Watchman Newsletter

Netherlands: Indebted states must be made ‘wards’ of the commission or leave euro

EU Observer (Link) - Leigh Phillips (September 7, 2011)

The Dutch government has proposed that highly indebted states be put into “guardianship,” with spending decisions seized from the elected government and placed under the direct control of a European commissioner.

If a state is unwilling to surrender its sovereignty in this way, then it would be forced to exit the euro.

“Member states not willing to make themselves a ward, may choose to make use of the option to leave the eurozone,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a letter to the national parliament co-signed by the finance, economy and foreign ministers.

“To continue to be part of the monetary union, states should fully respect agreements.”

Under the proposals, seen by EUobserver, a special European commissioner would be appointed to oversee the budgets of euro-area countries.

Spectre of fresh EU treaty returns to haunt ‘incomplete’ Europe

EU Observer (Link) - Leigh Phillips (September 6, 2011)

It took nearly a decade of squabbling amongst EU states, a series of referendum disasters and a last-minute game of high-stakes brinksmanship from a stubborn Czech president, but the bloc finally managed to radically refashion the way it worked with the passage of the Lisbon Treaty in 2010.

So exhausted were they by the struggle by the time the soap opera ended, European leaders then swore it would be very long indeed, perhaps a generation, before the EU treaties would be opened again.

But now, in the last few days, as Europe’s economy and the single currency stand on the precipice, these same leaders have begun to eat their words.

On Tuesday, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble called for the second time in a week for changes to the treaties.

“Strengthening the eurozone’s architecture ... may need profound treaty changes,” he wrote in an opinion piece for the Financial Times.

IDF Home Front Command: Likelihood of all-out Middle East war increasing

Haaretz (Link) (September 5, 2011)

The likelihood of an all-out regional war in the Middle East is increasing, the head of the IDF Home Front Command said on Monday, Channel 10 reported.

Speaking to the Institute for National Security Studies, Major General Eyal Eisenberg said that such a conflict could potentially include the use of weapons of mass destruction.

Eisenberg cautioned that the Arab Spring could turn into the “Radical Islamic Winter.”

Eisenberg also noted that a new weapon was used by Gaza militants in the recent round of escalation in the south, which led the Home Front Command to instruct the public to seek shelter under two roofs, rather than one. †