Eurosphere roundup: “Obama tries to calm European anger at US spying…European Parliament passes resolution on Hungary’s Constitution

The EU won?t stand up to the USA or protect our rights against ?the eyes?

For all their purported shock and outrage, the inconvenient truth for many European leaders is that their own intelligence services are up to their necks in unregulated surveillance and/or cooperation with the global USA-UK spying infrastructure.

European economy signals recovery: PMI

The eurozone economy looks on track to crawl out of recession in the second half of the year, surveys show

Obama tries to calm European anger at US spying

In a phone call with Chancellor Merkel, the President said he ?takes seriously the concerns of our European allies and partners?, said White House

Manufacturers take on EU pharma over ban

Drugs industry is pitted against small producers following ruling to outlaw distribution of branded products handed out by marketing representatives

L?enfer, c?est les autres: othering in Eurosceptic discourse

It is clear that, to survive, the EU needs to meaningfully engage with its sceptics. But is that even possible when public discourse has taken ‘the peoples versus the EU’, ‘us versus them’, to an extreme?

Avoiding concept stretching in ?euroscepticism?

The idea of concept stretching is not a new one, and certainly predates Satori?s seminal piece on the topic from 1970, at least in practical terms. However, it?s an idea that has continued relevance for all researchers, especially those in the social sciences. it was something I was reminded of this week, during some workshop sessions at the CRonEM annual conference, here at Surrey.

Joining the Euro Zone should not be Croatia?s Priority

A week before Croatia joined the EU 1st July 2014, its central bank governor, Boris Vujcic, expressed the desire to see his country become a euro-zone member as rapidly as possible. According to him this might be possible by 2017-18.

?#LaSegundaYaTal,? Another Significant Contribution to Twitter by the Spanish Government

Since winning the November 2011 elections, the People’s Party (PP) has distinguished itself mainly with relentless cuts in social spending and a vertiginous drop in support from the Spanish people [es], which slipped from 46.6% to 24.5% in a little over a year.

European Parliament passes resolution on Hungary’s Constitution

The European Parliament passed a resolution yesterday calling on Hungary to reform its constitution to bring it into line with EU values and norms. The resolution was passed by anEPP-S&D-Greens-United Left coalition, so it notably gained support from the European People’s Party, which the ruling Fidesz party in Hungary is a part of.

MEPs approve EU long-term budget compromise (News)

Lawmakers have approved a compromise struck last week on the multi-annual financial framework, the EU’s budget for 2014-2020.

The deal left unchanged the total amount if the seven-year budget which was set at ?960 billion at an EU leadership summit in February.

Duff: Polarisation will boost turnout in European elections (Interview)

Ahead of a vote in Parliament today (4 July) on a resolution aimed at giving political parties the same rulebook for the European elections in May 2014, liberal rapporteur Andrew Duff told EurActiv that campaigns should offer a greater European dimension.

MEP Andrew Duff (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) is a former vice-president of the Liberal Democrats in Britain and a prominent federalist.

Portugal?s crisis of politics and growth

Creditors should accept their programme is flawed and that a new model is needed for an outdated economy

Back to the sixties: The EU is cultivating an old fashioned intergovernmental union!

Last week, the European Council gave a clear sign that the EU is back in the Sixties. The heads of state are not willing to go further in sharing sovereignty and concede more power to the European institutions.

Roll over cultural exception, a France-led cultural revolution is marching on

The current debate between the ?reactionaries? opposing globalization and the progressives behind it somewhat smacks of the 17th century row between the old and modern schools of thought. Unlike the highly political spat sparked off between Paris and Brussels, the earlier quarrel was mostly intellectual and pitted those who rated Greek and Roman times as the high watermark of world culture against those arguing that creativity and innovation cannot but keep moving forward. Interestingly, the leader of the former camp, Nicolas Boileau, went down in history for deciding that two heads are better than one (?Du choc des idées naît la lumière?).