Border controls come back
Several EU member states back attempts by France and Italy to make it easier for countries to reinstate border controls, following the huge influx of migrants from north Africa. Denmark is re-instating border checks at its ports and airports as well as along its land border with Germany and its bridge to Sweden. The German government reacted angrily. EU Commission chief Barroso has warned Denmark its decision is illegal. ■
Bow down to the market
YET ANOTHER example of the EU straitjacket: Belgian finance minister Didier Reynders wants capital controls on EU member states to prevent foreign investors rushing into peripheral eurozone economies causing inflation and “overheating”. But his proposal breaches EU internal market rules, which ban the use of such controls. ■
Four-star risks
The European Investment Bank, set up to aid development, has lent £11 million to revamp a four-star, beach-front complex in Morocco owned by wealthy foreign bankers. The loan is underwritten by member states. If it is not paid back, British taxpayers will be liable for 16 per cent; if the project succeeds, the repayments will go to the EIB. ■
Following orders
The IMF last November outlined its policy prescriptions for each of the 17 eurozone states. Its orders for the two other eurozone recipients of a bail-out, Ireland and Greece, have already been carried out. Dublin has cut its minimum wage and unemployment benefits, while Athens has liberalised the rules governing a number of professions and privatised transport infrastructure. ■
Cutting deeper
Members of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF visited Lisbon this spring, to impose the cuts programmes of the €78 billion bailout. They say that Portugal must accept further deep public spending cuts, privatisation, tax hikes, cuts in workers’ rights, and wage bargaining at individual firms rather than industry-wide. Outgoing finance minister Teixeira dos Santos says the bail-out will push the country into a two-year recession. ■