Archival Interview: Umberto Eco on Truth, Fiction, and the Holy Grail “It was a beautiful story. Too bad no one will find out about it.” “You surely don’t believe that you’re the only writer of stories in this world. Sooner or later, someone — a greater liar than Baudolino — will tell it.” — Umberto Eco, Baudolino In Memoriam | Umberto Eco: … Read more
Greek and German ministers meet, to no avail EurActiv.com The first meeting between Greece’s iconoclastic new finance minister from the Marxist left and his 72-year-old conservative German nemesis was never going to be easy. It turned out even worse than expected. Greek, German finance ministers clash in first talks EurActiv.com The Greek and German finance ministers could … Read more
The President Who Ate Turkey POLITICO – Steven A. Cook – Without fail every year, starting around November 10, my #Turkey Twitter feed is jammed with not just the latest news from Ankara and Istanbul, but also Auntie Jean’s turkey recipe and suggestions about how to deep fry the bird without blowing up… Foreigners don’t like … Read more
From a #euromaidan in Ukraine How do we (and Ukrainians) make sense of what is happening in Ukraine? Is the hashtag #euromaidan of any help in understanding the choice being made between the EU and Russia, or yet another symbol of a general failure to understand anything? Truncheon-wielding police break up Ukraine pro-EU rally, injuring … Read more
European Commission outlines steps to restore faith in US-EU data sharing in a post-PRISM world The European Commission (EC) has drafted measures designed to restore faith in the flow of data between the US and Europe following revelations about the NSA?s spying activities with its PRISM programme. The EC today outlined what it views as … Read more
Europe?s eastern future at stake at the EU Vilnius summit The aggressive attitude of Russia towards neighbour countries seeking closer EU integration indicates a new reality which the EU?s Eastern partnership must be ready to face, writes Alex Petriashvili. Alex Petriashvili is the Georgian state minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration. On the East-West divide, … Read more
Europe threatened by power outages this winter Renewable energy is blamed for jeopardising Europe’s energy security this winter, a new study has found. EurActiv France reports. The French multinational company Cap Gemini warned in their European Observatory of Energy Markets that energy security in Europe was under threat and that the region could soon be exposed to massive … Read more
MAIN FOCUS: EU discusses how to deal with refugees | 07/10/2013 In the wake of the Lampedusa disaster Europe is discussing its refugee policy. France wants to put the issue on the agenda of the EU summit at the end of October, and Tuesday’s meeting of EU interior ministers will also deal with the shipwreck tragedy. Commentators say … Read more
Commission floats ?ideas? to deepen the EU?s social side Social policy indicators such as unemployment could soon form part of the European Commission?s regular monitoring of EU countries? economic and budgetary imbalances under plans floated by Brussels today to deepen the social dimension of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Presenting the proposal on Wednesday … Read more
The political consequences of a Greek rapper?s murder The idea is powerfully simple: on the basis of existing evidence, could a case be made ? the government asked ? that Golden Dawn is, in fact, an organised criminal group? In Bed With Dracula ? A Grand Coalition With Angela Merkel Stefan Collignon The … Read more
Eight small European Countries are the happiest on Earth Just in time for the UN General Assembly, the UN secretariat has published the second World Happiness Report. On the basis of extensive polls in 156 countries it assesses how people rate their overall happiness in life. German election: don’t forget the Turkish vote(s)! There are … Read more
Norway?s centre-right wins election Result ends eight years of centre-left rule and makes Erna Solberg all but certain to be the oil-rich country?s new prime minister EU unfreezes regional aid funding for Hungary Hungary won access today (9 September) to ?2 billion in frozen EU development funds after convincing Brussels its management of projects met … Read more
Healthcare workers in demand across EU Data show sector is one bright spot as overall vacancies across the continent fall 4 per cent in past year as eurozone?s economic crisis continues Europeans punishing Greek Cyprus for abusing EU perks Greek Cypriots are receiving their comeuppance for abusing their position in the EU to punish Turks … Read more
Norwegian PM’s ‘passengers’ paid It emerges that some of the people in a video of Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg posing as a taxi driver were paid for taking part. Norway’s Prime Minister Moonlights as Cabbie, Redefines Political Desperation In an effort to get closer to his people and hear out their concerns, Norwegian … Read more
MAIN FOCUS: Berlusconi definitively convicted | 02/08/2013 Italy’s highest court convicted Silvio Berlusconi of tax fraud on Thursday. After dozens of trials, this is the first definitive conviction for Italy’s ex-prime minister. The judiciary is finally putting paid to Berlusconism, some commentators write delightedly. Others are dismayed that Berlusconi could not be stopped by political … Read more