Do we need a new European treaty in order to save our climate? EU President Barroso certainly seems to think so. According to today’s Financial Times, the Commission President has warned future UK prime minister Gordon Brown not to block a compromise deal on a watered-down European treaty. If the UK would fail to agree… » read more

It is amazing what media attention can do. Now that all of them have seen the green light (or is it the “inconventient truth”?), politicians are trying to compete for becoming the climate champion of the year, the “EU Al Gore”. If ever the thesis about our “spectacle” democracy needed any confirmation, we can find… » read more

In a comment to the first post of this blog, Raymond van Ermen wrote the following: “The Berlin Declaration celebrating the EU’s 50th anniversary is very disappointing for two reasons : o In January 2007, President Barroso named sustainability as one of the EU’s five key values, to be enshrined in the Berlin Declaration celebrating… » read more

With more than half of the world population living in mega-cities, the miracle key to opening the door of a low-carbon Europe lies in these cities. Therefore, the C40 initiative, led by London, and supported by the Clinton Foundation, probably does more for the fight against climate change and energy insecurity than all UN climate… » read more

I attended two citizens’s debates on the EU’s constitutional crisis in the last few days and got ample confirmation that we are just whistling in the dark when confronted with what is probably one of the EU’s most serious crises. The first debate on the June 2007 roadmap (taking place in the European Parliament on… » read more

Europe is at a historical crossroads. The European Union, which has been a unique and by and large successful project, has reached its final destination and needs a fundamental visionary as well as institutional redesign if it is to find answers to the overwhelming global challenges of the 21st century. Neither the latest EU enlargement… » read more