Cold Spring
The city is sweltering under a record-breaking heat wave at the moment. Since July4th fell on a Sunday, today is a national holiday and New York is a ghost town. I took a train out of Grand Central to meet another friend, Adrian. He and I first met i...
European Salon de News, Discussion et Klatsch - 6 July
A Daily Review Of International Online Media Europeans on this date in history:1977 Craig Handley,...
Validation Costs Of European Patents And The Languages Issue
(Source: 11805/10 ADD1 / SEC(2010) 796) The EU Council recently has published Document 11805/10: Proposal for a Council Regulation on the translation arrangements for the European Union patent. This is merely a wrap-up of the original EU Commission D...
Uruguay vs Europe: what world cup identity?
28 countries out, four left. Uruguay aside, the football championship final will definitely feature either Germany or Spain, one of whom could be facing the Netherlands to contend for a title currently held by Italy. It's not about football anymore t...
Poles vote for continuity in presidential election
WARSAW - Bronislaw Komorowski celebrated with supporters at his election campaign headquarters here in Warsaw last night, as polls show him the likely next president. Komorowski’s victory over Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of former...
Who the "£$%^ does he think he is?
The £$%^& ing jumped up arrogant w$@nker.Talking about the fact that the Polish version of the Lisbon Treaty nearly arrived in Rome functionally illegal, Andrew Duff, a British Liberal MEP and legal expert, said a dodgy Polish bill would have be...
Anyone for a general election?
Lib Dem leader and Deputy PM Nick Clegg offered the government’s plans for electoral reform to the House of Commons with a mixed set of measures, most importantly of all the proposed referendum on a change in the electoral system to Alternative...
Three Steps to Passing Stress Tests
Success of European bank stress tests will require three components: transparency, credibility and a good recapitalization strategy for the banks that fail.
Is the eurozone bailout legal?
We've asked this question several times before, but the German think-tank Centrum für Europäische Politik has now also produced a very interesting study on the topic. In the study, the CEP trashes the legality of the €60 billion credit facility,...
Back in the real world, at last
Ukraine and the IMF have reached a provisional agreement. One cheer for that...
Can Erol: [in Quarter finals] Is there any surprise? Certainly not!
Uruguay’s Sebastian Eguren carries Luis Suarez (top) as they celebrate after the team won a penalty shootout against Ghana in a 2010 World Cup quarter-final soccer match at Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg July 2, 2010. REUTERS/Henry Romero...
Why Munich gets As, Berlin Ds (Der Spiegel, Hamburg)
"Halt education chaos!" headlines Der Spiegel, pleading for a unified educational system. The Hamburg weekly argues that Germany, which has as many education systems as federal states (16), is bogged down in educational idiosyncrasies...
Sarkozy mired in scandals (Libération, Paris)
"The screw tightens," observes Libération, announcing the resignation of two members of the government who had misused public funds. For the Paris daily, the heads of the Secretary of State of Cooperation and the Secretary of State f...
Launch
Hey everyone. It’s been done. We launched Europolit. From now on you will find interesting debates, positions and views on politics in the European Union there. Check in at www.europolit.net and find out about the debates in the EU. Right now w...
Poland Promises Lighter Foreign Policy
For Poland's neighbors, the election of Bronislaw Komorowski as the country's new president is a reason for a sigh of relief. Gone are the days of Poland trying to punch above its weight.
Vote on Gallo Report postponed until autumn
The European Parliament just decided to postpone the vote on the controversial Gallo Report on intellectual property rights enforcement until the autumn. This was a good decision. All the political groups are divided on the issue, and there is an int...
EU Anti-Terror Meeting Suffers “Technical Constraints”
TONIGHT THE European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (or LIBE – which sounds much better pronounced in a French accent than in an English one) will meet in Strasbourg to discuss the controversial SWIFT ant...
EU Anti-Terror Meeting Suffers “Technical Constraints”
TONIGHT THE European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (or LIBE – which sounds much better pronounced in a French accent than in an English one) will meet in Strasbourg to discuss the controversial SWIFT ant...
Flooding aggravates crisis (Gandul, Bucharest)
"Floods like those in 2008 happen once every 150 years, and those of 2010 occur once every 200 years," notes the Romanian daily Gândul. This exceptional rising of the waters has already caused at least 25 deaths. While the country is...
If you can pay, here’s the news: Murdoch’s paywall
Yesterday a friend tried to send me a copy of an article in the Times, the UK newspaper that is now secreted behind a paywall, its online content available to paid subscribers only. The article, so my friend wrote, was an interview with someone whose...
China presses ahead with Pakistan nuclear deal – and contemplates U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan
In Beijing last week to catch up with Chinese security experts on Afghanistan and Pakistan, with two issues the main focus. Having talked on-and-off with people there about the Chashma-3 and 4 deal since it was first announced, this was the first oc...
It is a mistake to try and derail the referendum on AV
There are those in the Labour Party who seem to be siding with the Tory 1922 Committee in opposing holding the referendum on the Alternative Vote (AV) on May 5 next year, the same day as local elections and the polls for the Scottish Parliament and W...
Buddhist Solutions to Environmental Problems (Guest Commentary)
One of the severe challenges mankind faces today is the problem of ecological crisis and environmental pollution, which resulted largely from the rapid development of modern technology and anthropocentric culture. Man is the main culprit and therefor...
New video online : EESC members reply to citizens' questions
During the Open Day 2010 our members replied to questions of our vistors...
New video online : EESC members reply to citizens' questions
During the Open Day 2010 our members replied to questions of our vistors...
Handy overview of a potential new disaster for the EU and Eurozone, as the bailout is challenged in the German Constitutional Court