Life at 27
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Eurozone crisis: The end of all-powerful Germany
24 May 201226091 To Vima Athens -
EU-Libya: Ashton’s service suspected of favoritism
23 May 2012312PresseuropEUobserver.com, Rue89 -
EU summit: Hour of truth has come for Europe
23 May 201210377 El País Madrid -
Germany-France: Hollande-Merkel: forced to succeed
15 May 2012463PresseuropLe Figaro, La Croix, Süddeutsche Zeitung -
Eurozone: Greek threat raises its head once more
11 May 2012270233 El País Madrid -
European parliament: Three European agencies brought into line
11 May 2012864PresseuropEuropean Voice, România libera -
Europe day: A crisis and no fireworks
9 May 201226010 De Standaard Brussels -
Economy: The Greek crisis will fast expose Hollande
8 May 2012296100 Financial Times London -
Germany-France : The Merkel-Hollande duo still in search of a nickname
8 May 20126517PresseuropLe Figaro, Die Tageszeitung -
Media: A petition for a “Europe of citizens”
3 May 20121788Presseurop -
Germany-Italy: Isolated Merkel embraces Monti and growth
26 April 20121597PresseuropLa Stampa -
Debt crisis: End of the road for European austerity?
24 April 201256444 The Guardian London -
Economy: 2012 - the Hollande Revolution
24 April 201235310 El País Madrid -
From Germany: Fear of isolation
24 April 2012717PresseuropSüddeutsche Zeitung, Handelsblatt -
Schengen: France and Germany push to suspend free movement
20 April 201222624PresseuropSüddeutsche Zeitung -
European Commission: New rules to prevent creative stats
18 April 2012533PresseuropAdevărul -
France-Germany: Merkozy goes bust
17 April 201222152 La Tribune Paris -
Economy: Portugal first to ratify Fiscal Pact
16 April 20125713PresseuropExpresso -
Poland: Radosław Sikorski, another speedy European
13 April 2012681 Polityka Warsaw -
Bulgaria: Final touches before Schengen
10 April 20126312 Trud Sofia -
Greece: As quiet as a Eurocrat in Athens
9 April 201221827 Le Temps Geneva -
Institutions: The nebulous world of European agencies
30 March 201229714 Die Presse Vienna -
Bulgaria - Romania: Maritime duel over natural gas find
22 March 201249PresseuropStandart -
European Union: Europhiles create “Berlin Club”
21 March 20121209PresseuropABC -
Institutions: European Parliament - a democratic deficit
19 March 201224919 The Economist London -
European Union: German minister calls for new EU constitution
15 March 2012978PresseuropThe Times -
Fiscal compact: The plan to swap Ashton with Barnier
9 March 201238PresseuropFinancial Times -
Netherlands: The Hague to get taste of its own medicine
2 March 20126225PresseuropDe Volkskrant, NRC Handelsblad, Trouw -
European Council: Anti-austerity front grows in Europe
1 March 201229346 Le Monde Paris -
Fiscal Compact: Ireland calls surprise referendum
29 February 2012913PresseuropThe Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Irish Independent -
Fiscal Compact: Germany bemoans irritating Irish referendum
29 February 20127010PresseuropDer Spiegel, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Zeit -
European Council: The “grey mouse” has made his nest
23 February 2012947 NRC Handelsblad Amsterdam -
Eurozone crisis: The great European fire sale
21 February 201250857 The Independent London -
Central Europe: Austrians learn to love their neighbours
20 February 201249PresseuropDie Presse -
Hungary: MEPs place Orban under surveillance
17 February 2012654PresseuropNépszava -
Schengen: Bucharest and Sofia must try harder, again
9 February 2012381PresseuropRomânia libera -
France-Germany: Merkel seeks to save marriage of convenience
7 February 201277PresseuropLibération, Le Figaro, Le Monde & 2 others -
Institutions: Maastricht 20 years on: Eurocrat blues
6 February 201221011 Le Temps Geneva -
European Council: The Don Quixotes of Brussels
31 January 201211948 El País Madrid -
European Council: Angela Merkel has gone too far
31 January 20128015PresseuropDer Tagesspiegel -
Fiscal compact: Prague keeps its distance
31 January 2012331PresseuropHospodářské Noviny -
EU Summit: Poland not 100% happy
31 January 201223PresseuropGazeta Wyborcza, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna -
Eurozone crisis: No-one wants a German budget commissar
30 January 201210161PresseuropPúblico, Le Monde, Ta Nea & 2 others -
Eurozone crisis: Save the euro – get rid of Germany
27 January 2012686120 The Times London -
Hungary-EU: Viktor Orbán dodges MEPs questions
19 January 2012PresseuropNépszava -
European Parliament: Hurricane Schulz replaces Buzek the Calm
18 January 2012713PresseuropDer Spiegel, Financial Times Deutschland, Financial Times Deutschland & 2 others -
Hungary-EU: Brussels starts power struggle with Orbán
18 January 2012918PresseuropNépszabadság, Magyar Nemzet, Népszava -
European Union: Myth of equality at an end
17 January 2012220149 Gazeta Wyborcza Warsaw -
Debt crisis : Merkozy struggles to end austerity
10 January 20124614PresseuropPresseurop -
European Council: Little Denmark faces high-stakes EU Presidency
2 January 2012826 Politiken Copenhagen
The advent of a new administration in Paris has shifted the balance of power in the European Union away from Berlin and German austerity — a development that has been welcomed in Athens as a source of renewed hope and a light at the end of the tunnel for the Greek population.
