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            <channel><title>Presseurop | <![CDATA[European Commission]]></title>
                <link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en</link>
                <description>The best of the European press translated into 10 languages</description>
                <language>en</language><item><title>Institutions | Maastricht 20 years on: Eurocrat blues (Le Temps, Geneva)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/1483951-maastricht-20-years-eurocrat-blues</link><description><![CDATA[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. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/MAYK_depressed-europe.jpg" length="60691" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:49:00 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>European Commission | Santer returns to the fold</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/1440361-santer-returns-fold</link><description><![CDATA[Former  European Commission president Jacques Santer was appointed on Monday  January 23 to head the board of the Special Purpose Investment Vehicle  [&hellip;] (News in brief)]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:07:01 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Food | Europe's mountain of leftovers</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/1420001-europe-s-mountain-leftovers</link><description><![CDATA[In  Europe, almost 50% of edible and healthy food &ldquo;gets wasted during the  different processing phases from production to the consumer&rsquo;s table&rdquo;,  [&hellip;] (News in brief)]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:33:14 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Hungary-EU | Brussels starts power struggle with Orbán</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/press-review/1409941-brussels-starts-power-struggle-orban</link><description><![CDATA[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. &ndash;  (Press review)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/author/Orban.jpg" length="97711" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:39:40 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>European Union | Myth of equality at an end (Gazeta Wyborcza, Warsaw)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/1404381-myth-equality-end</link><description><![CDATA[Whether it’s the planned European treaty, the S&amp;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. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/KAZANEVSKY_inegalités.jpg" length="118011" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:25:32 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Euro | The birth of the divine currency | Cartoon (Neues Deutschland, Berlin)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/cartoon/1325631-birth-divine-currency</link><description><![CDATA[The birth of the divine currency (Cartoon)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/picture/ hachfeld xmasjpg.jpg" length="48029" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Mon, 26 Dec 2011 09:00:23 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Elect the Commission | Editorial</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/editorial/1299791-elect-commission</link><description><![CDATA[In recent days, we have often read that the problem of timing  &ndash;  with governments, and in particular Berlin, taking way too long to decide on what action to take  &ndash;  is one of the reasons why the debt crisis in the Eurozone has come close to &nbsp;breaking up the single currency.
And when governments respond, they do so in a half-hearted fashion: by waiting for the Franco-German couple to take the initiative. 
Willingly or perhaps not so willingly manning the helm, &ldquo;Merkozy&rdquo; has managed to pilot the euro through the shoals of the crisis  &ndash;  at least until now.
At the same time, their management of the emergency and the developments to come have enshrined the triumph of the intergovernmental method, favoured by Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, as well as the President of the European Council and adroit weaver of compromises, Herman Van Rompuy.
It is a method that has its advantages  &ndash;  we can react more rapidly, more effectively, and more legitimately when decisions are taken by government leaders  &ndash;  and its disadvantages: the absence of transparency and the de facto marginalisation of &ldquo;small&rdquo; countries.
The other drawback is that the intergovernmental method has sidelined community institutions (the European Commission and Parliament) to the point where it has weakened the entire EU, which is now perceived by the public as a part of the problem rather than the solution.
In spite of Jos&eacute; Manuel Barroso&rsquo;s demands for a more important role for the Commission  &ndash;  with, as a first step, control over the observance of the new pact for the euro  &ndash;  the institution he presides continues to viewed by &nbsp;commentators and a significant section of public opinion as &nbsp;a club of non-elected bureaucrats, which assumes that it can tell sovereign governments how to manage their budgets, and even how to apply austerity measures that are deemed to be inevitable.
This is the main disadvantage of the organisation that is supposed to embody European governance. Although they benefit from the approval of the European parliament, the European commissioners are not elected by citizens, but designated by member states.
This lack of direct suffrage has caused many Europeans to question the legitimacy of their actions. That is why it is desirable that they should be elected, either directly by citizens, or, perhaps more realistically in the short-term, by the members of the European Parliament.
