by nanne
Mon Dec 18th, 2006 at 09:05:30 PM EST
The PES, a coalition of the mainstream European socialist, social-democratic and labour parties had its big biannual congress last november 7th and 8th in Porto. Howard Dean was there, as were Ségolène Royal, Romano Prodi, Jacques Delors and a load of other luminaries.
Didn't hear anything about it? That's because the press wasn't reporting.
Thanks to the miracles of the internets, however, we can still access the main documents that were discussed and agreed upon. Here's the link.
by nanne
Thu Dec 14th, 2006 at 10:15:21 AM EST
What city is the best place in the world to live in for us rootless cosmopolitans? If we assume that we are all close-minded materialists (rational economic actors) and care only about the income/cost relation the answer may very well be... Berlin.
This at least would seem to be the conclusion of the most recent prices and earnings report from UBS (pdf), which was kindly linked to here by lacordaire
From the diaries - whataboutbob
by nanne
Thu Nov 30th, 2006 at 07:13:57 AM EST
The European Commission has recently released its Green Paper on labour law - which was already broken here by Colman in October - and opened the Consultation round.
Over to the Commission:
The discussion paper is aimed at anyone with an interest in the changing nature of work in Europe. In particular, the Commission expects to receive responses from national authorities, trade unions and employers' organisations, as well as the general public. By having an open and vigorous debate, it hopes to encourage the widest range of contributions possible. The consultation will remain open for four months ending on 31st March 2007.
by nanne
Mon Nov 27th, 2006 at 06:29:08 PM EST
Brendan O'Neill has a rather silly piece up on Spiked titled 'Advertising is a free speech issue'.
Let's be short about this: advertising is not a free speech issue. Regulation of advertising is not problematic, it does not restrict anyone from bringing across a particular viewpoint. The opposite holds: advertising will often restrict free speech through self-regulation of the commercial media. Such as Spiked, which often flacks for general corporate interests (as O'Neill is doing here) and also receives substantial sponsership by corporations.
(Crossposted from DJ Nozem - Berlin's Irregular Spin)
by nanne
Sun Nov 26th, 2006 at 12:44:54 PM EST
This comment by Millman here on the European Tribune left me a bit confused:
I'm starting to dislike the Prius as much as SUVs, because the message is "consume differently" rather than "consume less." Basically the definition of "green" in this country drives me nuts - it's just another consumer style, not a solution.
(Crossposted from DJ Nozem - Berlin's Irregular Spin)
by nanne
Sun Nov 19th, 2006 at 05:07:23 PM EST
Got an FFII mail in my inbox asking me to support their cause by participating in an online vote. Here's their explanation:
Corporate Europe Observatory (corporateeurope.org), an organization that keeps track of questionable lobbying tactics and EU institutions or officials who "have their ears a little too open for one side of the story", has nominated the European Commission's DG Internal Market for this year's "Worst Privileged Access Award": http://www.worstlobby.eu/selectwinner.php for "manipulating a consultation on EU patent policies".
by nanne
Mon Nov 6th, 2006 at 11:44:14 AM EST
from the diaries. - Jérôme
GDP is a poor measure of a country's performance. When it is the main objective of a country to maximise its GDP growth, poor policies are likely to result.
This, I think, is part of the consensus in this community, which abounds with criticisms of the blind fixation on GDP growth and associated 'reform' measures. Criticism in itself is not enough, but the European Tribune has also shown considerable interest in developing a positive alternative account of development and progress.
After sort of promising it, I went to do some research on the various rankings that existed.
by nanne
Thu Oct 26th, 2006 at 02:28:22 PM EST
Sex sells, that much is clear. But what can we learn from the selling of sex?
For today's session, please give your opinion on how the television advertisements below reflect upon:
- The role of sex in public life in the USA and Europe
- The difference between conservative parties with Christian roots in Europe and with secular roots in the USA
- The perceived and real level of sophistication in the public spheres of the USA and Europe
by nanne
Sun Oct 15th, 2006 at 08:17:08 PM EST
I though I'd let you friendly people have a go at this quote:
FOSTERING REFORM
Recent economic analysis emphasises the complementarity between reforms. It suggests that reforming product markets facilitates reforms in labour markets and reduces home bias in equity holdings.
by nanne
Thu Sep 21st, 2006 at 05:54:09 AM EST
Even though the elections in two States in Germany past Sunday could still result in the return of two red-red governments, the big story has been the electoral gains of the neonazi NPD.
The NPD has entered the State government in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and several local district councils in Berlin.
(From my blog. Slight editing to reflect post-election view)
from the diaries. - Jérôme
by nanne
Tue Sep 19th, 2006 at 06:34:57 AM EST
Got this mass mail from Cecilia Malström in my inbox:
Dear all!
You are receiving this email because you are one of the more than 970 000 European citizens who have signed on www.oneseat.eu. The response has been fantastic all over placeEurope and the issue has been widely covered in the press and on blogs. Citizens from all 25 EU countries have signed. I have received thousands of encouraging emails. Thank you all for that! It shows that the issue of the European Parliament's seat is truly something that many Europeans care about.
We are now very close to reaching the goal of one million signatures but there is still some more work to do. Therefore I kindly ask you all to send www.oneseat.eu to all your friends, family and colleagues, asking them to sign.
If all of you manage to get one extra signature our goal will easily be reached and we can take the issue to Commissioner Wallström as soon as the Commission resumes after the summer break.
My deepest thanks to all of you!
***From the front page
by nanne
Fri Aug 25th, 2006 at 01:09:08 PM EST
On sites like Cafe Babel, there has been talk about the supposed high potential of blogs to stimulate a more interactive and democratic kind of politics in Europe.
This is all fine, but in practice it appears that there are only a few blogs that really engage in European politics. What's more, of these few blogs the two largest are openly hostile towards European integration.
by nanne
Wed Aug 3rd, 2005 at 06:10:53 PM EST
About a week ago the Financial Times ran a story on the inclusion of airlines in Europe's emissions trading scheme. Whether this was really news can be questioned. What is certain is that the FT did a poor job reporting it.
The FT got a look at the preliminary plans drawn up by the European Commission, from which it drew the news that the measure may end up costing the consumer up to 9 Euros a ticket.
This was called a 'pollution penalty'. But it is nothing of the kind.
