McCreevy appointed to EU internal market post

Tommy Vercetti

McCreevy appointed to EU internal market post

12 August 2004 14:31
The Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy has been appointed as the European Union Commissioner for the Internal Market.

The portfolio includes responsibility for the operation of the EU's internal market and financial services.

The appointment was announced in Brussels by the incoming President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso of Portugal.



The new commission is due to take office on 1 November subject to approval by the European Parliament.

France's Jacques Barrot was appointed Commissioner for Transport and as one of five vice presidents to serve under Mr Barroso.

With Germany's Guenter Verheugen also named a vice president, Mr Barroso ensured that the two countries that have driven the European project for decades will have a major say in the EU executive.

The full Commission list and portfolios

President: Jose Manuel Barroso (Portugal)

Vice-president, institutional relations, communications: Margot Wallstrom (Sweden)
Vice-president, enterprise and industry: Guenter Verheugen (Germany)
Vice-president, transport: Jacques Barrot (France)
Vice-president, administration, audit and anti-fraud: Siim Kallas (Estonia)
Vice-president, justice and home affairs: Rocco Buttiglione (Italy)

Other Commission members:

Information society and media: Viviane Reding (Luxembourg)
Environment: Savros Dimas (Greece)
Economic and monetary affairs: Joaquin Almunia (Spain)
Regional policy: Danuta Huebner (Poland)
Fisheries, Maritime affairs: Joe Borg (Malta)
Budget: Dalia Grybauskaite (Lithuania)
Science and research: Janez Potocnik (Slovenia)
Education, culture: Jan Figel (Slovakia)
Health, consumer protection: Markos Kyprianou (Cyprus)
Enlargement: Olli Rehn (Finland)
Humanitarian aid: Louis Michel (Belgium)
Energy: Laszlo Kovacs (Hungary)
Competition: Neelie Kroes-Smit (Netherlands)
Agriculture: Mariann Fischer Boel (Denmark)
External Relations: Benita Ferrero-Waldner (Austria)
Internal Market: Charlie McCreevy (Ireland)
Employment, social policy: Vladimir Spidla (Czech)
Trade: Peter Mandelson (Britain)
Taxation and customs: Ingrida Udre (Latvia)

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Looks like McCreevy's been given a high-profile job, and given his experience here, I believe he will be successful.

arcadegame2004

Yes I am pleased he got this job. I am glad that someone who shares my liberal capitalist outlook has been put in a fairly strong position to promote this.

I feel that since the airport monopolies of Europe (like Aer Rianta), as well as the electricity, and gas monopolies (ESB and Bord Gais), etc. are clear barriers to the Internal Market, that McCreevy should try to force the Irish and other EU Governments to let competitiors into these markets. I hope he will succeed.

mike65

Interesting, will we yet see McCreevy as EU Commissoner demand the scrapping of VRT? Oh the irony

Mike.

bonkey

arcadegame2004 wrote:

McCreevy should try to force the Irish and other EU Governments to let competitiors into these markets.

Isn't it funny how in another thread you're killed going on about how our job market needs to be protected from competition....

Sauce for the goose, arcade. Sauce for the goose.

jc

cyclopath2001

Will he decentralise his office to Kildare?

picasso

is this a sign that the EU men in grey suits have a sense of humour?!

Internal trade....harmonising trades across the EU ....clamping down on tax dumping.......now which country is it that has the 10% Corporation Tax rate, and had a Finance minister desperately battling against tax harmonisation?!

These people are so sly.

sceptre

picasso wrote:

is this a sign that the EU men in grey suits have a sense of humour?!

Internal trade....harmonising trades across the EU ....clamping down on tax dumping.......now which country is it that has the 10% Corporation Tax rate, and had a Finance minister desperately battling against tax harmonisation?!

These people are so sly.

Ah come on picasso. They're just following tradition (as outlined in Yes Prime minister). Don't drive a car? Minister for Transport for you. Like going to the opera? How about Minister for Sport? Smoke like a proverbial trooper? Ever thought of being Minister for Health? No cop on whatever but can bully like Nelson Muntz? Taoiseach for you my lad, just make sure you lie about where you went to college.

