Immigration: here to stay
Jose M. de Areilza
May 15, 2006
Romano Prodi, back in the job of Italian Prime Minister, has one very clear idea about the future of the EU: it should have a full-fledged immigration policy.
Of course, he admits 2006 is not the ideal political moment to ask for a huge transfer of new powers to Brussels. The EU faces mounting euro-skepticism and has scarce budgetary means. Yet Il Professore is pointing to the right direction: immigration into Europe is a new phenomenon of multiple faces and most likely to stay with us for the next hundred of years. Once there is free movement of persons inside the Union, it can only be managed effectively with strong participation of the European governmental level. Also, at a symbolic level, one can argue that immigration seriously affects the European ethos, i.e., the ethical treatment of the Other.
The quintessential nuancers
Fidel Sendagorta
May 14, 2006
That is how Wesley Clark famously described Europeans during the preparations for the Kosovo war. General Clark was venting his frustration at the way Europeans tend to become fascinated by the complexity of issues to the point of hindering their will for action. At the time I thought that he had a point but this week, after listening to Robert Kagan in Madrid last Monday May the 8th, I reckoned there is still much to say in favour of nuance. Kagan argues that we are heading for a new round of conflict between autocracy and democracy and that the real challenge will not come from islamist terrorism but rather from the two autocratic powers of our age: Russia and China. That would indeed be quite a departure from American foreign policy old and new..
Vikings ain´t scared
J. Ignacio Torreblanca
May 7, 2006
Having lived in Denmark and having small kids, it is impossible not to enjoy reading Asterix and the Vikings. As readers may remember, in the story Vikings sailed to Gaul to learn what fear was, but they found the Gauls, who didn’t fear anything (except for heavens’ falling on their heads). Looking at the recently released special Eurobarometer (257) on the future of Europe, we find out that 77% of Danes think that globalization is an opportunity for Danish firms to make business and sell more abroad, while 16 % do not. In contrast, 72% of French think that globalization is a threat in opposition to 21% who consider it as an opportunity.
Let´s litigate
Christian Bulzomí
May 5, 2006
Private enforcement of competition law as a complement to public enforcement is growing in Europe and the Commission is looking for a feasible way to enhance its growth. The Ashurst report and the Green Book on damage claims testify the willingness of the Commission to take positive steps for the enhancement of private damage claims in this field of competition law, in order to permit competitors and consumers, who suffer loss from anticompetitive behaviours of undertakings, to find financial redress. The question has turned from “if” it could be done to “how” it should be done.