Shell, other oil giants, spent €250m lobbying Brussels in 10 years

DutchNews, October 24, 2019

Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell is among five big energy companies which have spent a combined €250m on lobbying the European Union in an effort to influence policy, according to Brussels-based research group Corporate Europe Observatory. 

‘Since 2010, just five oil and gas corporations and their fossil fuel lobby groups have spent at least a quarter of a billion euros buying influence at the heart of European decision-making,’ the organisation said on Thursday. 

‘We need a firewall that protects our democratic institutions and our political decision-making from fossil fuel industry interference,’ the organisation said. ‘No more private lobby meetings, partnerships, or collaboration.’ 

Shell, BP, Chevron, Total and ExxonMobile lobbyists have held 327 meetings with EU officials over the 10 year period, including 13 with Frans Timmermans or members of his ‘Better Regulation’ task force. This, the researchers say, is more than one meeting a week. 

In total, the oil giants have some 200 lobbyists working on their behalf in Brussels.

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Big firm products top worst plastic litter list: report

"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“… 4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet; again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much…

Water

We've told you that one of the greatest natural resources of the planet, which is going to shift and change and be mysterious to you, is fresh water. It's going to be the next gold, dear ones. So, we have also given you some hints and examples and again we plead: Even before the potentials of running out of it, learn how to desalinate water in real time without heat. It's there, it's doable, and some already have it in the lab. This will create inexpensive fresh water for the planet. 

There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four.”

“Afraid of Love” + “What’s Wrong Today”, Laguna Hills, California, US(2), Dec 9, 2018 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

• Stagnation of the current US Politics: Compassioned (US) leaders will arise in the future
• Shortage of fresh/drinking water: Invention to make salt from salt water magnetic and remove it with water desalination process in high volumes
• Pollution on Earth: 1 - Stop killing the environment! / 2 - The rise of temperature on Earth is “temporary” and is part of the "regular" Watercycle.
• Replacement of current fossil energy source: Use of magnetics based (small/big) engines to produces electricity / free energy
• Plastic pollution in the oceans: Invention to remove the plastics gradually from the oceans

Swiss vote to tighten gun laws, safeguard EU relations

Yahoo – AFP, Nina LARSON, May 19, 2019

Final results showed that Swiss voters overwhelmingly supported reforming their gun
laws, with 63.7 percent casting their ballot in favour (AFP Photo/STEFAN WERMUTH)

Geneva (AFP) - The Swiss voted Sunday to toughen their gun laws and bring them in line with EU legislation, heeding warnings that rejecting the change could have threatened relations with the bloc.

Final results showed that voters overwhelmingly supported reforming Swiss gun laws, with a full 63.7 percent casting their ballot in favour.

A majority of voters in all but one of Switzerland's 26 cantons backed the reform, with the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino in southern Switzerland the only outlier.

A demand from the neighbouring European Union that the Swiss toughen their gun laws prompted a rare national debate over firearm ownership in the wealthy Alpine nation, which has a deeply-rooted gun culture.

While the government cautioned that the new legislation was crucial to the non-EU country maintaining its treaties with the bloc, the proposal sparked a fierce pushback from the gun lobby and shooting enthusiasts, who gathered enough signatures to trigger a vote under Switzerland's famous direct democratic system.

Brussels changed its own weapons laws two years ago following a wave of deadly terrorist attacks across Europe, slapping bans on certain types of semi-automatic firearms.

While not an EU member, Switzerland is bound to the bloc through an array of intricately connected bilateral agreements.

Bern had cautioned that a "No" vote would lead to Switzerland's exclusion from the visa-free Schengen travel region and also the Dublin accords regulating Europe's asylum-seeking process.

Shooting enthusiasts have gathered enough support to trigger a vote on
new gun laws under Switzerland's famous direct democratic system
(AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)

This would have far-reaching consequences for security, asylum and even tourism, and would cost the country "several billion Swiss francs each year," it said.

