The EU is having another busy August in Foreign policy, traditionally the month in which the EU normally all but shuts down (to the chagrin of many). Last August 6th, Russia turned its conflict with Georgia very hot when it invaded the internationally recognised Georgian territories of South Ossetia & Abkhazia. The EU and the […]
Not even 30 km outside of Tbilisi and the first road sign to Sukhumi, Abkhazia’s de-facto capital, is a reminder of a legacy and war that continues to haunt the imaginations of IDPs who wish to return home and Georgians who wish to reintegrate the break away region. It is a sign of a conflict […]
I was really glad to read this Opinion piece by Andrew Moravcsik, Director of the European Union Program at Princeton in this week’s Newsweek, as it draws a neat conclusion on some of the stories I’ve brought up in this Blog over the last number of months. My very first blog for the FPA was […]
The EU has started to take the issue of online shopping seriously recently given that a 2006 study estimated 56% of Europeans shopped online. It’s a multi-million (or maybe billion?) Euro market so it’s not surprising that the EU’s actions have attracted the attention of interested parties. As I noted in February Karl Lagerfeld came […]
Is this WTO complaint taken by China against the EU regarding the importation of screws the first sign of an increasingly aggrssive Chinese attitude towards the EU regarding trade? With China being the only major economy with postive economic growth, it is less likely to kowtow to the rules of its trading partners.
Is Europe suffering from a hope-defict? Dominique Moisi a visiting professor at Harvard thinks so and he outlines (in the Brussels beltway premier Newspaper the European Voice) that this may delay Europe’s revovery from economic crisis. Citizens of the US, on the other hand, he believes suffer from an excess of individual fear of how […]
When the French Finance Minister says that the EU needs to cooperate with the US, that’s when you know the economic crisis is really devestating! Perhaps that’s a bit unfair to the French, as Ms. Christine Lagarde in part of the most pro-US Government in French history, under Americophile President Sarkozy. But it would also be unfair to […]
As Jon Stewart of the Daily Show said, the unwritten understanding between the US & Europe during the US elections was: We elect Obama, you love us again. A survey today in the Wall Street Journal shows that though this has generally true, the view of Europeans regarding the dominance of US culture is somewhat more nuanced. For example almost […]
The secretariat of the European Council (the meeting of all the EU Heads of Government) on Monday released this factsheet on how it is creating an “enabling environment” for EU Memebr-States if they accept former Guantanamo detainees. In it’s own words it is for detainees that are “cleared for release” and “expressed their will to be resettled within the EU” […]
The BBC reports today from South Ossetia that not much has been done for the South Ossetians whose homes were destroyed or damaged in last August’s war. The Georgian minority long ago fled or were forced out. The South Ossetians are left totally dependent on their protectors in Moscow — who were quick ten months […]
AFP is reporting that Europe & the US will shortly issue a joint declaration on the closure of Guantanamo which will stress the fundamental values of both in order to encourage the Europeans to help out in closing Guantanamo. As I blogged before, EU governments are currently considering whether to accept inmates and get President Obama out […]
On 5th June, voters from 27 EU countries will begin voting on who they wish to represent them in the European Parliament, it is the largest number of countries ever to vote for the only democratically elected transnational Institution in the world . Global Post have a very interesting Article on why the elections matter. The EU […]
The EU is currently deciding how to advise EU governments on how to divide a very nice and potentially valuable present. It is the airwaves that are currently used to broadcast analogue television, but which will be free when digital television becomes the norm in the next years. The “digital dividend”, as it is called, is the […]
On Wednesday, The European Commission will unveil the amount it will fine the computer chip maker Intel, for what the Commission believes, are serious breaches of antitrust law. It paid computer-manufacturers not to install it the chips of its rival, AMD. There is speculation that an eye-watering sum will be levied on Intel, according to Bloomberg, […]
Yesterday, in a video podcast, the European Commissioner for Information Society, Commissioner Reding called for ICANN to be restructured. ICANN is the entity that basically governs the internet, it decides the endings of web-addresses (eg. .com, .be) and it under the notional auspices of the US governmnet. European anxiety about this arose when teh proposed .xxx […]