debating progressive politics in Europe and beyond
A particularly warm welcome goes to economic stabilization policies (i.e. smoothing the economic cycle) which seem to be back at the EU stage after having been away for more than two decades. Surprise, surprise! What has happened? I.) Rompuy Report to European Council meeting on 13/14 December 2012 The Gang of Four (van Rompuy, Barroso, Juncker, [...]
The possible collapse of the euro threatens the future of social democracy, not only in Europe but also throughout the world. Yet many on the left have silently welcomed the euro crisis because European Monetary Union (EMU) has been seen as a critical part of the neoliberal project that dominated world order over the past [...]
The financial crisis risks destroying half a century of European integration. It is primarily a political and not an economic crisis and only a different political solution can solve it. The problem is the intergovernmental system of governance: Member states’ governments take decisions jointly, but each government pursues its own partial interests. Hence, political integration [...]
Now at least I know what the European Union is all about. The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso himself has told us that “we are the village green preservation society”. He was, of course, quoting from the Kinks’ hit of that name. The song also asks God to save Donald Duck and [...]
On the face of it, it was an easy decision for Catherine Ashton, the EU Foreign Policy Chief, to make. Should she have a walk-on role in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in Washington at the beginning of September, or should she go to China to meet top officials in preparation for the European Council meeting, [...]
In the midst of the crisis, when banks were saved with public money and fiscal policies were expansive, many of us thought the pendulum was swinging. Market fundamentalism had failed and the state was back. Monetarists had become neo-Keynesians and re-regulation was on the agenda. A paradigm change was in the making. Or so it [...]
As the Commission’s President, Herman van Rompuy, said in a speech in Paris at the end of September, it has become fashionable lately to announce the imminent death of the EU. Not so, he proclaimed! Under the stronger guidance of the Commission, the brave convoy of 27 ships will sail on successfully. Despite such rhetorical [...]
Habemus Presidentem. With the Lisbon Treaty ratified, the European Council appointed the Belgian Prime Minister Van Rompuy as its President, and Lady Ashton as Vice-President of the European Commission. The echo has been devastating. The Financial Times has called it ‘a colossal failure of ambition’. However, the decisions by the heads of states and governments [...]
So it’s done. The first permanent EU Council president is Herman van Rompuy and the first High Representative for Foreign Affairs under the Lisbon Treaty is Catherine Ashton. The EU has once again missed a chance to make a real impact on the world stage. The very little known van Rompuy is apparently meant to [...]
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