Liberties 'eroded'

The shooting enthusiasts behind Sunday's referendum had insisted the government warnings were "exaggerated".

The campaign charged that law change amounts to an "EU dictate" that reins in Swiss sovereignty and would "erase the right to own weapons" in Switzerland.

The ProTell gun lobby voiced concern at the consequences of Sunday's referendum, in which some 43 percent of eligible voters participated.

"Today, our liberties have been eroded," ProTell President Jean-Luc Addor told RTS, also insisting that the reform would "obviously not avoid a single terrorist attack".

The populist, rightwing Swiss People's Party (SVP) -- the only party to oppose the reform -- meanwhile cautioned that bowing to an "EU dictate" would have consequences.

"We acknowledge that there is a certain need to remain within Schengen and Dublin, but we cannot accept just anything to do so," SVP vice president Celine Amaudru told the ATS news agency, cautioning that the EU going forward "will be able to dictate what it wants" by playing to Swiss fears of being left out.

It is difficult to know exactly how many firearms are in circulation in Switzerland, since guns are registered regionally and there is no national registry.

The strong gun culture in Switzerland is partially tied to its tradition of national defence 

service, as most Swiss men undergo obligatory military service (AFP Photo/STEFAN 

WERMUTH)

'Exceptional authorisation'

But according to a 2017 report by the Small Arms Survey, the country boasts the world's 16th highest rate of gun ownership, with some 2.3 million firearms in civilian hands -- nearly three for every 10 inhabitants.

The strong gun culture in Switzerland is partially tied to its tradition of national defence service, as most Swiss men undergo obligatory military service between the ages of 18 and 30. They are allowed to keep their assigned weapon when they are done.

Under the new gun law, which has already been approved by legislators, semi-automatic weapons with high-capacity magazines will be listed as "banned".

Collectors and sports shooters could still purchase such weapons, but would need to jump through more hoops to obtain an "exceptional authorisation".

Another issue put to a national referendum Sunday -- a government proposal to overhaul the country's corporate tax system and pump more cash into its pension system -- also won overwhelming support.

A full 66.4 percent of voters, and all 26 cantons, supported that reform, according to the final results.

US interests make major donations to European political parties

DutchNews, April 25, 2019

Almost half the money flowing into European parliamentary alliances comes from the US, according to research by Dutch investigative news website  Follow the Money. 

Most of this cash comes from multinational companies and predominantly conservative think tanks and is donated to Christian conservative and Liberal party groups, the website said. 

ALDE – which counts the two Dutch Liberal groups VVD and D66 among its members – has had substantial donations from large technology firms, FTM said. The European Christian Political Movement ECPM, which includes ChristenUnie and the SGP, benefits largely from contributions from American evangelical organisations. 

The money is not usually made over as donations but as ‘special contributions’, FTM points out. 

Russia, often accused of trying to interfere in the European political process, makes barely any identifiable donations, the platform said. 

DTM analysed almost 1,000 donations made by individuals, companies and other organisations. 

Dutch parties 

Earlier this year, the cabinet agreed that Dutch political parties are to be banned from accepting funding from sources outside the EU. 

A government commission had recommended banning foreign funding altogether but home affairs minister Kajsa Ollongren said earlier this went too far, because many Dutch parties have sister organisations in Europe. 

Research has shown the anti-immigration PVV is the main recipient of foreign money within the Dutch political system. In the two years up to February 2017, it received a total of €130,280.38 in four payments from the David Horowitz Freedom Center in California.

IAAF president Coe steps down from Nike role

Yahoo – AFP, Luke Phillips, 26 Nov 2015

A photo taken on August 30, 2015 shows IAAF president Sebastian Coe at the 2015
 IAAF World Championships at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium in Beijing (AFP Photo/
Greg Baker)

Monaco (AFP) - IAAF president Sebastian Coe bowed to intense pressure and announced Thursday that he had stepped down from his paid role as an ambassador for Nike to focus more on cleaning up world track and field's beleaguered governing body.

