New deal on finance tax may bring calm
A compromise may be in sight to defuse the conflict over a proposed EU turnover tax for all financial transactions. It seems that finance ministers are looking at stamp duty on share deals as an...
View ArticleGood news for the ozone layer, but what lessons for climate change?
A few days ago the death was announced of F. Sherwood Rowland, the American scientist who identified the damage being caused by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) to the earth’s protective ozone layer. His...
View ArticleEconomic growth is the theme for spring
Spring is the season of growth, and economic growth in Europe has become the dominant theme of the moment. It is certainly a central theme of the French presidential elections. In a few days time the...
View ArticleBudget chickens come home to roost
The European Commission is struggling to justify an increase of nearly 7 per cent in the EU payments budget for 2013. The timing could hardly be worse, with national budgets feeling the full force of...
View ArticleGuess who’s coming to dinner!
European Council president Herman van Rompuy has arranged a summit dinner for EU leaders on May 23. For François Hollande the Brussels feast will be a first opportunity to brief all his colleagues on...
View ArticleEU resists pressure on airline emission scheme
There is no doubt that European standards for commerce and industry have had a profound influence across the world. Europe’s standards have become global standards, if only because anyone wishing to...
View ArticleEurozone crisis challenges UK role in Europe
Britain is buzzing with talk of a referendum on “Europe”. See the Nucleus blog. In May Peter Mandelson was advocating a national vote some time after 2016, when a new Europe of fiscal union will have...
View ArticleRio +20 boost for EU fisheries policy reform?
The word “sustainability” can cover a multitude of interpretations, but when it comes to fisheries policy there is no ambiguity: today’s overfishing means tomorrow’s collapsing fish stocks. Until...
View ArticleBanking Union: magic solution to eurozone crisis?
It seems that a European Banking Union has become the magic solution to the eurozone debt crisis. This week’s meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels confirmed that European funds will...
View ArticleFive transformative years for Europe
At last the sun is shining, after months of rain. London gears up for the Olympics and is thronged with visitors. Brussels is quiet, Paris is empty. The roads to the south are crowded. The mountains...
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