Ordinary People Were Misled Over Impact of the Euro, Says Herman Van Rompuy
THE TELEGRAPH: Europe's "man in the street" was misled for years over the vast political and economic implications of the creation of "Euroland", Herman Van Rompuy has admitted.

The EU's president told a selected audience of civil servants and businessmen that the Greek debt crisis and euro zone bailout had come as a nasty shock to ordinary Europeans.

He said the public was not made aware of the full social and economic implications of the currency before it was created.

"Nobody ever told the proverbial man in the street that sharing a single currency was not just about making peoples' lives easier when doing business or travelling abroad, but also about being directly affected by economic developments in the neighbouring countries," he said on Tuesday evening. "Being in the 'Euro zone' means, monetarily speaking, being part of one 'Euroland'."

Public anger over the cost of supporting other euro zone governments, so far totalling £470 billion in taxpayer funded loans or guarantees, has created new political instability, especially in Germany.

Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor and her coalition government, lost its parliamentary majority two weeks ago following a furious reaction to a Greek bail-out that cost Germany's taxpayers £19 billion.

Public rage has since grown after Chancellor Merkel was last week forced to push through another £105 billion in loan guarantees intended to shore up southern European governments that most Germans regard as victims of their own profligate spending. >>> Bruno Waterfield in Brussels | Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Herman Van Rompuy: Europe's First President to Push for 'Euro Tax'
THE TELEGRAPH: Herman Van Rompuy, Europe's first president, is to join forces with the European Commission to push for sweeping new tax raising powers for Brussels.

Van Rompuy: Mr Van Rompuy, 62, who was appointed to the newly-created £320,000-a-year post at last week's special EU summit, set out his stall on direct Euro-taxes during a private speech. Photo: The Telegraph
Within days of taking office in January, the former Belgian prime minister will put his weight behind controversial proposals already floated by the commission's head, José Manuel Barroso, for a new "Euro tax".

He will add credence to Mr Barroso's plans, to be formally tabled in the New Year, by arguing for a Euro-version of a "Tobin Tax" – a levy on financial transactions already floated by Gordon Brown as a solution to the international banking crisis. It would result in a stream of income direct to Brussels coffers, funding budgets that critics say are already rife with waste and overspending.

Mr Van Rompuy, 62, who was appointed to the newly-created £320,000-a-year post at last week's special EU summit, set out his stall on direct Euro-taxes during a private speech at a recent meeting of the Bilderberg group of top politicians, bankers and businessmen. The group officially meets in secret, but when selected details of his remarks leaked out, his office was forced to issue a public statement on his behalf.

"The financing of the welfare state, irrespective of the social reform we implement, will require new resources," he said. "The possibility of financial levies at European level needs to be seriously reviewed."
Mr Barroso, whose commission acts as the European Union's executive arm and civil service, has set out alternative plans for a Euro tax that would involve Brussels taking directly a fixed percentage of VAT and fuel duties. While these taxes already help to fund EU spending – set at £121 billion next year – they are currently gathered by the treasuries of individual nation states, from which varying sums are paid into EU coffers.

A new Euro tax could appear on all shopping and petrol station receipts, showing the amount of VAT or fuel duty creamed off directly to Brussels. Supporters say it would take a fixed proportion of the existing tax revenue rather than increase it overall, and make the cost to taxpayers of running the EU more transparent. Critics argue this could backfire by increasing anti-Brussels sentiment. >>> Bruno Waterfield and Justin Stares in Brussels and Colin Freeman | Sunday, November 22, 2009

Herman Van Rompuy’s sister, a communist/extreme socialist, doesn’t agree with her brother’s politics:

Christine Van Rompuy bekeert zich tot klein links

”The Way to Hell,” Says EU President
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: BRUSSELS: Trans-Atlantic tension over the handling of the global economic crisis intensified on Wednesday when the prime minister of the Czech Republic, which holds the European Union presidency, described the U.S. stimulus measures as the "way to hell."

Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek argued that the Obama administration's fiscal package and financial bailout "will undermine the stability of the global financial market."

Mr. Topolanek's comments, only a day after he offered his government's resignation following a no confidence vote, took European officials by surprise.

The rotating E.U. presidency lasts for six months and the country that holds it is supposed to speak on behalf of the entire 27-nation bloc.

The statement came just a week before a meeting of the Group of 20 leaders of the world's biggest economies in London which aims to forge an international consensus on the economic crisis. His comments also underlined potential ideological strains between Washington and Europe as President Barack Obama prepares to travel to Prague in less than two weeks for a summit intended to bolster transatlantic relations and show that the United States and Europe are united over economic policy. EU President Blasts U.S. Economic Stimulus >>> By Stephen Castle and Dan Bilefsky | Wednesday, March 25, 2009