The Worden Report asks an excellent question about the Vati-leaks case: What exactly are we meant to think about a criminal trial in Vatican courts concerning a crime where the Pope himself is both the victim and the sole ruler of the country? While I have very little to add to dr. Worden’s general analysis, it […]
There’s nothing like a bit of unexpected truth to get people upset. Christine Lagarde said this: [W]hile this might come as a surprise to Greeks suffering under extreme austerity, some say Lagarde’s approach to the eurozone is less draconian than the IMF’s traditional policy towards developing world economies. Is it easier to impose harsh demands […]
In light of the arrival of 34 new French ministers, I thought it might be worth reposting my suggestion for a two-tier Commission: Is it possible to create a two-tier Commission without changing the Treaties? Firstly: What do I mean by a two-tier Commission? What I mean is a Commission that, in some respects, continues […]
Being an econo-lawyer super-monster creature thing, I feel a sustained moral obligation to have an opinion about Greece’s potential exit from the Euro. The only problem is, I don’t really have one. Part of the reason for that is that I am actually a pretty decent economist. (Even if I do say so myself.) In […]
It is my habit, each Europe Day, to go back to what Robert Schuman actually said 62 years ago. I find it is one of the few pieces of true oratory in recent European history, as well as oddly prescient about the subsequent development of the Union: World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative […]
Yesterday I tweeted this story to Sophie in ‘t Veld MEP, who belongs to GL’s centre-left rivals D66, but she didn’t seem interested in exploiting it for electoral gain, so I guess I’m going to have to do it myself. As it turns out, GroenLinks, the Dutch Green Party, thinks it is a good thing […]
Welcome to my new blog on Ideas on Europe. I’m not entirely sure yet what I’m going to do with this blog, and what I’m going to leave on my old one. I guess logically I should put the EU-related stuff here, and the rest there. I’ll see. I guess it’ll depend on whether I like […]