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by Mike "Mish" Shedlock
November 17, 2016
from
MishTalk Website
The EU is splintering right before the EU nannycrat's eyes,
but they don't see it. Instead they scream "more Europe".
Here are two more cases in point, both from today.
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The EU is already extremely
upset with Ireland's corporate tax rate, and seeks a uniform
EU-wide rate.
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Viktor Orban, Hungary's prime
minister, says to to hell with that: Hungary to Offer EU's
Lowest Corporate Tax rate.
Hungary's government is to cut its corporate tax rate to the lowest
level in the EU in a sign of increasingly competitive tax practices
among countries seeking to lure foreign direct investment.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban said a new 9 per cent corporate
tax rate would be introduced in 2017, significantly lower than
Ireland's 12.5 per cent.
Mr Orban has signaled a desire to reduce taxes since Hungary emerged
from EU budgetary discipline measures in 2013. Hungary raised some
taxes in 2010 to avoid an international bailout.
Public debt has fallen below 75 per cent of gross domestic product
and the country's economy is forecast to expand by 2.1 per cent in
2016 and 2.6 per cent in 2017, above the EU average.
Mihaly Varga, economy minister, said government reserves up
to Ft200bn ($688m) would cover the costs of the measures next year.
An official said they hoped the impact on the budget would
eventually be neutralized by increased investment.
Hungary's parliament has already approved the 2017 budget and it is
unclear when a vote on the measures will take place.
Poland Smells
Victory Over EU 'Nannycrats'
Also consider Poland Scents victory over Brussels in Court Tussle.
Emboldened by votes for
Brexit and Donald Trump, the
rightwing nationalist administration in Poland believes it is close
to outmaneuvering
the European Commission in a
bellwether case that exposes the weaknesses of the EU's oversight of
democratic standards.
The ruling Law and Justice party, led by Jaroslaw
Kaczynski, has for a year ignored the commission's increasingly
threatening demands to roll back reforms that in effect neuter the
country's constitutional tribunal, a court designed to check
parliamentary power.
The defiant stance has come despite the commission's threats of
sanctions and its unprecedented decision to accuse Warsaw of
endangering democracy, which some EU officials fear will be found to
be toothless.
"As far as we are concerned, there
is no procedure," said a senior Polish diplomat in reference to
the "rule of law" measures brought against the country.
"We want to fix this problem by
ourselves. There is almost no one in Warsaw who will listen to
what the commission wants to say.
"We should not be triumphalist … but I do not expect any
developments," he added, echoing comments by other senior
officials.
The EU has faced a dilemma over how to
respond to Poland. The commission relies on member state support for
its warnings to carry weight.
Yet Poland's ally Hungary will block any action, and Germany and
other big countries are unwilling to intervene for fear it would
achieve nothing but sour relations with Warsaw.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the
commission president, has hinted that proposing sanctions would be
pointless,
"because some member states are
already saying they will refuse to invoke it".
"We should not be triumphalist … but I do not expect any
developments," he added, echoing comments by other senior
officials.
The EU has faced a dilemma over how to
respond to Poland. The commission relies on member state support for
its warnings to carry weight.
Yet Poland's ally Hungary will block any action, and Germany and
other big countries are unwilling to intervene for fear it would
achieve nothing but sour relations with Warsaw.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the commission
president, has hinted that proposing sanctions would be pointless,
"because some member states are
already saying they will refuse to invoke it".
"I don't think there's anything we can do," said a senior EU
diplomat involved in the issue.
Polish politicians have taken courage
from Britain's vote to leave the EU, calculating
that other member states do not want to risk alienating another
country.
They also view Mr. Trump's election as
the final nail in the coffin for
an international effort to force them into
compromise.
Toothless
Tigers
In the utterly foolish way the EU is setup, it takes a unanimous
vote to do nearly anything.
Trade deals take forever and reforms are non-existent. France will
never give up its agricultural tariffs and the EU sits and watches.
There is nothing the EU can do,
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about France
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about Poland
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about Hungary
In fact, there is nothing
the EU can do about anything except for authority already granted by
the treaty.
All the EU can do is piss and moan and
issue threats, until there is a unanimous opinion. There are some
treaty provisions for all-against-one.
But in this case, Poland and Hungary
scratch each other's back.
EU Totally
Dysfunctional
The nannycrat non-solution is "more Europe" and more
power to Brussels.
Try selling that to,
Heck, try selling that idea to,
Germany fears a transfer union, and
France fears revocation of agricultural policy...
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