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Giacomo Benedetto on BBC Radio 4
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Dr Giacomo Bendetto appeared on BBC Radio 4's You and Yours today. The programme is available here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01sdg30 ...
EU budget: what is the UK’s cost and benefit from the Common Agricultural Policy?
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The latest budget figures are for 2011 (Jan - Dec 2011). The 2012 figures have not yet been calculated. In 2011, the UK contributed 11,273 million euro to the entire EU budget. Britain got back spending of 6,570 million euro, so that the British net...
The collapse of the youth vote for Berlusconi and the Left in Italy
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Click here for a paper by Giacomo Benedetto on the collapse of the youth vote for Berluscnoni and the Left in Italy. The Italian centre-left came away from the elections of February 2013 with just 3% of the votes among 18-24 year olds. 46% of the sam...
The collapse of the youth vote for Berlusconi and the Left in Italy
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How many young people voted for Beppe Grillo? Click here for the latest paper by the CEP's Dr Giacomo Benedetto on the collapse of the youth vote for the Italian Centre-Left and for Berlusconi.
Understanding the EU Budget Deal
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Click here for a paper by the CEP's Giacomo Benedetto on the multiannual budget agreement reached by the EU governments on 8 February. ...
Academic titles in Germany and the curse of plagiarism
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Click here for excellent piece by Mr Timothy Garton-Ash. ...
Italy: final opinion poll for the Senate
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The final poll for Tecnè also shows a majority for the Senate with the PD+SEL alliance winning a plurality in every region except Veneto and Sicily. Ingroia's Civil Revolution would get no seats because it would not reach the Senate threshold...
Italian elections 2013: Last opinion poll for the Chamber
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Italy's elections are on 24-25 February. SWG has just published the final opinion poll allowed by law. (Opinion polls are banned in the last two weeks.) The poll shows the following result for the lower house of parliament: an overall majority for th...
Italy's elections of 2013: which party is which?
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Who is standing in Italy’s elections of 24-25 February? Back in 2008, I wrote that the Italian electoral system had transformed Italy into a party system simplified by the elimination of many small parties. I was wrong in that the arrangement o...
Berlusconi picking up opinion poll support
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An Ipsos poll just out in Italy predicts the following share of the vote: Berlusconi alliance (PdL + Lega Nord): 28% Monti alliance (Monti + UDC + Fini): 19% Bersani alliance (PD + Vendola): 39 % The centre-left alliance of Pierluigi Bersani i...
EU Budget deadlock: where now for economic innovation?
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Earlier today [click here], I wrote that public goods had been neglected in the budget debate. These are policies that are not redistributive and are most effective to deliver at a European level than at national level. They include research, infrast...
Public Goods and the Multiannual Budget 2014-20
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The Council to agree (or not agree) the next budgetary package for the EU has gone onto a second day. Our book [click here] predicted that there could be stalemate since failure to agree would result in roll over of the old budget maximums. Those who...
EU annual budget for 2013 vetoed
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It seems that the Council and the European Parliament have failed to agree by today's deadline. A blocking minority of net contributors on the Council wanted reductions and were blocking a supplementary budget for extra expenditure backdated for 2012...
The Greek Electoral System: Stable or Unstable?
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Back in May, I wrote on this blog (click here) how the Greek electoral system created further instability in Greece. Although Greek elections are proportional, the largest party is awarded a top-up of 50 seats out of 300. Usually this would guarantee...
European Parliament tries to block appointment of ECB board member
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This week the European Parliament has voted against the appointment of Yves Mersch to the board of the European Central Bank by 325 to 300 votes. The reason is that Mersch is a man. The national governments of the eurozone have been repeatedly appoin...
The EU has just won the Nobel Peace Prize
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Why would the EU have won the Nobel Peace Prize? Well, it is the world's largest donor to the developing world, largest contributor to world wide peace keeping and following the collapse of Southern European authoritarian dictatorship in 1974-75 and...
European Union Budget Reform: Institutions, Policy and Economic Crisis
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This month, Simona Milio and I bring out an edited volume on reform of the European Union budget published by Palgrave-Macmillan. The European Parliament and the 27 national governments of the European Union have until next year to approve a new mult...
Bulgarian and Romanian students barred from working in the UK
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Today, The Guardian carries the news of the unusual discrimation against Bulgarian and Romanian students who are prevented from easily working in the UK during their studies. Click here. This situation arises from a transitional arrangement put in p...
UKIP in alliance with Marine Le Pen and the Austrian Freedom Party
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UKIP has always denied any alliance with the extreme right but here we have the evidence. Godfrey Bloom MEP has set up a transnational party with the French National Front, Austrian Freedom Party, and Flemish Interest. The European Alliance for Freed...
