WESTERN EUROPEAN NEWS DIGEST
LaRouche Slandered in top London Paper; City Now 'Cocaine Capital'
A book just published in France, entitled L'Effroyable Imposture (The Frightful Deception, by Thierry Meyssan, the head of the think tank Reseau Voltaire, has provided the occasion for London Sunday Times commentator Stuart Wavell to issue a slander against Lyndon LaRouche in the May 19 edition. He portrays Meyssan's book as a huge conspiracy theory, feeding various paranoias about Sept. 11. He says that the book's central theme "is that the Pentagon was not attacked by Islamic terrorists, but by a military-industral complex intent on furnishing an excuse to prosecute war against Afghanistan and Iraq. 'Its wildest dreams have now been fulfilled,' Meyssan writes." Wavell complains that conspiracy theories about Sept. 11 have become big business.
Wavell next attempts to revive a long-discredited slander of LaRouche: "In the scale of conspiracy theories, however, Sept. 11 is small beer ... According to American political maverick Lyndon LaRouche, it fits into a global conspiracy by Britain to subjugate the planet. The Queen, he claims, is deeply implicated in spreading narco-terrorism throughout the world."
Ironically, a headline in the London Independent the same day proclaimed "London is the cocaine capital of the world." British police have been unable to stem the flow of cocaine into the country, and Deputy Assistant Police Commissioner Mike Fuller blamed London's financial institutions for fueling the market. "We are aware the heaviest users are people in the City," he said. "A lot of the drug dealers can get more 'bangs for their bucks.' Workplace testing would make people tackle their addiction." The Telegraph adds that, according to the UN, cocaine use is declining across the rest of the world, "and Britain's flourishing market is a worrying blip."
In addition to the Independent's coverage, the Sunday Telegraph reports new figures from the Office of National Statistics showing that cocaine deaths in Britain have increased seven-fold since 1993, when there were 12, to 87 in 1999. Overall, drug deaths have increased from 461 in 1993 to 1,244 in 1999 in England and Wales. The price of cocaine has dropped from 200 pounds sterling in 1990 to now 40 pounds per gram. This price drop is accompanied by a widespread belief that cocaine is a "clean" drug, and not addictive, like heroin, which is not true.
EC Member States Win Important Fight on Subsidies to Truckers
The European Commission decided not to take legal action "to defend its powers over state aid against an unprecedented attack by the 15 member states," the London's Financial Times reported May 15. Last month, the 15 national governments approved state subsidies to truckers promised by governments in France, the Netherlands, and Italy. This approval was quite surprising as it had to be unanimous. It also "marked the first defeat of the Commission on a state aid matter outside the agriculture sector." The European Commission had planned to bring the case in front of the European Court of Justice. However, legal advisors told the European Commission that it would most likely lose the case if national governments would justify the subsidies by "exceptional circumstances." Furthermore, there happened to be a split within the European Commission, with some Commissioners backing up their national governments. The Financial Times concluded that this development "could weaken the Brussels authorities' ability to curb government subsidies to companies."
Meanwhile, the European Commission put out a strong warning against France in its annual report, warning that France "cannot afford further delay" in cutting its budget deficit. Both the European Commission as well as German Finance Minister Hans Eichel are reacting very angrily against Jacques Chirac's election promise of abandoning the plan for a "balanced budget" by 2004.
Europe To Retaliate for U.S. Steel Tariffs
The EU has submitted a list to the World Trade Organization of $2.3 billion in U.S. exports that it may hit with trade sanctions, in retaliation for the steel tariffs the U.S. imposed on March 20. If approved by EU member countries, within the next month, $300 million worth of U.S. exports would be hit with 100% penalty tariffs, while $2.3 billion of U.S. goods would be slapped with tariffs ranging from 8% to 30%.
IMF Deputy Managing Director Anne Krueger, said the U.S. steel tariffs were "not totally in accord with international trading rules," as they go beyond WTO safeguard provisions, in a speech to the National Council on Economics Education.
Swiss To Remain 'Neutral' on FARC Narcoterrorists
Colombian President Andrés Pastrana's appeal to the European Union to include the narcoterrorist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and National Liberation Army (ELN) on its list of international terrorists, apparently did not carry the same weight as the FARC's appeal. Despite Pastrana's personal call to the Swiss governmentthe most vociferous opponent of including the FARC on the EU listto change its position, Swiss foreign policy spokeswoman Daniel Stoffel announced last week that Switzerland will remain neutral toward the Colombian "conflict."
According to El Tiempo May 16, Stoffle's announcement was in direct response to a letter received from FARC international spokesman "Raul Reyes," which called on the Helvetic Confederation to stay neutral toward Colombia, and to refuse to categorize the FARC as terrorist. Said Stoffel, Switzerland does not keep lists of terrorist organizations, but will adhere to any sanctions decreed by the UN. Not surprisingly, the UN has failed to take any formal position toward the FARC, despite the visit of its human-rights representative in Colombia, to Bojaya, where 120 civiliansmostly childrenwere blown to bits by FARC mortars launched against their church sanctuary earlier this month.
European Auto Industry Crashing; Italy Worst Hit
Figures published by the European auto industry show a 2.6% decline of sales in the European Union, with a dramatic -13.4% in Italy during the month of April. Worst hit is the Fiat auto group, with a collapse of 20.1% in April, and a decline from 10% to 7.9% of the European market share.
Fears that the largest Italian industrial group, Fiat, could be bought by foreign interests have materialized, as the group's value declined to an all-time low. As a result of declining earnings in 2001 and the first quarter of 2002, Fiat's capitalization is today half of what it was two years ago: down from 14.7 billion euros to 7.6 billion euros. This makes the group a potential target for a hostile takeover, and the idea that Fiat could pass into foreign hands, and that Italy might lose a center of automobile production, has sent shock waves through the country.
Fiat is one of the last large private industrial companies left in Italy, with 18 factories (plus three in Poland, two in Argentina, and one each in Brazil and Venezuela) and 12 research centers (one in Brazil). Fiat used to employ up to 300,000 workers, but years of downsizing has cut its Italian workforce down to 80,000. Given that for each Fiat worker, there are three who work in feeder industries, it is feared that the real figures could quickly multiply.
In reality, a process has already started by which Fiat's industrial activities might already be on their way to being transferred out of Italy. A few years ago, a new manager was called in from General Electric, Paolo Fresco. Then, in December 2000, Fiat owner Gianni Agnelli sold 20% of Fiat auto to General Motors, which holds an option to buy the other 80% in 2005. Last year, the auto division was reorganized and a totally independent financial division was introduced. Significantly, Fiat President Agnelli was absent from the general stockholders meeting May 12, officially for medical reasons, for the first time in history.
German Tax Revenues Sharply Below Expectations
German tax revenues in the first quarter of 2002 have fallen considerably below the level of last year, while the government had expected an increase. But the new semi-annual tax estimate, put out by a group of experts, called the "Working Group Tax Estimate," was even more shocking than these results indicate. For the year 2002 alone, total German tax revenues, from Federal, state, and municipal taxes, are now expected to fall 11.7 billion euros behind the estimate of just six months ago! For each of the next three years, tax income will be about 18 billion euros lower than forecast in November, making up a combined tax hole of 65 billion euros in four years. The main contributing factors are both the weak economyobviuosly much weaker than expectedas well as the miscalculation concerning the effects of recent tax reductions, in particular for large companies.
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