Euro roundup: European Digital Agenda etc

http://www.diskursdisko.de/2010/04/juan-leguizamon-nautische-geschichten/ http://www.behance.net/jflegui found in  Juan F. Leguizamon ******************* Improving EU economic governance: Impressive Herman Van Rompuy by Grahnlaw Winston Churchill is said to have quipped that the Labour leader Clement Attlee was a man who had much to be modest about. At (s)election time British tabloids, which pray at the shrine of John Bull, were … Read more

Euro roundup: European Union (EU) Commission Unveils Digital Agenda…

European Union (EU) Commission Unveils Digital Agenda to Boost Prosperity and Well-Being in Europe

from EU Pundit by Andis Kaulins
EUROPA – Press Release:
Digital Agenda: Commission outlines action plan to boost Europe’s prosperity and well-being

“[Abstract ]Implementing the ambitious Digital Agenda for Europe unveiled today by the European Commission would contribute significantly to the EU’s economic growth and spread the benefits of the digital era to all sections of society. Half of European productivity growth over the past 15 years was already driven by information and communications technologies (see IP/10/571) and this trend is likely to accelerate. The Agenda outlines seven priority areas for action: creating a digital Single Market, greater interoperability, boosting internet trust and security, much faster internet access, more investment in research and development, enhancing digital literacy skills and inclusion, and applying information and communications technologies to address challenges facing society like climate change and the ageing population. Examples of benefits include easier electronic payments and invoicing, rapid deployment of telemedicine and energy efficient lighting. In these seven areas, the Digital Agenda foresees some 100 follow-up actions, of which 31 would be legislative. The Digital Agenda is the first of seven flagship initiatives under the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (see IP/10/225).

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Euro roundup: France Cabinet approves burqa ban, Eurozone troubles etc.

France Cabinet approves burqa ban

from Hurriyet Dailynews
The French Cabinet approved a draft law to ban the wearing of full-face veils in public spaces, opening the way for the text to go before parliament in July.

Visibility of Islam brings confrontation and interaction, says expert

from Hurriyet Dailynews
Recent debates concerning mosque minarets in European countries are a result of an increasing visibility of Muslim identity in Europe, according to a sociologist.

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Euro roundup: British elections aftermath, Project Europe 2030, ?500 bill,European financial stabilisation mechanism and more

Project Europe 2030: reflection and revival (part one), Kalypso Nicolaïdis

from open Democracy News Analysis – by Kalypso Nicolaïdis

It seems ironic that a report on the future of the European Union – Project Europe 2030: Challenges and Opportunities – is issued at the very moment when the continent?s leaders have been meeting in a desperate effort to contain the reverberations of an epic financial crisis. The flames in burning Athens, and the decisions taken in Brussels to seek to douse them, highlight both the dangers and capabilities of 21st-century Europe. But the wider context of the grave emergency in the eurozone also confirm that Europe needs much more than short-term management: it needs a larger sense of the critical choices facing it over the next generation.

Did Sarkozy threaten to pull out of the euro?

from FP Passport by Joshua Keating

Granted, this is the Guardian, quoting, El Pais, quoting anonymous sources, quoting Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, quoting Nicolas Sarkozy, but it still has to raise some eybrows at the European Central Bank:

The startling threat was made at a Brussels summit of EU leaders last Friday, at which the deal to bail out Greece was agreed, according to a report in El País newspaper quoting Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Zapatero revealed details of the French threat at a closed-doors meeting of leaders from his Spanish Socialist Party on Wednesday.

Germany’s worst nightmare?

by Open Europe blog team

The Commission has today presented plans to tighten up budgetary supervision and oversight in an attempt to avoid a repeat of the current eurozone crisis in the future (i.e. making up for the obvious and fundamental flaw of the eurozone, which is that monetary union cannot exist without economic and political union). ?We want governments to send their budget outlines to Brussels for review before they are approved by their national parliaments,” EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said today. “We can then see early whether a country is adhering to the Stability and Growth Pact. If not, we would intervene.”

Report on EU?s Long-term Future says: ?Reform or Decline.?

by Reflection Cafe

May 11, 2010


With all eyes on Europe?s last-ditch efforts to save the eurozone from collapse, it is hardly surprising that a thoughtful, 46-page report on the European Union?s long-term future has gone almost completely unnoticed. But the study, commissioned by EU heads of state and government in 2007 and published last weekend, is worth taking a look at.

