Newspapers : 27th October

Berlin believes danger persists. The FT (en)
Asia and Europe vow firm crisis response. The FT (en)
Talk of a Euro-army is political posturing. The Telegraph (en)

European Commission 'broke its own rules' over Mandelson. Bruno Waterfield in Brussels and Patrick Sawer, The Telegraph (en)
" ... The row over Lord Mandelson's relationship has also illustrated shortcomings in the Commissioner's Code of Conduct, a document drawn up by Neil Kinnock in 1999, while he was Commission Vice-President, to tackle conflicts of interest after a corruption scandal led to the collapse of the Commission led by Jacques Santer.
The Code states: "The general interest requires that in their official and private lives Commissioners should behave in a manner that is in keeping with the dignity of their office. Ruling out all risks of a conflict of interests helps to guarantee their independence".
The rules make it clear that all "gifts" to Commissioners with a value of over £120 must be included in a declaration of interests.
But, unlike MEPs, Commissioners are not bound to declare free holidays or hospitality they receive – such as a night's accommodation on a yacht – as this is apparently not counted as a gift ..."

Will Boris's airport sink or swim? Michael Savage, The Independent (en)
" ... To some it is the perfect antidote to the frustration experienced by millions of Heathrow passengers each year and the misery of those who endure the drone of jet engines passing over their homes. A new airport built at sea that is easy to reach, passenger-friendly and doesn't keep anyone awake at night ...
... Heathrow. Throughout its 62-year life, London's main airport has been derided as a monument to Britain's make-do-and-mend approach to planning. Its origin was inauspicious – it opened in 1946 from an army surplus tent and had to wait until 1955 for its first permanent building. The site was only chosen as an airfield in 1943 because it was a good spot from which to scramble fighter planes to protect the capital during the war. Since then, it has grown piecemeal while the capital has sprawled around it. The east-west runways ensure that the largest built-up area possible is affected by noise pollution ...

Make-under for glitzy TV news anchor . Adam Sage, The Times (en)
" ... Laurence Ferrari was hailed as the most glamorous presenter when she took over as anchor on the main French evening news this summer — an observation that has proved to be her undoing. Her blonde hair, glossy lipstick and youthful smile were blamed for driving away viewers, particularly the over-60s, forcing the TF1 channel to order an overhaul of her look in an attempt to halt a drop in ratings ...
... Moreau added: “She needs time. France is a very conservative country and you don't replace someone who has read the news for twenty years in just three months ..."

The new Monte Carlo: a honeypot for the rich. John Follain, The Times (en)
" ...Unlike the French Riviera, the coast of Montenegro is virgin territory. Limestone mountains plunge into crystal waters on a coast studded with bays of sandy beaches and with fortress towns, a landscape that Lord Byron described as “the most beautiful meeting of land and sea” ...
... Turning its back on decades of Soviet-led rule, the country has launched a massive privatisation offensive which has drawn to it the likes of Oleg Deripaska, the Rothschilds and the French luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault. Deripaska’s presence, reportedly encouraged by Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, is so significant that many now call Montenegro a Russian colony.

Grim threat of years of misery. Gary Duncan, The Times (en)
" ... After both the Prime Minister and Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, admitted for the first time this week that the economy was probably entering a recession, every part of the economy except the farming, fishing and forestry industries and the public sector was contracting ..."

Sarkozy’s attempted EU coup fails – for now. Wolfgang Münchau, The FT (en)
" ...President of what? It would be too easy to dismiss this as yet another example of Mr Sarkozy’s hyperactive grandstanding – and, believe me, I am sorely tempted. But we should not dismiss it as a mere stunt because events are moving in his favour. Germany was never keen on what the French call gouvernement économique , which is what this is all about. But I am no longer so sure whether the immovable obstacle of Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, will be able to withstand the irresistible force of Mr Sarkozy for much longer. I can think of six reasons why Mr Sarkozy might prevail in the end ...
... First, last week’s stock market rout may serve as a reminder, if any was needed, that the financial crisis is not yet over, and that the transatlantic economy is in the middle of a long and painful recession ...
... Second, the failure to provide money market insurance as part of the recent rescue packages will need to be fixed ...
...Third, I would expect the existing bank recapitalisation schemes to be in need of revision and a eurozone-level agreement might well be necessary to do that. In Germany, for example, the only banks that have so far applied are publicly-owned banks ...
... The fourth reason is the failure of the eurogroup to provide leadership during this crisis. The eurogroup is an informal group of the eurozone’s finance ministers in which governments discuss issues of mutual concern. But it has been largely absent during this crisis ...
... Reason number five is that Germany is fast losing allies in its fundamentalist opposition to economic governance beyond the stability and growth pact ...
... The sixth reason is continued uncertainty over the Lisbon treaty. The treaty would establish a permanent presidency of the European Council, which could deal with crises beyond a six-month horizon ..."

EU split on how to restore Moscow ties. Tony Barber, The FT (en)
" ...A vigorous debate is taking place among European Union governments about how far, and how quickly, to restore the EU’s relations with Moscow to normal after Russia’s invasion of Georgia in August, according to an internal EU policy document ...
... the document strikes a positive note in assessing Russian compliance with the EU-brokered agreements to end the fighting in Georgia. It also talks of the “great potential for productive co-operation” in calming other so-called “frozen conflicts” in the former Soviet Union ...
... Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, told the European parliament last Tuesday that he did not view Russia as a rival to the EU. European policymakers should try to bring Moscow closer to “European values” by laying the basis of a “common economic space between Russia and the EU”, he said ..."

Credit Crisis Slows Economy in Once-Hot Poland. Nicholas Kulish, The NYT (en)
" ... Poles were jolted last week by the sudden discovery that they were not immune to the financial crisis contagion rippling across the globe. The plunging stock market here and the drastic weakening of the Polish currency proved, as in so many corners of the fast-growing developing world, how wrong they were ...
... Experts say there was a consensus locally that Poland would not be affected by the crisis, and that membership in the European Union would buffer it from the worst of the shocks. That consensus has begun to break down ..."