Brexit: Europe to reject Brexit deal if UK fails to secure ‘favorable’ status for EU citizens

Cief negotiator Guy Verhofstadt and leaders of four of the parliament's main groups wrote in a joint letter to newspapers that Britain's plans for the three million EU citizens expecting to remain in the U.K. post-Brexit "fall short" of what they are entitled to and what U.K. nationals are being offered in the EU.

"The proposal falls short of its own ambitions to "put citizens first". If implemented, it would cast a dark cloud of vagueness and uncertainty over the lives of millions of Europeans," the representatives wrote.

In outlining plans for citizens' rights, the EU had proposed that Britons and Europeans would keep the same rights and protections they currently receive under European law. However, the British proposal, delivered three weeks later, suggests that Europeans' rights within the U.K. would be significantly reduced from the day after Brexit, including curtailing voting rights and income thresholds.

"The British proposal carries a real risk of creating a second class of citizenship," the group of eight signatories wrote, claiming that the plans backtrack on Brexiteers' pledge that EU citizens would be treated "no less favourably than at present."

The leaders of the four groups, who account for two-thirds of the votes in European Parliament, added that they would veto any deal which places existing EU citizens' rights in jeopardy.

"The European Union has a common mission to extend, enhance and expand rights, not to reduce them. We will never endorse the retroactive removal of acquired rights.

"The European Parliament will reserve its right to reject any agreement that treats EU citizens, regardless of their nationality, less favorably than they are at present. For us, this is a question of basic fundamental rights and values, which are at the heart of the European project."
In Europe's hands

Brexit negotiations kicked off last month shortly after British Prime Minister Theresa May failed to increase her parliamentary majority in a snap general election.

British and EU leaders now have just over a year and a half to negotiate and agree a deal, which will then go to a vote before European Parliaments.

Read more: Europe to reject Brexit deal if UK fails to secure ‘favorable’ status for EU citizens

Special Interests do not like electric cars - VW, Shell accused of trying to block push for electric cars

Special Interests ho;ding back affordable Electric Cars

VW and Shell have been accused of trying to block Europe’s push for electric cars and more efficient cars, by saying biofuels should be at heart of efforts to green the industry instead.

The EU is planning two new fuel efficiency targets for 2025 and 2030 to help meet promises made at the Paris climate summit last December.

But executives from the two industrial giants launched a study on Wednesday night proposing greater use of biofuels, CO2 car labelling, and the EU’s emissions trading system (ETS) instead.

In reality, such a package would involve the end of meaningful new regulatory action on car emissions for more than a decade, EU sources say. But Shell insisted it is not trying to block an EU push for electric cars.

Ulrich Eichhorn, VW’s new head of research and development, said that plug-in hybrids and more efficient vehicles were “building blocks” for the future, but that “higher shares” for biofuels would be needed in the meantime.

He told a meeting in Brussels: “Modern diesel and natural gas engines will absolutely be required to deliver CO2 targets until 2020 and they will also contribute to further reductions going on from there.”

In meeting the Paris goals, “societal costs need to be minimised to keep our industrial strength and competitiveness,” he said.

The Auto Fuels Coalition study, written by Roland Berger, makes a series of highly pessimistic assumptions about the costs of fuel efficiency improvements, and equally optimistic ones about greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels. A recent EU study found the dirtiest biofuels three times more polluting than diesel.

An EU source said: “these two industries have realised they have a shared interest. When you saw who was paying for the study, you knew what the answer would be.”

Dr Christoph Wolff, the managing director of the European Climate Foundation said:“Electrification is taking off rapidly in markets such as China, Norway and the Netherlands. EU policymakers need to agree stringent measures, which will push the auto sector towards developing products that are fit to compete in this fast-evolving marketplace.”

Note EU-Digest: what would  popularize the electric car even more would be the availability of a family electric car within a price range of  €15,000.00 - €20,000.00 

EU-Digest

US Political System: Rand Paul staffer says GOP is doomed if it doesn't engage the young - by Gabby Morrongiell

A senior staffer to 2016 presidential hopeful and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul says the Republican Party will self-destruct if it fails to engage the millennial generation this election cycle.

"It's a sad time to see that the party is not looking to expand," Cliff Maloney, who serves as National Youth Director for the Kentucky senator's campaign, said Wednesday at an event hosted by Politico in Washington, D.C.

"And if the party doesn't adapt, it's going to die," he added. "We've got to reach out to younger voters."
Maloney continued, "We've been to Berkeley [Calif.], we were in Waterloo, Iowa at a barbershop last week talking about criminal justice issues. These are ways to expand the party, but none of the other candidates seem to want to take the time to engage."

Note EU-Digest:  After the nonsense Donald Trump and most of the other Republicans are spreading around and the fact that a majority of. Americans are gobbling it up seems to be a reflection of the fast downward trend the US Political system as a whole is experiencing when it comes to having any credibility abroad.

 Read more: Rand Paul staffer says GOP is doomed if it doesn't engage the young | Washington Examiner

The U.S. Has Become: "Just An Oligarchy With Unlimited Political Bribery" says Jimmy Carter - byTyler Durden

On July 28th, Thom Hartmann interviewed former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, and, at the very end of his show (as if this massive question were merely an aftethought), asked him his opinion of the 2010 Citizens United decision and the 2014McCutcheon decision, both decisions by the five Republican judges on the U.S. Supreme Court. These two historic decisions enable unlimited secret money (including foreign money) now to pour into U.S. political and judicial campaigns. Carter answered:

“It violates the essence of what made America a great country in its political system. Now it’s just an oligarchy with unlimited political bribery being the essence of getting the nominations for President or being elected President. And the same thing applies to governors, and U.S. Senators and congress members. So, now we’ve just seen a subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors, who want and expect, and sometimes get, favors for themselves after the election is over. …

At the present time the incumbents, Democrats and Republicans, look upon this unlimited money as a great benefit to themselves. Somebody that is already in Congress has a great deal more to sell.”

Only a single empirical study has actually been done in the social sciences regarding whether the historical record shows that the United States has been, during the survey’s period, which in that case was between 1981 and 2002, a democracy (a nation whose leaders represent the public-at-large), or instead an aristocracy (or ‘oligarchy’) — a nation in which only the desires of the richest citizens end up being reflected in governmental actions.

This study was titled “Testing Theories of American Politics,” and it was published by Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page in the journal Perspectives on Politics, issued by the American Political Science Association in September 2014. I had summarized it earlier, on 14 April 2014, while the article was still awaiting its publication.

The headline of my summary-article was “U.S. Is an Oligarchy Not a Democracy Says Scientific Study.” I reported: "The clear finding is that the U.S. is an oligarchy, no democratic country, at all. American democracy is a sham, no matter how much it's pumped by the oligarchs who run the country (and who control the nation's 'news' media).” I then quoted the authors’ own summary: “The preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.”

 Read more: Jimmy Carter Rages At What The U.S. Has Become: "Just An Oligarchy With Unlimited Political Bribery" | Zero Hedge