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What a truly democratic EU might look like
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Pretending that more democracy will automatically make the EU more popular misses the point, says Sabine Leidig who heads the ATTAC Germany office. She argues that the EU must be made to work for the people if it is ever to achieve real democratic legitimacy
ISSUE: Summer 2008
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Sharing a vision of “the new Europe”
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Former Belgian Prime Minister Mark Eyskens says he understands why Europe’s citizens care little for the details of EU constitutional reform. But he suggests that a glimpse of the future is essential to understanding today’s choices
ISSUE: Summer 2008
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Regulating Brussels’ legion of lobbyists
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With some 15,000 lobbyists in Brussels, it's not surprising that debate over the rules that should govern them is growing heated. Alexander Stubb, who at the time of writing this article was the European Parliament's rapporteur on lobbying and now is Finland's Foreign Minister, explains the difficulties
ISSUE: Spring 2008
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Finding a new EU budget won't be easy
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The EU is looking hard at ways to overhaul its finances. Marc Laffineur, Vice-President of France’s National Assembly, wants an end to such “special cases” as Britain’s rebate while offering a strong defence of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
ISSUE: Spring 2008
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Why the EU may never get its accounts straight
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The EU’s auditors constantly face demands for a Statement of Assurance, a kind of all-clear signal for its accounts, and they constantly decline. François Colling, a former member of the European Court of Auditors, explains why and suggests a way out
ISSUE: Spring 2008
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Breaking out of the vicious circle of EU politics
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How cynical and manipulative are the EU’s national leaders in the European Council? Daniel Cohn-Bendit, co-president of the Greens/Free European Alliance Group in the European Parliament, charts the twists and turns of their commitment to the European ideal, and prescribes treatment for their bouts of political amnesia
ISSUE: Autumn 2007
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There’s a brave new Europe to be glimpsed in the Reform Treaty
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Much of the EU’s economic and monetary integration is now accomplished, says Jean-Dominique Giuliani, so the challenge is bringing about a form of political union that respects national identities. He warns that it will demand political dexterity and chutzpah
ISSUE: Autumn 2007
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If we get it right, we’ll all be saying “I’m a European”
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Europeans like to think of themselves as multi-cultural, yet in some countries simmering xenophobia could flame into conflict between inner-city communities, fears Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. His solution to these tensions is an ambitious EU-wide strategy for promoting both a multi-lingual Europe and multi-culturalism
ISSUE: Autumn 2007
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If EU referendums are tabou, what then?
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The lessons of the constitutional crisis and the new Reform Treaty are that Europe’s national electorates may have to be by-passed if the EU is to progress, argues Tøger Seidenfaden, editor-in-chief of Danish newspaper Politiken. But he proposes ideas for ways they can still have an important say on future reforms
ISSUE: Autumn 2007
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A President of Europe is not Utopian, it’s practical politics
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Europe may still be reeling from the effect of its constitutional debacle, but Jo Leinen, Chairman of the European Parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee, says that what the EU really needs now is a two-chamber European Parliament and a “real European government”
ISSUE: Summer 2007
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We must cure Brussels of its centralising fever
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The inappropriate centralisation of political power by the EU is one of the main reasons people mistrust it, argues former German President Roman Herzog. He and Lüder Gerken prescribe four curative measures to cure the ailment
ISSUE: Summer 2007
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The EU constitution’s “yes” countries should push ahead regardless
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As Europe’s leaders try to get to grips with the impasse over the EU’s constitutional treaty, Nicolas Schmit, Luxembourg’s Delegate Foreign Affairs Minister, surveys the options open to them and puts the case for an EU-18 coalition of the willing
ISSUE: Summer 2007
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Why the EU is dragging its feet: An ex-Ambassador’s lament
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European governments‘ over-riding concern with national interest is too often binding their diplomats‘ hands, regardless of the EU’s common goals, says Pavel Telička, a former Czech Ambassador to the EU and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister
ISSUE: Summer 2007
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Europe needs not more, but better referendums
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There’s nothing wrong with popular referendums or plebiscites as a means of deciding Europe’s future, argues Bruno Kaufmann. He sets out the case for simultaneous Europe-wide referendums that would bring genuine democracy to EU decision-making
ISSUE: Summer 2007
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Only strong leadership will get Europe back on track
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The recipe for resolving the EU’s problems and escaping the political doldrums is the same as that which brought the single market and the euro, says Wilfried Martens, President of the centre-right European People’s Party in the European Parliament who was Belgian Prime Minister from 1979-92t.
