Soon Enough

Reading weather forecasts this season has been like reading horoscopes in tabloids; you can be certain that it will be the reverse.

The only time so far, when the prediction really was correct was when CFACT Europe President Holger Thuss and I visited the Imperial Funeral in Vienna. The papers said it should be 30 plus Celsius. It was. The event became memorable in more than one way, considering the funeral attires we were wearing.

Now, in the high season, apart from the obvious focus on the tragedy in Norway and the US economy, the occasional, but usual comment surfaces in the media, pointing out that it’s – aha - global warming.

Meteorology is apparently not a science to be trusted for what to wear tomorrow, and we all know that. But for the general discussion, this also shows that the long term historic perspective is essential if we want to grasp the climate change debate.

The general summer plague of algae blooming is on again in the Baltic. Say some experts. According to others, it’s a lot better than earlier

Your memory from last summer is probably as clouded as mine. Either you remember the water temperature, the sun, the rain, because you were by the water, or even sailing. Or maybe you had a love affair and remember everything as sunny. Or was stuck in your office, with AC and mineral water as your only postcard.

For mor information on both the Vienna Funeral and historic research visit the same site you are on: cfact.eu.

CFACT mourns the loss of Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xavier Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius von Habsburg, a great European and advocate for individual freedom and dignity.  CFACT will be well represented at the funeral in Vienna with both Holger Thuss and Einar Du Rietz attending.   He will be buried together with his wife Regina, who died in February 2010, in Vienna’s Imperial Burial Vault on 16 July 2011.  Funeral arrangements.

HOLGER J. THUSS (Jena)

On February 6th an audience of 80 assembled in the Miller Aicholz Conference Center in Vienna, Austria, to discuss the upcoming European Elections, and to listen to various prominent speakers addressing this year’s key event of EU politics. Most of the attendees so called PanAlp09 conference were students and young academics from 12 European countries, many of them activists of their own national branches of the Paneuropean youth movement.

Among the speakers were Austrian Science and Research Minister Dr. Johannes Hahn, Bulgarian Minister for EU Affairs Ms. Gergana Grancharova, Dr. Paul Ruebig MEP (Austria), Ms. Walburga Habsburg Douglas MP (Sweden), Mr. Karl von Habsburg, president of the Austrian Paneuropa movement, and Mr. Alain Terrenoire (France), international president of the Paneuropa movement.

Rainhard Kloucek, Secretary General of the Austrian Paneuropa movement, emphasized the importance of such gatherings. “Young Europeans from the whole continent should have an opportunity to discuss the meaning of the upcoming elections to the EU-Parliament and issues such as freedom of travel, economics, or ecology.” He also emphasized that for “Europe is built in three hills: Golgatha, the Akropolis and the Capitol – the Christian faith, the Greek wisdom and the Roman law.” Therefore the conference would also focus on values a united Europe has to be built on.

CFACT Europe’s Executive Director Dr. Holger Thuss was invited to present his views on the future European energy and climate policy in an experts panel. His remarks reflected his skepticism towards the climate agenda of the IPCC and other “green” organizations. He reminded the audience that the independent review of the 4th Assessment Report of the IPCC itself by the NIPCC shows no evidence for a significant human contribution to global warming. Therefore, he pointed out, most of the current EU-energy policy is based on false assumptions and therefore harms economy and prosperity. “We need to think first of our own children and today’s poor, and not so much about hypothetical future generations with unknown demands!” he concluded. His presentation was followed by a very lively debate.

As Walburga Habsburg Douglas, a Swedish MP and vice-president of the international Paneuropa movement, wrote in her blog: “A fantastic and fruitful conference of the Paneuropean Youth on the future demands on our continent. It is great to be able to discuss with young persons on enlargement, on values, on history and future.” Ms. Habsburg Douglas is the daughter of Dr. Otto von Habsburg, head of the imperial house of Habsburg, honorary international president of the Paneuropa movement and former member of the European Parliament, who himself completed the conference with a highly emotional and very personal speech on why there is no alternative to the process of European integration and unification.

The event was hosted by the Austrian branch of the youth wing of the international Paneuropa movement and cosponsored by the Austrian federal government and the Austrian Chamber of Commerce. The Paneuropa movement was established in 1923 by Austrian Count Richard Coudenhove Kalergy. It is Europe’s oldest federalist organization. Main objectives for Europe are a free and united Europe with free citizens, a joint foreign policy, subsidiarity, institutional reforms, focus on the family, and strong property rights.

“Taxpayer and Environment Issues are Intertwined,” Dr. Thuss says.

CFACT EUROPE’s Executive Director participated in the Third European Resource Bank Meeting, held in cooperation with the Annual Meeting of the World Taxpayer Associations from June 29 – July 2 in Vienna, Austria. The meetings bring together taxpayer and free market activists from around the globe to share ideas and strategy.

“The interests of taxpayers and free market environmentalists throughout the world are interwoven. Wrong tax policies and counterproductive environmental measures often go hand in hand,” Dr. Thuss said. “Sharing our experiences of resisting red tape and high taxes is therefore very important.”

The conference was hosted by the Austrian F.A. v. Hayek Institute. The 250 or so participants represented a huge variety of educational organizations, think tanks and professional organizations, who took the chance to discuss some current policy issues and to get involved in coalition building. Dr. Thuss used the opportunity to present both the English and the newly published German edition of Paul Driessen’s book “Eco-imperialism” as well as CFACT’s responsible-stewardship-approach to most of the participants.

The program of the conference reflected that the commitment to free enterprise is threatened by many factors, including high taxes, corruption, nostalgia for socialism, and an attachment to unsustainable welfare states. Speakers included Slovak finance minister Ivan Miklos, Israel’s opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, Jürgen Stark, Vice President of the German Federal Bank, Andrei Illarionov, Former Chief Economic Advisor to the Russian President, author Johan Norberg, and Victoria Curzon Price, President of the Mont Pelerin Society.

In response to some critical developments in Russia, the conference also adopted a “Statement of Concern for Freedom in Russia”, signed by most of the participants. “This conference is about converting ideas into action. For many participants, just the psychological effect of knowing that there are like-minded people around the world is invigorating,” Dr. Thuss concluded.