 (Editorial)]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:23:56 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Eurozone crisis | Van Rompuy and Barroso to the rescue</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/1257631-van-rompuy-and-barroso-rescue</link><description><![CDATA[&ldquo;Van  Rompuy and his plan for Europe&rdquo;, leads the Spanish daily El Pa&iacute;s,  referring to the plan for immediate action that European Council [&hellip;] (News in brief)]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:02:49 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Who’s afraid of Germany? (4) | Merkel's Nein is wrecking the EU (Die Tageszeitung, Berlin)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/1210121-merkel-s-nein-wrecking-eu</link><description><![CDATA[Alone against all, the Chancellor says ‘No’ to a supporting mandate for the ECB and ‘No’ to common euro bonds. In Germany too, more and more experts are warning that her firm stance on discipline and rules is plunging the eurozone into chaos. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/vadot-merkel_0.jpg" length="97980" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:43:39 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Eurozone crisis | Only Eurobonds can save us (El Mundo, Madrid)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/1210481-only-eurobonds-can-save-us</link><description><![CDATA[The measure demanded by most European partners and supported by the European Commission still meets with stiff opposition from Germany. But Berlin cannot indefinitely block the launch of Eurobonds, which increasingly appear to be the only solution to the debt crisis. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/HACHFELD_eurobonds.jpg" length="77762" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Thu, 24 Nov 2011 17:49:59 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Euro | Germany's weight problem | Cartoon (Corriere della Sera, Milan)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/cartoon/1209011-germany-s-weight-problem</link><description><![CDATA[Germany's weight problem (Cartoon)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/picture/giannelli-asta-tedesca-490.jpg" length="104943" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Thu, 24 Nov 2011 14:14:51 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Debt Crisis | Belgium under the tutelage of Brussels?</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief-cover/1204921-belgium-under-tutelage-brussels</link><description><![CDATA[&quot;EU ups pressure on &nbsp;Belgium,&quot; headlines De Morgen.  The Flemish newspaper writes that &quot;at a time when negotiations on the  formation of a [&hellip;] (News in brief : cover)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/briefcover/de-morgen-23112011-100.jpg" length="39089" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:23:09 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Eurozone crisis  | Brussels to put bad pupils under tutelage</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief-cover/1199081-brussels-put-bad-pupils-under-tutelage</link><description><![CDATA[&ldquo;Europe seeks power to place weak states in &lsquo;administration&rsquo;&quot;, leads the Irish Times.&nbsp; Reporting that &ldquo;the Commission wants the Brussels authorities to be given the [&hellip;] (News in brief : cover)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/briefcover/Volkskrant-22112011-100.jpg" length="30468" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:09:08 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>EU Budget | Brussels tightens belt</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/1192981-brussels-tightens-belt</link><description><![CDATA[Fifteen  hours of &ldquo;murderous&rdquo; negotiations was all it took to hammer out a deal  on next year&rsquo;s European Union budget. On November 19, [&hellip;] (News in brief)]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:33:08 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Frankfurt Group | Europe's new parallel government</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/1155161-europe-s-new-parallel-government</link><description><![CDATA[The Cannes G20 summit was marked by the emergence of a new &quot;political-economic lobby&quot;, reports El Mundo: the Groupe de Francfort, or Frankfurt Group (GdF), [&hellip;] (News in brief)]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:10:33 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Literature | Brussels subsidises cut-price Kafka</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/1136241-brussels-subsidises-cut-price-kafka</link><description><![CDATA[Along with Goethe, he is part of the literary canon taught in all secondary schools in the German-speaking countries. But today, Franz Kafka is a [&hellip;] (News in brief)]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:16:58 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Eurozone crisis | They forget about growth (Les Echos, Paris)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/1113691-they-forget-about-growth</link><description><![CDATA[The agreement reached by the seventeen states of the eurozone is leaving out one crucial issue: growth. Two problems therefore remain unresolved: the lack of a common macroeconomic policy and the divisions between the member countries. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/factory-shoe.jpg" length="47463" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:00:58 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Finance | Brussels rediscovers market regulation</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief-cover/1077181-brussels-rediscovers-market-regulation</link><description><![CDATA[Amid the current market turmoil, the  EU Commission has a &quot;plan to tame the markets,&quot; says French  financial daily La Tribune. An &quot;impressive [&hellip;] (News in brief : cover)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/briefcover/Tribune-20102011-100.jpg" length="40971" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:45:37 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>EUROPEAN OF THE WEEK | Guido Strack - the downfall of a whistleblower (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/1028391-guido-strack-downfall-whistleblower</link><description><![CDATA[He wanted justice, and for it risked family, work and health – to lose it all. Guido Strack was once an ambitious officer with the European Commission. But that was before he began to draw attention to abuses in his department. