Tax matters for Switzerland and the European Union
The basic positions on tax could hardly be more different: virtuous tax competition or criminal tax fraud? The official Swiss view is that tax competition is healthy. Not only do federalism and [direct] democracy promote sound public finances, but t...
Greece Gets The Green Light, But Will It All Work?
Well, as reported over the weekend on this blog, the EU Commission did in fact demand “more sacrifices” from the Greek people, and in the end Prime Minister Papandreou had to make a last minute TV appearance to explain to his incredulous...
There is no conspiracy to kill the euro
Anglo-Saxons are worried, too...
Beatles matters
Martin’s Christmas present to Martin was a complete set of the Beatles’ remastered LPs. Two years ago the Westlakes went to Liverpool and were treated to a guided tour of all of the Fab Four’s haunts by a local guide. This tour, whi...
MP tänker rösta ja till datalagringen
Jakop Dalunde (MP) återanvänder ett några månader gammalt inlägg av mig, och beskyller oss i Piratpartiet för att vara osakliga när vi påpekar att Miljöpartiet tänker rösta ja till datalagringslagen efter valet. Remixer är bra, så på de...
Outgoing Commissioner tells UK to improve language teaching in schools
An outgoing EU Commissioner has reportedly said British children in independent schools who have compulsory language lessons are far better off in life than their state-educated peers.The current EU Commissioner for Multilingualism, Romanian Leonard...
Cockshut?
It was the final deadline today to submit article proposals to one of the most prestigeous Estonian peer-reviewed journals “Riigikogu Toimetised” (could be translated as The Parliament’s Editions, although the name in the Estonian language of t...
UN matters
This evening, as a guest at a most enjoyable dinner party, I found myself sitting opposite the Director of the United Nations’ Office in Brussels, Antonio Vigilante. We started off talking about the trauma of Haiti. Antonio mentioned that he ha...
European Salon de News, Discussion et Klatsch - 6 February
A Daily Review Of International Online Media Europeans on this date in history:1932 Birth of...
Karachi bombs: we must “understand”, not “condemn”…
“Effendi” of the excellent Spittoon site reports: Two bombs were detonated within an hour of each other in Karachi, targetting the Shia. A motorcycle fitted with explosives rammed into a bus carrying Shias near the Nursery bridge in Kara...
16ème édition du « Magheb des livres » à Paris
La 16ème édition du Magheb des livres, qui se tient les 6 et 7 février à la Cité nationale de l’histoire de l’immigration (CNHI) à Paris, met les lettres algériennes à l’honneur. L’occasion de décovurir une nouvelle génération d’...
Council waters down conclusions on researchers mobility
I have already commented on the first draft of the "Council conclusions on mobility and career of European researchers" in January and my verdict was very negative. But now the Council plans to water down the issue I thought was one of the most impo...
European Alternatives Activist Agenda
This is the first of a series of newsletters with information on all ongoing activities from our local groups in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, and Bologna, and a peak on what's coming up. European Alternatives was started with the ambition of bringin...
31st March – London – Political Parties
What is the future political parties in Europe? In what ways could European political parties innovate with respect to national parties? This conference addresses the particular political crisis of legitimacy in the UK, and proposes radical transnati...
Chinese New Year Greeting
TO ALL CHINESE READERS This last year was an extremely difficult one for all of us. China has performed extraordinarily well economically in the global recession, which has helped see the acceleration of the trend of economic and financial grav...
The day we wanted to go to the 12th floor
This day we thought we were going for a regular lunch at the EP, instead we were taken on a rather Kafkaesque behind-the-scenes tour.
Why the hard feelings?!
President Obama will be unable to attend an EU-US Summit meeting set to take place in Madrid in May, due to a scheduling misunderstanding. As a result of Obama’s absence, the summit will be postponed until the autumn. The New York Times describe...
Ignorance is not bliss for Chris Bryant
The controversial EU-US anti-terrorism data-sharing deal, named the Swift agreement, came under further attack yesterday as an almighty row broke out in the Commons. Labour’s very own Michael Connarty accused the government of treating Parliament w...
Is there a chance to escape de-legitimisation of the election results?
Recent developments in the election process in Ukraine may lead to potential de-legitimisation of the election results, no matter who formally wins it. The period between the two rounds of the presidential elections have seen a series of alarming eve...
Talk about what?
In a piece for the Telegraph we take a closer look at the "Obama snub", arguing,Until the EU comes up with something actually worth talking about, it's not surprising that Obama thinks that it's more important to travel to Asia, South Africa an...