"It is clear that perception and reality have become horribly mangled," said Coe after an IAAF Council meeting.

"I've stepped down from my ambassadorial role with Nike, which dates back 38 years.

"The current noise level around this ambassadorial role is not good for the IAAF and it is not good for Nike, and frankly it is a distraction to the 18-hour days I and our teams are working to steady the ship."

Coe also announced he would step down from his role as chairman of the British Olympic Committee after the Rio Olympics and said a multinational sports marketing company he heads up, CSM, would "not tender for nor directly work for the IAAF or any city in relation to their tender to the IAAF while I am president of the IAAF".

Coe, unpaid as head of track and field's world governing body, received around £100,000 (142,000 euros) a year for his global ambassadorial role for Oregon-based Nike.

The Briton, a two-time Olympic gold 1500m medallist, is accused of lobbying disgraced predecessor Lamine Diack to hand Eugene the 2021 world championships.

Bjorn Eriksson, who led a rival bid by Gothenburg for the 2021 championships, said Coe telephoned him on Wednesday to say it had been wrong to give the event to Eugene without a formal bidding process, The Times reported.

Coe insisted, however, that he had not been responsible for the decision that was made in April.

"I don't believe it was a conflict of interest," Coe stressed.

The decision to step down from Nike "was purely on the need to focus on challenges ahead with my colleagues and particularly the executive teams here at (IAAF) headquarters", he said.

"The issues that I've been dealing with in the last few weeks, the reform of the organisation, the challenges faced by the organisation across two or three fronts, needs an unflinching focus and the 'noises off' are frankly a distraction and I can see that.

"The decision I chose to take in the last few weeks was one that I think reflected my absolute intention to focus as long and as hard as I can on steadying the ship that has been rocking rather badly recently."

Coe added, however, that he had sought advice from the IAAF Ethics Commission, who said the Briton could have continued in his Nike role as long as he "continually and consistently declared all my interests" and did not participate in any decisions involving the company when it came to working with the IAAF.

Eriksson also said Coe had indicated that the Eugene award was being investigated by French police as part of a corruption inquiry into the IAAF leadership of Diack, who stood down in August.

Diack is also under investigation over allegations that he took bribes from Russian officials to cover up positive drug tests by athletes.

"If I understand Sebastian Coe correctly, he said, 'I agree that the procedure wasn't correct', but he claims he wasn't involved in this, others are," Eriksson said.

Coe had been a strong supporter of Eugene's bid for the 2021 championships and was part of the IAAF council that voted this year to abandon the normal bidding process.

Nike, which was founded in Eugene, was also a powerful backer of the bid.

And the BBC said Tuesday it had seen an email in which a Nike executive said Coe had assured him he would "reach out" to Diack on behalf of Eugene.

Coe insisted that action would be taken should there be anything shown to be out of order with bids not only for Eugene but also the world championships in Doha in 2017.

"In our own internal reviews, the criminal investigations that are currently ongoing... or any of the recommendations or conclusions from the independent commission report to WADA, if any of those show or conclude impropriety, then action will be taken," Coe warned.

Related Article:

Former Dutch Nike director linked to Fifa corruption case

Dutch join initiative to force MEPs to come clean on their expenses

DutchNews, November 20, 2015

Dutch broadcaster Nos is one of the backers of an initiative to force the European parliament to disclose how all  751 MEPs spend their allowances. 

The case is being taken to the European court of justice because the parliament itself has refused to come clean on how MEPs spend their generous allocation of expenses, the broadcaster says on Friday. 

As well as a monthly salary, MEPs get thousands of euros to pay for travel, support staff and general costs. They also get a €304 daily allowance and can claim two-thirds of any medical expenses. 

Last year the total bill, including salaries, came to €474m, which is over 25% of the parliamentary budget, Nos says. 

Efforts to free up expenses claims last year using country by country freedom of information legislation failed on privacy grounds. In addition, officials said it would be ‘too much work’ to dig out the relevant information, Nos says.

