European Voice

European Leadership Award 2012

Tue, 08 May 2012 10:12:33 +0200

European Voice is announcing its intention to make an award to recognise outstanding leadership in the European Union: the European Leadership Award 2012.

Those shortlisted are Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, Mario Monti, the prime minister of Italy, Radek Sikorski, the foreign minister of Poland, and Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council.

Click here to read more and VOTE.

Meet Robert Kalinák, Slovakia’s deputy prime minister who...

Mon, 07 May 2012 14:21:15 +0200

Meet Robert Kalinák, Slovakia’s deputy prime minister who (sometimes) knows the value of being contrite.

(Cartoon by Marco Villard.)

Tomorrow’s front page today. Cover article: Van Rompuy...

Wed, 02 May 2012 20:36:05 +0200

Tomorrow’s front page today. Cover article: Van Rompuy seeks to sway Hollande over fiscal treaty

Meet Morten Bødskov, Denmark’s refined law-man. Cartoon by...

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:36:04 +0200

Meet Morten Bødskov, Denmark’s refined law-man.

Cartoon by Marco Villard.

"In a genuinely open, merit-based contest, the 25-member executive board’s deliberations should..."

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:56:06 +0200

“In a genuinely open, merit-based contest, the 25-member executive board’s deliberations should have been preceded by debates between the candidates. I suspect that Okonjo-Iweala, with her enormous competence and renowned wit, would have got the better of Kim. The world would also have seen why so many of us were rooting for her.”

- Jagdish Bhagwati, on why the selection of Jim Yong Kim as head of the World Bank gives cause for concern.

Tomorrow’s front page today (26 April-2 May). Cover...

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:10:44 +0200

Tomorrow’s front page today (26 April-2 May). Cover article: Borrell forced to resign over energy interests.

"It is beginning to look like Bahrain’s ruling family has calculated correctly that its close..."

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:59:03 +0200

“It is beginning to look like Bahrain’s ruling family has calculated correctly that its close allies in Washington, London, and Brussels do not care enough about al-Khawaja to risk challenging al-Khalifa hard-liners and their Saudi allies by publicly pushing for his release or by making clear that Bahrain’s continued stonewalling will have a price.”

- Lotte Leicht of Human Rights Watch, on the plight of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja.

Tomorrow’s front page today (12-18 April). Lead article:...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 20:06:53 +0200

Tomorrow’s front page today (12-18 April). Lead article: Job creation ambitions hit by eurozone woes

"The selection of a successor to Robert Zoellick as president of the World Bank was supposed to..."

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:38:00 +0200

“The selection of a successor to Robert Zoellick as president of the World Bank was supposed to initiate a new era of open meritocratic competition, breaking the traditional hold that the United States has had on the job. Indeed, Zoellick’s own appointment was widely regarded as ‘illegitimate’ from that perspective. But US President Barack Obama has let the world down even more distressingly with his nomination of Jim Yong Kim for the post.”

- Jagdish Bhagwati, on Barack Obama’s nomination of Jim Yong Kim as the next president of the World Bank.

"It may seem strange, but the EU sees itself as a soldier of the common good. Why is a group of..."

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:34:02 +0200

“

It may seem strange, but the EU sees itself as a soldier of the common good. Why is a group of countries whose share in worldwide CO2 emissions is only 12% – and set to decline fast – aspiring to global leadership on the issue, despite US inaction and emerging-market countries’ reluctance to commit to binding emission-reduction targets?

In part, the EU’s stance reflects the preferences of European public opinion. In part, it arises from internal politics: to press ahead with its agenda enables the EU to strengthen its hand vis-à-vis the member states. In part, there is the hope that by moving fast, Europe will acquire a comparative advantage in low-carbon technologies.

”

- Jean Pisani-Ferry, on extending the EU’s emissions-trading scheme to aviation.

Go away, you bad global world

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:32:52 +0200

Europe’s political left is incensed by the the cuts in social and welfare programmes, but seems to accept the political consensus that there are no alternatives.

Tomorrow’s front page today (4-11 April). Lead article:...

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:56:23 +0200

Tomorrow’s front page today (4-11 April). Lead article: MEPs want to stop EU funds reaching far-right parties

"Using its super-majority in the parliament, the Fidesz party has spent its two years in office..."

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:20:00 +0200

“Using its super-majority in the parliament, the Fidesz party has spent its two years in office ramming through a new constitution that includes discriminatory provisions and other new laws that undermine media freedom, judicial independence, and the rights of religious minorities.”

- Lydia Gall of Human Rights Watch, on why the EU needs to take stronger action against Hungary.

"The Kremlin likes to portray Russia as a besieged fortress. And it likes an economy with a few..."

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:47:00 +0100

“The Kremlin likes to portray Russia as a besieged fortress. And it likes an economy with a few hugely lucrative industries under its own tight control. Encouraging Russian businesses outside the world of bureaucratic rents and extractive industries undermines the power monopoly of the ruling criminal syndicate.”

- Wi(l)der Europe, on what measures could be taken to exert pressure on the Kremlin without punishing ordinary Russians.

"France is approaching a breaking point. For three decades, the country has pursued the same..."

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:53:25 +0100

“France is approaching a breaking point. For three decades, the country has pursued the same incompatible, if not contradictory, goals. With the sovereign-debt crisis pushing French banks to the wall, something will have to give, and soon.”

- Brigitte Granville, on the state of France and its upcoming presidential elections.

STOP THE BLOODSHED Syrians in Bucharest protest against the...

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:45:44 +0100

STOP THE BLOODSHED Syrians in Bucharest protest against the brutal crackdown by the regime of President Bashar Assad. The EU is to expand travel bans and asset freezes against members of Syria’s ruling elite.

"Freedom means that we decide about the laws governing our own life. We do not need writing lines,..."

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:06:50 +0100

“Freedom means that we decide about the laws governing our own life. We do not need writing lines, nor do we require the unsolicited assistance of foreigners wanting to guide our hands.”

- Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Órban accuses the EU of “colonial” interference in Hungary.

DAY OF MOURNING A European Union flag and a Belgian flag fly at...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:03:54 +0100

DAY OF MOURNING A European Union flag and a Belgian flag fly at half mast outside a government building in Brussels. Belgium today holds a national day of mourning for the 22 children and six adults killed in a bus crash in Switzerland.

(Photograph by Reuters.)

Tomorrow’s front page today. Lead article: Unknown costs...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:59:55 +0100

Tomorrow’s front page today. Lead article: Unknown costs of MEPs’ questions go unchecked

theeconomist: What might Ayatollah Ali Khamenei be making of...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:09:57 +0100

theeconomist:

What might Ayatollah Ali Khamenei be making of America’s noisy Iran talk this week? Our Lexington columnist eavesdrops.