Life at 27
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France-Germany
Merkel seeks to save marriage of convenience
7 February 2012PresseuropLibération, Le Figaro, Le Monde & 2 others -
Institutions
Maastricht 20 years on: Eurocrat blues
6 February 201210Le Temps Geneva -
European Council
The Don Quixotes of Brussels
31 January 201248El País Madrid -
European Council
Angela Merkel has gone too far
31 January 201214PresseuropDer Tagesspiegel -
Fiscal compact
Prague keeps its distance
31 January 2012PresseuropHospodářské noviny -
EU Summit
Poland not 100% happy
31 January 2012PresseuropGazeta Wyborcza, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna -
Eurozone crisis
No-one wants a German budget commissar
30 January 201261PresseuropPúblico, Le Monde, Ta Nea & 2 others -
Eurozone crisis
Save the euro – get rid of Germany
27 January 2012119The Times London -
Hungary-EU
Viktor Orbán dodges MEPs questions
19 January 2012PresseuropNépszava -
European Parliament
Hurricane Schulz replaces Buzek the Calm
18 January 20123PresseuropDer Spiegel, Financial Times Deutschland, Wprost, Gazeta Wyborcza -
Hungary-EU
Brussels starts power struggle with Orbán
18 January 20128PresseuropNépszabadság, Magyar Nemzet, Népszava -
European Union
Myth of equality at an end
17 January 2012149Gazeta Wyborcza Warsaw -
Debt crisis
Merkozy struggles to end austerity
10 January 201214PresseuropPresseurop -
European Council
Little Denmark faces high-stakes EU Presidency
2 January 20126Politiken Copenhagen -
Debt crisis
Does doom await in 2012?
2 January 201263El País Madrid -
Employment
Germany welcomes working immigrants
23 December 20114PresseuropHandelsblatt -
Climate change
EP reassesses emissions market
21 December 20112PresseuropEl País -
15 December 201156The Times London
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Press review
Poland’s EU Presidency – no fireworks, no slip-ups
15 December 2011PresseuropRzeczpospolita, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, Gazeta Wyborcza -
European Council
Britain – like the Cayman Islands, in the rain
12 December 201117The Independent London -
European Council
EU just can’t accept that Britain is right
12 December 2011113The Daily Telegraph London -
European council
The unravelling has begun
12 December 20115PresseuropGazeta Wyborcza -
European Union
Union of fear
9 December 20111PresseuropTo Vima -
European Council
A scary day for Britain
9 December 20118PresseuropThe Guardian -
Czech Republic
With or without Europe?
9 December 2011PresseuropHospodářské noviny -
European Union
Goodbye Britain
9 December 201129PresseuropLe Monde -
Eurozone crisis
Neither Paris nor Berlin, but Frankfurt...
5 December 201127Les Echos Paris -
European Parliament
A code of conduct for MEPs
1 December 20112PresseuropEl Mundo -
EU Budget
Brussels tightens belt
21 November 20113PresseuropDziennik Gazeta Prawna -
Eurozone crisis
Frankfurt Group, Europe’s hit squad
16 November 201111The Spectator London -
Controversy
The late British Empire irks the continent
16 November 20116PresseuropPresseurop -
15 November 201110Financial Times London
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Frankfurt Group
Europe’s new parallel government
10 November 20112PresseuropEl Mundo -
Eurozone crisis
And if Greece goes...
4 November 201113Le Figaro Paris -
Eurozone crisis
May God defend the EU’s heretics
3 November 201110Die Presse Vienna -
Eurozone crisis
Germany, the hobbled giant
3 November 20118Die Zeit Hamburg -
27 October 20116Le Monde Paris
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European summit
Italy, the ideal scapegoat
24 October 20117Corriere della Sera Milan -
Eurozone crisis
They are burying the federal ideal
21 October 20115Le Figaro Paris -
Immigration
Europeans up sticks
14 October 20113Adevărul Bucharest -
Portugal
Silva takes stand against “Merkozy”
13 October 20111PresseuropPúblico -
Eurozone crisis
Would Kohl or Mitterrand really do better?
10 October 20112De Volkskrant Amsterdam -
3 October 20112PresseuropTa Nea
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Press review
Barroso goes for bravado
29 September 20117Presseurop -
Denmark
Towards an EU that excludes
27 September 2011Politiken Copenhagen -
27 September 20111PresseuropFinancial Times Deutschland
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France
Shift to the Left for Senate
26 September 2011PresseuropLibération -
Bulgaria | Romania
Congratulations, you failed the Schengen test
22 September 20113De Volkskrant Amsterdam -
Romania-Netherlands
Bucharest triggers War of the Tulips
19 September 20119Adevărul Bucharest -
15 September 2011PresseuropLa Stampa
With 80 days left to run before the first round of French presidential elections, the German Chancellor has joined the campaign alongside her most precious ally in Europe, Nicolas Sarkozy — an initiative judged risky on both sides of the Rhine. 
The European Commission and its civil servants gained unprecedented powers with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty on February 7 1992. Two decades later, the economy’s primacy over politics and the advent of the crisis has destroyed their dreams and turned them into scapegoats. 
At best, the measures adopted at the January 30 summit – the fiscal treaty and the economic growth plan – are meant, at best, to overcome the mistakes of the past year and a half, says columnist Xavier Vidal-Folch. At worst, they’re part of a recurring sham.
