Dear readers, friends and colleagues,
Just before the Christmas holidays and the beginning of a new and hopefully more prosperous year, European Business Review (EBR) released its last issue for the year 2021. The new EBR issue is once again an essential destination (…not just for Christmas vacations…) for leaders, decision makers and key-influencers who look for in-depth analyses, reliable insight and up-to-date intelligence on People, Places and Issues that matter.
So... Let’s start with one of the highlights of the year - The German elections that mark end of Merkel era. As our main cover theme ’unveils’ Germany’s New Government Upends the Status Quo. Olaf Scholz stepped into the chancellery, ending Angela Merkel’s sixteen years at the helm. Under Merkel, the status quo shunned modernizing the German economy, society, migration procedures, digitization, not to mention the functioning of the EU. And what about now? The whopping 177-page coalition agreement is not about ticking off the boxes about Germany’s commitment to the transatlantic alliance and NATO, or strengthening the EU, or supporting the multilateral order. It is something deeper and more complex...
Staying on the EU thematic area, N. Peter Kramer comes with not such a ’merry’ story as he concludes that "it looks like the world’s biggest trade bloc, as the EU loves to call itself, is not more than a lame duck…". ‘China humiliates the EU’ article has more to say.
In addition, EU faces the Turkey trouble. Under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country has been undergoing a substantial degradation of its rule-of-law architecture in all relevant fields, from the judiciary and the media to civil society and women’s rights. The degradation of the rule of law has also affected some of Turkey’s international commitments. Marc Pierini suggests that "EU Should Stand Firm on Turkey".
Next destination... "China". The arms race continues despite the pandemic. "Chinese arms industry competes with the big ones", even US remains the dominant.
Talking of US, "Former President Trump still dominates the news media" according to a book review that you can find in page 46. Moreover, Hans I. Kriek says that "alarm bells are ringing for US Democrats". Even among Democrats, Biden’s nowhere near where an incumbent president should be, which is in the 90 percent range. Currently, only 80 percent of Democrats approve the job Biden’s doing and only 44 percent strongly approve. Those are bad numbers. Hmm...
Jumping to business news, COVID-19 pandemic is changing the role of leaders. The COVID-19 pandemic has blurred the division between our work and family lives, and shifted what we value. It has also fundamentally reshaped our relationship with institutions including healthcare, the government and employers. This new reality requires a new approach from leaders.
EBR answers another question: "How the COVID-19 pandemic changed news reporting". Find out more in page 24!
Not to forget to mention European Business Summit 2021! This year, the summit’s premise was Beyond Recovery: Towards a Sustainable and Innovative Europe. There panels and interviews covered a wide range of timely topics. Jump to the EBR pages for more!
Last but not least... "Athens sous le ciel de Paris", an article where Alexandra Papaisidorou brings together Athens and Paris strolling around the Musee du Louvre on the occasion of the exhibition "Paris-Athens. The birth of Modern Greece, 1675-1919".
You can read the latest full issue of EBR right here.
Wishes for a Wonderful Christmastime and hope you enjoy the reading!
By: N. Peter Kramer
