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The absurd situation arose that Austrian Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler, a former professional activist and member of the Green party, voted in favour of the EU Nature Restoration Regulation act contrary to her government instructions.

Nature restoration law pushed through illegally by Green minister

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Last week political history has been made in the European Union

The G7 decided to use the interest on some 280 billion euros of frozen Russian assets with Western financial institutions for a long-term loan of 50 billion euros to Ukraine.

The G7 wants to project strength, but the traditional group photo shows its weakness

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, June 18, 2024

An 81-year-old Biden trailing Trump in the polls; Macron and Scholz who have just been defeated by the far right; Sunak on his last G7 meeting before his election defeat

With a strong performance of her centre-right European Peoples Party (EPP), incumbent President von der Leyen is ready for the next part of her reappointment battle.

Von der Leyen on the way to continue her Commission Presidency

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, June 10, 2024

The results of the EP election are strengthening von der Leyen’s reappointment bid

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia belongs to the ECR. She has moderated her tones after her national victory a year and a half ago. The Economist recently even called her ‘Mainstream Meloni’.

Polls predict a major radical right victory

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, June 4, 2024

There has been speculation about a major victory in the EU Parliament elections for what is variously called radical right

Von der Leyen has taken a different course at the last minute under pressure from farmers revolts all over the EU and the upcoming elections. The above-mentioned centre-left coalition was and is still furious about her move.

Ursula for President

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, May 22, 2024

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is on a re-election campaign tour along EU capitals

The international well known far-right Freedom Party (PVV) leader Geert Wilders will not become prime minister but, as head of the largest party, may nominate a candidate for this function.

Dutch political parties agreed a right-wing government

By: EBR | Thursday, May 16, 2024

Four political factions with together a feasible majority in the Dutch parliament agreed to form a right-wing government

The difference is even more glaring looking at GDP (gross domestic product): the Eurozone around €15 trillion, the US already at €27 trillion!

‘Complete the internal market’

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, May 1, 2024

‘Complete the internal market’, former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta writes in “The independent High-Level Report on the future of the Single Market”

According to the French Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau, this will enable ‘greater consideration to be given to agriculture and food sovereignty’ in public policies, to make them a priority.

Is France setting the tone for modern agricultural laws?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Following promises made to protesting farmers, the French government has presented a new draft of the agricultural policy law

The judgment said that ‘The threat to public order appears to be deduced solely from the reactions that its organisation could arouse among opponents’. The principle of proportionality requires ‘…that measures are taken to curb demonstrations on public roads, rather than banning meetings in a closed space’,

‘Free debate and exchange of views is vital. Even when you disagree’.

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will speak today at the National Conservatism Conference in Brussels, a two-day far-right conference

In 2020-2021, the European Commission prepared a report for the first time on the risks of strategic dependencies in the industry.

An ‘EU war economy’? A hype!

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Cotton and weapons, it doesn’t seem like an obvious match

Looking at the fervent and pitiless way of handling his case, concerns about Assange’s ability to express his views freely and possible sentenced to death in the US are absolutely serious.

Respite for Wikileaks founder Assange

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange can stay in the United Kingdom for at least another two months

Faced with the farmer revolts in his own country and the poor polling numbers for his party in the run up to the EP elections, Macron decided to join Tusk and the other Eastern European member states.

Farmers win the battle: EU brakes on imports of Ukrainian grain

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, March 20, 2024

This explicit support no longer applies to the agricultural products that Ukraine exports to the EU!

Experts mentioned that China is less importing from the EU because they are substituting these imports. After special measures, China is more and more capable of building goods on its own.

EU-China trade slips with 27%!

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Eurostat, the EU official statistic office, found that the EU’s trade deficit with China slid 27% in 2023, to €291 billion down from €397 billion in 2022

A public secret in Brussels, is that VDL fails to consult others when making decisions. May be the most unbelievable example is the dubious deal she made, without consulting the commission and the member-states, with Pfizer CEO Bourla.

VDL: Commission President and Candidate

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, February 28, 2024

A week ago, at a press conference, Commission President von der Leyen nixed talk about the next step for Ukraine’s membership of the EU before this June’s EU Parliamentary elections

Although the West has long maintained that ‘the sanctions are working’, the Russian economy is closing the second year of the war surprisingly.

The World is bigger than the West

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, February 14, 2024

March 2022, the Russian rouble crashed, the value in London of Gazprom and Sberbank fell 97%

The plan to halve pesticide use ‘has become a symbol of polarisation’, she said and announced that the proposal will be withdrawn.

Von der Leyen takes down the EU flagship ‘Green Deal’

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, February 7, 2024

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (VDL) is attacking the political legacy of former Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans

Grim protests started the year in Germany, with thousands of farmers blocking roads across the country. Furious Polish, Hungarian and Slovak farmers take up post at the border with Ukraine.

Farmers’ protests expose failing EU agricultural policy

By: EBR | Wednesday, January 31, 2024

The EU countryside is on fire. Farmers protests from Poland to Spain expose the concrete rot of the EU agricultural policy

Meanwhile, the majority of the European Parliament does not want the contracts with Pfizer to be revealed. This leaves the Pfizer contract, which involved 35 billion euros and 1.8 billion vaccines under lock and key.

European Parliament helps VDL to conceal a dubious 35 billion euros deal

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, January 24, 2024

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been suspected of a conflict of interest for years

Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) suffered considerably in the parliamentary elections.

Taiwan’s choice for president: Beijing-critical William Lai

By: EBR | Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Beijing-critical William Lai Ching-te becomes the new president of Taiwan

Obviously, the German chancellor has no lessons to give to EU countries. May be better he starts focussing on the problems in his own country.

Is Olaf Scholz a bit unhinged?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, January 10, 2024

To be honest, it is understandable

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EU Actually

Extreme weather or not, the climate summit in Belem is in danger

By: N. Peter Kramer

That the weather is becoming more and more extreme does not lead to more political urgency

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04/2021 2021

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Europe

The EU Needs Values-Based Engagement in the Southern Mediterranean

As the EU prepares a new pact for its Southern neighborhood, the union should balance economic and security interests with support for civil society, political reforms, and inclusive governance

Business

To save the Single Market, bring back Delors’ 1992 playbook

Most people familiar with EU affairs know the single market is a myth. Hailed as the bedrock of the European Union, it was never completed and is now crumbling.