Britain & EU member-states

Error message

Notice: Trying to get property 'vocabulary_machine_name' of non-object in _cer_topics_taxonomy_term_page_view() (line 104 of /var/www/vhosts/cer_live/site/sites/all/modules/custom/cer_topics/cer_topics.module).

Tre getingar till Reinfeldt som EU-ordförande

Clara Marina O'Donnell
29 December 2009
Sidan 4: Debatt
Statsministern och hans team var kompetenta förhandlare. Men de stora framgångarna lyste med sin frånvaro under ordförandeskapet, skriver Clara Marina O'Donnell.

Missing another EU opportunity

18 November 2009
The Guardian
When Britain's foreign secretary, David Miliband, made clear that he was not interested in being the European Union's new "high representative" for foreign policy, the UK lost a unique opportunity to craft the EU more in its own image.

Is Tony Blair the right man to be president of Europe?

Charles Grant, Henry Porter, commentator for The Observer
25 October 2009
The Observer
Yes, says Charles Grant. His presence would improve the global credibility of the EU. No, says Henry Porter. He co-authored the Iraq war and is not a convinced democrat.

Blair would be a good choice for Europe

07 October 2009
Financial Times
If the Lisbon treaty enters into force, which seems likely, the European Union will appoint a president to chair the European Council, which brings together the heads of government.

Look who's sclerotic

Simon Tilford
28 September 2009
International Herald Tribune
A popular Continental misconception about Britain is that it is some kind of ultra-free economy where there is limited social welfare and where the market has been introduced into every aspect of life.

Warsaw warms to Moscow

Tomas Valasek
18 September 2009
The Guardian
Tabloids make a poor guide to understanding a country's policy. While the newspaper headlines in Poland and the Czech Republic scream of the US "betraying" eastern Europe by cancelling missile defence bases there, the official reaction in Warsaw and Prague has been muted.

Germany will not drive a European recovery

Simon Tilford
01 September 2009
Financial Times
The European Union’s biggest member goes to the polls in less than four weeks. Yet while Germany’s economic prospects rest precariously on a recovery in foreign demand, the campaign has been free of any real debate about the country’s extraordinary export dependence. This is worrying.
A sustainable EU economic recovery requires...

Logic in Europe's military could check spending

Tomas Valasek
16 July 2009
Financial Times
When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object bad things usually happen. And so it will be next year when spending cuts imposed by the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression meet the rising demands of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The UK government may have to cut non-defence...

The eurosceptic illusion

Simon Tilford
05 July 2009
The Guardian
Britain's Eurosceptics need to come clean. The media and political class have a right to be sceptical about the EU, even hostile to it. But they also have an obligation to be honest about the economic implications of a retreat from full membership of the union.
Their failure to do so...

The Dis-Uniting Kingdom?

30 June 2009
The Wall Street Journal
Britain's European debate has gone septic. More than half of British votes cast in recent European elections went to euro-skeptic parties ranging from the mad, bad political fringes such as the British National Party to a Conservative Party promising to claw back powers from Brussels.

Guest column: Spain's muted EU voice

09 June 2009
Financial Times
There are several paradoxes about Spain’s global role. Its business leaders have built up many world-beating companies, but its politicians tend to be parochial.

Por qué pesa poco España?

08 May 2009
ABC.es
El papel de España en la UE encierra una extraña paradoja. Aunque se trata de uno de los Estados miembros más europeísta, es el que menos influencia tiene de los seis países más grandes. Pero esto no siempre ha sido así.

Yes we can - and here's how

03 April 2009
E!Sharp
The credibility of Ireland’s already weak government will be on the line when it puts the Lisbon Treaty to a second referendum later this year.

Ten years on, the eurozone must beware of Greeks bearing debts

29 March 2009
The Times
Europe's leaders have plenty to fret about. The Czech Government, which holds the EU presidency, has collapsed. The European Commission is battling against the protectionist instincts of some states.

It's a fabrication that Britain doesn't make things any more

Philip Whyte
13 March 2009
The Times
Nicolas Sarkozy stung us when he claimed last month that Britain, unlike France, “has no industry”. Since the implosion of the financial sector, it has become an article of faith that the British economy is paying for its excessive reliance on services.

The Runway 3 red herring

22 January 2009
The Guardian
Simon Jenkins, Martin Kettle and Polly Toynbee are columnists I respect and quite often agree with. So when they - and many Comment is Free contributors - join the George Monbiots of this world in attacking the proposed third runway for Heathrow, I read them carefully.