The Nation Newspaper

Tag: EU

  • France urges reform of ‘remote’ EU

    French President Francois Hollande has said the European Union must reform and scale back its power, amid a surge in support for Eurosceptic and far-right parties.

    Mr. Hollande, whose party was beaten by the far right in last week’s European Parliament election, said the EU had become too complex and remote.

    In response, he will tell EU leaders at a meeting in Brussels later that they must focus on boosting the economy.

    The BBC reports that three big pro-EU centrist blocs are still on course for a majority.

    But they have lost seats in the European Parliament to parties seeking to curb EU powers or abolish the union, among them the United Kingdom Independence Party which came first in the domestic vote with 27 per cent, according to provisional results.

    In France, the far-right National Front stormed to victory with a preliminary 25 per cent of the vote, pushing Mr. Hollande’s Socialists into third place.

     

  • France clamps down on tax evaders

    France clamps down on tax evaders

    THE French government plans to ease penalties on firms that come clean on taxable undeclared funds, the Finance Ministry has said, adding that a similar measure is targeting individuals reaps windfall gains.

    President Francois Hollande’s government is clamping down on tax evasion as it seeks to bring its public deficit in line with an European Union (EU)-agreed limit of three per cent of national income by next year, a target economists consider extremely difficult to meet.

    The new measure for companies would ease interest payments on taxes declared late, according to a Finance Ministry document laying out its strategy against tax fraud.

    “The penalties would not be the subject of discussions or negotiations,” Budget Minister Christian Eckert told journalists. “They will be subject to very clear rules as is the case with individuals’ assets.”

    The government has recovered 764 million euros ($1.04 billion) since it offered last year to cut fines and penalties on individual taxpayers with undeclared assets abroad who come clean. More is expected as other taxpayers come forward.

    “We can reasonably count on an additional 1 billion euros which can be used in 2014 … to finance new measures,” Finance Minister Michel Sapin said.

     

     

    The Finance Ministry now expects 1.8 billion euros in gains from taxpayers previously undeclared assets this year, up from 800 million euros flagged in the 2014 budget.

    The extra cash will be used to finance one billion euros in tax exemptions to low-income households announced in the run-up to Sunday’s European parliament elections.

    Taxpayers with cash stashed in Switzerland have made up 80 percent of the cases that have been regularized. Luxembourg followed with seven percent.

    Switzerland’s bank secrecy is gradually eroding away as foreign governments increasingly put pressure on the country to share information about their taxpayers who hold funds there.

    Last year, the government recovered 10 billion euros from cracking down on all forms of tax fraud, 1 billion euros more than the previous year.

  • Chibok: EU promises Nigeria support

    THE European Union (EU) Foreign Affairs Council yesterday assured Nigeria of its support in the search for the over 200 girls abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok, Borno State.

    The council, at the end of a meeting, promised to assist in ending the culture of impunity.

    According to an extract from the meeting made available to reporters in Abuja, the EU called for the immediate release of the girls and urged the United Nations (UN) Security Council to consider appropriate measures against Boko Haram.

    “The European Union is deeply concerned about the recent terrorist attacks in northern Nigeria and appalled by the suffering caused to the population.

    “The Council strongly condemns the indiscriminate killing of hundreds of civilians and the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls in Borno State. These acts represent an attack against human rights and dignity.

    “The European Union calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the school girls and for those responsible to be brought to justice.

    “The European Union and its Member States offer their support to Nigeria in the resolution of this despicable crime and its ongoing efforts to protect its citizens and defeat terrorism in all its forms, in full respect of human rights.

    “The EU will work to end the culture of impunity for the use of sexual violence both as a tool and a side effect of conflict worldwide. The EU supports the intention of the UN Security Council to consider appropriate measures against Boko Haram.”

     

  • FG gets N4 billion for Civil Service reforms

    FG gets N4 billion for Civil Service reforms

    The reform process of the Nigeria public service received a boost with the European Union (EU) committing over N4.46billion towards the coordination of the programme reform process, policy development and civil service administration reforms in Nigeria

    The Supervising Minister of National Planning, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda made this known during the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and inauguration of the project steering committee for the EU Support to Federal Governance Reform Programme (SUFEGOR) in Nigeria.

    The minister identified the beneficiary agencies as the Office of Head of Service of the Federation, the Bureau of Public Service Reform, National Planning Commission, National Bureau of Statistics and the Federal Inland Revenue service.

    A statement by NPC’s Head of Information, Salisu Haiba, stated that the minister also noted that efforts would be made to ensure that the project is implemented as planned.

    Yuguda also recalled that the Federal Government has commenced the implementation of the National Strategy for Public Service Reform (NSPSR) in 2008 after recognising the weakness of the public service, which  has negatively impacted on its ability to deliver social services and achieve the objectives of its long-term policy framework.

    The minister stated it was on the basis of the aforementioned challenges that the EU under the 10th EDF Nigeria-EU Country Strategy Paper and National Indicative Programme (CSP/NIP) is providing Support to the Federal Governance Reform Programme (SUFEGOR) to support the implementation of the second phase of the NSPSR planned for 2012-2016.