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/Guido-Strack.jpg" length="68264" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:22:47 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Barroso goes for bravado</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/press-review/1005291-barroso-goes-bravado</link><description><![CDATA[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. &ndash;  (Press review)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/author/TIOUNINE-Barroso.jpg" length="58805" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:12:11 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Food | GMO honey banned in Europe</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief-cover/922301-gmo-honey-banned-europe</link><description><![CDATA[&ldquo;Bitter honey for the GMO lobby,&rdquo; quips the Tageszeitung on its front page following the ban brought down by the European Court of Justice on [&hellip;] (News in brief : cover)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/briefcover/taz-07092011-100_0.jpg" length="40396" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Wed, 07 Sep 2011 14:40:35 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Debt crisis | Family ties | Cartoon (Het Parool, Amsterdam)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/cartoon/918971-family-ties</link><description><![CDATA[Family ties (Cartoon)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/picture/BERTRAMS_family-ties-490_0.jpg" length="97882" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Tue, 06 Sep 2011 17:47:54 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>In defence of Eurocrats | Editorial</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/editorial/908081-defence-eurocrats</link><description><![CDATA[Oh what will Brussels stick its nose into next? Having regulated the curves of cucumber, the crookedness of carrots and the listing of what must be declared on cosmetics packaging, it&rsquo;s now forcing us to render up our good old 60W incandescent light bulbs (the 100W were outlawed two years back, 75W bulbs from last year) &ndash; and threatening to take on energy-gobbling coffee machines too.
With the euro stumbling, recession looming, unemployment rife, disaffection among young people becoming intolerable and the Mediterranean awash with turmoil, part of the European press just had to let rip, with great broadsides of irony, against the Eurocrats and their relentless desire to regulate every aspect of our lives without consulting us or, indeed, without any mandate.
Harmonising certain aspects of our environment is also what some &nbsp;33,000 &quot;Eurocrats&quot; in Brussels are good for (just for the record, the City of Paris employs 40,000 people). But indeed, it is the Member States that have agreed to this, since it is they who approve the treaties that establish the competencies. Just as in national ministries, it is technocrats who develop the measures, which are then adopted by the executive (the Commission) and approved by the representatives of the people (the Council and/or Parliament). As some readers have pointed out, the process is no less democratic than it is at national levels. 
That the EU is clumsy in its communication, both in terms of the form as well as &ndash; so often &ndash; the timing, has been fairly well explained: its declarations come across as cold, peremptory and formulated in most cases by persons (starting with the commissioners) that we are not familiar with and who do not speak our language.
Is a pedagogical effort perhaps in order on their part? Undoubtedly. Is greater transparency in the procedures for developing and adopting Community measures desirable? Certainly. But let&#039;s stop blaming the EU for doing what it has been created to do, among other things, by our own dear representatives.
Translated from the French by Anton Baer
 (Editorial)]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:36:17 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Environment | Changing light bulbs: not the brightest idea (Dagens Nyheter, Stockholm)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/900851-changing-light-bulbs-not-brightest-idea</link><description><![CDATA[As of 1 September, conventional light bulbs of more than 40 watts will be taken off the market. In the countries of the Arctic Circle, it’s a step into the dark that’s being badly received. Just who is it who has wrought this change in our daily life? wonders Dagens Nyheter. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/vlahovic-bulb.jpg" length="11461" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:17:22 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Rethinking Europe (2) | No more working behind closed doors (Spiked, London)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/787851-no-more-working-behind-closed-doors</link><description><![CDATA[Insulated from the public and unpracticed in the art of political leadership, small wonder EU officialdom is so powerless to tackle a eurozone crisis that risks scuppering the European project itself, argues sociologist Frank Furedi. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/21072011-Evening-walkway.jpg" length="67739" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:45:03 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Bulgaria | Sofia gets another earful from Brussels</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief-cover/785301-sofia-gets-another-earful-brussels</link><description><![CDATA[&ldquo;Changes have had no impact,&rdquo; headlines Dnevnik. Once again, the European Commission&rsquo;s annual report on progress in judicial reform, and the fight against corruption and [&hellip;] (News in brief : cover)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/briefcover/20072011-Dnevnik-100.jpg" length="13089" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:08:32 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Greek myths and EU budgets | Editorial</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/editorial/752201-greek-myths-and-eu-budgets</link><description><![CDATA[Greece is the cradle of Europe, the birthplace of many myths easily recycled as journalistic metaphors. Sisyphus and his rock, the labours of Hercules or the Daughters of Danus have already been often used to explain the situation in which the country and the government now find themselves. Allow us to add to the mix the story of Daedalus.