In April, MEPs voted to increase their allowances covering staff costs to €22,879 a month but rejected a move to subject their expenses to an obligatory audit.

In total, 29 journalists representing every member state are involved in the campaign, which has been dubbed ‘The MEPs Project’. 

More on this

Related Article:

VVD leader in Europe is paid RAI advisor, lobbies for car industry

EU watchdog says Neelie Kroes should not work for Merrill Lynch

DutchNews, October 28, 2015

The Netherlands’ former EU commissioner Neelie Kroes is one of four commissioners whose current job could run foul of conflict of interest rules, according to Brussels watchdogs Corporate Europe Observatory and Lobby Control. 

Nine former commissioners now have jobs with commercial sector companies, ‘leading to fears of an unhealthily close relationship between the EU’s executive body and private interests,’ the organisations say. 

Eight of those jobs, done by four different commissioners, could be considered to involve a conflict of interest and ‘should have been rejected outright’, the watchdogs say. 

This includes the former Dutch competition and digital agenda commissioner Kroes, who is now an advisor to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Influence 

The current commission should not have approved these appointments, the groups say. They are also concerned that former commission chairman José Manuel Barroso is now working as a lobbyist and has some 20 different jobs. 

Socialist MP Dennis de Jong called pointed out that current commission chairman Jean-Claude Juncker had said the highest possible ethical standards would be applied when assessing new jobs.

‘It is hardly surprising that European citizens have no faith in European institutions,’ he is quoted as saying by the Telegraaf. ‘The influence of the big corporate lobbies goes right to the top. The last word has not been said about this.

Volkswagen scandal puts EU lobbying under spotlight

Yahoo – AFP, Marine Laouchez and Alex Pigman, 2 Oct 2015

Volkswagen has admitted 11 million of its vehicles worldwide are equipped with 

software that dupes pollution emission testing (AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards)

Brussels (AFP) - Scandal-hit Volkswagen has for years hired a cadre of lobbyists in the EU capital of Brussels who work intensely behind-the-scenes to influence policy and secure European regulation with a lighter touch.

Activists have long warned of the power of lobbying in Brussels, with German automakers the most powerful in the industry, although French, Japanese and US auto manufacturers also push hard.

The auto lobby is second only to the financial industry in the hallways of EU power as reported to the European Union's transparency registry.

Activists have long warned of the

 power of lobbying at the EU, with the

 auto lobby second only to the financial

 industry in the hallways of EU power as

 reported to the European Union's

 transparency registry  (AFP Photo/

John Thys)

That official list is considered a low estimate but in it, Volkswagen hires 43 full-time lobbyists who work to protect its interests.

"It's impossible to estimate how many there are," said Jos Dings, head of the non-governmental group Transport and Environment.

Though lobbying is perfectly legal, the thousands of lobbyists in Brussels often work "under the radar", he said.

The car industry annually spends about "20 million euros ($22.3 million), with half of that from the big German players: Volkswagen, Daimler and Opel," said Pascoe Sabido, of lobby watchdog the Corporate European Observatory.

These lobbyists solicit the European Commission at all levels, from commissioners and their chiefs of staff to the estimated 700 expert groups that guide EU policy at the most detailed level.

'Starts early'

"It all starts very early," said Dings. "The Commission starts a strategy process, say on climate change or air pollution. This is where the lobbying starts, long before there is any regulation."

At first, he said corporate lobbyists fight for the Commission to do nothing.

"But if by sheer luck, the Commission decides to regulate, the next stage comes: it becomes delay and weaken," Dings said.

All new regulation emerges from expert groups: incubators for European laws that once passed will deeply impact the lives of the EU's 500 million citizens.

"The Commission is quite small in terms of staff, about the same as city hall in Paris, so they look for experts outside," said Sabido.

"This becomes a very nice opportunity for lobbyists," he said, adding that VW sits on four or five such groups.

