Latest posts
Subsidies for renewables hold back green economy
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The green energy sector is not as economically productive as the fossil-fuelled one – and subsidies for current inadequate technologies make things worse by discouraging innovation, writes Dr John Constable...
Pessimism and populism on the rise in a Europe without hope
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The sense of hopelessness is, perhaps, the single most serious threat to the long-term viability of the European project – writes Joe Litobarski...
EU-US free trade deal could 'spread western norms' across world
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A free trade agreement between the EU and the US could help to spread western norms across the world in an 'Atlantic century', claims senior American diplomat...
Iran election comes amid 'unstoppable' political change
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Whoever wins the June presidential election in Iran, an unstoppable process has started to move the country towards a more open and modernised socio-political establishment, writes Vahram Ayvazyan...
Euro leaders 'dangerously sanguine' about low inflation
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The role of higher inflation in helping to address the eurozone crisis is poorly understood – but if the single currency is to survive, it needs to avoid the vicious circle of a liquidity trap, writes economist Simon Tilford...
National sovereignty needs to be 'reconsidered' - says EU
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Head of the European Commission in the UK admits that 'traditional notions of national sovereignty may need to be reconsidered' in order to align the country with globalisation...
Concerns over Canada's Arctic Council agenda
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The Arctic Council is taking steps to move from a decision-shaping to a decision-making international organisation – but Canada might find Sweden's chairmanship a tough act to follow, write Kristofer Bergh, Linda Jakobson and Ekaterina Klimenko...
Pakistan elections present opportunity amid violence
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Pakistan's successful democratic transition, combined with its increasingly dangerous pathologies, suggest that it is high time the west focused on how Islamabad can deliver on its people's aspirations, writes Daniel Twining...
'Lean' management can bring exponential results
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Every person in every organisation is well aware that there is too much wasted effort and energy in how the work gets done every day. So, what is stopping us from addressing that, asks Nancy Powell Bartlett...
EU budget cuts 'irresponsible and unacceptable'
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The proposals for the EU's new seven-year budget period are backward-looking and fail to provide an effective answer to the crisis. Without significant concessions, MEPs should not give their consent, writes Helga Trüpel...
The EU's climate policy is 'under attack' - can it resist?
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Critics have concluded that the EU is not prepared to assume the role of climate leader that the world so urgently needs. Instead the region's finance ministers should be leading the fight, argues Lies Craeynest...
Steep decline in number of Brits who can name their MP
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British people struggle to name their MP but increasingly believe parliament effectively holds the government to account and discusses issues that matter, writes Dr Ruth Fox...
'Worrying' reaction as Italy appoints first black minister
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Some of the hate-filled reaction to the appointment of the first black woman in an Italian government highlights the need for public figures adopt a zero tolerance approach to comments likely to incite violence and racism, writes Michaël Privot...
Quitting EU 'would threaten UK firms and environment'
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Without access to EU markets and migrant workers many British companies would not function, while leaving the bloc could be devastating for the UK's environmental policy, writes Jean Lambert MEP...
Eurozone recession drags into sixth quarter
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The eurozone suffers another three months of recession at the start of this year – with the economy across the single currency area shrinking 0.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2013...
EU raids oil firms in price-rigging inquiry
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European anti-trust regulators raid the offices of the energy giants BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Statoil as part of an investigation into allegations of collusion in oil price rigging...
Even Europhiles starting to turn against the EU project
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When College of Europe graduates - traditionally the most loyal of all Europhiles - start to turn against Brussels you know the project is coming off the rails, writes Justin Stares...
Seven days - a week in the life of Philip Booth
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An unwanted but surprisingly sunny bank holiday is followed by a visit to Bath University to discuss the welfare state – with the Queen's Speech, the morality of capitalism and the future of the euro also on the week's agenda...
UK 'washing its hands' of Afghan interpreters
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The British government's attitude towards Afghan interpreters who risked their lives in their own country is hard-hearted and may be linked to the national mood music against immigration, writes Geoffrey Bowden...
Markets 'irrationally exuberant' on euro economy
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The divergence between buoyant financial markets and the recession-hit eurozone economy is stark, and volatility could return over the summer, the rating agency Fitch says...
