkel have spoken several times, recently also with Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi".
- "I think, Yes !", the competent EU Commissioner on Energy replied to "EuroFora"s question positively.
- "There are some Details, that we (EU) have to Discuss", Oettinger advised, apparently open to Debate, without excluding any possibility for the moment.
- "Not all is decided" yet, "but..." it will go on, he said on the anti-Carbon Dumping Financial Adjustment at EU Borders, carefuly but optimistically.
CO2-"clean" Technology Transferts by the EU, mainly to Developing Countries, are also expected by the EU according to UNO Heads of State/Government December 2009 Copenhagen Summit's Agreement, where they are among the more advanced points, as EU Commissioner on Climate, Connie Hedegaard anounced in her 1st Press Conference, last March 2010 in EU Parliament in Strasbourg, (See "EuroFora"'s publication on some from Hedegaard's replies to our Questions).
- At least, meanwhile, "Noone inside "EU Commission shouldn't shoot down a fundamental idea even before it's discussed, and while EU Commission is expected to present on (EU Heads of State/Government's Summit) in June a Report on a Carbon Tax at (EU) Borders", as French Minister for EU Affairs, Pierre Lellouch, said to Journalists in Strasbourg, including "EuroFora", after he was invited to react to Press Reports about a controversial reluctance attributed to EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard.
- "We (EU) face a major Global Competition, with other Poles (of development), and if the same Rules on Environment are not respected by all, we (EU) are going to Import Pollution and export Jobs ! It's not what we want : We want a Fair System", he denounced.
- Moreover, "a Carbon Tax at the Borders already exists in U.S. Legislation,(where) the U.S. House of Representatives has already voted a text on this issue, and the American Senate is due to propose a Bill this week. Our wish simply is that the European and American Laws are put in parallel, and influence other Economic Poles. This is reasonable", Lellouch observed.
- "So, when I saw (in some Press reports) that a Commissioner in charge of (Climate) would have anounced, urbi e orbi, that the idea was droped, even before it had been studied (by the EU's collective bodies), I say "No. This isn't right !", he concluded.
"EuroFora" had already raised, recently, with EU Commissioner on Climate, Connie Hedegaard, the topical question if her "International Efforts ... before Bonn('s June 2010 UNO meetings) and in view of Cancun (UNO December 2010 Summit)" to exert "increasing Pressure to make it difficult for those (3rd Countries) who might not agree, ..in Mexico", as she had anounced, in the context of "an International Campaign, ...all over the World", at her 1st Press Conference, in EU Parliament's Plernary in Strasbourg last March, might be facilitated by "Proposals, (already made before Copenhagen, but even more important afterwards, in order to have some Legally Binding effects), ...to try to convince other Countries, ..by raising ..a "Financial Adjustment" at EU's Borders, "if there is .."Enviromental Dumping" in External Economic Relations" by disregard of Climate protection rules.
The main thrust of Hedegaard's reply to "EuroFora"s question on March was not to exclude a CO2 Financial Adjustment at EU Borders in Future, but to "question" if it was "the right Time", or not, as long as there were still hopes, then, to include more big polluting countries in UNCCC's efforts to reach an agreement at December 2010's Summit in Mexico. Something which, afterwards, reportedly appeared to be rather impossible, as UNO's Officials warned. But, meanwhile, Global Warming was reportedly continuing f.ex. by melting Poles' ice, while it was unclear what could be really expected by those who preferred to wait until a non-specified Time limit... (See relevant "EuroFora"'s NewsReport : http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/fromcopenhagentomexico.html )

