EU president sad for Greek victims, but says cuts are unavoidable

Brussels - European Union President Herman Van Rompuy on Wednesday expressed his sympathy over the death of three people in violent protests in Athens against planned austerity measures, but insisted the cuts were necessary.

"Our first thoughts today turn to the victims in Athens," Van Rompuy said in Brussels.

Greece's socialist government has pledged to reduce its deficit by a massive 11 percentage points of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 2014, in return for a three-year 110-billion-euro (146 billion dollars) loan from eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

But despite the drama unfolding on the streets of Athens and other Greek cities, Van Rompuy insisted the sacrifices imposed by the EU/IMF bailout were unavoidable.

He said the size of the effort demanded was "extremely important" but added that it was "not without precedent," stressing that Greece itself had carried out a fiscal adjustment "of the same entity" in the 1989-1994 period.

At the time, Greece cut the deficit in its primary balance by 10.8 percentage points of GDP over five years, while now it is asked to reduce it by around 11 points in four years.

Van Rompuy, speaking at a press conference which concluded an EU-Canada summit, also railed against market speculation extending to other eurozone countries such as Greece and Spain.

"I now see totally irrational movements on the markets fueled by totally unfounded rumors," the EU president said, alluding to Tuesday's unconfirmed news that the EU and the IMF were preparing another bailout for Spain.

"The situation in those two countries has nothing to do with the situation in Greece," Van Rompuy stressed.

He declaring himself "certain" that the markets would in due time share his analysis and that "the contagion effect will be stopped."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/322142,eu-president-sad-for-greek-victims-but-says-cuts-are-unavoidable.html.

EU's president to publish haiku collection

Brussels - European Union President Herman Van Rompuy is to publish a collection of haiku, short structured poems based on a Japanese form, officials in Brussels announced Tuesday.

The ascetic 62-year-old Belgian politician, economist and philosopher, is famed in Brussels for his love of the terse poems. His habit of writing them to comment on everyday scenes has not been derailed by his appointment as the EU's top politician.

His latest composition, posted online on March 20, just days before he hosted a crunch EU summit, runs:

"Thinned out and grown bald, You can now see through the wood All the way to spring"

Van Rompuy is set to present the first anthology of his haiku on April 15, officials in his private office confirmed.

The poems will be published in the original Dutch - his native language - with translations into English, French and Latin.

Van Rompuy has already published six books on esoteric subjects such as "Christendom: a modern thought" and "Renewal in head and heart," but this is his first full-length book of poetry.

His interest in haiku has already sparked imitations, with august publications such as the Wall Street Journal and Britain's Independent immortalizing his appointment with verses of their own.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/316415,eus-president-to-publish-haiku-collection.html.

Van Rompuy: Europe is on the defensive against new powers

Madrid - The European Union is "on the defensive" against the world's emerging powers following its humiliation at United Nations climate-change talks in Copenhagen, the bloc's full-time president said Friday. In Copenhagen, the EU was sidelined as the United States, China, Brazil, India and South Africa drew up a greatly watered-down deal between themselves. Analysts saw the moment as defining a shift towards a new world order in which Europe is a secondary force.

"There is now certainly, after Copenhagen, the awareness in all countries that things have changed in the world: the balance of power has shifted and Europe is more on the defensive now than it was a few years ago," Herman Van Rompuy told journalists in Madrid.

But at the same time, the EU's first-ever permanent president stressed that the Copenhagen conference produced a better result than many commentators had said.

"Without the EU, the outcome of Copenhagen would have been much less. There is no reason to be downbeat about the outcome, there are enough elements to build on and achieve concrete results for the benefit of our climate and our future," Van Rompuy said.

The Belgian, who took office on January 1, was speaking after talks with the head of the EU's executive, Jose Manuel Barroso, and Spanish premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.

According to the Spanish presidency program, one of the EU's main tasks over the next six months will be to boost its prestige on the world stage, especially on climate-change issues.

Europe needs "a foreign policy in the defense of European interest," Zapatero said.

Van Rompuy has called for an extra EU summit on February 11 to discuss climate change and economic issues, with a particular focus on regaining influence over the global climate-change debate.

"I want the EU to bring its influence into future negotiations and to be both heard and respected," he said.

In particular, the bloc should "think how the UN process can be improved" ahead of the next major climate-change conference in Mexico at the end of the year, Barroso said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302744,extravan-rompuyeurope-is-on-the-defensive-against-new-powers.html.

EU president pays first official visit to Netherlands

Amsterdam - European Union (EU) president Herman Van Rompuy is to pay his first official visit to the Netherlands Wednesday. He is to meet with Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, to discuss among others European economic developments. He would also meet the chairmen of the Netherlands' lower and upper houses of parliament.

Van Rompuy took office as the first president of the EU on December 1.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302318,eu-president-pays-first-official-visit-to-netherlands.html.

Incoming EU president Van Rompuy visits Denmark

Copenhagen - Herman Van Rompuy, recently appointed to become permanent President of the European Council, on Monday paid a brief visit to Denmark. Van Rompuy met with Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen for informal talks ranging from the UN climate change summit that opens next week in Copenhagen to Denmark's views on the European Union.

The Lisbon Treaty that created the new post of full-time president of the European Council enters into force Tuesday.

European Union leaders appointed Van Rompuy at a special summit on November 19, but he is not due to assume office until January.