It's Joaquin Almunia who'll be snapping if we need another ass-whipping from the ECB like the one McCreevy ignored and Ingrida Udre who'll be saying things about tax harmonisation in any case. VRT should come squarely into McCreevy's portfolio though, given that we're pretending it's a charge rather than a tax per se (though I could be wrong on this & happy to be corrected)

Flukey

Well let's just hope he shakes things up a bit. It is needed!

AngelofFire

If he puts consumer interests above business interests i would be happy enough.He was no saint as minister for finance and i have strong reservations about him, but he did take low earners out of the tax net.

Cork

cyclopath2001 wrote:

Will he decentralise his office to Kildare?

Opposition TDs have probably already done their lobbying.

He has plenty ability and he has certainly radically charnged the Irish savings, pensions and tax systems.

monument

bonkey wrote:

Isn't it funny how in another thread you're killed going on about how our job market needs to be protected from competition....

Sauce for the goose, arcade. Sauce for the goose.

jc

Indeed, that’s more then just a slight contradiction.

arcadegame2004

Isn't it funny how in another thread you're killed going on about how our job market needs to be protected from competition....

I see no contradiction in supporting the entry of foreign-companies into the Irish market, while at the same time wanting restrictions on immigration from foreign-countries.

Foreign-companies in Ireland tend to primarily employ Irish workers. Foreign-companies coming to Ireland doesn't automatically mean they bring large numbers of foreigners with them.

MadsL

arcadegame2004 wrote:

I see no contradiction in supporting the entry of foreign-companies into the Irish market, while at the same time wanting restrictions on immigration from foreign-countries.

Foreign-companies in Ireland tend to primarily employ Irish workers. Foreign-companies coming to Ireland doesn't automatically mean they bring large numbers of foreigners with them.

I can see it now...
Please come to Ireland, we are great. No, you can't choose the best person for the job, you have to choose an Irish person....

....wait, come back...there's tax incentives...

Get real, arcade.

arcadegame2004

No, you can't choose the best person for the job, you have to choose an Irish person....

I didn't say that. I said that where skills-shortages are too great to find suitable Irish labour to fill jobs-vacancies, then by all means let a foreigner do it. At the same time, I was emphasising that where such labour-shortages do not exist, we should take steps to safeguard the Irish labour-market from mass competition for work, which could have the effect of driving wages down.

We and the UK are the ONLY countries in the EU not restricting numbers. And even in the UK, a stricter regime seems to apply. David Blunkett was reported in the British press as warning that Eastern European EU citizens would have to find a job within 6 months or leave.

I personally favour ALL the EU states having freedom of movement. That way, Ireland would not be bearing a disproportionate amount of the potential for jobs-competition in parts of industry not experiencing labour-shortages, not to mention a disproportionate amount of competition in the housing-market, compared to those EU states that are applying restrictions.

Official figures in the UK show that 15,000 Eastern European EU citizens came to work there, compared to 24,000 coming to Ireland. When you consider that the UK has 15 times our population, it is plain to see that the dangers I referred to earlier have the potential to impact on us far more than the British. The Government should watch the situation like a hawk and act accordingly, if the rate of 24,000 people coming every 3 months continues. If it did continue, that would equare to 100,000 immigrants per annum. Considering the existing non-national population of 300,000, this would lead to Irish people becoming a minority in the Irish Republic in 35 years. And that's BEFORE Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey etc. join up! That scale of immigration, should it continue in the longterm (and I accept that the jury is still out on this question) is unacceptable to the Irish people.

If bringing Ireland into line with the rest of Europe on our citizenship-law was reasonable, then so too is it reasonable to bring ourselves into line with them here.

Victor

arcadegame2004 wrote:

At the same time, I was emphasising that where such labour-shortages do not exist, we should take steps to safeguard the Irish labour-market from mass competition for work, which could have the effect of driving wages down.

Hang on. I though you were a PD-fellow traveller who favoured competition?

David Blunkett was reported in the British press as warning that Eastern European EU citizens would have to find a job within 6 months or leave.

Actually EU movement rights only cover you for 3 months. So Blunkett would seem to be suggesting a more liberal, not stricter approach.

arcadegame2004 wrote:

it is plain to see that the dangers I referred to earlier have the potential to impact on us far more than the British.

