Humanity will run out of fossil fuels before the end of this century latest. It will therefore need to develop sustainable substitutes, especially for air and road transport, as well as for shipping. Biofuels will be one of them, renewable electricity to power electrical vehicles another one. Both will be complementary. Biofuels produced from corn, [...]

The Lisbon Treaty has opened the way for a more active EU involvement in health issues. It offers the Union more leeway in the fight against health epidemics, including tobacco, alcohol abuse and obesity. The principal responsibility for health remains, of course, with individual member States, most which would not appreciate the EU intervening in [...]

The EU is facing its worst ever economic and financial crisis. Unemployment has reached intolerable levels. One in ten EU active citizens and one in four Spaniards are out of work. To overcome the crisis Europe needs to step up productive investments, rapidly and without bureaucratic strings. Most governments are not willing or able to [...]

Western democracies are committed to the respect of public and private international law. But when exposed to infringements, they often feel powerless. The Argentinian nationalisation of 51 per cent of the oil and gas company YPF, owned by the Spanish Repsol is the latest case in point. Argentina argues it needs to exert full control [...]

During the last 60 years sub-Sahara Africa has seen an unprecedented population increase growth. In 1950, its total population amounted to some 200 million. Today, it is close to one billion, more than one third of whom illiterate! For the middle of the century, the UN Population Bureau projects more than 2 billion people, four [...]

Climate change and the 2008 financial crisis in the US are cataclysmic developments that were foreseeable long before they fully erupted in the open. But while the consequences of the US financial crisis are reversible this will not be the case for climate change. Beyond a critical point it will become impossible to restore the [...]

On June 20-21st the international community will remember the 20th anniversary of the last UN Conference on Development and Sustainability in Rio de Janeiro. There is little reason to celebrate this anniversary. Though we have witnessed stunning economic progress in East Asia, the Gulf and several Latin American countries, the inequalities of living conditions on [...]

Insignificant news may sometimes look shocking. The announcement by the Bank of Greece that it will pay € 100 million dividend for 2011 is one of those news; it is not surprising that it has made headlines in German TV and newspapers. How should owners of Greek State bonds who had just been forced to [...]

In early April 2012 the C02 prices in the EU have fallen to an unprecedented low of only € 6.0/ton compared to expectations of at least € 20.0. This has raised new questions on the viability of the EU Emission Trading System(ETS). Energy experts are afraid the low prices fail to offer the necessary incentives [...]

Europe is presently engaged in an intensive debate related to the crisis of sovereign debt, its governance and the links between citizens and EU institutions. I offer my modest contribution to this debate. The EU will have solved most of its sovereign debt problems by 2020. This follows logically from the progressive, reduction of member [...]

The 100-year old internal combustion engine will be phased out in the coming six decades or so. This is bound to happen for two concurring reasons: Oil will become so scarce and expensive that driving vehicles on gasoline or diesel will no longer be affordable. In order to successfully combat climate change, for which mobility [...]

Solar electricity generated from PV panels and mirrors is due to become one of the leading sources of power generation in the 21st century. It is abundantly available and will become cheaper to produce than fossil or nuclear electricity, due to technological advances in thin-film solar cells and conversion rates of solar irradiation. EU researchers [...]

For the last three months the Iberian Peninsula and South-Eastern Britain have suffered from the worst droughts for several decades, with hardly any rainfall, less than 20 mm in Spain and Portugal. This dramatic situation has hardly been noticed outside the countries directly affected: city dwellers are less and less sensitive to natural catastrophes that [...]

During the last two years the relationship between the EU and its citizens has undergone deeper changes than ever since the beginning of European integration 60 years ago. For the first time, citizens realise that the EU has a profound impact on their daily lives. 10 million Greeks had to accept under pressure from “Brussels” [...]

With sun shine of > 2500 hours per year, North Africa and the Gulf countries are among the best insulated regions of the planet. They are also unequalled in radiation density (2500-3000 kWh/m2/year). Both factors combined make them ideal locations for generating solar electricity. Indeed, the 22 Arab countries, occupying one third of global desert [...]