ISSUE: Spring 2007
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What France must do to repair the No vote’s damage
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The fall-out from French voters’ rejection of the EU constitution continues to be very damaging, says Noëlle Lenoir, France’s former Minister of European Affairs. But she believes that her country can yet play a key part in getting the European project back on its feet and moving forward again
ISSUE: Spring 2007
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EU reform: What we need to do
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What can Europe’s political leaders do to regain popular support for the EU and get it moving again? Nicolas Sarkozy explains his strategy for unblocking the deadlock with a “mini-treaty” and for streamlining the European institutions
ISSUE: Autumn 2006
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“Tough love” should be the EU’s new standard for aspiring members
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Ensuring that its ongoing enlargement strategy won’t backfire in public opinion terms is going to be crucially important, writes Richard Rose. For 15 years he has been surveying post-communist countries, and argues here that applying tough entry standards is the key to future successes
ISSUE: Autumn 2006
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Why we’ve got to loosen governments’ grip on EU policymaking
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That ‘semi-detached’ EU member the UK is the de facto leader of a loose coalition now ensuring that inter-governmentalism rules, writes Pierre Defraigne, who heads Paris-based IFRI’s Brussels branch. He warns of serious consequences unless there is a shift back to the EU’s community method
ISSUE: Autumn 2006
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Enlargement: Six tests for the EU’s absorption capacity
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The cold reality confronting German politicians, says Andreas Schockenhoff, Deputy Chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, is a morose electorate that mistrusts the EU and fears further enlargements. He suggests six criteria for defining the controversial concept of the Union’s “absorption capacity”
ISSUE: Autumn 2006
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Six priorities for tackling the EU crisis
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The crisis that has engulfed the EU is both wider and deeper than the setback to the Constitution would suggest. Joachim Bitterlich, who was German Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s foreign and security advisor identifies the areas he believes ripe for urgent action
ISSUE: Summer 2006
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“Very well, alone!”: Why the UK’s Tories are leaving the EPP-ED group
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Britain’s conservatives have been warned that by leaving the largest grouping in the European Parliament they risk losing any influence they have had on EU policymaking. Geoffrey Van Orden MEP, explains why, on the contrary, his party’s go-it-alone stance makes good sense
ISSUE: Summer 2006
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Scenarios for escaping the constitutional impasse
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The European Union’s constitutional treaty remains central to whatever realistic scenario one might imagine, argues Philippe de Schoutheete, who was for many years the doyen of the EU diplomatic corps in Brussels. Here he assesses the options now open to policymakers
ISSUE: Summer 2006
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It’s time governments told the truth about the EU
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Europe’s governments hide the importance of EU-level policymaking from their electorates “as if it were some dirty secret”, says former Belgian Europe Minister Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck. She calls here for a new openness as a first step towards connecting Europe with its citizens
ISSUE: Summer 2006
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Treating Europe’s ills: Diagnosis and prescription
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Machiavelli once warned that some illnesses are easy to cure but hard to detect, and once detectable can no longer be cured. Giorgio La Malfa and Marco De Andreis test their diagnostic and prescriptive skills on Europe’s post-constitution malaise
ISSUE: Summer 2006
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Saving Europe from the tyranny of referendums
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Popular referendums are not the purest form of democracy but an invitation to vote irresponsibily, writes Tøger Seidenfaden, Editor-in-Chief of Denmark's leading weekly magazine Politiken. He outlines here his proposal for a new electoral mechanism that would give Europe's voters a greater say in major EU projects
ISSUE: Spring 2006
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Crisis-busting I: “Only a new ‘political core’ can drive Europe forward again"
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Europe’s constitutional crisis is inducing a political “siesta”, warns Belgium’s Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. He argues that to reassert itself as a global player and to regain popular support, the EU must establish a core of integrationist countries prepared to act as a “United States of Europe”
ISSUE: Spring 2006
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Crisis-busting II: How to rescue the CFSP
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The EU’s ill-fated constitutional treaty contained a variety of enlightened and essential reforms, say its defenders. Elmar Brok, who chairs the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and headed the EPP-ED delegation in the Convention, explains why the creation of a “European External Action Service” is so vital to the EU’s efforts to create a strong and coherent foreign policy
ISSUE: Spring 2006
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Democracy has been the first casualty of the Constitutional debacle
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European public opinion is widely thought to fear that the EU Constitution would concentrate power in Brussels. Manuel Marín, President of Spain’s lower house, the Congress of Deputies and a former European Commission Vice-President, points out that in fact the Constitution awarded an important new role to national and regional parliaments
ISSUE: Autumn 2005
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