The idea of pinning the second Greek bail-out on the acceptance by Athens of supervision by a European budget commissioner, a German proposal unveiled on the eve of the January 30 European Council meeting, is nothing less than a violation of state sovereignty, according to the European press. 
By foisting fiscal austerity on its Eurozone partners while stubbornly refusing an enhanced role for the ECB, and greater mutual support on national debt, Germany is a greater hindrance than a help to the single currency, argues Anatole Kaletsky. 
The election of Martin Schulz as new president will pave the way for a change of atmosphere in the European Parliament. In the wake of the reign of the consensus-building Pole, Jerzy Buzek, the German socialist is intent on shaking up institutions in Brussels. 
After quibbling for several weeks, the European Commission launched three legal actions against the Hungarian government. But who will back down first – Budapest or Brussels? The Hungarian press is not expecting any great changes. 
Whether it’s the planned European treaty, the S&P downgrade of nine eurozones states or reprimands issued to Hungary, recent events in the EU have highlighted how powerful countries are now imposing their law on their smaller neighbours. Polish columnist Jacek Żkowski aims to set the record straight. 
At the height of the debt crisis, a small country, which is not a member of the Eurozone, has taken on the EU’s six monthly rotating presidency. Danish daily Politiken argues that Copenhagen should take advantage of its marginal status in adopting the role of mediator for a community that is tearing itself apart. 
In the wake of a terrible year in 2011, the worst may be yet to come warns political analyst José Ignacio Torreblanca. The crisis could force EU member states to choose between Greece and Great Britain. And once again, everything will be decided in Germany. 
Accused of isolationism for steering clear of the December 9 EU26 growth and stability pact, David Cameron is only protecting, like other European leaders, his country’s vital interests, writes a British columnist. 
With Poland coming to the end of its six month stint at the helm of the EU rotating presidency, the national press discusses the country’s achievements and failures during the period. 
In walking away from greater European integration in order to defend the privileges of the City, David Cameron has hopelessly relegated the UK to the status of an irrelevant island state at the margins of Europe, argues John Lichfield. 
If Britain is marginalised after last week’s fractious European Council, it’s only because the continent is furious that the UK never signed up to its troubled euro project, argues the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. 
German proposals for greater discipline in the Eurozone have not been enthusiastically welcomed in France, where several Germanophobic comments have highlighted one incontrovertible reality: the French are very well disposed towards Europe, but on condition that it is a French Europe, remarks a Les Echos columnist. 
Gathered around Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, a small group of unelected EU officials have been assigned the task of governing the eurozone and removing leaders who fail to toe the line, writes the British conservative weekly The Spectator. 
The arrival of technocratic governments in Greece and Italy may well calm jittery markets, but could also help boost populist political parties who point to the democratic deficit at the heart of the EU, argues Gideon Rachman. 
What if Greece leaves the EU? Professor George Prevelakis argues that it is an eventuality that would prompt a new geopolitical upset in the Balkans. As for the EU, it would be forced to acknowledge its inability to “Europeanise” a member state of 30 years standing. 
Irresponsible? Poker game? – The reactions to the Greek referendum are revealing how tenaciously the “Brussels Congregation of the Faithful” are sticking to their dogmas. And that's a good thing, writes the editor of Die Presse: as things stand, Europe's last chance is heresy. 
It dictates the agenda of EU summits, defines the rules, makes an entire continent wait, and always ends up imposing its will. With the euro crisis Germany finds itself alone at the head of the Union. But is it up to this new role? 
The Eurozone crisis has raised calls for greater political integration of the EU. However, sociologist Jürgen Habermas argues that the tactics adopted by European leaders have sidelined what should be their main priority: the well-being of citizens, established within a democratic framework. 
At the European Council of 23 October, Germany and France passed out some good marks and some bad marks to partners in trouble in the eurozone – to Italy, notably. While the criticism of the inertia of the Berlusconi government is justified, the current crisis is equally down to the sluggish reactions that Berlin and Paris have shown ever since the beginning, writes the Corriere della Sera. 
The 23 October Eurozone summit may be followed by a second meeting on the 26th, requested by France and Germany. Le Figaro argues that this development in the manner in which the crisis is being addressed is proof that in spite of disagreements, the Berlin-Paris axis and the intergovernmental method have prevailed over the idea of a federal Europe.
The crisis is forcing more and more Europeans to emigrate. For young people in Mediterranean countries, as well as for those in Eastern Europe, it's the north of the continent where salvation lies. 
Are EU leaders failing to step up as real leaders in tackling the current crisis, as we so often hear? According to a Volkskrant columnist, it's more the political division of our time and public opinion that is putting the brakes to their progress. 
In his “Speech of the Union” to the European Parliament on September 28, the President of the Commission sought to defend his institution and put forward concrete proposals to leave the crisis behind. But the European press has no illusions about his true room for manoeuvre. 
On 1st January, 2012, when Copenhagen takes over the rotating presidency of the EU, the recently elected left-wing government will have to contend with two major issues: the euro and Schengen, which have both come to represent an EU that is increasingly unable to rally support. 
The citizens of Romania and Bulgaria should be delighted by the rejection of Schengen membership applications submitted by Bucharest and Sofia, which have been vetoed by the Netherlands. Dutch daily De Volkskrant argues that it will be the spur they need to step up the fight against corruption and organised crime. 
Upset by the Dutch refusal to accept Romania into the Schengen area, the Romanian authorities have decided on strict border controls for tulips. A reaction that's a trifle excessive, but justified, writes an angry editorialist.