With the possibility of sovereign default by Greece on its debt and the drop of the Euro, the GFC has really tested the strength of the EU bond for the very first time. Will it hold and what is its future? asks Sam Wylie.
European Union
Merry Christmas (banana war is over)
The European Union has finally agreed to lower tariffs on banana imports, ending the 15-year “banana war” over the preferential treatment given to growers in the Caribbean and Africa over those in South America.
Neopolitan pizza: now officially protected by the EU
The EU is now enforcing strict guidelines on the creation of Neapolitan pizzas around the world: ONLY San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo-milk mozzarella, an eighth-of-an-inch-thick crust, hand-stretched dough and a wood-fired oven will suffice.
Now hear this: Greece’s debt is bigger than its economy
Greece revealed a public debt of 300 billion euros — or more than $A480 billion — overnight, leaving European leaders to contemplate a financial black hole in Athens.
Brown and Sarkozy: What the world needs now is financial regulation
Great Britain PM Gordon Brown and French president Nicolas Sarkozy join forces to pen this mission statement on the need for greater global financial regulation and supervision, foreshadowing Sarkozy’s support for Brown’s new bonus tax.
leaked The EU plan to split Jerusalem
Hareetz has got its hands on a document drafted by the European Union calling for the division of Jerusalem between Israel and a future Palestinian state, indicating it would support a unilateral Palestinian declaration of statehood.
Greece’s economic death far from exaggerated
Greece’s economy has emerged as the sickest in Europe. And it can only get worse from here, writes Glenn Dyer.
EU Presidency: a bogus, pompous, ludicrous, overpriced job
The European Union doesn’t need a President, says George Walden: the EU is not a country, and pretending it is is a dangerous farce that will impede the body’s ability to work effectively.
Europe’s first President: Herman Van Rompuy
Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy has been named the first President of the European Union. Former British PM Tony Blair reportedly snared the job first, but bowed out to appease Europe’s centre-right majority.
The new EU President: meet the contenders
The European Union will announce its new President this week, following a rather sketchy closed-door process. HuffPo introduces the candidates and the bookies’ odds on their chances.
Europe gets onboard the Road Train to cleaner highways
The EU is exploring a novel way of reducing fuel consumption: linking cars via wireless sensors into “road trains” on Europe’s motorways, with one lead vehicle “pulling” all the others along while the drivers kick back and save on fuel.
Europe gets a new constitution — sort of
The big news in Europe this week is the final ratification of the Lisbon treaty, which provides a new constitutional structure for the European Union. But where’s the euroscepticism gone? Has the EU proved its ‘socialist plot’ claims wrong?
Sarkozy’s £250,000 shower
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has made British MPs’ expenses look like chump change, with a new report finding he spent £160m (AU$290m) during his six-month stint in charge of the European Union, including £250,000 on a new shower that he never actually used.
Downing Street plots to buy Blair’s way into the EU Presidency
British PM Gordon Brown is planning to buy off Angela Merkel and Nikolas Sarkozy’s votes for the European Union Presidency by offering them big jobs within the Union should Tony Blair get up.
Independent: Why Blair won’t get our vote (again)
UK paper The Independent says it won’t support Tony Blair as a candidate for the Presidency of the European Union: “When the choice between Britain’s relationship with America and its relationship with the rest of Europe became unfudgeable, Mr Blair chose America”.
Why Obama doesn’t care about Europe
Barack Obama may be the most “European” President the US has had in recent memory, but that doesn’t mean he gives a rat’s about the continent itself, says Timothy Garton Ash. And unless Europe’s countries come together as a united power, that won’t change.
Europe’s plan for world domination
With the European Union set to elect its first president and foreign minister, Europe is gearing up to flex its muscles as a genuine global superpower — and it will use the “Trojan Horse” of the G20 to do it, says Gideon Rachman.
Letter from...: Brussels, home of Tintin and the EU
Last weekend, Ireland voted “yes” for the Lisbon Treaty, meaning the European Union will be getting a long-overdue structural overhaul. Grant Doyle was in Brussels for the celebrations.
Tony Blair: Europe’s first President?
Now Ireland has ratified the Lisbon Treaty, former British PM Tony Blair has all but shored up the support needed to become the first President of the European Union, inside sources tell the Times
Europeans throw Russia an olive branch
The big political story in Europe is the release of the European Union report on last year’s war between Russia and Georgia. Both sides claim a degree of vindication from it.
Leaked: who’s to blame for war in Georgia?
Officially, it’s equal blame game for the 2008 South Ossetian war, with Georgia opening the initial fire, but Russia responsible for keeping it going, according to leaks from the EU investigation.
Why the world kicks sand in the EU’s face
The European Union should be one of the world’s great economic and political powers — but it packs all the punch of a decaf soy latte and a soggy croissant. How did such heavy-hitting countries end up creating a 98-pound weakling?
Crikey Says: Overseas postings: send your critics far, far away
The Prime Minister had big news this morning, announcing Kim Beazley and Brendan Nelson as new ambassadors. Is Mark Latham’s ambassadorial posting due any second now?
Europe one-ups America. Again.
Most of Europe will soon have lower income tax rates than most of America, says an unhappy WSJ. And now the EU is finalising a free trade deal with South Korea, while the US loses ground.
Tony Blair’s EU Presidency bid stumbles at the first hurdle
Prime Minister Tony Blair’s conceited plan to resuscitate his political career to become the first President of Europe has been greeted with howls of anger and derision.