European financial stabilisation mechanism: Open Europe accuses: ?Profound dishonesty?

by Grahnlaw

In the 11 May 2010 post on the eurozone rescue package They Said It Wouldn?t Happen, the Open Europe Blog makes these specific allegations with regard to Article 122 TFEU:

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Euro roundup: European financial stabilisation mechanism and more…

Background: European financial stabilisation mechanism

by Grahnlaw

The Council of the European Union has issued COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) No 407/2010 of 11 May 2010 establishing a European financial stabilisation mechanism; published OJEU 12.5.2010 L 118/1.

Once upon a time, I explored the stages leading towards the Lisbon Treaty, writing a number of blog posts about what became Article 122 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
Now that the EU member states have felt the need to shore up the common currency, it is interesting to see in which terms the provision on financial assistance was discussed at the time. In this blog post we look at the legislative history of Article 122 TFEU.

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Euro roundup: Blair lures Lib-Democrats, Merkel’s headaches, Saving Greeks etc…

MAIN FOCUS: Brown lures Liberal Democrats into coalition | 11/05/2010

from euro|topics

In a surprise move British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced on Monday his resignation as Labour Party leader, to pave the way for coalition talks with the Liberal Democrats. But Europe’s press doubts this gambit can keep Labour in power.

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Another Euro roundup: Greek crisis, British elections, My Europe Week and even more…

Interactive Maps of the Status of Debt in Europe from EU Pundit by Andis Kaulins Take a look at this set of interactive maps in the Global Business section of the New York Times — Debt Rising in Europe. Is Large-Scale Tax Evasion One Cause of Greek Financial Problems? Their GDP Indicates the Government of … Read more

Euro roundup: Newest Greek crisis, British elections, My Europe Day

Greek strikers hit Athens streets from BBC News | Europe | World Edition Greek public sector workers storm the Acropolis and scuffle with riot police during a strike against austerity measures. Euroblogging journalist Prune Antoine wins two European young journalist awards by Julien Frisch Sometimes people who actually deserve it win prizes, and this time … Read more

Euro roundup: Saving Greece begins…

Huge Greece bail-out deal agreed from BBC News | Europe | World Edition Eurozone members and the IMF agree an historic 110bn-euro ($146bn) bail-out to rescue Greece’s ailing economy. Greece’s debt crisis strains European unity from washingtonpost.com – Op-Ed Columns by David Ignatius When European leaders laid the foundations of the European Union with the … Read more

Eurozone burns, British and Hungarian elections, another roundup…

well, in the end EU will take care of Greek crisis, they have to but for the moment, things getting chaotic in euroland…

Greek crisis starts hitting other eurozone countries

from EurActiv.com by frederic

Fears that a planned rescue of Greece could stall and extend the financial crisis to other euro zone countries seemed to materialise Wednesday (28 April) as rating agencies downgraded Portugal and Spain, hitting European markets.

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Euro roundup II: Greece surrenders, Belgium coalition collapses…

IMF aims for swift deal on Greece

from FT.com – World, Europe
The announcement that Greece would be seeking help from the International Monetary Fund came as little surprise in Washington, where the fund’s spring meetings are opening

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Congressional Research Service: The European Union: Questions and Answers

The European Union: Questions and Answers (PDF; 166 KB)
Source: Congressional Research Service (via Open CRS)

The European Union (EU) is an economic and political partnership that represents a unique form of cooperation among its 27 sovereign member states. The Union is the latest stage of a process of integration begun after World War II to promote peace, stability, and economic prosperity in Europe. The United States has strongly supported the EU and its progenitors as a means to foster democratic states and robust trading partners.

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EU decides to save Greece…

MAIN FOCUS: Europe stands by Greece | 26/03/2010 from euro|topics The Eurogroup countries on Thursday evening agreed a rescue package for Greece that entails a mixture of bilateral loans and International Monetary Fund help. According to the press the plan demonstrates Europe’s will to overcome the crisis as a group, but also calls the monetary … Read more

the European External Action Service- The EU’s new diplomatic service

The EU’s new diplomatic service

from EurActiv.com by Giacomo

Introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, the European External Action Service is intended to give the Union a greater role in foreign policy. Yet its scope and competences are the subject of fierce debate among EU countries.

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Timetable for Greece

EU ministers give Greece timetable for recovery

from EurActiv.com by Claire

EU finance ministers gathered in Brussels yesterday to formalise a timetable for the Greek government to reduce its budget deficit from 12.7% to 3% by 2012.

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