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Will the European Central Bank (ECB) announce on January 22 that it will start buying large volumes of Eurozone government bonds to further push down interest rates in the eurozone?

European Central Bank split on buying government bonds

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, January 13, 2015

The ECB will have to decide how much of each eurozone country’s bonds to buy, a politically tricky task. As a genuine EU institution the ECB offers the usual theatre of differing views and opinions.

What’s the position of Germany? Ms. Merkel said after the summit that sanctions only can be lifted if Russia gives up conquered territories in Ukraine.

Germany split on how to handle Russia

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, January 5, 2015

Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel, the EU’s most powerful leader, was delighted with the first steps of her protégé Donald Tusk as new president of the European Council in December.

During his campaign for the Presidency of the European Commission, one of his promises was that he would start a European investment programme of 300 billion Euro for the next three years.

Jean-Claude Juncker: the man of 300 (?) billion

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, December 30, 2014

In the last week of November President Juncker presented his €315 billion programme, called the European Fund for Strategic Investments, for increasing small-business lending and investments in roads, renewable energy, schools and other public services.

Putin named Turkey as the preferred partner for a massive alternative pipeline.

The death of a gas pipeline

By: N. Peter Kramer | Friday, December 12, 2014

Seven EU member states - Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Romania, and Slovenia - which were to have hosted Russia’s South Stream gas pipeline have to start looking for other ways to improve their energy security.

The speech, given in Italian, drew strong applause from the European Parliament. But did all MEP’s understand what the Pope tried to make clear? I am afraid not.

The Pope, the European Parliament and the President of the Commission

By: N. Peter Kramer | Friday, November 28, 2014

When EP President Schulz invited the Pope to visit the Parliament, he probably forgot that the new Pope isn’t a European

Obama – Xi climate agreement is a potential turning point.

US and China agree on cutting carbon pollution. The EU too!

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, November 17, 2014

Obviously Juncker and Rompuy hadn’t read the letter of US Secretary of State John Kerry in the New York Times, with the striking heading ‘China, America and a warming planet’.

As a reminder: Prime-Minister Juncker was president of the Eurogroup till 2013 and co-architect of the rigid austerity policies that pressed European governments, struggling with low economic growth and high unemployment, to give priority to trim their budget instead of stimulating their economy.

LuxLeaks and EULEX: EU’s integrity is at stake!

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Two serious testcases for EU’s integrity and credibility

President Juncker is an aimable person, a very experienced European politician and … he is creative.

Jean-Claude Juncker and the seven vice-presidents (and a chef-de-cabinet!)

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, November 3, 2014

In the Berlaymont, the EU palace in Brussels where the European Commission sits, a change of guard has place. Controlfreak Barroso went out, bonvivant Juncker came in.

Interesting is how the softening of the Commission’s position will be received in Berlin.

Outgoing Commission relents on Italian and French budgets

By: EBR | Thursday, October 30, 2014

The outgoing (on November 1) Commission avoided a political collision with the French and Italian governments, indicating that it approves the countries’ 2015 budgets after last minutes adjustments.

The end of October, EU leaders will gather in Brussels for another summit. It seems that it is too early to expect solutions.

Is there a solution for EU’s problems?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Europe has already endured years of stagnation, high unemployment and a mounting public disillusionment that has fueled a political, often anti-European, backlash

The EU share of renewable energy consumption was 14,1 percent in 2012 but that average conceals big regional differences. Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Czech Republic are below that average, with shares between 9.6 and 11.2 percent. Most of the six rely heavily on coal, which is one of the energy sources that emit the most carbon dioxide.

Do Eastern and Central European countries care about climate change?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Friday, October 3, 2014

In an effort to limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius the European Commission proposed in the beginning of this year several targets for 2030.

Emily O’Reilly: Even if I don’t have powers of a judge, I do have very strong investigatory powers

EU Ombudsman attacks institutions non-transparency

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Conflicts of interest is a strategic area O’Reilly is pursuing, after having looked at a sample of 54 EU officials who left their job for work in the private sector. She said the inquiry found ‘major deficiencies’ in the way the Commission justifies permissions to leave to a private sector job

Now NATO military forces are inside Ukraine. And NATO memberstates, the US and some EU countries, are delivering weapons to Kiev. But didn’t EU leaders say recently that there is ‘no military solution’ to the conflict? And isn’t there a ceasefire agreed between Ukraine and Russia?