Let Greece leave the euro? Save Spain’s banks? Continue to stand fast on austerity, or give growth a chance? Plenty of questions that the leaders of the eurozone, meeting at the extraordinary summit on May 23, will have to find answers to if they want to preserve Europeans’ faith in the common project.
The spectre of a Greek exit from the Eurozone has once again been raised by the political crisis in Athens: a scenario that is all the more dangerous for Spain, which is now more vulnerable, and one whose consequences would be geo-political as well as economic.
While the EU celebrates its birthday on 9 May, European integration is in trouble: the euro crisis, the turmoil of enlargement and the financial crisis have stirred things up. Yet, says a Belgian political analyst, there is no reverse gear on the ship of Europe, only course corrections are possible.
Whether Hollande will maintain his anti-austerity stance and side with Greece or whether he will back German policy remains to be seen. No matter how much tweaking of EU fiscal agreements he can negotiate, the political storm brewing in Greece is likely test him sooner rather than later.
With France likely to vote in a socialist president critical of her fiscal pact, and a Dutch government collapsing on the issue of social reforms, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s austerity model is taking a battering.
He is dull, pragmatic, consensual. And yet, if elected president of France, the Socialist candidate may be able to change the course of politics in Europe, a Spanish columnist believes.
In opening the debate on the role of the European Central Bank, Nicolas Sarkozy aimed to obtain support from voters demanding a growth oriented economic policy. But in so doing, he attracted the ire of Angela Merkel, who needs to emphasise a rift with French President for domestic reasons.
The Polish Minister for Foreign Affairs is an increasingly influential actor on the European stage. But his dynamism is often accompanied by an impulsiveness and a lack of attention to detail reminiscent of France’s Nicolas Sarkozy.
The European Commission has postponed Bulgaria’s accession to the free movement area due to lack of progress in the fight against corruption and organised crime. Though Sofia boasts of having fulfilled all the conditions, an investigation by Trud reveals otherwise.
Their mission: to bring the Greeks onto the path of budgetary virtue. Their method: to shake up established practice and insist on sacrifices. The risk: they may be targeted by anyone with a gripe against the EU.
Lacking in transparency, costly, and subject to conflicts of interest: the independence of more than 20 EU specialist agencies has led both to financial difficulties and a loss of democratic control, argues Die Presse.
Although elected by universal suffrage, MEPs are not sovereign. Most of the time they must leave the last word to national governments. With everyone wanting a more democratic EU, its representative body still remains a weak link, writes The Economist's Charlemagne.
The European Union Council, which begins on Thursday, is scheduled to sign the new fiscal compact. But at the same time, a dozen countries, led by Italy, are contesting the austerity policies imposed by "Merkozy" and calling for an economic stimulus package.
In a move that has sent shockwaves across Europe, the Irish government announced on February 28 that it plans to hold a referendum on the new European fiscal compact. In spite of a context of deep recession, high unemployment and growing resentment against the EU, the Irish press believes that there is no alternative but to vote Yes.
He may avoid the limelight on the European stage, but in two years, Herman Van Rompuy has discreetly taken control. For the moment without a challenger, on 1st March he will most likely be chosen for a second mandate as President of the European Council.
All over Europe, nations are looking for a quick way to raise cash. All of them seem to have the same idea - to sell off state assets.
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.