Meanwhile, in a joint Letter by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to EU Commission's President Jose Barroso, the two leaders stress that "it would be Unacceptable for the ..ambitious efforts that we agreed in the EU for the reduction of WarmHouse effect Gas emissions, as it was decided at the EU (Heads of State/Government) Summit of December 2008, to be compromised by CO2 leaks resulting from the absence or the insufficiency of certain 3rd Countries' actions".
- Therefore, "it seems necessary for the (forthcoming EU) Commission's Report to fix, without "a priori", the Conditions in which could be established an Adjustment Mechanism at EU's Borders", they underline.
- "This Mechanism" could "incite 3rd Countries to adopt Measures to reduce their (Gas) emissions", because "everyone would know that, if he refuses to undertake sufficient commitments, .. his products would face a (Financial) Compensation equivalent to EU's scheduled efforts. It we didn't (adopt such a Mechanism), this would be as if one created a strange incitment to never undertake such commitments", the 2 leaders observe, (according also to the question raised by "EuroFora" to Hedegaard on early March : See supra).
- "Therefore, this is an indispensable tool, that the EU must be able to use if we want to preserve the integrity of our Environmental efforts, while also ensuring the commitment of our main Partners", they conclude. "Fair Trade meets here the struggle against Climate Change".
- "In the U.S.A., similar measures were introduced in Bills currently under examination", while "available Studies, as a joint Report prepared by WTO and UNPE Secretariats on June 2010, show that it can be possible to meet the necessary condition" for "any such Adjustment Mechanism at the Borders to be fully Compatible with WTO Rules".
Reminding Barroso's "confirmation, at the last" (March 2010) EU Summit, that EU "Commission will present, next June, a Report to evaluate if some Industrial sectors are exposed to an important risk of Carbon leaks, together with appropriate Proposals", the Franco-Italian Leaders' letter stresses that its very "important for the Report that the Commission will present on June, in particular on the Adjustment Mechanism at EU's Borders,... to usefuly contribute to EU Heads of State/Government Summit's work on the Means to advance in our action in favor of the struggle against Climate Change.
( See also other, more extensive Statements by EU Energy Commissioner Oettinger, to "EuroFora", on other topical issues, in another NewsReport).
***
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ECHR's President to "EuroFora" on Journalists Gongadze and Adali murders : Principles must apply to all States, without discrimination.
+ ECHR's Statistics on Freedom of Expression (See below).
European Court of Human Rights' President, Jean-Paul Costa, questioned by "EuroFora" on Journalists' murders, as in Gongadze and Adali's cases etc., strongly stressed all CoE Member States' obligation to make efficient Investigations to find and punish those responsible, and underlined that ECHR's case-law's principles must apply to all without any discrimination.
His call was clearly supported by various Top MEPs who denounced a risk of "Double Standards" if some Journalists' murders are investigated, while others don't.
To avoid such risks, CoE's Parliamentary Assembly adopted a Resolution, on the occasion of Ukranian Journalist Gongadze's murder, "stressing", as a matter of general Principle, "the importance it attaches to the safety of Journalists and political activists, especially those linked to opposition groups, in ALL member states of the CoE". All "crimes against journalists and political activists must be investigated ... as a matter of priority, without political interference".
Costa was replying to "EuroFora"s question on the fact that, after CoE's Committee of Ministers, also CoE's Assembly had just adopted a Resolution on Gongadze murder case, based on an ECHR's judgement of 2005, asking a full Investigation from Ukraine, who has found and condemned in 10 years of jail 2 executants, but not yet the instigators.
While nothing similar was yet done for dissident Turkish Cypriot Kutlu Adali's murder, with 5 bullets shot at his head out of his Family's home in the territories of Cyprus occupied by Ankara's army, despite another ECHR's judgement of the same year 2005, and despite Turkey's claim that nobody was found among those responsible for the murder, and that there was nothing more to do..
In order to be credible and efficient, CoE's mechanisms shouldn't find a way to at least ask for full investigations of all Journalists' murders anywhere they might be committed, without exceptions ?

- "On the larger question that you raised, I'd like to say, since we are in a period of stock-taking on ECHR's 50 Years, that the Court's case-law developed certain concepts ....such as the Positive obligations of States, part of which are also the procedural obligations", started to reply ECHR's President.
- "Whenever Journalists, Lawyers, Defenders of Human Rights, or even simple Citizens are murdered, the States are held responsible, not only if its their own security forces' agents who committed these murders, but also if they didn't make sufficiently substantial and efficient Investigations", he stressed.
- "I want to strongly underline that we (ECHR) have found in many cases numerous violations of Articles 2 and 3 against States, ....(about) murders or torture, ...because they didn't make enough Investigations in order to try to find and punish those responsible".
- "We (ECHR) do that vis-a-vis all 47 (CoE) Member States, without any discrimination".
"Naturally, the circumstances in each particular case may be differend, and we can't ommit to apply the rules of proof, or the rules of criminal procedure".
"But we try, by all means, to apply these principles of our case-law, to all States", he concluded.

Costa's call was strongly supported by several Top CoE MEPs, from various Political areas
- "To investigate the murder of one Journalist, and not of another, looks like Double Standards", denounced the President of EuroLeft Group in CoE's Assembly, Dutch MEP Tiny Cox.
- "What is the reason ? Politics or specificity of a case ? Of course, if Cyprus and Turkey are involved, it's always a Political case"..
- "Murders of Journalists should always be fully investigated, because killing Journalists is not only killing persons, but also killing Free Press". "We (CoE's Assembly) should do our outmost to help People who are working on Free Press and they are under threat or murdered".
Because for Free Politics, Free Press is a pre-requisitive : Parliamentarians cannot function without a Free Press. Not investigating, is not protecting ourselves".
So we should investigate all Journalists' murders : We are talking about Gongadze, about the Cypriot man (Adali), about the Journalist murdered in Moscow one week ago, etc", Cox concluded
- "CoE can' look at these cases differently. CoE can't wear Blinckers !".
- "If the one is investigated, so has to be also the other. Why there wasn't full investigation ? Why's that ?", wondered British Socialist MEP, Alan Meale.
- "A good idea" would be to "make a Motion for Resolution", and "join all Journalists' murders. Adali and Gongadze etc", said to "EuroFora" EU Parliament Political affairs Committee's President, Goran Lindbland, ChristianDemocrat MEP from Sweden.
(See also earlier News at "EuroFora" on similar issues).
-------------------------------
ECHR's Statistics on Freedom of Expression :
Almost Half of condemnations by ECHR for violations of Freedom of Expression in 2008, concern Turkey : 20 out of a total of 48 for all CoE's Member States.
Russia, Poland, France and Moldova were condemned only 3 times. Romania, Greece, Portugal, 2 times, and the other CoE Member States only 1 time, or none.
--------------------
During the last Decade : 1998 - 2008, Turkey was condemned for violating Freedom of Expression in ..169 cases, while Austria only in 24.
France and Moldova in 14 and 13, respectively, closely followed by Russia and Poland with 11 and 10, respectively. The rest of CoE Member States had less than ten condemnations.
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