EU Actually

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Nobel committee member Lundestad has already said that ‘some people will find awarding the EU controversial’, not at least in Norway where ‘support for the EU is at an all-time low’.

NOBEL PRIZE FOR THE EU: A POLITICAL MESSAGE!

By: EBR | Wednesday, October 17, 2012

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has selected the EU for a peace prize when it is going through a major and potentially destructive crisis.

EU Presidency under Russian influence…

By: EBR | Thursday, June 28, 2012

In Brussels great gnashing of teeth. Greek-Cyprus, holding the rotating EU Presidency in the second half of this year, is coming more and more under the influence of Russia and is looking officially now for EU rescue funds to shore up the country’s banking sector.

After the March 4 elections, Putin is certainly weaker than the Putin from before. But he is still not weak! Don’t forget that the enormous Russian middle-class is not poor. They didn’t forget that it was the young President Putin who cleared up the mess made by his predecessors Gorbatsjov and Jeltsin, and brought them finally prosperity.

EU and Putin, Putin and EU

By: EBR | Wednesday, March 7, 2012

No, I am not a supporter of Putin. Let me start with that. But what surprises these days is the return of the Cold War approach of Russia by journalists, think-tank people and… politicians.

‘Brussels’ (read the European Commission and the European Parliament) has no better recipe for the crisis than more bureaucracy, more centralisation, more technocracy with intolerable downgrading or even elimination of national democratic process as effect.

Saving the euro by more ‘Brussels’ and less democracy

By: N. Peter Kramer | Thursday, December 1, 2011

It looks like the more ideas are invented to rescue the euro, the deeper the crisis becomes. In Greece and Italy prime-ministers are replaced by technocrats. Six government leaders in the eurozone have lost their job, not only in Italy and Greece but also in Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Slovenia.

Robin Hood tax, a U-turn and a pirouette by the Commission

By: N. Peter Kramer | Friday, September 30, 2011

The State of the Union everybody knows is the annual speech of the President of the Unites States. He (so far we haven't had a she) explains the situation, shows his views and unfolds his plans. The world holds his breath, watches him and listens to his message.

It looks as though some of the EU’s top politicians don’t have the slightest idea of what is going on in the streets of not only Athens and Madrid, but also in London and Amsterdam. At a time of unprecedented austerity, with Europe’s governments slashing spending, it might be smart for EU leaders to keep quiet.

The end of the European dream?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, June 28, 2011

How to solve the Eurozone debt crisis? Nout Wellink, the Dutch central bank governor, wants a European finance ministry. That could be an important step in the right direction, he thinks.

How many True Finns will the European Commission create?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, April 26, 2011

The Polish European Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski has proposed to increase the 2012 EU budget with 4.9% (two percentages points above inflation!) up to Euro 132.7 billion.

Trendsetter Iceland. Too late for Greece and Ireland. An idea for Portugal?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, April 11, 2011

A majority of Iceland voters have flatly refused for the second time to use public money to pay for the mistakes of the financial sector and their government.

It is not the economy, elections are the problem!

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, April 4, 2011

The EU Summit of March was a gathering of EU leaders with tight hands. The only one who didn’t expect that, was Enda Kenny - the fresh Irish prime minister. He asked his colleagues for easier bail-out terms. His argument? He was just elected on a promise to get a better deal for his country.

As a former budget minister, Van Rompuy was however aware of the European rules for deficits and national debt. On top of this there was the fact that he had no script to work from, due to the fact that he had no predecessors, and he was required to explore all corridors himself.

Herman Van Rompuy, one year EU President

By: N. Peter Kramer | Thursday, December 2, 2010

In the beginning of this year US President Obama rejected an EU-US summit, for reasons that ‘the Europeans had to make up their minds who represents the EU’ according to White House officials. This problem seems solved: November 20, Obama was in Europe and met Van Rompuy in an EU-US summit.

Since President Ma won elections in 2008, he has pushed hard for closer economic relations with Mainland China. The governments in Beijing and Taipei have grown measurably closer, introducing direct flights, markedly increasing tourism, signing a trade accord and increasing Chinese investment in Taiwan.

Cross-strait policy is acceptable to the majority of Taiwanese voters

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, December 1, 2010

“The results of the special municipality elections in Taiwan, November 27, show that the government’s cross-strait policy is acceptable to the majority of Taiwan’s people”, according to President Ma Ying-jeou.

If Obama is to win again, he needs to move back to the pragmatic centre of what is still a conservative country. He has to win back the independent vote that put him in the saddle 2 years ago and that deserted him now in droves.

Was Obama’s ‘hope’ only a hype?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, November 15, 2010

President Obama’s behaviour after his defeat in the midterm elections was astounding. Early in the morning after Election Day, the White House released a picture of the President on the phone, congratulating John Boehner, the next Republican Speaker of the House. That's where the clue is!

The President has not convinced regular citizens that his primary goal is an economic recovery for ‘Main Street’. People think often that he is much too close to Wall Street.

Democrats at risk of an epic defeat

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, September 20, 2010

Democrats are facing large-scale losses in the midterm congressional elections on November 2. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 37 of the 100 Senate seats are up for grabs. The result will have a defining impact on the second half of President Obama’s first term.

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EU Actually

Zelensky made a grave mistake

By: N. Peter Kramer

In his weekly column, N. Peter Kramer, writes about the horrible ‘mistake’ made by President Zelensky, that lead to a serious diplomatic row between Ukraine and Poland, one of the besieged country’s most loyal allies.

Europe

EU Needs a Strategy for its Turn to New Defense Tech

Defense tech innovations will be at the heart of Europe’s new security strategy. But so far, Brussels has been making moves without a broader plan, undermining readiness and credibility.

Business

How Much Pressure Can European CEOs Take?

There was a time when the job of the CEO was difficult but relatively clear: grow the business, beat the competition, manage costs, satisfy shareholders, inspire employees and avoid major reputational mistakes. That world has disappeared.