Blue Card, French DNA Bill, the new Treaty etc...
Does EU need 'blue card'?
The EU is set to unveil its version of the US Green Card - a Blue Card targeting skilled immigrants. Is it necessary?
EU proposes 'blue card' to attract skilled immigrants
European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana (C) shakes hands with Ali Larijani (L) as Saeed Jalili (R) looks on as they arrive at Villa Pamphili in Rome October 23, 2007. Iran will not retreat "one iota" from its nuclear programme, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday, as his new chief negotiator Saeed Jalili, who replaced Larijani, met Western diplomats for the first time. Analysts say the appointment of Jalili on Saturday might signal that Tehran is hardening its line on a programme the West fears could be aimed at making nuclear bombs. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Shuttle launch is key for Europe
Tuesday's shuttle launch marks the beginning of an intense period of space activity for Europe.
French parliament adopts DNA bill
France's parliament passes a new bill introducing possible DNA tests for foreign migrants joining relatives.
EU Blue card welcomed as a liberal approach to immigration
The Liberal and Democrat group today welcomed the publication by the European Commission of two proposals establishing work and residency permits for skilled foreign workers (Blue Card).
IGC: A complex Treaty that rekindles hope for European integration
Europe, If the Nazis Had Won
by strangemaps
One of the mainstays of speculative history (together with “What if the South had won the US Civil War?”) is: What would the world have looked like if the Nazis had won the Second World War? And yet I’ve never seen a map showing what the Nazis’ post-war plans (for Europe of for the world) were, neither from their own files or reconstructed by war historians........
EU states should not 'fear' referendums, says Irish PM
Europe’s higher ground, John Palmer
After six years of nervous, ill-tempered wrangling and episodic threats to wreck the entire European Union venture, a new EU reform treaty was agreed by the union's twenty-seven heads of government at their Lisbon summit on 18-19 October 2007. Now the really hard work must begin.
Microsoft to carry out EU ruling
Microsoft agrees to comply with the European Commission's 2004 anti-monopoly ruling against it.
Business hails Poland's Civic Platform win
Foreign leaders and Poland's business community welcomed Civic Platform's victory in Sunday's parliamentary elections, predicting the revival of contacts and reforms...
Missile defence
by Edward Lucas
Missile defence in Europe
America needs to sell its plans more persuasively...
Latvia & devaluation
by Edward Lucas
Europe's fastest-growing economies hit choppy waters
Human capital in CEE
by Edward Lucas
The brainpower famine begins to bite
Ensanguining the Trevi
by Alexander Trevi
(The ghost of Anita Ekberg was ensanguinated here. Photo by Maurizio Brambatti / ANSA / LI.)
A group calling itself the ATM Azionefuturista 2007 has turned one of Rome's most famous monument into a bloodied protest canvas.
Référendum sur le traité de Lisbonne: Royal tacle Hamon
by Thomas Lefebvre
Le Traité Réformateur fait les bonheur des caricaturistes….britanniques
by Thomas Lefebvre
Pas le temps de faire un vrai post, quelques caricatures de la presse britannique sur le Traité Réformateur. Pour celles et ceux qui ont du temps a perdre a Londres, The Cartoon Museum organise actuellement une exposition, Eurobo££ocks, sur ce theme.
Steve Bell du Guardian:
Treaty reform: over and done with...at last
Last week's treaty summit may mark the end of an entire phase of the European integration process in which progress has chiefly been made through institutional "giant leaps forward", argues a post-summit analysis from the European Policy Centre (EPC).
EU climate and energy proposals delayed
The Commission has confirmed that an important package of legislative measures necessary for meeting Europe's climate change targets, including the promotion of renewable energies, will be delayed until at least mid-January.
Reform Treaty leaves unions with mixed feelings
The European Trade Union Confederation and social NGOs have welcomed the new 'Reform Treaty' agreed upon by EU leaders in Lisbon last week. At the same time, they expressed disappointment over Poland and the UK's opt-outs from the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
DOSSIER: The victory of Swiss populists | 23/10/2007
The rightwing populist SVP led by Swiss Justice Minister Christoph Blocher has become Switzerland's strongest political party, capturing 29 percent of the vote - more than ever before - in the country's parliamentary elections. Although this won't substantially change the consensus government formed by the four major parties, European newspapers fear a new course in Swiss policy.
Swiss set for tougher EU stance after poll
Switzerland is likely to adopt tougher immigration policies after a stronger-than-expected showing of the ultranationalist Swiss People's party in weekend elections
Swiss antagonists
Parties across Europe are entitled to reflect voter fears. But when they do so in a way so crude they cross the lines of political civility....German long-term prospects brighten
The revision to the country's economic potential, reflecting the structural changes in Europe's largest economy, could affect future eurozone interest rate decisions
Europe's shoppers go online for Christmas
Western Europe's consumers are preparing for an online Christmas shopping spree, but there is a large divergence between southern and northern Europeans
Dutch Declare Hallucinogenic Mushrooms Illegal
by Toby Sterling
AMSTERDAM, Oct. 12 -- The Netherlands will ban the sale of hallucinogenic mushrooms, the government announced Friday, tightening the country's famed liberal drug policies after the suicide of an intoxicated teenager.
A summit secret: leaders still smoke
The blogging minister
[Comment] Making the EU democratic is desirable but risky
snap comment on Poland election news
by Edward Lucas
EU-Russia relations: past, present and future
In this paper from the Robert Schuman Foundation, Mark Entin considers the past, present and future of EU-Russia relations. Cooperation between the EU and Russia is not only necessary for the international balance, it is an imperative, he argues.
U.S. Green Card may soon have European competitor
It was only a matter of time: The European Commission today unveiled its new "Blue Card," modeled on the United States Green Card, in a bid to attract more skilled workers to the European Union. For several years now, the EU has been facing an increasingly serious labor shortage, which has spread to "new" EU member countries in Eastern Europe. The EU believes it will face a shortfall of 20 million workers in the next two decades, a problem exacerbated by declining birth rates and an aging population. "The EU as a whole ... seems not to be considered attractive by highly qualified professionals in a context of very high international competition," according to the European Commission. But with easier access to jobs, and with the United States' H1B visa quota restrictions, this is likely to change.....
Congress to Welcome Sarkozy As America's Newest Old Friend
How times have changed. French President Nicolas Sarkozy will address a joint meeting of Congress on Nov. 7, signaling the fulsome transformation of relations between Washington and Paris.
The PES Gets Interactive
Converging with the return of my internet connection, I got a mail from the PES today on their manifesto 2009 site.
The Party of European Socialists has started courting the blogosphere early!
Brussels jam
A nonsensical article by Boris Johnson in the Daily Telegraph last week (you can read it here).He argues that Qualified Majority Voting in the EU should be unravelled, and that the Reform Treaty should therefore be rejected. But that argument does not add up.
