What next for the UK’s student movement?, Guy Aitchison
The volcanic eruption of student anger and militancy in Britain over the last few months has blown the political space wide open, making a broad-based movement against austerity thinkable where previously there was only rumbling discontent. It has certainly been an exhilarating experience to be part of, but whether future historians look back on the heady period leading up to the parliamentary vote on tuition fees as the beginning of the fightback against the neoliberal juggernaut or the last desperate gasp of social democracy, will depend on the next steps the movement takes.
France and Germany vs. Bulgaria and Romania
In today?s paper, fellow Brussels Blogger Stanley Pignal has a nice scoop about a letter France and Germany sent to European Union officials announcing their formal objections to including Bulgaria and Romania in the Schengen area, the visa-free travel zone that most EU members are part of.
Traian Basescu, the Romanian president, has already responded this morning by calling the letter a ?discriminatory act against Romania,? and vowing to fight the move.
Snow paralyzes western Europe
Snow hits European festive travel
Pavements, snow and the Big Society
Snowy pavements are not the same as pavements with broken paving stones ? both of them can cause you to trip and fall, but the former happens all at once when it snows heavily, while the latter happens gradually over the years. That?s why countries like Belgium* and Germany have different approaches to these two issues.
Principality of Liechtenstein views the European Union
Recently the General Affairs Council (GAC) of the European Union adopted conclusions about the relations between the EU and the four EFTA countries: the three members of the European Economic Area (EEA) Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, as well as fourth EFTA member Switzerland, which remains outside the EEA:
MAIN FOCUS: Romania fights to join Schengen Area | 23/12/2010
Romanian President Traian B?sescu considers it “discriminating” that Germany and France want the Schengen accession of Romania and Bulgaria to be postponed. The press says the countries have not yet earned the right to join, but laments that the big EU states are using the issue to win points at home.
[Comment] Human rights have to be central focus of EEAS
from EUobserver.com – Headline News
China prepared to support eurozone countries hit by financial crisis
Thursday, December 23, 2010
China has said it is prepared to support eurozone countries during the financial crisis that has hit the sixteen member states. The country’s foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said: “We are ready to support the eurozone to overcome the financial crisis and realise economic recovery.”
EU communication on EEA and EFTA member Liechtenstein
Our first look at Liechtenstein was the blog post ‘EU relations with Liechtenstein (general conclusions)’ (22 December 2010), presenting the general remarks including Liechtenstein, but addressed at the EEA or EFTA states as a whole. Then we changed to a Liechtensteinian perspective in ‘Principality of Liechtenstein views the European Union’ (23 December 2010).
What does the EU want from Liechtenstein?
Our latest blog entry on EU-Lichtenstein relations looked at what the web pages of the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the EU delegation to Switzerland and Liechtenstein offer interested citizens: ‘EU communication on EEA and EFTA member Liechtenstein’ (24 December 2010), with links to earlier blog posts.
Digital agenda: Connecting the EU
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