Spending a study semester abroad is a perfect way to get to know a new country, new customs and new people. The European student program `Erasmus` was set up to facilitate exchanges between European universities. The experience of living in another country for one or two semesters is refreshing, confronting and intense. Because of this, [...]

Venice is the perfect city for observing tourists and trying to find out where they are from. Most tourists however don`t come to Venice to look at other people. They would much rather arrive in an empty Venice so they can actually see the city instead of walking in line from one place to the [...]

Today is the last day of my stay in Slovenia. I am reporting from Nova Gorica, a small city right next to the former separation between the worlds of communism and capitalism. Nova Gorica was built shortly after World War II. It served as a compensation for the Yugoslavian loss of territory to Italy, decided [...]

Selected recent items:
 Reuters: MEP calls for clean coal incentives - 28 April 2008
Original post by markjohnston

This week Yourspace welcomes Esteban Romero and other PES activists from Spain. Among other things they suggest a number of ideas from Zapatero and the Spanish government which could inspire socialists in other parts of Europe. Find lots of ideas from Spain right here!
Another guest on Yourspace is Josep Borrell, Spanish socialist and Chair of [...]

Make all citizens aware of the 60 years of progress of the European idea by getting your Council local press and media involved in the civic activity of celebrating Europe Day on May 9th. Repeat this each year and reflect on 60 years of peace, prosperity and achievements that all citizens continue to enjoy.
This is [...]

We talk frequently of closing the gap between the citizens and European Institutions. Very few people know all over Europe that the 9th of May is the “European Day”. My suggestion is why don’t we make the European Day a national Holiday in all Member States so that everyone will start asking why is it [...]

Orgalime will be participating in the ‘launch event of the year’ when Electra, an industrial policy initiative for the electronics and electrical sector, is presented at the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the EU (Bavaria House, rue Wiertz, 77) on the 25 June 2008.  Industry, decision makers and media alike will be [...]

When it comes to a new enlargement round in eastern Europe, the EU can’t go forward and can’t go back writes Krzysztof Bobinski. (SPRING 2008)
In Ukraine, the EU’s failure to encourage the government in its European aspirations risks creating a growing disillusionment with the West. That would strengthen Russia’s position in Ukraine, where Moscow [...]

This blog was very silent last week because I was in Washington DC participating in a fascinating two-day climate and energy conference organised by the Transatlantic Platform for Action on the Global Environment (T-PAGE). This dialogue forum was created to facilitate debate among members of EU and US civil society on climate and energy policies [...]

I am a regular visitor to Tunisia. I love this beautiful country with its long sandy beaches, white-washed houses, charming people, clever entrepreneurs and its relatively well-run public administration. No country on the southern shores of the Mediterranean has done better in terms of economic, demographic and educational development [...]

Two weeks in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou have left me breathless, with various thoughts racing around my mind seeking clarification. China is an extraordinarily complex country to try to begin to understand. “Everything you hear about China is true – as is the opposite.” A wise observation. Expect a number of [...]

The Chinese policy has shut down a factory in the southern part of the country that was manufacturing Free Tibet flags for Western demonstrator. The factory owner reportedly told police the emblems had been ordered from outside China, and he did not know that they stood for an independent Tibet.
This story reminded me to the [...]

The EMI must consider the Lisbon Treaty equivalent to a Constitution, although there are states who are reluctant to contemplate such a comparison. Any modification of the Treaty/”Constitution” must be subject to demanding conditions. However, its modification should not be, for all practical purposes, impossible. For this reason, the EMI must propose that the Treaty [...]

We must modify the proposed legislation (Lisbon) relating to the voluntary withdrawal of a Member State from the EU. For example, we need to consider:
A) The harm caused to cohesion countries.
B) In addition, the lost profits incurred by the “withdrawing” state caused by lack of market competitiveness, economic prosperity and reduced presence on the world [...]

Here are some more clips from interviews recorded at the scientific workshop in Ljubljana, Slovenia, last week (see other blog entries below). Dr Ian Denholm, Rothamsted Research, UK, speaks about the need for radical steps to meet the growing demand for food in Europe, and Lise Nistrup from Aarhus Universitet, Denmark, outlines the effects of [...]

We need more rapid and efficient procedures to suspend the rights of Member States in the case that they violate fundamental rights and values . Art. 7 TEU (Lisbon) proposes measures which take too long to put into practice and are excessively lenient.
We also need to contemplate the possibility of definitive expulsion of a Member [...]

The CFEME considers that the “implied powers” attributed to the EU are weak, as described in art. 352 TFEU which summarizes the provisions both of the Draft Constitution and of TCE (Amsterdam). In particular, the condition of unanimous decision to implement these powers is not acceptable because it severely reduces the powers of the Council [...]

The EMI must make an effort to propose innovative solutions with respect to the countries which formed part of the ex-Yugoslavia. The CFEME (EM Spain) is opposed to the recognition of Kosovo as a sovereign state. However, the CFEME realizes that this recognition could happen de facto as a result of unilateral positions adopted by [...]

To decide whether we admit Turkey as part of the EU family, the following consideration is pertinent. A dictatorial laicism which violates freedoms of expression, assembly, and the untrammelled functioning of political parties, constitutes and will constitute, as long as it exists, an obstacle for its integration in the EU.
This post was submitted by Consejo [...]