Like the architect who was locked by King Minos, along with his son Icarus, inside the labyrinth he had built himself, the European Union finds itself cornered by the crisis at a point where all the difficult paths lead to a dead end. On one hand, austerity policies imposed upon the Greeks for the past year: not only have they had practically no effect on either reducing the deficit or reforming a corrupt and inefficient system but, as many experts pointed out at the time, they annihilated the possibility of economic growth, which is necessary to surmount the crisis.
On the other hand, the bail-out packages: the 110 billion euros promised widened the psychological gap between northern and southern Europeans and led to a hardening of the German position during the negotiations, but without actually relieving the Greeks or proposing any real prospect of ending the crisis.
There is another option; restructuring the Greek debt. But that leads to immediate deadlock because European leaders fear that the market reaction will result in extending the crisis to other eurozone countries. 
At the same time, some of these same leaders are heading towards greater economic integration and &ldquo;crisis federalism&rdquo; which would lead to the creation of euro bonds and a supranational coordination of fiscal and budget policies. But this latter option is stumbling over the divergent interests of the member states. In any case, increased political and economic integration is counter to prevailing public opinion which has expressed its euroscepticism in the ballot box.
In short, wherever one looks, the EU-Daedalus is in bad shape. And like the mythical character, it will have to find a way out from the top of the labyrinth. Surprisingly, a part of the solution came from the European Commission. This week, at the presentation of its 2014-2020 budget, the Commission ascribed &ldquo;priority funding&rdquo; to &ldquo;cross-border projects in energy, transport and information technology&rdquo;. It also proposed &ldquo;significantly more money for Research and Innovation to invest in our competitiveness; and more funds for Europe&rsquo;s youth&rdquo;.
In other words, it has identified the fields Europeans should invest in (and invest themselves in) to climb out of the economic and social decline in which they are mired. Unfortunately, these fine prospects are in contradiction with the policies imposed by Brussels and the Member States on the countries in crisis and with the policies of most European countries. Furthermore, it&rsquo;s known that the good intentions expressed by the Commission before the budget discussions which are about to begin don&rsquo;t commit it to anything since, if all of its ambitions are revised downward, it will be able to shift the blame onto the Member States, or the Parliament.
True austerity versus paper ambitions: European leaders won&rsquo;t be able to govern for long with this contradiction which the peoples of Europe live with daily. It&rsquo;s when he forgot about reality that Icarus, son of Daedalus, scorched his wings.
Translated from the French by Pat Brett
&nbsp;
 (Editorial)]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 01 Jul 2011 16:22:57 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>EU budget | Tug of war between EU27 and Commission</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/750021-tug-war-between-eu27-and-commission</link><description><![CDATA[The Commission &quot;struggled through&quot; its presentation of the EU budget proposal for 2014-2020, remarks Le Figaro,  which reports that &quot;in line with a demand [&hellip;] (News in brief)]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 30 Jun 2011 14:51:41 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>European budget | Crisis to change rules for structural funds</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/745501-crisis-change-rules-structural-funds</link><description><![CDATA[&quot;Brussels has acknowledged that the rules for structural funds will be modified to provide support for countries like Portugal,&quot; reports the Lisbon daily P&uacute;blico. It [&hellip;] (News in brief)]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:18:25 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Ideas | Towards a sovereign union (Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, Warsaw)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/744021-towards-sovereign-union</link><description><![CDATA[The debt crisis has laid the foundations for an economic governance that will accelerate European integration. In future, says the Polish columnist Andrzej Talaga, member states should hand over more sovereignty to the EU. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/vlahovic-flag.jpg" length="40039" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Mon, 27 Jun 2011 19:37:52 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Debt crisis | Euro - what Brussels will do next (Le Monde, Paris)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/735751-euro-what-brussels-will-do-next</link><description><![CDATA[With the single currency at risk of collapse, the leaders of Europe’s 27 member states are set to meet for a European Council summit to finalise the details of a mechanism that is supposed to prevent a repeat of the Greek crisis. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/Horsch-europe-greece.jpg" length="77391" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:05:30 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>European Union | Barroso calls Danes to order</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief-cover/733861-barroso-calls-danes-order</link><description><![CDATA[Jos&eacute; Manuel &ldquo;Barroso threatens Denmark,&rdquo; headlines Danish daily Jyllands-Posten. The paper considers the letter sent to all EU leaders on June 22 &ndash; an ultimatum. [&hellip;] (News in brief : cover)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/briefcover/Jyllands-posten-23062011-130.jpg" length="43371" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Thu, 23 Jun 2011 13:44:59 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Economy | Commission: austerity to create &quot;growth&quot;</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/700761-commission-austerity-create-growth</link><description><![CDATA[The European Commission issued recommendations,  on June 7, to the 27 member states regarding their 2012 budget  forecasts. Because it has never before [&hellip;] (News in brief)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/brief/de-standaard-stampa.jpg" length="155005" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:15:34 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Croatia | Barroso opens door to EU</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief-cover/700351-barroso-opens-door-eu</link><description><![CDATA[&quot;Barroso finally says so: It&rsquo;s over! Croats, you will soon be rewarded for your efforts,&quot; reports a delighted Jutarnji list, paraphrasing the president of the [&hellip;] (News in brief : cover)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/briefcover/jutarnjilist-08062011-100.jpg" length="44901" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Wed, 08 Jun 2011 14:41:33 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Schengen Area | Walking the border tightrope (Dagens Nyheter, Stockholm)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/637421-walking-border-tightrope</link><description><![CDATA[A more open Europe with tighter external borders: in a bid to establish a consensus on the issue of the reform of the Schengen Agreement, the EU home affairs commissioner has been forced to walk a tightrope. However, Dagens Nyhter argues that the proposals presented by Cecilia Malmström succeed in striking a delicate balance. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/KOPELNITSKY-EU-SCHENGEN.jpg" length="65226" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Thu, 05 May 2011 18:39:38 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Portugal | A 3 billion bill for families</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief-cover/635771-3-billion-bill-families</link><description><![CDATA[&quot;Keep calm and carry on&quot;. Lisbon daily i dedicates its first page to the slogan that was printed in a poster produced by the British [&hellip;] (News in brief : cover)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/briefcover/i-0505201-100.jpg" length="11680" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Thu, 05 May 2011 12:53:38 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Portugal | Austere New Year (Jornal de Negócios, Lisbon)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/634081-austere-new-year</link><description><![CDATA[The 78 billion euro bailout plan announced on May 3 to help Portugal to avoid bankruptcy will likely not be as severe as feared by the Portuguese. Nevertheless, hard times lie ahead if they want to their country enjoy a new start, warns Jornal de Negócios. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/Portugal-crisis.jpg" length="67719" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Wed, 04 May 2011 17:53:52 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Economic crisis | Portuguese will learn to live with IMF</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief-cover/624921-portuguese-will-learn-live-imf</link><description><![CDATA[&quot;Know what will change in your life with the IMF&quot;, headlines Jornal de Neg&oacute;cios, in a special edition almost exclusively dedicated to the International Monetary [&hellip;] (News in brief : cover)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/briefcover/110429jn.jpg" length="8073" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Fri, 29 Apr 2011 14:41:58 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>European Union | Reforming Schengen, an absurd gesture (Berliner Zeitung, Berlin)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/623871-reforming-schengen-absurd-gesture</link><description><![CDATA[France and Italy have called for reform of the Convention on freedom of movement — they will not have trouble getting what they want, but that does not solve the problem of accommodating immigrants, says the Berliner Zeitung. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/schengen.jpg" length="158220" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:21:30 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Institutions | Brussels/London clash over EU budget</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief-cover/611081-brusselslondon-clash-over-eu-budget</link><description><![CDATA[&ldquo;&pound;400 [&euro;451] per family demanded by EU,&rdquo; headlines the Daily Telegraph, after the European Commission made a formal request to members for a &pound;5.5 billion [&hellip;] (News in brief : cover)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/briefcover/DT-21042011-100.jpg" length="42559" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:36:12 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Privacy | The dubious blessings of the EU Commission (Der Standard, Vienna)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/609851-dubious-blessings-eu-commission</link><description><![CDATA[Yesterday the energy saving lamp, today data retention. Tomorrow: recording your frequent flyer points and what hotel you stay in. Its highly questionable and intrusive meddling is costing the EU the trust of the public. