Culture & Ideas
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Cultural heritage
How Europe hawks its monuments
8 February 20121Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Frankfurt -
7 February 20127SME Bratislava
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3 February 2012264Die Zeit Hamburg
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27 January 20123Politiken Copenhagen
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27 January 201224Süddeutsche Zeitung Munich
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26 January 20127PresseuropLa Stampa, Le Monde, Gazeta Wyborcza & 3 others
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25 January 20121Gazeta Wyborcza Warsaw
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Internet
Right to be forgotten law welcomed
25 January 20127PresseuropLa Repubblica -
25 January 20124El País Madrid
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Internet
ACTA non grata
24 January 2012PresseuropGazeta Wyborcza -
20 January 20121Público Lisbon
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19 January 201267De Morgen Brussels
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13 January 201225The Guardian London
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Nationality
Multiple citizenship, way of the future
11 January 201216The Economist London -
10 January 20121Aftonbladet Stockholm
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10 January 20128Financial Times London
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Interview
Geert Mak — Reconquering Europe
9 January 20127NRC Handelsblad Rotterdam -
Bailouts
Against all the rules
6 January 201252Die Zeit Hamburg -
Eurozone crisis
Will the EU end up like Yugoslavia?
5 January 201267Politika Belgrade -
2 January 2012PresseuropPúblico
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30 December 201119Télérama Paris
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Literature
2011 – the year of the translator
28 December 20114The Observer London -
27 December 2011Lidové noviny Prague
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Interview
Andrzej Stasiuk’s European lesson
26 December 201112Wprost Warsaw -
Eurozone crisis
Iceland is our modern Utopia
23 December 201139Público Madrid -
20 December 201134El País Madrid
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Internet
The new gold mine of open data
16 December 20113La Stampa Turin -
15 December 201124Die Zeit Hamburg
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14 December 201121Die Zeit Hamburg
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Eurozone crisis
Farewell sweet sovereignty...
8 December 201117El País Madrid -
8 December 2011PresseuropThe Wall Street Journal Europe
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European of the Week
The cyber-revolutionary on Tahrir Square
6 December 20111Fokus Stockholm -
2 December 201113Der Spiegel Hamburg
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European Union
Give democracy a chance
1 December 201130The Guardian London -
Eurozone crisis
Panic – hottest all-time business model
30 November 201114Berliner Zeitung Berlin -
European Union
Look who sets the agenda now
29 November 201112De Morgen Brussels -
29 November 201117Aftonbladet Stockholm
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Debate
Crisis tears us apart
29 November 20117The Irish Times Dublin -
28 November 20114Expressen Stockholm
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25 November 20113The Guardian London
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Who’s afraid of Germany? (5)
Europe – an awfully wonderful family
25 November 201119Die Zeit Hamburg -
Who’s afraid of Germany? (3)
Goethe, in technocrat’s clothing
23 November 201115Der Spiegel Hamburg -
European Union
A revolution from above
23 November 20115Libération Paris -
Who’s afraid of Germany? (2)
Europe sprechs German now
22 November 20119Berliner Zeitung Berlin -
Eurozone crisis
What have the Dutch ever done for us?
18 November 201113De Volkskrant Amsterdam -
Debate
Why Europe needs enemies
17 November 20118Hospodářské noviny Prague -
Debate
In defence of technocrats
17 November 201110The Guardian London -
Debate
The crisis and three Europes
14 November 20119România libera Bucharest -
Eurozone crisis
Europe against the people?
11 November 201123The Economist London -
Czech Republic
The “Looney” is dead
11 November 2011PresseuropLidové noviny
As Greece pimps its ancient monuments to bring in the tourists, lovers of cultural heritage are up in arms. But the country is only doing openly what the whole of Europe is: looting historic sites to drum up more ready cash. 
Asserting national values is central to the political project of the Hungarian PM. Since the start of the year, fifteen paintings, specially commissioned for an exhibition in the Castle of Buda, have been putting this ambition on show. 
