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After that the Turkish President took the decision to change the Prime-Minister. Meanwhile it seems that Erdogan is proposing his own son as a candidate.

Turkish Prime-Minister Davutoglu’s exit

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, May 24, 2016

The package of the EU-Turkey agreement to solve the refugee crisis was tied to visa liberalisation, to ease the deal for Turkey. This was what Turkey’s Prime-Minister Davutoglu’s achieved during the negotiations

The Greek government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are still at odds over ”contingency” austerity measures worth €3.6 billion in the event that Athens misses its budget target for a 3.5% surplus in 2018.

Debt relief for Greece comes closer

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, May 11, 2016

In their last meeting on Monday May 9, Eurozone finance ministers (the Eurogroup) talked about releasing the next tranche of Greece's current € 68 billion bailout package

That is why the Greek Prime Minister Tsipras, who always said he would do’ nothing more and nothing less’ than was agreed last summer, is trying to bring the discussion now back to the level were the agreement was signed, the Eurozone leaders.

Amid an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, the Greek bailout drama continues

By: N. Peter Kramer | Thursday, April 28, 2016

While Greece has to coop with the presence of thousands of refugees, amid an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, talks to conclude the first review of the Greek bailout and to unblock more than €5 billion, resumed

As soon as Merkel allowed the case to proceed, the question was: what will Erdogan demand next?

Merkel sends the wrong signal

By: N. Peter Kramer | Thursday, April 21, 2016

German Bundeskanzlerin Merkel gave President Erdogan the chance to silence also his critics outside his country

SP ministers, among them Onkelinx, refused to take the warning seriously. The (Liberal) Prime-Minister Guy Verhofstadt asked his Minister of Justice, Marc Verwilghen (also a Liberal), who raised some proposals, to drop the case, afraid that the PS would trip the government up. Verwilghen was called a ‘populist’ by Onkelinx and a ‘racist’ by Philippe Moureaux, a PS senator and Mayor of Molenbeek for some 20 years!

A Belgian tragedy

By: N. Peter Kramer | Friday, April 1, 2016

While the country is still paralysed and in mourning for the terrorists attacks and its many victims, some Belgian politicians don’t feel ashamed to lash out at their political opponents ’hitting below the belt’

The idea of spending millions on luxury cars and drivers did not go down well with some MEPs. So the vote was held off.

MEPs prefer private drivers in EP uniform above staff checking their expenses…

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, March 14, 2016

The top civil servant of the European Parliament, Secretary-General Klaus Welle, wants to revamp the cars service, hiring 110 full time drivers in fancy uniforms and ending the practice of using contractors.

The refugee crisis has tugged at the EU delicate unity like nothing before and has exposed the differences between EU member states that will linger long after the immediate danger has passed.

Are the refugees disturbing the quest for the US of Europe?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Since 1957 the phrase ‘ever closer union among the peoples of Europe’ has survived every change to the EU treaties. Nearly 60 years ago it was inserted in the preamble of the Treaty of Rome, the EU founding document.

British voters are staggered that European leaders have such a problem with so little, whilst these Presidents and Prime-Ministers are, at the same time, completely incompetent and unable to find solutions for the refugee crisis that is overwhelming the EU and its neighbours.

How European leaders handle major matters

By: N. Peter Kramer | Sunday, February 21, 2016

Friday night the EU leadership has decided that David Cameron could go home with his prize. That happened after a 2 days show of shocking national egotism and a complete lack of a European spirit

The European Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, opened a strategic inquiry into the composition of expert groups in May 2014. She drew on the results of a subsequent public consultation to make a series of initial proposals to the Commission.

European Ombudsman wants to halt Commission’s undemocratic and ‘mysterious’ consulting practice

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, February 8, 2016

There are over 800 (!) expert groups advising the European Commission. These groups can consist of individuals, organisations, member state and other public authorities

That leaves Angela Merkel as the only remaining head of government of a major country within the EPP family. Her ideological partners are disappearing, as the backing for her policies is.

Is Merkel’s influence in the EU Council fading?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, January 20, 2016

The EPP seems to be weakened by election outcomes across the EU in 2015

With Brexit, Germany would lose its most important ally in contention with the southern EU members, the weak economies which act as aa much needed growth in the EU.

Would Brexit be fatal for the EU?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, January 11, 2016

According to Dorothea Siems, Chief Economist for the leading German daily Die Welt, the answer to the question: ‘would Brexit be fatal for the EU?’ is frankly ‘yes’

Italy, France and some other European powers want Russia’s help to stop the war in Syria that has fueled terrorism and has caused that huge numbers of migrants entered EU memberstates.

Hesitation about EU sanctions on Russia

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Monday 14 December, EU’s foreign affairs ministers handed over the decision to extend the sanctions on Russia to their bosses, the EU leaders

Monika Hohlmeier, the EPP Group Coordinator for Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Christian-Democrats in EP: ′terrorists would gleefully vote Left′

By: N. Peter Kramer | Friday, November 20, 2015

It seems that for the Socialists, the Liberals, the Greens and the Communists, it is business as usual.

Greek officials stress that Athens wants to fulfill the points of the bailout agreement.

Eurozone’s strangling of the Greeks continues

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, November 11, 2015

This week the Eurogroup ministers let know that the next tranche of loans for Greece as well as money for bank recapitalisation only will be released after the Greek government implements agreed reforms

A foggy view: is the EU looking at the Ukraine with its glasses steamed up?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Thursday, October 29, 2015

Last weekend local elections took place in some parts of Ukraine.

The recent EJC’s ruling says that the Safe Harbour agreement on data transfers to the US does not afford the adequate protection required by EU law and is in fact unsafe.

European Court of Justice blocks transfer of data between EU and US

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, October 19, 2015

15 years ago, given the sheer volume of transatlantic data traffic, an agreement, the so called Safe Harbour framework agreement, was established; enabling companies in the EU to easily transfer personal data to the US without having to seek prior approval, a potentially lengthy and costly process.

The EU has issued elaborate guidelines on freedom of expression for other countries, but a majority of its member states still keep such laws in their judicial arsenal. Hungary is the best (?) example.

Press Freedom at risk as EU struggles to match action with values

By: N. Peter Kramer | Friday, October 2, 2015

EU’s defence of press freedom has mainly been tailored to traditional foreign policy criteria, such as security interests or trade relations.

Syriza kept its ground and left the New Democrats behind with a clear margin. The dissidents who left Syriza were unable to take possession of a single seat in the parliament.

Tsipras gambled, won and is back in the saddle

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, September 22, 2015

35% of the Greek voters let it be known that Syriza’s leader, Alexis Tsipras, had to stay in power and endorsed his decision to agree with a harsh bailout agreement, after being crushed by the other Eurozone leaders under the command of German Schauble.

Guntram Wolff, director of the Brussels based think tank Bruegel, said ‘My hope is that Germany is aware that pushing Greece to the point where it has no perspective will be very damaging for Germany. Its image has already suffered very significantly last week’.

Germany′s reputation, the European dream and … 40.000 refugees

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Recently a weekly publication showed, on its cover, a portrait of Wolfgang Schauble with the headline: ‘This man scares us too’. Was it a Greek weekly? No, it was an Italian one, L’Espresso!

The history of European integration shows that compromise at the negotiation table is the only way of moving forward together.

After NO a new compromise is needed

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, July 6, 2015

Greek voters have, with a clear majority, rejected the economic package the Eurozone presented recently. They said ‘no’ to a policy that would have prolonged the failing austerity-dominated policies of recent years. But the ‘no’ did not reject Greece’s EU membership or the Euro.

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EU Actually

Zelensky made a grave mistake

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