    According to him: “SUFEGOR project will be implemented through a Technical Assistant Contract and the contractor will be providing technical assistance to the five beneficiary agencies for the management and implementation of the project including policy advisory services, transfer of knowledge and skills, building technical capacities of personnel in the beneficiary agencies through mentoring, coaching and training.”

  • Ukraine : Pro-Russia activists seize Luhansk HQ

    Ukraine : Pro-Russia activists seize Luhansk HQ

    A large crowd of pro-Russian activists has stormed the regional administration’s headquarters in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk.

    A few dozen men, some reportedly armed with metal bars, smashed windows and doors to break into the building.

    Activists shouting “Referendum Russia” later flew a Russian flag over it.

    Earlier, Russia criticised sanctions imposed by the US and EU on individuals and companies over their alleged actions aimed at destabilising Ukraine.

    Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the US had “essentially lowered an ‘Iron Curtain’” by targeting Russia’s high-tech sector.

    Mr Ryabkov also said the EU should be ashamed of extending its own sanctions and was “under Washington’s thumb”.

  • How to secure Nigeria’s future, by ex-ambassador

    How to secure Nigeria’s future, by ex-ambassador

    A former Nigerian ambassador to the European Union (EU), Prof Alaba Ogunsanwo, yesterday said Nigeria should return to true federalism to secure its future.

    He said power should be devolved to the second tier of government based on the existing geo-political zones.

    Ogunsanwo spoke in Lagos as the guest speaker of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) centenary Management Day lecture.

    He spoke on the theme: Defining Nigeria’s Nationhood at 100 Years: The Viewpoint of Management.

    The former ambassador to Belgium said the first step Nigeria should take in securing its future is going back to the basics “in terms of our federal system of government and its bastardisation over the years”.

    He said the unification decree and the abolition of the federal system in 1966 and the years of military rule from then on caused a rapid centralisation of power resources and responsibilities, which made the struggle to control federal power a matter of life and death.

    “There is need for massive devolution of power and responsibilities to the second tier of government, which we advocate should be based on the existing six geo-political zones, which will now be regions. Within each region, there will be provincial governors since our politicians love titles,” Ogunsanwo said.

    The former envoy noted that the 36 states had been shown to have natural mineral resources.

    Such resources, he said, should be exploited by the regions with the abolition of central control.

    He said: “This will place natural resources and minerals at par with agriculture, where the principle of derivation has been and continues to be 100 per cent.”

    Ogunsawo said federal responsibility should be reduced essentially to defence, currency, foreign affairs, Customs, Aviation and railways, while everything else should go down to the regions and the provinces.

    He said: “Like in the past, each region should have its own constitution, which would include police powers and where it would be easier to practicalise the concept of community policing.

    “The right of every Nigerian to practice his/her religion shall be upheld by the federal and regional constitutions. The governments at all levels shall have no power to restrict the number of Nigerians wishing on their own to perform pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This is an individual matter, essentially.

    “Nigerians wishing to live and work in regions other than their region must obey the laws and regulations of such regions.”

    NIM President Dr Nelson Uwaga said the annual lecture, which holds every 2nd Tuesday in April, is in commemoration with the Management Day. It is the institute’s contribution to make a well managed nation out of Nigeria.

    He said the institute sent out a proposal to the United Nations (UN) for the declaration of same day as the World/ International Management Day.

    In attendance were Lagos politician, Mr Jimi Agbaje; a former NIM President, Dr Michael Olawale Cole and High Chief Folarin Williams, among others.

     

     

  • ECOWAS leaders endorse economic partnership with EU

    The ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government has endorsed, in principle, the conclusion of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations with the European Union (EU).

    A statement signed by the ECOWAS spokesperson, Mr Sunny Ugoh, on Monday, said that regional leaders made the endorsement during the 44th Ordinary Summit in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire, on March 28.

    It said that the EPA negotiations and the Development Programme (EPADP) were the key issues discussed at the summit.

    The statement said that the meeting recommended that the region’s chief negotiators should take appropriate measures to resolve outstanding technical issues within two months before the signing of the agreement.

    “The (ECOWAS) Authority of Heads of State and Government endorsed the conclusion of the agreement in principle but noted that there are outstanding technical issues.”

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the negotiations received a new impetus in October 2013 when regional leaders, after an extraordinary summit in Dakar, urged the parties to demonstrate flexibility.

    It said that both parties had been working over 12 years of negotiations to narrow their differences before signing the agreement which would create a World Trade Organisation (WTO) compliant arrangement.

    It explained that the new arrangement would replace the previous non-reciprocal regime that had guided trade relations between them.

    ”The Yamoussoukro summit commended the Senegalese President, Mr Macky Sall, who was earlier designated to lead the process for the resolution of the outstanding issues being negotiated,” it said.

    The statement said that it welcomed the “participatory, consensual and constructive approach” that characterised the process and “paved the way for the finalisation” of the negotiations with the EU.