"Dangers"? What dangers?

arcadegame2004

Hang on. I though you were a PD-fellow traveller who favoured competition?

Competition between BUSINESSES. Not competition between Irish people and foreigners for jobs in industries where their are no skills-shortages.

"Dangers"? What dangers?

Of yet more demand for housing pushing prices up even more out of the reach of Irish couples and individuals, leaving them prey to opportunistic landlords who would push up prices to exploit their tenants. The dangers too of even more overcrowded Calcuttan hospital-wards. The dangers of a race to the bottom in wages due to competition from cheap-labour. And of an erosion of national-identity.

Victor

arcadegame2004 wrote:

Competition between BUSINESSES. Not competition between Irish people and foreigners for jobs in industries where their are no skills-shortages.

So aren't Irish people good enough to compete with foreigners now? I won't swear to it, but haven't you espoused competition affecting the jobs of state and Aer Rianta workers?

arcadegame2004 wrote:

Of yet more demand for housing pushing prices up even more out of the reach of Irish couples and individuals,

Immigrant workers are solving the housing problem, not creating it.

arcadegame2004 wrote:

leaving them prey to opportunistic landlords who would push up prices to exploit their tenants.

So blame the foreigners for what Irish landlords do to Irish people? Oh, do remember that: (a) The rental market is largely driven by affordabilty. (b) Many of said landlords and many of the sellers of overpriced properties are the parents of said young people.

arcadegame2004 wrote:

The dangers too of even more overcrowded Calcuttan hospital-wards.

You have used this phrase a number of times. I'm just wondering what it means. Do you mean they are perhaps crowded? Full of Indians? Poverty sticken?

arcadegame2004 wrote:

The dangers of a race to the bottom in wages due to competition from cheap-labour.

But what about the minimum wage that Mary Harney introduced? Or are you supporting a high wage, uncompetitive, high inflation economy that with haemorrage jobs.

arcadegame2004 wrote:

And of an erosion of national-identity.

Now I have a choice between that nice, pleasent Polish girl or a surly, inbread Mayo. Bring on the competition.

MadsL

yet another thread hijacked by arcade2004 to push his nasty agenda:

Just to spell it out arcade;

1. There are already restrictions in place to prevent non-EU labour competing against Irish 'skilled' labour.
2. Regrettably, Members of accession countries are already restricted in the welfare benefits the can claim here in Ireland.
3. As to your claims that the Irish are a dying breed, maybe we will just have to call on the 66m+ emigrees to come back and top up the gene pool (or just send sperm care packages...will that satisfy your celtic master-race concerns?

Happy now? Then shut up.

Ajnag

Yeah!
You just gave me an Idea, hows about we become the first country to keep its genetic identity by engineering all children born within the country to have a basis set of 'Irish' genes.A lot less messyer then sperm care packages.

On topic I wait with mike for mc creavy to demand the end of vrt.Guess he'll wait for the reshuffle before stickin the knife in.

Flukey

Well if things are going to get so bad in this country then the "foreigners" won't want to come. Arcade, go play with a slot machine or something!

Victor

Ajnag wrote:

Yeah!
You just gave me an Idea, hows about we become the first country to keep its genetic identity by engineering all children born within the country to have a basis set of 'Irish' genes.A lot less messyer then sperm care packages.

But not as much fun as "sperm care packages".

Anonymous Mayo Poster wrote:

Bring on the competition, sure. But would you mind not referring to Mayo people as 'inbread', even if you are referring to inside the county, and not closely related individuals. My bit of PC gone mad!

:rolleyes:

bonkey

God, I shoulda kept my mouth shut.....

Now I'm the one responsible for dragging a thread off-topic.

I'll close my digression simply by saying that I think arcade has proven my point adequately. He doesn't support competition - only competition that advantages those he thinks should benefit. Outside of that, good ol' protectionism is what we need, as it protects the same people.

Thats not liberalism. Its good ol' conservatism wrapped up in a new shiny label, and I hope to all anyone here holds dear that McGreedy doesn't play that game.

jc

Victor

Will the Belgians be complaining about all the foreigners coming to Brussels filling jobs there?

bonkey wrote:

Now I'm the one responsible for dragging a thread off-topic.

No, you merely compared one stated point of view with another and it was fair comment. It was dragged off-topic subsequently.