“Hitler”, “Occupying Power" – it’s always the same. Berlin is asserting its stance on the euro crisis and, in turn, is being abused with comparisons to the Nazis. Die Zeit ponders how Germans should respond. 
Can the radical manifesto of the killer of Oslo and Utøya really be staged? A theatre project in Copenhagen has raised strong protests in Norway and Denmark. But hearing the words of Breivik’s Manifesto 2083 is vital for understanding our times, responds its director, Christian Lollike. 
It is the madness that has become self-evident: for years, the public sphere has been plundered and democracy ruined. The German writer Ingo Schulze has had enough. Here he sets out ten reasons to take himself seriously again. 
As the Polish government prepares to sign the anti-piracy ACTA treaty, thousands of young internet users have taken to the streets in protest. Like most of their fellow Europeans, they fear it may “label their existential choices and free expression of identity as piracy,” explains internet anthropologist Piotr Cichocki. 
A former textile industry boom town, Guimarães is using its 2012 European Capital of Culture status to resurface after over twenty years in the economic doldrums. 
At a time when the drive for austerity has led most countries to cut back on cultural budgets, the Danish film industry remains one of the most successful in Europe thanks to a pro-active policy of grants and support for young film makers. 
European leaders have used the threat of war to justify policies undertaken to save the euro. But this argument no longer works, argues Dutch philosopher Paul Scheffer. The hearts and minds of Europeans must be won with valid arguments. 
While most Scots reject a complete break with the UK, they favour a form of autonomy which would include powers to raise their own taxes. The reluctant English should accept this, argue Simon Jenkins. 
In an increasingly globalized and racially mixed world, it's natural to have multiple identities. That's why states should loosen up naturalisation rights and grant the right to vote more easily, says The Economist. 
Is this a racist movie? Ruben Östlund’s latest film — a story of poor black and middle class white children which deliberate plays on the audience’s prejudices — has sparked controversy in Sweden. 
As the financial crisis continues to ravage the West, the dominant ideology of all triumphant free-market liberalism is collapsing. But what new political trends are emerging, and which will succeed? asks Gideon Rachman. 
What’s in store for project Europe this year? A community under the supervision of a strong European Commission or a decentralised intergovernmental system, advocated by the Germans? Dutch historian Geert Mak has painted a bleak picture for the future of the European Union. 
He who makes mistakes must pay the price. Ever since the crisis erupted five years ago, this key law of the market economy has been trampled on. Politicians must now decide between prosperity and morality, writes Die Zeit. 
Seen from Belgrade, Zagreb or Sarajevo, the economic and institutional crisis that has struck the European Union has a certain air of déjà-vu. Serbian daily Politika remarks on the similarities with the years preceding the break-up of the federation founded by Tito. 
Literature, philosophy, science: today, our tools for understanding the world are developing separately, regrets the renowned intellectual and humanist. However, culture remains a saving grace, particularly in Europe. 
With the worldwide success of Stieg Larsson and Haruki Murakami, translation has not enjoyed such a boom for over a generation. But will it ever attain to that Holy Grail, of perfect fidelity to the original? 
They published Václav Havel and all those Czechoslovak writers banned by the communist regime. Forty years ago, Zdena and Josef Škvorecký created in Toronto one of the most important publishing houses of the Eastern European resistance. 
Why do the Germans and the Poles have a hard time getting along? How does one recognise a Pole? Is there a way to help Germany better "dominate" the EU? A hard to pigeon-hole Polish writer provides some leads. 
In rejecting by referendum a bailout for their toxic banks and the repayment of external debt, the citzens of Iceland have shown it is possible to escape the laws of capitalism and take control of one's destiny, writes a Spanish historian. 
The integration of Europe has allowed the Old World to prosper, but the journey has cost it some of its soul, regrets the Spanish philosopher Rafael Argullol. It's not too late to affirm the values that make Europe strong – but it has to be done quickly. 
Encouraged by Brussels, the online availability of open data provided by public authorities could give rise to a multitude of applications that are useful to citizens and society, with economic gains estimated at no less than 140 billion euros per year. 
