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"EU sustainability criteria are not enough to stop destruction of nature in Estonia, the EU’s second- largest exporter of wood pellets."

EU rules destroying Estonia’s forests

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, July 7, 2021

EU rules that encourage the use of wood pellets to meet renewable energy targets are driving the destruction and degradation of forests in Estonia, research commissioned by Greenpeace has found

"Merkel is due to step down this year after 16 years as German chancellor and the heated discussions during the summit were not her smooth send-off everyone expected."

Merkel’s last EU summit

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Angela Merkel said fellow EU leaders’ decision to scupper her idea to hold a summit with Vladimir Putin showed that ‘we don’t trust each other much’

"While the EU continues to sharpen its overall climate ambitions, emissions from the agricultural sector are not falling or are falling only marginally."

EU Court of Auditors: greening agriculture fails

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Despite billions of euros that should contribute to climate friendly agriculture, there is little or no progress

’We have seen senior EU figures talk about Northern Ireland as if it were somehow a different country to the UK’.

EU: ‘Is Northern Ireland really UK territory?’

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, June 16, 2021

The Northern Ireland Protocol, signed separately from the Brexit trade deal agreed at the end of December last year, is supposed to see checks on goods heading into the province from Britain

"The Danish approach of asylum seekers, strongly criticised by UNHCR, has, so far, not raised any fundamental question by the European Commission, although it is at odds with the principles of the 1951 Refugee Convention."

The remarkable Danish Social-Democrats asylum policy

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Thursday last week, the Folketing (the Danish Parliament) passed a law that makes possible to send asylum seekers to a country outside the European Union, where their application will be assessed

"A real offense for the EU is the high level of prosperity in Switzerland, including the low incomes."

Switzerland and the EU: David and Goliath?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, June 2, 2021

EU politicians fight for the importance of their own position and the EU as an institution

"Under the new rules, the Ombudsman’s office will enjoy a broad mandate and powers of initiative."

A new statute for the European Ombudsman – are the MEPs ready for it?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, May 26, 2021

The Constitutional Commission of the European Parliament endorsed a draft report on the Statute of the European Ombudsman

"The Ombudsman has already carried out several inquiries related to the revolving door, including one concerning the European Banking Authority and one concerning the European Defence Agency."

Broad inquiry into European Commission’s lucrative ‘revolving doors’

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, May 19, 2021

EU Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has launched a wide-ranging inquiry into how the European Commission handles so-called ‘revolving doors’ cases amongst its staff

"The Conference should initiate a European Union-wide discussion about the where and for what of the Union."

How serious is the Conference on the Future of Europe?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, May 12, 2021

The official kick-off of the Conference on the Future of Europe (read: EU) took place on May 9, Europe Day, in Strasbourg

"In strong contrast with the US and China, EU economies have been set back this year."

Chinese and US economies recover from COVID, Eurozone in double-dip recession

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, May 4, 2021

In the first quarter of 2021 China’s economy continued its strong recovery from coronavirus as the country reported a record growth rate compared to last year

"In the Lisbon Treaty, foreign policy tasks are not precisely defined. That allows the two presidents to seize every opportunity to compete with each other."

‘Rivalry Michel and Von der Leyen undermines EU’s credibility’

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, April 28, 2021

‘Rivalry Michel and Von der Leyen undermines EU’s credibility’, Belgian top diplomat Roux wrote recently

The provisional agreement is still subject to approval by the Council and the Parliament before going through the formal steps of the adoption procedure, but the EU can send already a strong signal to the virtual World Leader’s Summit on Climate on April 22, organised and hosted by US President Joe Biden.

EU climate law agreement: Council did not give in

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Last night, the negotiators of the European Parliament and Council reached a provisional political agreement on the objective of a climate-neutral EU by 2050 and a collective net greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990

"Macron finally made ENA’s abolition official while announcing plans to create a new school for France’s elite with a familiar formula: Institut du Service Public."

Macron replaces ENA with new school for French elite

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, April 14, 2021

In the aftermath of the yellow-vest protest and crisis, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to abolish the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA), the cradle of the French elite, that has become a lightning rod for anti-establishment sentiment

The result of the Ankara meeting? The EU leaders let the media know what they told President Erdogan. Nothing new. Only, ‘it is up to Turkey to seize this opportunity in a solid and sustainable manner’.

No success for VDL and Michel in Ankara

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, April 7, 2021

To restore, in the EU’s strategic interest, a mutually beneficial and positive relationship with Turkey, the European Council asked its President Charles Michel to talk with his Turkish colleague Recep Erdogan and lay out the terms on which such a better relationship could be built

President Biden will be content with the EU’s U-turn. He wants to save NATO; and Turkey is a cornerstone for that organisation given its geographical location and its (certainly by EU standards) impressive armed forces.

EU’s U-turn on Turkey

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Devil Donald Trump is driven out of the White House and Saviour Joe Biden has taken up residence; to the delight of almost all EU leaders and many others

“By acting with our partners, we are sending the clearest message to the Chinese government, that the international community will not turn a blind eye to such serious and systemic violations of basic human rights, and that we will act, in concert, to hold those responsible to account.”

What will happen with Merkel, Von der Leyen and Michel’s landmark trade deal with China?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, March 24, 2021

The EU joined the U.K., the U.S. and Canada in slapping sanctions on Chinese officials involved in the crackdown on the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang

‘Today we are inviting all Europeans to speak up’.

‘Conference on the Future of Europe’: two years of EU navel-gazing?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, March 17, 2021

With the usual ‘Brussels’ fanfare, European Commission President von der Leyen, European Parliament President Sassoli and Portuguese Prime Minister Costa for the rotating presidency of the European Council signed, March 10, the Joint Declaration of the Conference on the Future of Europe

The task of the World Health Organisation mission to Wuhan was to shed light on the very beginning of the pandemic.

Serious doubts about WHO mission to Wuhan

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Research by the WHO into the origin of the coronavirus was supposed to stop speculation. But in the ‘best tradition’ of the WHO, the results of the mission seems to be unreliable. The team leader contradicts himself on crucial points

A letter sent to Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary and Sweden highlights the risk of ‘fragmentation and disruptions to free movement and to supply chains’.

Von der Leyen warns Merkel and 5 other EU leaders

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, March 3, 2021

The European Commission has formally warned six EU countries that closing their borders undermines free movement within the EU

"At the moment all signs are that the UK has few, if any, plans to undercut the EU regulatory framework. In most cases, with the possible exception of insurance and hedge funds, new UK laws are unlikely to mean looser regulation."

EU prophets of doom were wrong

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Following the 2016 referendum in the UK there were predictions by EU prophets of doom, like chief-negotiator Barnier, that banks, hedge funds and other financial firms would leave London’s City en-mass

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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.