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/private-life_1.jpg" length="121708" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Wed, 20 Apr 2011 18:05:42 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Food | Europe "in a state of nuclear emergency"</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/577671-europe-state-nuclear-emergency</link><description><![CDATA[Following the disaster in the Japanese nuclear power plant in Fukushima and the fear of contamination in food coming from Japan, the European Commission has [&hellip;] (News in brief)]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:08:55 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Debate | Leviathan is here, in Brussels (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurt)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/570181-leviathan-here-brussels</link><description><![CDATA[Brussels is the lair of a bureaucratic monster, writes the German essayist Hans Magnus Enzensberger. It’s up to the Europeans themselves now to take up their pitchforks. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/berlaymont-curve.jpg" length="44508" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:39:51 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Europe 2020 | A neo-liberal takeover (Libération, Paris)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/521201-neo-liberal-takeover</link><description><![CDATA[Although initially a social-democratic project, the Lisbon Strategy did not succeed in promoting innovation or social cohesion in the EU. On the contrary, when taken over by the European Commission, it was transformed into a neo-liberal programme — a trend which a French economist argues is even more pronounced in the 2020 Strategy destined to replace it. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/europe-2020.jpg" length="134246" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:12:57 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>EU-Russia | Barroso and Putin spar over gas deal</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/517071-barroso-and-putin-spar-over-gas-deal</link><description><![CDATA[Relations  between the European Union and Russia are occasionally difficult, and  the joint press conference given by Jos&eacute; Manuel Barroso and Vladimir  [&hellip;] (News in brief)]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 25 Feb 2011 13:16:48 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>North Africa | Libya&#039;s revolution, Europe&#039;s shame (El País, Madrid)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/513971-libyas-revolution-europes-shame</link><description><![CDATA[Faced with the massacres perpetrated by the Gaddafi regime against its own people, how can the EU content itself with calling for “restraint”, while spending more time worrying about an influx of refugees? Madrid daily El País publishes an indignant editorial. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/Lybia-Europe_0.jpg" length="78360" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Wed, 23 Feb 2011 17:59:31 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Arab revolutions | Lady Ashton misses the boat (Libération, Paris)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/506921-lady-ashton-misses-boat</link><description><![CDATA[On 16 February, Catherine Ashton announced an aid package that will deliver a total of €258 million to Tunisia by 2013. Libération points out that the EU only gave its support for the Tunisian revolution when huge numbers of Tunisian boat people arrived on the coast of Lampedusa. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/european-union-diplomacy.jpg" length="39527" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:47:11 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>European Commission | Barroso lays hold of EU budget</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief-cover/497211-barroso-lays-hold-eu-budget</link><description><![CDATA[&ldquo;Barroso reduces Lewandowski&rsquo;s standing&rdquo;, headlines Rzeczpospolita, quoting a letter sent by the Secretary-General of the European Commission, Catherine Day, to the Commission&rsquo;s respective directors. According [&hellip;] (News in brief : cover)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/briefcover/Rzeczpospolita-100.JPG" length="35693" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Thu, 10 Feb 2011 12:55:55 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>Hungary | A country divided (Respekt, Prague)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/485891-country-divided</link><description><![CDATA[The government of Viktor Orbán (Fidesz) has succeeded in consolidating its power, including control over the media, and is preparing to amend the Constitution. Is the sudden set-back to democracy in Hungary just a hiccup, or is it a systemic phenomenon that could spread to other central European states? Respekt reports from Budapest. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/hungary-discontent.jpg" length="26970" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Tue, 01 Feb 2011 16:56:23 +0100</pubDate></item>
<item><title>EU-Uzbekistan | Our man in Tashkent (De Standaard, Brussels)</title><link>http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/474051-our-man-tashkent</link><description><![CDATA[When talking to dictators, Europe applies a double standard: quick to snap at Lukashenko of Belarus, it plays much nicer with Karimov of Uzbekistan, as it did with Ben Ali. But is it really worth the trouble? asks political analyst Bruno De Cordier. (Article)]]></description><enclosure url="http://www.presseurop.eu/files/images/article/Karimov-Barroso.jpg" length="65062" type="image/jpeg" /><pubDate>Mon, 24 Jan 2011 10:07:06 +0100</pubDate></item>
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