Of BRICs and PIGS
There is a significant amount of hand-wringing going on in the US that the Euro is fraying on the edges. Some pundits have even coined a rather derogatory acronym for Euro-countries in economic distress: the PIGS (Portugal, Italy or Ireland, Greece,...
Fine Gael National Conference Survey
Image via Wikipedia On the 19th/20th March Fine Gael will hold a National Conference in the Malton Hotel, in Killarney. As part of the preparations for the conference, a survey was circulated to members. I have posted it below, how would you respo...
European Salon de News, Discussion et Klatsch - 9 February
A Daily Review Of International Online Media Europeans on this date in history:1923 Birth of...
on the "X jobs for X nationals only" type of slogan
Do jobs have a "nationality"? Are the rights of a person to employment a function of his/her nationality - national birth right?NickPthinks on business, policy, socio-economics and systemics in Europe. North America and the world...
Imperialisms version 2010
There are many types of Imperialism around, some old, some new: Examples (of both):a) economic (in general)b) tradec) financiald) cultural, e) intellectualNickPthinks on business, policy, socio-economics and systemics in Europe. North America and the...
A la carte sovereignty?
Funny (?) how sovereignty is being used as basis for views on such a pick and choose way in many issues in UK, the EU - Europe, the US and other countries these days!IMO genuine #sovereignty means not only "no immigration" and "jobs for citizens" but...
The Concept Of ‘The Political’ (II)
As I pointed out in the previous post, we are not quite sure in what direction the project will be headed, what will be its nature. But one thing is for sure. It aims at bringing politics to the people. We want to do that by discussing important poli...
the drawbacks of skills based immigration policy
Skills based immigration policy is, IMO, faulty because:1) Skills needs are not easy to map. Plus some skills aren't certifiable.2) It is not consistent with policy on trade ie offering products (imports) more rights than to humans is not that OK, i...
Operating Rules of Judicial Selection Panel
Article 255 TFEU requires the establishment of a panel to give an opinion on candidates' suitability to perform the duties of Judge and Advocate-General of the Court of Justice and the General Court before the governments of the member States...
Les think tanks turcs, agents du changement
« Au cours des huit années écoulées depuis que le Parti de la justice et du développement (AKP) est arrivé au pouvoir, le nombre de think tanks en Turquie a explosé. Fondations et instituts se sont diversifiés, sont devenus plus ind
The IP Observatory is already in place
In the legal affairs committee JURI in the European Parliament, we have been discussing an initiative by the EU Commission to set up an ”IP Observatory” that should monitor and combat all kinds of intellectual property infringements, from...
Rencontre Abbas – Moubarak au Caire
Le Président de l’Autorité palestinienne Mahmoud Abbas a rencontré samedi le 6 février au Caire le Président égyptien Hosni Moubarak, au sujet des nouvelles propositions américaines visant à relancer indirectement les pourparlers de paix.
Its time to go?
Image via Wikipedia Enda Kenny has been the leader of Fine Gael since 2002. In that time he has revitalised the party but he has failed to capitalise on the failures of Fianna Fail. Today’s resignation of George Lee is the final nail in the...
The Dutch: not tolerant, only pragmatic
A bunch of stoned people (perhaps that is what’s blurring their minds and making them so liberal?), going everywhere on a bike (because it is cheaper?), eating cheese, raw fish (and an occasional potato) in case eating is really necessary (and...
Ashton endorces and praises Ukraine on its Presidential Election vote
Catherine Ashton, the EU's High Representative of Foreign Affairs, has this afternoon commended Ukraine for holding free and fair presidential elections - a set of remarks that will make it harder for the losing side to contest the eventually pronoun...
What is entrepreneurship all about?
Have you ever thought of being your own boss, of being an entrepreneur? Do you want to do what you believe in instead of following the orders of someone who pays you? If yes, you are different. The majority of people in Europe never had this kind of...
Farm content
I imagined it could exist but I under-suspected the scale of it. Read this article by the NY Times (of course) about a company who provides content to everyone on the net, creating literal “farm content” where free-lancers are under-paid...
Palestinian Authority still studying US ideas on negotiations
The Palestinian Authority (PA) is still studying ideas the US has presented to renew negotiations with Israel, a senior Palestinian official said Monday – denying reports that President Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to resume indirect talks under th...
The bumpy path of the Anti-discrimination Directive restarts
The Committee on Civil Liberties of the European Parliament has finally restarted the legislative works on the Proposal for a Directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, a...
Brussels Briefing on Biodiversity 10th March 2010
On 10th March (8h30-13h00), the next Brussels Development Briefing will discuss the key role Biodiversity plays in rural development, especially for ACP countries. Issues at stae include: the relationship between poverty and biodiversity, the effec...
Dealing with a More Assertive China
BRUSSELS — The mood on China in Western capitals is beginning to darken. From cyber-attacks to obstinacy in Copenhagen, Beijing’s assertiveness and the hardening tone of its diplomacy are prompting a rethink. If the competitive aspects of the...
Fine Gael celebrate expulsion of “dangerous radical” from party.
Sources in Fine Gael are praising party leader Enda Kenny for shrewdly engineering the departure of George Lee from the party. A party spokesperson said: “We knew from day one that fella was going to be trouble. Sure he walked into the parliame...
Greater appitiate for European defence?
Lately there seems to be talk of greater co-operation on defence within the EU, perhaps due to the economic crisis putting pressure on national budgets, and the general unwillingness in Europe to spend money on defence. Greater co-operation on defenc...
“World’s Best Think Tanks
World’s Best Think Tanks (UPenn Rankings) by Reflection Cafe THE THINK TANKS AND CIVIL SOCIETIES PROGRAM James G. McGann, Ph.D. / Director University of Pennsylvania / January 25, 2010 THE TEA PARTY from Global Guerrillas by John Robb “It&#...
A million signatures, but why bother?
David Cameron's speech infront of a photogenic youff audience today had some things to recomend it. Support for the UKIP policy of recall for one, however a mjor piece of his new policy seems slightly too little, too late,Any petition with a million...