Long exposure view of the Volkswagen headquarters in Wolfsburg, central 

Germany, at night on September 30, 2015 (AFP Photo/John MacDougall)

Under EU rules, NGOs and stakeholders also participate in expert groups, but their influence is much weaker.

"We have four people who have to follow the entire automotive file," said Dings.

"We have to be selective, in quite a few we are not represented at all," he said.

'Guess who?'

Bas Eickhout, a Green Party member of the European Parliament, described a process rife with the potential for conflict of interest.

He hoped the VW scandal was "opening eyes".

In later stage technical groups "it's the national experts who sit around the table and also, guess who?, the car industry," he said.

"There is a huge grey zone: are they at the table to provide information or to participate in the decision-making? The technical information and the political decision making are happening at the same time," he said.

Here even diplomats from the EU's 28 member countries can do the bidding of big companies.

In documents leaked to AFP last week, Germany is seen to lobby hard to maintain European pollution tests that are widely considered ineffective.

Even the industry's allies in the European Parliament acknowledge that the influence of auto giants may have reached the limits of acceptability.

A measuring hose for emissions inspections in diesel engines sticks in the exhaust 

tube of a Volkswagen (VW) Golf 2,0 TDI diesel car at a garage in Frankfurt an der

Oder, eastern Germany, on October 1, 2015 (AFP Photo/Patrick Pleul))

"I am aware that the car industry in Europe and in Germany is very important..., but it doesn't mean we have to accept everything they propose," said MEP Karl-Heinz Florenz from the right of centre EPP group that is traditionally close to big industry.

"They do a good job, they convince a lot of members," he said.

However, they also "never lie", he added.

For the car lobby, what they are fighting is competition from Asia, where they feel looser pollution laws bring bigger profits, threatening European jobs.

A new EU pollution test to be implemented next year, "makes Europe the only region in the world to implement such real world testing for cars," the powerful ACEA lobby said after the VW scandal broke.

The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) would "continue to engage with the European Commission and national governments" to "ensure trust" in the auto industry, it added.

Related Article:

VVD leader in Europe is paid RAI advisor, lobbies for car industry

VVD leader in Europe is paid RAI advisor, lobbies for car industry

DutchNews, September 30, 2015

Photo: Moritz Kosinsky via
Wikimedia Commons

Dutch MP Hans van Baalen, who leads the VVD delegation in Brussels, is a paid advisor to the car industry, according to news website F-site. 

Van Baalen, who has had a modest €4,000 role as advisor to the motoring organisation RAI, now earns €8,000 a year as a supervisory board member at Mercedes-Benz in the Netherlands, the website says. 

Last year Van Baalen called for ‘fewer rules’ for the car industry in an opinion piece in the Volkskrant. He also urged the Dutch government to ensure ‘taboo-free’ negotiations with the US over a trade treaty that will make it easier for car manufacturers to do business in the US and harmonise some rules. 

He wrote the article as VVD leader in the European parliament but did not mention his role with the RAI, which considers European lobbying to be a key task. 

Van Baalen is also on the Mercedes-Benz payroll as a member of the supervisory board. Mercedes-Benz is also active in influencing Brussels policy and opposes tougher environmental roles for car manufacturers. 

According to F-site, Van Baalen’s work conflicts with the strict integrity rules which the VVD applies to its politicians. These state: ‘you will not hold any other positions which could form a risk to you carrying out your job with integrity’. 

Van Baalen told the website he did not consider his independence was under threat. ‘I keep the VVD’s rules. I am not a spokesman for the car industry so there is no problem. And I do declare my earnings to the tax office.’ 

He said he did not consider his comments in the Volkskrant had broken the rules or highlighted a conflict of interest.

Related Articles:

VVD boss in Europe cuts car industry ties - New

Germany launches criminal probe against VW's ex-CEO

Volkswagen CEO apologizes for cheating on US auto emissions tests

Shell scraps oil exploration in Arctic off Alaska over costs

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…5 - Integrity That May Surprise…

The Unthinkable… Politics, A Review

Humans will begin to search for integrity and fairness and it's going to happen in the places you never expect. I said this last week, so this is a review. There'll come a time when you will demand this of your politics - fairness and integrity. So when the candidates start calling each other names, you will turn your back on them and they won't get any votes. They're going to get the point real fast, don't you think? How about that?