The politicians of Europe love to flourish the flag of Community togetherness. But in their day-to-day politicking they give the lie to their supposed virtues. The second part of Die Zeit's list of national egotisms that are harming the Community. 
The politicians of Europe love to flourish the flag of Community togetherness. But in their day-to-day politicking they give the lie to their supposed virtues. Die Zeit has compiled a cheat-sheet of national egotisms that are harming the Community. 
If approved by the Twenty-Seven, the fiscal union proposed by Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy would be a decisive new stage on the path to European federalism. But are all willing to pay the price: the surrender of the budgetary autonomy of states? 
If Mubarak failed to cut the Egyptian revolutionaries off from the rest of the world last January, it was thanks to a Swedish student and theorist of hacktivism: Christopher Kullenberg, named “Swede of the Year” by the weekly Fokus. A profile. 
Jürgen Habermas has had enough. The philosopher is doing all he can these days to call attention to what he sees as the demise of the European ideal. He hopes he can help save it -- from inept politicians and the dark forces of the market. 
Is the EU turning into an empire ruled by Germany? For German sociologist Ulrich Beck, we should take advantage of this widespread and much discussed fear to establish a new organisation for the Union, based on a real community of citizens. 
Fear, alarm, apocalypse: moods rather than facts steer mankind, writes futurologist Matthias Horx. This holds true for the eurozone crisis as well. 
With the crisis, power is increasingly concentrated in Brussels, where not just European institutions but also the most powerful, English-speaking media, congregate. Both make the agenda for politics in member states, writes a Belgian columnist. 
A new Europe threatens to emerge in the shadow of the crisis: a continent dominated by despondency and a defiance of politics that that has paved the way for a resurgence of nationalism and Islamophobia. These are much more serious dangers than national debt figures, writes Aftonbladet. 
Debt and austerity are the new reality for most Europeans. But for some, such a situation is an opportunity to turn a fast profit. In such a context, how can we still talk of nations and society? asks Irish columnist John Waters. 
In a country destabilised by the crisis, the 3rd Athens Biennale contemporary art festival has been largely overlooked. However, a Swedish journalist argues that the exhibition offers an opportunity to appreciate the urgency of the moment. 
Is the graffiti left by the 1970’s punk band in London as worthy of humanity as prehistoric cave art? A British archeologist believes so, seeing on these walls the end of faith in "human progress" initiated by our ancestors. 
A family with strict parents, black sheep and tough love: that’s today’s Europe, says an editor at Die Zeit, who sends out a call to defend the historically unprecedented culture of solidarity. 
What Germany’s leadership of the EU means isn’t very clear – least of all to the Germans themselves. A Spiegel columnist looks for the answer in two books, wandering between the lost soul and the genius of the country. 
Political changes in Greece, Italy and Spain have highlighted how European leaders have upset the balance of power between society and the state and politics and the economy. French philospher Etienne Balibar points out that these developments have overlooked the role of citizens. 
“Europe is speaking German,” trumpeted CDU deputy Volker Kauder. Just let’s not overdo it, warns the Berliner Zeitung. An association of free democracies should look a bit different. 
In the current crisis, the Dutch tend to pontificate about the citizens of ill performing countries like Greece and Italy. But as recession now looms, they should keep in mind that their prosperity isn’t just due to their own virtuousness. 
Nothing better than an enemy to forge a common identity. But the adage of the nineteenth century doesn’t quite fit the current crisis. Only by changing their relationship to power can Europeans unite and overcome the crisis, says a Czech editorialist. 
The appointments of non-politicians Lucas Papademos and Mario Monti in Greece and Italy has caused much ink to flow. But on the continent, experts have often played a positive role in politics in times of deep crisis, points out a Guardian editor. 
The EU may well soon be split up between the performers, the lame, and the laggards, worries Romanian political scientist Alina Mungiu-Pippidi. And let’s not count on a fake European identity to bring everyone together. 
Efforts to save the euro cannot run against the will of the voters indefinitely, writes Charlemagne of the Economist.