Emmanuel Macron is on the hunt for his elusive Nobel Peace Prize — that explains his appetite for launching new grandiose, global schemes
They’ve been at it for months.
Category
Opinion
Latest reporting and analysis on opinion.
Not so much Zeitenwende as progressive puffery: Germany’s first national security strategy is long on modish clichés and short on military thinking
Not since Willy Brandt’s 1970s Ostpolitik has a German geopolitical term made such waves as Olaf Scholz’s Zeitenwende.
Europe is falling behind. Other than regulation, is it still a world leader at anything?
Who remembers the EU’s Lisbon strategy of 2000? Probably not many, so let’s revisit its ambitious goals.
As much as Europe’s liberal elites abhor America’s divisive abortion fights, they are here already
Abortion has been a hugely divisive issue in the United States ever since the 1973 Roe v Wade judgment fifty years ago.
Trump has much to learn from Berlusconi’s successes
Comparisons have long-been made between former US President Donald Trump and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Institutional bias: the European Parliament has failed to tackle the real issues raised by Covid-19 and its lockdowns
After 15 months of considering the EU’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic, an EU Parliament special committee has released its 56-page report.
New Europe had the potential to save the European project from its federalist excesses – but is this another victim of the Ukraine war?
There was a time, not too long ago, when New Europe seemed set to become a coherent force in continental affairs.
Prince Harry, Sebastian Vettel, Greta Thunberg – practice what you preach before lecturing the rest of us
You cannot go far these days in Europe, indeed throughout the West, without being harangued by some celebrity about climate change or social justice.
Presidentialism: What Giorgia Meloni has, and other Right-wing leaders would do well to emulate
Many Right-wing populists in the West, from Donald Trump in the US, to Matteo Salvini in Italy, and Marine Le Pen in France, are known for their abrasive and direct…
Europe is no metrosexual superpower – it is an old continent seeking a quiet retirement
The EU’s foreign policy is the progenitor of a new era in international relations - or so argues a 2009 essay in the renowned journal Foreign Policy.
Prepare for a long war: With no end in sight the Ukraine war is a generational struggle
As Leopard panzers spearhead what appears to be Kyiv’s long-awaited counteroffensive, expectations of a major Ukrainian victory this year are running high.
Leftist greenery is unscientific and failing – but conservatism goes together with true conservation
Sir Keir Starmer, the British Labour party leader — an organisation organically linked to the country’s major unions — is the latest of many European politicians,…
Libya’s civil war is the progenitor of Europe’s populist wave – the EU elite must help end it or face the inevitable consequences of yet greater mass migration
The savage internal conflict poisoning Libya has been ongoing for more than a decade now.
The Commission’s Green Deal will make the EU dependent on China for minerals and technology
“Renewables are cheap, they are home-grown, they make us independent.
Will Erdogan repatriate a million Syrian refugees?
Amid an upsurge in Turkish nationalism, debate is raging over whether Turkey's President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will make good on his promised intention to repatriate…
China’s Belt and Road Initiative is a threat to Italian sovereignty – Meloni is right to be wary
China's Belt and Road Initiative is a land and maritime infrastructure project developed by the People's Republic of China.
The EU is striking the right balance on regulating AI
As Artificial Intelligence continues to develop, its potential abuse is panicking the public. Will it replace human labour entirely?
Qatar’s influence over the EU goes unchecked. It is not the only foreign power active in Brussels
Qatargate has become the biggest corruption scandal to hit the European Parliament. It has exposed the ability of foreign governments to penetrate European institutions.
Spain pleads for EU support for farmers suffering ‘historic’ drought
The Spanish government is pleading for help from the European Commission as its farmers suffer a historic drought that looks set to destroy a large part of this…
Return of the Reds? The Communist Party achieves another victory in Austrian regional elections
For a long time it seemed as if the “spectre of Communism” has been thoroughly exorcised from Western Europe, but at least in Austria it seems to be enjoying…
Is Macron just being a Gaullist?
Although France’s influence on the world stage has shrunk, French Presidents have a habit of still taking on larger-than-reality personas
Brussels: nest of spies
A spy, according to the New Oxford American Dictionary, is “a person who secretly collects and reports information on the activities, movements and plans of an…
Can the booze industry kill off EU warning labels for a second time?
The wine and beer industries successfully killed off the first European Commission attempt to slap warning labels on their products – back in 2007 – and the…
Do EU officials really have cushy jobs?
European Union officials, and those of the European Commission in particular, reputedly have cushy jobs.
Should the EU give lectures on morality to the rest of the world?
There used to be an EU official whose sole job consisted of trying to convince non-EU countries to drop the death penalty.
Do personalities make EU politics?
What weight do personalities have in the design and implementation of European Union policies?
Migration: Europe’s southern border looks grim
From a European immigration perspective, the situation in the Maghreb countries of northern Africa looks grim.
United but fragile: Europe and Ukraine
Wars do not end in peace negotiations but at the ballot box, argues the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) in the introduction to its latest Ukraine war…
Minting it: Euro MPs pad out salaries with ‘side jobs’
Law-abiding Euro MPs must be furious with the Qatargate suspects, who have brought unwelcome attention to less-than-totally-ethical European Parliament practices…
Europe is the ‘Wild West of the lobbying industry’
The Qatargate scandal, now three months young, has revealed the seedy underbelly of the European Parliament: an assembly where Euro MPs – allegedly – accept…