Do US and EU want war with Russia?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, September 16, 2014

While the ceasefire in East-Ukraine works, indeed more or less, the answer of the US and the EU on it is: more sanctions on Russia. Some EU member states trying to halt it were overruled by the hawkish colleagues from the Baltic and Poland for instance.

A study commissioned by the European Commission has identified 30 electrical appliances that could be covered by the EU’s Ecodesign directive outlawing high-wattage devices. The nonsense of all this is quite clear: your hairdresser, for instance, can tell you that curbing the power of hair dryers would simply mean blow-drying will take longer and in turn ‘that could lead to repetitive strain injury’.

European Commissioner Oettinger and your hair dryer

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, September 8, 2014

Do you remember that ridiculous Commission proposal to ban open olive oil cans from restaurant tables? May be you also remember that the Commission let us abandon the old light bulbs and to replace these with a new kind that use less electricity?

The Polish Prime-Minister Donald Tusk, member of the EPP family, became Herman van Rompuy’s (EPP) successor as President of the European Council and Federica Mogherini, an Italian Socialist, was appointed the next EU foreign policy chief, taking over from Catherine Ashton (S&D).

The new EU leadership: liberals left in the cold. Christian Democrats and Socialists share the loot

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Poor Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the EU Liberals (ALDE). A few months ago he presented himself as the new President of the European Commission: ‘When this man speaks, Europe listens’ was the text in his commercial.

The New York based economist, Carl B. Weinberg is not optimistic: ‘As the recovery takes hold in the US, the Eurozone appears stuck in a never ending slump’. The bloc’s GDP remains more than 2 percent lower than its level in early 2008, before the global financial crisis, he said.

Welcome back from holiday!

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, August 19, 2014

2014 was forecasted to become the year the Eurozone’s economy would grow as much as 2 percent after a 0,4 decline last year.

A poll found out that only 8% of the European voters are able to identify him

Juncker for President? Who is Juncker?

By: EBR | Monday, June 16, 2014

German Chancellor Angela Merkel didn’t agree with the Spitzenkandidaten process from the start because she knew there would be no agreement in the European Council

Now the real question is, will the pro-European establishment of EPP, Socialists, Liberals and Greens care about this outcry of discontent and call for reform by a third of the voters? I am afraid they will not.

NO EUROPE or MORE EUROPE?

By: EBR | Wednesday, May 28, 2014

As feared by the Europhiles the big story of the EP elections was not who will be President of the Commission, as they campaigned for, but the rise of anti-mainstream European forces from both the right and the left.

A new report by think tank Open Europe concludes that, ‘instead of repeating the same mistake of addressing the EP’s failure to connect with voters by increasing its powers, boosting the role of national parliaments in EU decision making would return democratic accountability closer to voters’.

The farce called: European Democracy…

By: EBR | Monday, May 19, 2014

The expectations are clear: 60% of EU citizens will not use their right to vote in the upcoming elections for the European Parliament. But does this keep the EU machos awake at night? I don’t think so.

TI discovered that out of the 117.000 ‘restricted’ Council documents only 13.184 are listed in the public document register with no trace of the more than 100.00 others. The report includes a separate chapter about Olaf, the EU control institution. ‘The impression from outside is that Olaf is not as it should be independent from the Commission’, Carl Dolan director of TI said, ‘Olaf held several meetings with senior Commissioners to discuss ongoing cases, without any trace of those meetings in the records…’.

Anti-corruption group report about the dark rooms of the EU

By: EBR | Sunday, May 4, 2014

It is a shocking report that the anti-corruption group Transparency International (TI) recently released, ahead of the EP elections of May 22-25.

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EU Actually

President Ursula von der Leyen has seen better days

By: N. Peter Kramer

EU leaders, member states, MEPs, EP political groups have had it with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Europe

The EU Needs a Third Way in Iran

European reactions to the war in Iran have lost sight of wider political dynamics. The EU must position itself for the next phase of the crisis without giving up on its principles.

Business

The EU’s zig-zag road towards stronger financial markets

Giles Merritt delves into the confusing welter of efforts to streamline Europe’s national financial players into a more dynamic single capital market