Let me give you another potential. This country that I sit in right now [USA] will set the mold for that particular attribute. I have no clock. Watch for the youngsters to set this in motion, and they will, for they are the voters of tomorrow and they do not want the energy of today. To some of them, it's so abominable they won't even register to vote in this energy. You're going to see this soon. That was number five.. ..."

Business lobbying against German minimum wage revealed

Lobbyists from the farming and newspaper sectors worked hard to win exceptions to Germany's minimum wage, it has been revealed. But the employers' representatives don't think it did them much good.

Deutsche Welle, 30 July 2015

Workers in a field (Photo: imago/Ralph Lueger)

Germany is seven months into its new minimum wage, but not everyone is happy. The government has now admitted that lobbyists from a number of different sectors had urged it add exceptions to the new rule that no one in the country should earn less than 8.50 euros ($9.40) an hour.

The information, shown to DW on Thursday, emerged thanks to an official parliamentary request by the German Left party. Particularly persistent were representatives of the farmers' and newspaper publishers' associations, who met government representatives a total of 15 times in the months leading up to the law being passed in parliament.

The pressure seems to have been effective - both the agriculture sectors and the newspaper sectors won delays in implementing the minimum wage. Temporary farm-workers can be paid below minimum wage unto the end of 2016, while newspaper deliverers can be paid less until the end of 2017.

Nahles (right) had to defend the
 minimum wage against serious lobbying

Success or failure?

"The economic lobbyists have made sure that entire sectors have been left behind by the minimum wage," Left party parliamentarian Michael Schlecht said in an emailed statement. "Particularly the lobbyists of the publishers' and the farmers' associations clearly felt a lot more need to speak to the government during the lawmaking process."

"The result is well known," he added. "Hundreds of thousands of people did not benefit from the introduction of the minimum wage at the start of the year."

But the German Farmers' Association (BDV) don't think they gained much advantage. "We were invited to hearings, like every interest group, and we think it's legitimate to describe what happens in practice, in business," BDV spokesman Michael Lohse told DW.

The farmers also argued that the minimum wage will have a real impact on their business when it comes into full effect for temporary workers during the 2017 harvest.

"We analyzed that and communicated it - we will have to lose some production abroad," Lohse said. "In Romania and Bulgaria they have a minimum wage of one or two euros. Go shopping with your eyes open one day - there's half a kilogram of cherries for 7.50 euros from Brandenburg, and you have two kids who like to eat cherries, and you decide if you want cherries for 7.50 euros, or you buy the ones from Bulgaria for 3.50 euros. Then of course the retailer turns round and tells the farmer I can't buy your cherries anymore. Then production goes abroad and it will cost jobs - that's all we said. And that's legitimate."

More bureaucracy

Another complaint against the minimum wage was the amount of bureaucracy involved. At the end of June, Labor Minister Andrea Nahles, who drove the new minimum wage legislation, bowed to pressure and eased the regulations forcing employers in certain sectors to record how many hours their lowest paid workers were working.

Cherries are cheaper in Bulgaria

Up until then, the new minimum wage law stipulated that employers in the construction and gastronomy sectors, and others considered to be particularly susceptible to off-the-books work, had to document the number of hours logged by anyone earning less that 2,958 euros a month. That cap has now been lowered to 2,000 euros a month.

But Lohse was not happy with the whole new system. "If you have 100 or 200 people on a field and one of them has to leave, you have to write that down," he complained. "If they go home to have lunch, you have to document that - if it rains, or there's a storm. There are special conditions during the harvest time and these documentation obligations all take a heavy toll."

The conservative sections of the government coalition - both Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union - have been pressing for corrections to the law.

