With the help of new technologies and the social media, our world is changing so fast that we have difficulty in keeping up with it. Instant videos and SMS messaging fuel grassroots movements and challenge the established order. They create novel situations that, as in the Arab world, bring the need for new social constructs [...]

Following the situation in Hungary, we have asked three youngsters with different political opinions to share their thoughts on the matter, hoping to have a better understanding of what’s happening. Gergely, 29, pro-government, holds a MA in Economics and Political Sciences from Budapest Corvinus University The Hungarian society has been severely damaged throughout the last [...]

We’re heading towards a Soviet-style union run by a Politburo made up of national political leaders uninterested in consulting the European Parliament on important decisions affecting our lives. Whilst in Brussels where the EU heads of government were busily hammering out  measures aimed at solving the euro-crisis, Martin Schulz held his first speech as President of the European Parliament. [...]

It is clear that Russia is interested in inviolability of the gas contracts of 2009. And the longer the negotiating process with Ukraine is protracted, the greater profits “Gazprom” gets. Official representatives of the Ukrainian and Russian authorities constantly declare that the negotiating process is going on. However, Ukraine will hardly get the gas price [...]

18 months, that’s the time it took for the so-called centre-right – call it nationalist – Fidesz government to change a democratic and promising country into an authoritarian one, on the brink of bankruptcy. 359 new laws were passed in 18 months, whose main ones are considered to be unconstitutional. What did the EU do [...]

Well, it worked. It went just as I predicted yesterday. We have obtained more than what was promised at the beginning, but less than we wanted. The Prime Minister made ​​a good decision, very unified in the EU. It was agreed that the countries from outside the euro zone would also participate in the meetings [...]

Last night the European leaders Summit finished early, before 10pm and last month’s bust-up with Britain, this event was uneventful, even amicable. Agreement was reached on the fiscal compact, the new treaty to toughen budget rules, in record time: less than two months. A final row between France and Poland was resolved with a complicated [...]

Le 26 janvier s’est tenue à Bruxelles un conférence préparatoire au lancement. Elle marque une étape décisive dans les derniers préparatifs consacrés à l’initiative citoyenne européenne (ICE). Parmi les intervenants, citons le vice-président de la Commission européenne et responsable de cette initiative, M. Maroš Šefčovič, le ministre danois des affaires européennes, M. Nicolai Wammen, des [...]

The week of 23 – 27 January was very important as far as human rights in Europe are concerned. Effectiveness of the ECHR The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly had their weekly session. Parliamentarians started with the adoption of the report of the effectiveness of the European Convention of Human Rights protection system. The report [...]

Connie Hedegaard said: “EU Energy Efficiency Directive includes a commitment to retrofit a certain number of public buildings each year, improving insulation and stopping leaks”.”We have proposed a percentage of 3 percent a year, and that’s out of an employment perspective as well,” “One of the few things that can create jobs very, very fast [...]

Guest post by Dan Luca The communication strategy of the EU institutions needs to be constructed and adapted in order to really connect with the citizens. People want to know what is going on, but they will focus on issues that are most important to them personally. It is therefore imperative to not annoy anyone [...]

The worst that could happen at today’s summit on the fiscal pact, would be either a total success of Poland, or a complete failure. A total success (they invite us, we sign, Sarkozy smiles) would give a reason for fanfare and an evidence of our country’s powerfulness and and its enlightened leadership. But this is [...]

With the final results from Egypt’s six week parliamentary elections tricking in, all talk is about the strong election performance of the two main Islamic parties. With 43.7% of the vote, the Freedom and Justice Party (the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood) was the clear winner, although the ultra-conservative Nour party surprised many by [...]

It seems to your author that the digital policy landscape has been moving significantly in recent days and weeks, possibly for the better. Firstly, and this is a biggie, Google has simplified and streamlined it’s privacy policy. It seems that the…

Greece will never exit the euro nor will it ever be forced out. Image source: Herald Sun The negotiations between Greece and its private creditors for the restructuring of the sovereign debt are continuing and are expected to be successful within the next few days, even though “success” is a very relative term when speaking [...]