German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has put forward proposals for reforming the European Commission. According to media reports he wants to strip it of powers such as budget supervision and antitrust monitoring and transfer them to other authorities. While some commentators see a politically independent economic administration as unrealistic others say the proposals could convince Britain to stay in the EU.
Schaeuble’s recent ideas are not likely to fly, but the controversy over the role of the Commission is only a part of a bigger debate in Europe: the dispute over what the future European Union should look like, write Stratfor’s analysts.
Since Greek voters rejected Troika rule by a landslide, the Hellenic citizenry presents a threat far greater than the government it elected. It must be punished.
Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker in press conference after EU summit on Greece.Demotix/Sander de Wilde. All rights reserved.
Greece’s ruling Syriza movement backed a call on Thursday (30 July) from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to hold an emergency party congress as he seeks to assert his control over rebel lawmakers balking at new bailout talks.
In the last two nights alone, more than 3,000 people apparently tried to enter the UK via the Channel Tunnel from Calais. Another young man died in the attempt on Tuesday night. The countries of Europe must finally start cooperating on the refugee problem, some commentators urge. Others stress that the problem can only be resolved through a crackdown operation off Libya’s coast.
The Greek crisis has strained nerves on the eurozone debt market, but unlike four years ago there has been no contagion of financial uncertainty across the single currency bloc.
For the first time since 2004 there seems to be hope for a solution to the Cyprus problem. What are the impediments for the negotiations and how can they be overcome now?
Experts from the EU Commission, the ECB and the IMF are expected in Athens on Friday for talks on a third bailout package. Envoys from the ESM bailout organisation will also be attending. Prime minister Alexis Tsipras has no choice but to sit down at the table with the Troika again, some commentators say. Others think he will be forced to call new elections very soon.
Varoufakis is an exception to the norm precisely because he really believes in representative democracy.
Yanis Varoufakis. Demotix/spirofoto. All rights reserved.Over the past few months the world has witnessed the short career of a Greek government vainly endeavouring to uphold an anti-austerity platform against the implacable power of the Eurozone’s financial institutions. Yanis Varoufakis, the former Greek Minister for Finance, was a central player in this drama. Interestingly, this political maverick did not play his part to the standard script. The distinctive characteristics of Varoufakis’ mode and purpose in politics are both troubling as regards what they tells us about the norms of contemporary politics, and fascinating as a possible paradigm for a new type of politics in the age of twitter and the blog.
The latest deal between Greece and its creditors is far from perfect, particularly because its emphasis on fiscal targets risks undermining structural reforms. But the deal can – and must – serve as the basis for saving Greece and the eurozone.
The EU states have agreed to take in 55.000 refugees who are currently located in Italy and Greece. The EU Commission originally proposed obligatory quotas for the resettlement of 60,000 people. The European press is debating how best to integrate the refugees in the various countries.
A single currency implies a federal state, like the US or Brazil. The Greek crisis confronts Europe with its future. Português
To achieve anything in politics, including changing the rules, you have to master ‘the art of the possible,’ as conservative German statesman Otto von Bismarck famously said, rather than merely trumpet ‘the truth.’
A disturbing trend in the Netherlands towards more intense forms of racial profiling is converging with increasingly frequent and violent forms of police repression against minorities.
A man wearing a t-shirt commemorating Mitch Henriquez. Demotix/Jaap Arriens. All rights reserved.Despite the murder of Aruban-born Mitch Henriquezby police late last June in The Hague, the Netherlands has largely been ignored by the international press.
Discover more from Erkan's Field Diary
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.