  • EU to deploy troops to Central Africa mission

    The European Union (EU) on Wednesday drew up plans to send 800 to 1,000 soldiers to Central African Republic to join 6,000 African and 2,000 French troops by the end of April.

    Gen. Philippe Ponties, Head of EU military operation in the CAR (EUFOR), said in Paris that this became imperative because there was a link between the problems facing the CAR force and the political crisis in Ukraine.

    “Given the humanitarian and security situation in CAR, it is urgent that we deploy to support the African Union and French mission and to ease the humanitarian task,’’ he said.

    This was coming after France accused the EU of shirking its responsibility for international security after a plan to send up to 1,000 troops to Central African Republic this week seemed set to collapse.

    Ponties said so far two brigades of about 300 soldiers as well as Special Forces and police units had been committed to the EUFOR mission.

    He stressed that the mission still lacked around 100 men and key logistical support before it could be deployed.

    “The launch still needs logistical support of about 100 soldiers, ranging from medical to transport needs,’’ he said.

    Ponties said France, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Portugal and Spain had agreed to contribute to the mission.

    “This will be a transition mission that will last six months which would be a bridge between the current situation and a multinational force that should be strengthened by year end,’’ he added.

    Ponties said the goal of the EU force would be to provide security in the capital, Bangui, and at Bangui airport where about 70,000 people who fled the violence were living in dire conditions.

    He said the EU had so far held four conferences at which member states as well as some countries outside the 28-nation bloc offered troops and equipment for the operation.

    Ponties said failure to send the force to Africa would be an embarrassment for the EU which has been trying to burnish its credentials as a security organisation, and a setback for France which has sought more European support for its efforts in CAR.

     

  • EU adopts strategy on Gulf of Guinea

    The European Union (EU) has adopted a blueprint to support Gulf of Guinea countries to address various challenges in maritime insecurity and organised crime.

    The EU foreign ministers at the end of their meeting on Monday said the strategy on the Gulf of Guinea was comprehensive and a  and long-standing approach of the 28-member bloc to support West and Central African countries’ efforts to overcome poverty and attain lasting stability and prosperity.

    They said that piracy, armed robbery at sea, organised crime and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the Gulf of Guinea posed serious challenges to human security, human rights, economic activity and trade both at sea and on land.

    They also recognised the need to protect both the populations in the Gulf of Guinea region and European citizens from the threats that emanate from the region.

    The strategy was scheduled to be presented to the EU/Africa Summit in April

     

  • Boko Haram: North’s governors meet U.S. officials in Washington

    Boko Haram: North’s governors meet U.S. officials in Washington

    •Sect kills two

    •Troops kill 8 in Yobe

    Governors of some states in the North are in Washington to meet with top United States officials to seek the solution to Boko Haram insurgency.

    It could not be ascertained how many of them were already in the United States but Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima and Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda who arrived on Sunday took the opportunity of their early arrival to meet with the world’s richest man, Bill Gates, to get support for their states on polio eradication.

    They were at the headquarters of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation yesterday for the meeting.

    They are expected to meet with White House officials, President Barack Obama, Congresssional leaders, the National Intelligence Council and the European Union (EU) developmental agencies, among others.

    In spite of the search for the solution to the Boko Haram insurgency, there is no let to the sect’s brutality. Suspected members of the sect invaded Pela Birni village in Hawul Local Government Area of Borno State, killing two residents before setting ablaze two churches and many residential houses.

    Pela Birni is one of the populated and remote village under Kwajjafa District in southern Borno with Christian domination, and about few kilometres drive to Garkida town in Adamawa State.

    Witnesses said the gunmen who came to the village on Sunday night bore sophisticated weapons.

    Mallam Musa Anjili Pela Birni said he narrowly escaped being killed by the attackers. The house in which he was sleeping was set ablaze.

    “The gunmen invaded our village at about 10 pm on Sunday, They started shouting Allahu Akbar (God is great). They ordered residents of houses to vacate then before setting the houses on fire.”

    Another resident, who did not want his name in print, told our correspondent that most of the houses near the Church of Brethern were set ablaze. Two people died. Many others were injured.

    The gunmen used AK47 rifles, petrol bombs and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

    Troops operating in the Northeast ambushed a group of terrorists on a mission to penetrate and attack Goniri Community in Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe state.

    In a statement  yesterday in Abuja,  Maj.-Gen Chris Olukolade, Director of Defence Information, said: “Troops are still in pursuit of the fleeing terrorist elements after the encounter which resulted in some casualties on both parties.

    “Rockets and machine guns were freely used by the terrorists who eventually lost over eight of their fighters with several others wounded.

    “ Arms were also captured from the terrorists while others fled.

    “ The troops, however, lost a soldier while an officer was seriously wounded in the encounter, ‘’ he said.

    Goniri is not far from Buni-Yadi where the terrorists killed pupils.

    He said troops, operating around Gamboru Ngala and Dikwa Local Government Area towards the borders of Chad and Cameroun, were busy throughout the weekend.

    He said the weapons recovered in one of the locations include four anti-aircraft guns, five machine guns and over 500 rounds of ammunitions.