Retail prices of food, according to a UK bank, have increased almost twice as much as they should have done as a result of recent food commodity price increases. Prices to consumers have increased far more than indicated by the small proportion of raw material cost in the total cost of processing and delivering. An [...]

In drei der fünf Länder der Region haben die Bürger ihre Kraft gezeigt, indem sie Regime gestürzt haben, die wir als Garanten der Stabilität betrachten wollten. Sie verlangen lediglich, dass man in den Wiederaufbau ihrer Länder investiert. Aber wenn sie nicht sehr rasch Grund haben, an eine Verbesserung ihrer Lage zu glauben, wird die Energie [...]

How do you turn a country that has been ruled by a tyrant into one that respects human rights and is based solidly on democracy? That is more than possible. There is a positive example about how to bring it to success. Recently one country was rebuilt from a broken tyranny, ruined cities, and utter [...]

A while ago I posted (Not losing sight of the basics) the idea that EUROPA could suffer if the EU Institution’s limited online communications resources were refocused on social media. While social media offers the EU a great deal, this could be a serious problem, particularly given EUROPA’s importance to any EU social media strategy.

I feel that many of us are watching Revolution 2011 sweeping across North Africa and the Middle East in very much the same passive manner as we watch a weather report map. Our citizen journalists on the ground are sending tweets and our leaders are expressing concern, but there is very little analysis on the [...]

By Manana Kochladze, Regional Coordinator for the Caucasus at CEE Bankwatch Network. The functioning of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) vis-à-vis the Southern partners has received considerable international scrutiny over the past weeks, with revolutions in North Africa in the spotlight. Some of the criticism aimed at ENP effectiveness in the South seems to imply that, [...]

Los jefes de Gobierno europeos disponen de menos de tres semanas para alcanzar un acuerdo global que estabilice la eurozona, ponga coto definitivo a los ataques que la deuda soberana de países miembros vienen sufriendo y, con ello, garanticen la supervivencia de nuestra moneda común, el euro. La cumbre primaveral europea de los próximos 24 [...]

The popular uprisings ushering in fundamental change across the Arab world look set to continue until the protesters’ demands are largely met. Libyans fight increasingly bloody battles against the Gaddafi regime, whilst protests are continuing on the streets of Sanaa, Amman, Manama, Cairo or Tunis.

The European Commission’s approach to yet another upcoming reform of the common agricultural policy is largely devoted to the continuation of the current policy with a few added concessions to green pressures on the side. This approach is increasingly irrelevant at this stage in the development of European agriculture and in an increasingly unstable world [...]

József Szájer, MEP and founding member for Fidesz, the Hungarian governing party that has secured a two-thirds supermajority with 53% of the votes in 2010 boasts that the Hungarian constitution is written on iPad. Actually, on his iPad. Mr Szájer is a member of the European Parliament, and also the leader of the committee that [...]

For Greece, it all started in late 2009. One bright day around mid-November, the now ruling Socialist government of G. Papandreou decided to take Greece out of the closet and reveal the true size of Greece’s deficit to the world. The funny thing is, back then no one was really shocked. “Greek statistics”, the constant [...]

Dear Friends and Colleagues, Stanley Crossick, co-founder of the European Policy Centre and a champion of European integration, died last November. He is sorely missed by family and friends.

Mr Hannan, David Cameron stated that he would be a strong supporter of Turkey’s EU membership within the EU. But he didn’t say anything about Sarkozy’s outrageous stance when he went to Turkey last week.

The retiring President of the German Central Bank, Axel Weber, has most recently warned German citizens that the recent and still ongoing German “boom” will be followed by meagre years with the Gross National Product growing by a mere one percent annually, leaving very little room for wage increases.

The sovereign debt crises in Greece and Ireland and the mounting economic trouble facing Portugal, Spain and Italy, have long been a cause for alarm in European capitals. Many fear that one or several of the so-called PIIGS countries may be forced to leave the euro, which could exacerbate the pressure on the euro itself [...]