But Nahles' Social Democratic Party can also point to considerable successes - in May it could announce that 3.7 million people in Germany had received a pay raise as a result of the minimum wage, and that dependence on social benefits had declined. Also, fears that the new law would lead to a sharp rise in unemployment figures have so far proved untrue.

Related Articles:

Dutch call for action on EU-wide ‘equal pay for equal work’

New York plans $15 minimum wage at fast-food chains

Utrecht city council to begin experiments with a basic income

Why Should We Support the Idea of Universal Basic Income?

Putin criticises sanctions but says Russia does not want war (Update)

Yahoo – AFP, 7 Feb 2015

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a cabinet meeting outside Moscow,
on February 4, 2015 (AFP Photo/Michael Klimentyev)

Moscow (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said Russia is not at war and does not want war with anyone, but sharply criticised Western sanctions over Ukraine.

"There's no war, thank God. But there is definitely an attempt to curb our development," Putin told a trade union conference, cited by TASS news agency.

He criticised sanctions imposed on Russia by the West over Ukraine saying "they definitely can't be effective against a country like ours, although they cause certain damage and we have to realise this... We must raise our level of sovereignty, including in our economy."

Putin complained of an attempt to "freeze the existing world order that has become established over the last decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, with a single leader who wants to stay that way," apparently talking about the United States.

"Such a world order will never suit Russia," he said. "If somebody likes it or wants to live in conditions of semi-occupation (then go ahead), but we won't do this."

"But we don't plan to fight a war with anyone. We plan to cooperate with everyone."

Related Articles:

Ukraine peace roadmap agreed, but Europe sceptical

Merkel says 'weapons won't help' resolve eastern Ukraine crisis

Merkel and Hollande in last-ditch diplomatic effort in Russia

China calls for 'sprint finish' to Iran nuclear talks marathon - New

Matthew message (Channelled by Suzanne Ward, Feb 8, 2015) - New

Matthew message (Channelled by Suzanne Ward, Aug 3, 2014) !!!

--------------------------------------------------------

Where does US media draw the moral line?

HSBC helped La Fayette scandal suspect's son avoid taxes - New
HSBC bank 'helped clients dodge millions in tax'
HSBC 'sorry' for aiding Mexican drugs lords, rogue states and terrorists

Row over Marlboro-funded research that undermined plain cigarette packs - New

Brian Williams: the steady drip of doubt over clips and claims - New
US NBC's Brian Williams takes himself off air amid Iraq and Katrina controversy

The Guardian, Martin Pengelly, 7 Feb 2015

Brian Williams said: ‘Upon my return, I will continue my career-long effort to be

worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in us.’ Photograph: NBCU Photo

Bank via Getty Images

NBC news anchor Brian Williams will step off air while the network continues its investigation into inaccuracies in his reporting, he announced on Saturday.

Williams has come under pressure after veterans questioned his account of an incident involving two US helicopters that came under fire in Iraq in 2003. His reporting from New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was subsequently called into question.

In a statement, Williams said: “In the midst of a career spent covering and consuming news, it has become painfully apparent to me that I am presently too much a part of the news, due to my actions.

“As managing editor of NBC Nightly News, I have decided to take myself off my daily broadcast for the next several days, and Lester Holt has kindly agreed to sit in for me to allow us to adequately deal with this issue. Upon my return, I will continue my career-long effort to be worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in us.”

On Friday, NBC News president Deborah Turness said in an internal memo to staff: “This has been a difficult few days for all of us at NBC News. As you would expect, we have a team dedicated to gathering the facts to help us make sense of all that has transpired. We’re working on what the best next steps are.”

Regarding his version of events in Iraq, Williams apologised on air on Wednesday, saying: “I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago. I want to apologise. I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG fire. I was instead in a following aircraft.”

“Finally someone is being held to account for misleading America about Iraq war” Jon Stewart takes on Brian Williams http://t.co/m7PjGiT6sL
— Mary Georgantopoulos (@marygeorgant) February 10, 2015