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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Elsewhere who wrote (13429)	10/22/2003 5:35:06 PM
From: John Carragher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793718

problem here is they shop for best judge , state, county, that has a history of giving large rewards... Moving it to federal courts would have stop this nonsense. some...g

To: Elsewhere who wrote (13429)	10/22/2003 10:45:32 PM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793718

17,000 Euros apiece for killing them in a train wreck? Pretty cheap. France continues to show it's unilateral attitude toward it's fellow Euro members. "The Scotsman." ______________________________________________________ Big Let-off as Failing France Flouts Euro Rules By Geoff Meade, Europe editor, PA News, Brussels France escaped hefty fines today despite flagrantly breaching EU rules on running the single currency. The let-off from the European Commission triggered fresh attacks on the euro’s credibility, with warnings that the UK could not be expected to join the currency while others were allowed to ignore the rules. The Commission acknowledges that the French government is failing to keep its economy in line with EU requirements. But this afternoon in Brussels it ducked the embarrassing option of punishing a country which says its domestic requirements on spending and deficits mean it cannot meet the strictures of the much-maligned Stability and Growth Pact. The Pact was invented by the Germans to keep weak national economies on their toes in the single currency zone. Countries failing to keep to deficit and debt targets faced reprimands and cash sanctions. In fact, it is Germany itself and now France which have ignored the rules on debt and public deficits. Germany has escaped EU sanctions by promising to do better. Now France is escaping sanctions too – despite admitting it can’t. Conservative finance spokesman in the European Parliament Theresa Villiers said the failed attempts to apply the Pact to differing national economies showed a “one-size-fits-all” economic policy cannot work. The decision to let France off the hook was another blow to the euro’s credibility, she said “This is another fudge to disguise poor economic performance in Euroland. “We were told by supporters of the euro that Stability Pact rules were vital to ensure that the Euro worked well. “Now they are being flouted by France, which is getting off scot-free. It is no wonder opposition to the Euro is at an all-time high in the UK.” Gary Titley, leader of Britain’s Labour MEPs, said there would be no majority backing for the euro in Britain if the rules were not seen to be upheld – particularly as Ireland was officially reprimanded by Brussels over its economic performance, much to Dublin’s fury and embarrassment. “Once again it seems that big EU countries can get away with flouting the rules and only small countries have to obey the law. It’s the wrong message to send out,” said Mr Titley. “There is a glaring need for change. The Pact is an unworkable set of rules which people ignore. We need workable rules – and a Commission bold enough to enforce them.” He added: “Simply put, the current regime is a strait-jacket which doesn’t take account of the problems created for governments by the Pact when there’s a downturn in the economic cycle“. In theory, France could have been fined up to 0.5% of its gross domestic product (GDP) for transgressing the rules, but the Commission this afternoon recommended merely that fellow EU governments “request France to take new measures to reduce the budget deficit“. The problem is that the French budget deficit is running at 4% of national wealth – outside the 3% ceiling permitted under the Pact. There is little prospect of it falling within the Pact’s limits until 2005 at best. Economically, France certainly qualifies for a formal reprimand and stiff fines – but politically the impact would be disastrous, particularly after the Swedish referendum “no” to joining the euro. EU finance ministers are reluctant to be too harsh on France, but they know the Pact looks feeble if they back the Commission’s line when they consider the problem at talks in Brussels next month. news.scotsman.com