Euro roundup for last week: Irish bailout, Berlusconi as usual, French cabinet crisis etc…

Irish resisting bail-out pressure from BBC News | Europe | World Edition The Irish Republic insists it does not need financial assistance from the EU amid speculation that a bail-out is increasingly likely. MAIN FOCUS: Ireland threatened by debt crisis | 15/11/2010 from euro|topics The Irish government is no longer excluding the possibility of asking … Read more

Euro roundup: rights of EU citizens; EU’s image problem etc…

Know your rights as an EU citizen by Grahnlaw Are you moving within the European Union? Are you looking for work in another EU country, or are you setting up shop? Is your employer turning you into an expat? Do you want to spend retirement in another EU member state? Are there family reasons for … Read more

Twitter and European Public Intellectuals (by Jon Worth) [and a Euro roundup as usual]

Public intellectuals on Twitter ? where are the Brits (or even the Europeans)?

from Jon Worth

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Romas left unbacked: EU drops Roma charge against Paris

EU drops Roma charge against Paris from FT.com – World, Europe European Commission drops planned legal action against France over its failure to implement migration law that was mooted in connection with Roma crackdown Is Europe a la Carte the new Integration Model? from Social Europe Journal by Henning Meyer No, this is not a … Read more

Euro roundup: Niquab veil and mini-skirt; Wilders about to become Dutch coalition member…

“Two young French muslim women decided to protest the recent French ban against wearing veils that cover the face, by walking around Paris in Niquab veil and ….. mini-skirt. Creating quite a stir. French article and video here. English article here.” Found here. Greek taxing madness by Open Europe blog team Today’s gloomy revelations from … Read more

“The Islamisation of Europe is a red herring

MAIN FOCUS: The Islamisation of Europe is a red herring | 23/09/2010 from euro|topics The success of the right-wing populists in Sweden is being interpreted in public debate as a sign of growing xenophobia directed above all against Muslims. But commentators say fears of an Islamisation of Europe are unreasonable and distract from the issues … Read more

Now Sweden. Far-right march in Europe continues…

Oktoberfest. More photos here. The Trend Continues ? Social Democrats also lose in Sweden from Social Europe Journal » Blogs by Henning Meyer The news is just breaking that in the Swedish elections the social democrats headed by Mona Sahlin have continued the European trend and have suffered a bitter defeat. Even though the social … Read more

Arrogant Sarkozy attacks Barroso

Sarkozy unleashes ‘violent’ tirade against Barroso at summit from EUobserver.com – Headline News Sarkozy attacks Roma row critics from BBC News | Europe | World Edition French President Nicolas Sarkozy denounces as “outrageous” comments by an EU commissioner criticising France’s deportation of Roma. Roma issue sparks Franco-German row from FT.com – World, Europe President Nicolas … Read more

Sarkozy’s France: A Land of Intelorance- Roma policy, Burqa ban, Le Monde scandal

French face veil ban passes last legislative hurdle from Hurriyet Dailynews France’s proposed ban on full face veils in public cleared its last legislative hurdle Tuesday when the Senate approved a bill outlawing the garments. The burqa ban: it’s complicated from FP Passport by Blake Hounshell Roma expulsions: France versus Europe by Grahnlaw It was … Read more

EP condemn France on Romas, France doesn’t mind…

Parliament demands France immediately stop Roma expulsions from EUobserver.com – Headline News Sarkozy, EPP lose Parliament vote on Roma from EurActiv.com The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), which houses French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s troops in the European Parliament, failed to bloc a resolution today (9 September) strongly condemning France’s expulsions of Roma. Euro MPs condemn … Read more

Sarrazin and Wilders stopped for the moment, Sarkozy continues his crusade against Roma people….

Bundesbank calls for dismissal of Sarrazin from FT.com – World, Europe Germany’s Bundesbank says it will ask Christian Wulff, the country’s president, to dismiss Thilo Sarrazin, a board member who caused outrage by saying Jews shared ‘a certain gene’ and Muslims were unwilling to fit into German society Wilders pulls out as Dutch talks fail … Read more

Europe goin’ crazy: Sarkozy to go his Roma policy, Swiss initiative to re-introduce death penalty….

MAIN FOCUS: Europe unsettled by death penalty initiative | 25/08/2010 from euro|topics The campaign to collect signatures on reintroducing the death penalty in Switzerland was stopped by its initiators today, Wednesday, a day after it began. By their own account the organisers wanted to draw attention to shortcomings in the prosecution of sex killings. The … Read more

Sarkozy finds the weakest target- Roma people under attack

Anger mounts over Sarkozy’s Romany pledge from FT.com – World, Europe France’s extreme right National Front and the Catholic Church have joined the chorus of criticism over the crackdown on illegal Romany camps by Nicolas Sarkozy, French president The Roma of France: beware of oversimplification from Social Europe Journal by Rene Cuperus We could easily … Read more

Rene Cuperus: Christian-democrats prefer islamophobic populists

Christian-democrats prefer islamophobic populists from Social Europe Journal by Rene Cuperus In the Netherlands, like in Belgium, the formation of a new cabinet is underway. In these small, but ultracomplex coalition countries,  it takes weeks and weeks to form governments.  Cabinet formation is a giant Sudoku puzzle. What’s behind Sarkozy’s crackdown on the Roma? from … Read more

Euro roundup: France working on her identity crisis: banning burqa, chains “illegal” Romas…

MAIN FOCUS: Catalans ban bullfighting | 29/07/2010

from euro|topics

The Catalan parliament in Barcelona on Wednesday passed a ban on bullfighting that will go into effect in the autonomous Spanish region starting 2012. The press writes that rather than being a victory for animal rights over an outdated tradition, the resolution is an expression of Catalan desires for self-determination and clear demarcation from the central power in Madrid.

See no citizens, hear no citizens, speak to no citizens ? the institutional approach to the European citizens? initiative (ECI)

from Jon Worth by Jon

Would you ban the Burka?

from Social Europe Journal by Henning Meyer
Source: Pewglobal.org

The Pew Global Attitudes Project has recently published a very interesting piece of research investigating attitudes towards the full Islamic veil. The results show a remarkable difference between Europeans and US citizens.

Funny, smart commentary about burqa bans

from Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow

Observer columnist David Mitchell (half of the comedy team Mitchell and Webb is in fine form today with this column on the absurdity of burqa banning. It was one of those bits of the Sunday paper that had me stopping to read a passage aloud to my wife every ten seconds or so until she snatched it out of my hands and read it herself.

Egypt: Niqab ban in France stirs controversy

from Global Voices Online by Marwa Rakha

Whither EU-US Relations?

from U.S.A.K. Blog

Written by Mustafa Kutlay and Lukas Linsi

The election of Barack Obama as President of the United States in November 2008 was accompanied by popular enthusiasm in Europe. During his election campaign he had been given a rapturous reception in Berlin where over 100,000 spectators gathered when he spoke at the Victory Column in Berlin. But the support for Obama in Europe was not confined to a popular movement; also the European political elites pinned their hopes on Obama to improve trans-Atlantic ties after the divisions that marked the era of George W. Bush. After all, Obama was a declared multilateralist in international politics and he seemed ideologically close to the traditions of European social democracies on priority issues on the policy agenda, such as health care reform, climate change and tax reform. At the same time, the European leaders in France, Germany and Great Britain were considered to be exceptionally ?pro-American.? The moment seemed unusually ripe for trans-Atlantic cooperation and it was no surprise that Obama?s first overseas trip as US President led to Europe.

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