Anti-government protesters raise candles in Warsaw last weekend. Alik Keplicz / AP
Anti-government protesters raise candles in Warsaw last weekend. Alik Keplicz / AP

Europe should stop bullying Poland and start respecting democracy



Critics of the European Union entertained a faint hope after the shock of Brexit, and the unprecedentedly high vote won by the Eurosceptic, far right Marine Le Pen in the French presidential election, that the experience might have chastened the extreme Europhiles who dominate the European Commission, and that they might ponder the wisdom of aiming to do less but do it better. We should have known better.

Take the case of Poland. Firstly, let me state that I have no love for the right-wing Law and Justice government of Beato Szydlo. Many will agree with Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, who has a right to comment on the affairs of his country as a former Polish prime minister, when he accused his successors of trying "to transport us - in the political sense - in time and in space, backwards and eastwards." But secondly let me state that in this context, my opinion is of virtually no relevance, and certainly that there is no conceivable right for it to be enforced on the Poles.

The Eurocrats think differently, however.

The recent fuss, which has seen tens of thousands take to the streets in Poland, has been over the government's plans to overhaul the judiciary. Many, if not most, agree that action is necessary to reform a branch of the state that has undergone insufficient change since the transition from communism. The disagreement is over what kind of action.

The government passed three bills, which would have given them effective control over judicial appointments, and which certainly looked like the attempt to undermine the principle of the separation of powers that so many, from Lech Walesa, the hero of the struggle to shake off the yoke of Moscow, to an array of Catholic bishops (normally Law and Justice supporters), said it was.

As it happened, the Polish president, Andrzej Duda - usually seen as a cypher for Law and Justice's leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski - said he would not sign the two most controversial bills, so the confrontation will die down until the government decides how to repackage or rewrite them. The checks and balances of Polish democracy have performed just as they should have done.

But so would they have done if president Duda had chosen to sign the bills. Many find them objectionable, it is true. But no one can say that there has been anything illegal in the legislative process. If Poland has no constitutional bar to the government making the judiciary subservient to politicians - and maybe they will succeed on the next attempt - then it will be for the people of Poland to decide if they want such an administration to continue in office at the next election.

But the European Commission, led by its vice president Frans Timmermans, does not believe that. He evidently thinks it is his right to intervene, bully and threaten a democratically elected government when it acts in a way of which he disapproves. He warned Poland's government that the EU was close to triggering Article 7, on the grounds that the proposed bills constituted a "serious breach" of the EU's values, which include "respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights".

Such a move could lead to Poland losing its voting rights in the Council of Ministers, a "nuclear option" that would be the greatest slapdown in the history of the EU - and could cause the country to leave the 28 nation bloc.

Who is Mr Timmermans to make such a threat? He must surely be someone very important, you may ask. Indeed so. He is a former Dutch foreign minister who was nominated to be the number two in the European Commission. He is, as Poland's foreign minister Witold Waszczykowski has put it, part of "a selected body of bureaucrats [which] does not have democratic legitimacy". But they, unfortunately, constitute the power centre of the EU, and as Mr Timmermans is demonstrating, they do not hesitate to wield that unmandated authority to override democratically elected governments.

In On Liberty, the great 19th century philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote that "the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others... There are good reasons for persuading him, or entreating him, but not for compelling him... Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign."

Transpose "individual" for "state", and it is obvious that the Polish government's proposals do no harm to other states. Mr Timmermans can persuade all he likes, but it is not enough. He prefers to compel, and to threaten to "visit evil" upon Poland, to use Mill's term. He will not accept that the country, and its people, are sovereign -- just as in 2015 the Commission dismissed Greece's overwhelming rejection of austerity in a referendum as "neither factually or legally correct", and, for good measure, declared that a write-down of the country's 380 billion euro debt was now "off the table" as punishment.

I say again: I have no affection for Law and Order, nor do I approve of their proposal for the courts. But I do think that’s for the Polish people to decide. That is democracy. What part of that do Mr Timmermans and his fellow Eurocrats still not get?

Sholto Byrnes is a senior fellow at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies, Malaysia

Pari

Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment

Director: Prosit Roy

Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani

Three stars

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Dirham Stretcher tips for having a baby in the UAE

Selma Abdelhamid, the group's moderator, offers her guide to guide the cost of having a young family:

• Buy second hand stuff

 They grow so fast. Don't get a second hand car seat though, unless you 100 per cent know it's not expired and hasn't been in an accident.

• Get a health card and vaccinate your child for free at government health centres

 Ms Ma says she discovered this after spending thousands on vaccinations at private clinics.

• Join mum and baby coffee mornings provided by clinics, babysitting companies or nurseries.

Before joining baby classes ask for a free trial session. This way you will know if it's for you or not. You'll be surprised how great some classes are and how bad others are.

• Once baby is ready for solids, cook at home

Take the food with you in reusable pouches or jars. You'll save a fortune and you'll know exactly what you're feeding your child.

Results

5pm Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m

Winner No Riesgo Al Maury, Szczepan Mazur (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)

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Winner Marwa W’Rsan, Sam Hitchcott, Jaci Wickham.

6pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m

Winner Dahess D’Arabie, Al Moatasem Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi.

6.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 2,200m

Winner Safin Al Reef, Connor Beasley, Abdallah Al Hammadi.

7pm Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 2,200m

Winner Thulbaseera Al Jasra, Shakir Al Balushi, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.

7.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh 80,000 2,200m

Winner Autumn Pride, Szczepan Mazur, Helal Al Alawi.

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The specs: 2018 Ducati SuperSport S

Price, base / as tested: Dh74,900 / Dh85,900

Engine: 937cc

Transmission: Six-speed gearbox

Power: 110hp @ 9,000rpm

Torque: 93Nm @ 6,500rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 5.9L / 100km

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The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

Afghanistan fixtures
  • v Australia, today
  • v Sri Lanka, Tuesday
  • v New Zealand, Saturday,
  • v South Africa, June 15
  • v England, June 18
  • v India, June 22
  • v Bangladesh, June 24
  • v Pakistan, June 29
  • v West Indies, July 4