Public intellectuals on Twitter ? where are the Brits (or even the Europeans)?
Favourite EU books ? mission impossible?
Cosmetic Uprise ? UK and the EU had hardly returned to the Euroblog scene, when Mia Välimäki asked for the moon with regard to the European Union – a good read that doesn?t preach or teach: EU literature (23 October 2010).
New week marks turning point in French pension protest
An overview of the EU Budget (go on, give them some Youtube views)
from Jon Worth
New ‘mafia’?
MAIN FOCUS: A tough austerity package for the British | 21/10/2010
In a bid to avoid national bankruptcy the British government on Wednesday announced a barrage of drastic austerity measures. There will be major cuts in social welfare and almost half a million jobs in the public sector will be axed. Commentators find this harsh, unfair and extremely dangerous for the economy.
Frankly you are frightening people
The policy changes of the British government?s recent spending review are set out in a Treasury report. Attached as an appendix is a ?distributional analysis?. You can get the whole thing here.
81 billion pounds later: Brits avoid bankruptcy
The British government announced a barrage of drastic austerity measures on 20 October: major cuts in social welfare and almost half a million jobs in the public sector axed. British, Finnish, Danish and Dutch commentators find these public sector cuts, the biggest since world war two, harsh, unfair and extremely dangerous for the economy
Sacrificed at the altar of the Franco-German axis?
As we’ve noted before, Germany’s attitude to the EU and the famous Franco-German alliance is changing (plug: we will be organising a debate in Berlin next Tuesday on that very topic). Take German liberal MEP Silvana Koch-Mehrin (photo) for example. She is a vice-President of the European Parliament and has been called the ‘European face’ of the German liberals – the junior partners in Angela Merkel’s coalition government.
EU free movement of persons and services: Have qualifications, will travel?
The EU Commission has published a report on how things turn out in practice for mobile professionals: Internal Market: Commission publishes reports on how Professional Qualifications Directive works in practice (22 October 2010, press release IP/10/1367; available in English, French and German).
Europeans terrorised by unemployment, not by terrorism on TV
Particularly in Italy, European television is obsessed with crime and terrorism,but the economic situation and the employment crisis are our real concerns. A recent report on the ‘fears of Europeans’ seeks to explain why
MAIN FOCUS: French face pension reform | 22/10/2010
France’s senate plans to vote on the country’s deeply controversial pension reform today, Friday. The European press sees no alternative to raising the minimum retirement age to 62, and considers the strikes and blockades a danger to economic recovery.
Switzerland: European Union playing seek
Yesterday we looked at some issues between the European Union and Switzerland, but especially for useful information about where the relationship is going. On this count, the own-initiative resolution from the European Parliament was almost the only thing with real informational value unearthed by a quick search: Can?t live with them, can?t live without them: European Union and Switzerland (20 October 2010).
European Parliament starting to get embarrased about asking for more money?
We’ve said a thing or two in the past about the wonders of EU spin ‘communication’. But the European Parliament’s attempted defence of MEPs’ decision to increase the EU’s 2011 budget by 5.9% is a stretch so far that it has descended into farce.
Full speed ahead on EU diplomacy after Strasbourg vote
from EUobserver.com – Headline News
EU Green Paper on e-procurement
The European Commission has launched a consultation on expanding the use of electronic procurement in the internal market: European Commission acts to expand the use of e-procurement in the EU (18 October 2010, press release IP/10/1347; in English, French and German).
Roma, not just human rights groups, need to speak up for ourselves
from EUobserver.com – Comment
Serbia: Children Get Military Training in Russian Camps
Serbia is a deeply divided country regarding the main orientation of its foreign relations: while some political parties and approximately half of its population would like to see Serbia in the European Union as soon as possible, other politicians and citizens look toward Russia and would like their homeland to become a Russian province, as Tomislav Nikolic said in the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia in 2007.
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