As I can't seem to find the entire version of the press conference on EUTube or EUXTV to embed here, all I can provide for now is a link to europarltv,
Thursday, July 16, 2009
just because I love U2
The clip produced by the European Commission Representation in Poland celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Iron Curtain from a Polish perspective. It is about the birthday of a Polish girl Marta who was born on the 4th of June 1989, i.e. exactly on the day of the first half-free elections in the Central-East Europe which took place in Poland and which paved the way for the democratic change in this part of Europe. A mix of scenes show key events for Poland, such as the Solidarnosc movement with its leader Lech Walesa, Polish Round Table Talks, integration with NATO and the EU.
[description directly from EU Tube]
you can read more on U2.com
[description directly from EU Tube]
you can read more on U2.com
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
rejoice and celebrate with Buzek and all Poles
[via europarl.europa.eu]Jerzy Buzek just elected President of EP. YEY!
As I myself am just reading everything published in the last 40 min, excuse lack of comments, this time links only:
BloombergAs I myself am just reading everything published in the last 40 min, excuse lack of comments, this time links only:
Gazeta Wyborcza
WSJ
AP
Reuters
BBC
AFP
The New York Times
Europarl tv:
Opinions from some bloggers:
1. "The fact is that, by giving this post to Buzek, older and bigger member-states in western Europe are making sure that they will get all the really big jobs when they come up for grabs later this year." [from: ft.com/brusselsblog]
2. "But Jerzy Buzek is still the wrong choice, for three simple reasons:
* He is old.
* He is male.
* He has built his political career on national politics.
(...)
Party politics and power positions are dominated by old males. With Barroso in place for a second term on top of the European Commission, and with no women in sight for the post of European Council president and High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy (if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified), the post of the European Parliament president could have been the only one where MEPs could have made a point for equal opportunities and equal share of power. But they have missed their chance." [from: Julien Frisch Watching Europe]
3. "Sucede al alemán Hans-Gert Pöttering Cuando el card. Ratzinger fue elegido Papa, circulaba un chiste en Alemania: ¿sabes en qué se nota que Hartz IV (la reforma al mercado laboral) da resultado? En que un alemán reemplaza a un polaco en un trabajo. Hoy es al revés ;)" [from: Alemania: Economía, Sociedad y Derecho]
2. "But Jerzy Buzek is still the wrong choice, for three simple reasons:
* He is old.
* He is male.
* He has built his political career on national politics.
(...)
Party politics and power positions are dominated by old males. With Barroso in place for a second term on top of the European Commission, and with no women in sight for the post of European Council president and High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy (if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified), the post of the European Parliament president could have been the only one where MEPs could have made a point for equal opportunities and equal share of power. But they have missed their chance." [from: Julien Frisch Watching Europe]
3. "Sucede al alemán Hans-Gert Pöttering Cuando el card. Ratzinger fue elegido Papa, circulaba un chiste en Alemania: ¿sabes en qué se nota que Hartz IV (la reforma al mercado laboral) da resultado? En que un alemán reemplaza a un polaco en un trabajo. Hoy es al revés ;)" [from: Alemania: Economía, Sociedad y Derecho]
Friday, July 10, 2009
EU losers generation
What an unpleasant realisation, is this really me and my friends?
"Today's 'baby losers', as they are also known, are increasingly a minority in Europe. They are portrayed as well-educated but overqualified in some respects, which explains the seemingly never-ending unpaid intern phase many are forced to endure. They are the generation that passively boomerangs back to their parents' homes once they have run out of options and motivation. They are also the precarious generation suffering from the crisis of the welfare state, who will experience the effects of ageing and demographic change to the fullest in the course of their own lives. "
An entire generation summed up in a paragraph, and how non-optimistically;( There is as usual more to read but it was this particular excerpt that 'shook me'.
Other generations of course had it bad, the ones turned adults just as the war broke out naturally had it worse, but our future (as described in the above article) seems plain gloomy. It not only makes the today sound bad, it gives little hope of ever bouncing up and away from the current state. Very depressing. I have to say if the intention was to spear us up, motivate to do and stimulate to proactively steer circumstances towards the better - for me it had the opposite effect, just lay and do nothing, as it's never gonna get better, your efforts and hard work will be all in vain, might as well, not bother at all. brrr... not a feeling I like to have induced.
I like to believe that everything in nature finds it's balance, there are sinusoidal ups and downs, which are brought on by human impact or by nature itself, but in the long run, things bounce back and settle into 'norm'. This is not to say that I am a supporter of doing nothing because things 'settle on their own' (sometimes this settling can take a generation's lifetime, a century or more), just means I don't like 'scaring' with dark perspectives. Just a mistaken approach according to me. You can stimulate someone much more with a carrot than with a stick, or am I wrong?
"Today's 'baby losers', as they are also known, are increasingly a minority in Europe. They are portrayed as well-educated but overqualified in some respects, which explains the seemingly never-ending unpaid intern phase many are forced to endure. They are the generation that passively boomerangs back to their parents' homes once they have run out of options and motivation. They are also the precarious generation suffering from the crisis of the welfare state, who will experience the effects of ageing and demographic change to the fullest in the course of their own lives. "
An entire generation summed up in a paragraph, and how non-optimistically;( There is as usual more to read but it was this particular excerpt that 'shook me'.
Other generations of course had it bad, the ones turned adults just as the war broke out naturally had it worse, but our future (as described in the above article) seems plain gloomy. It not only makes the today sound bad, it gives little hope of ever bouncing up and away from the current state. Very depressing. I have to say if the intention was to spear us up, motivate to do and stimulate to proactively steer circumstances towards the better - for me it had the opposite effect, just lay and do nothing, as it's never gonna get better, your efforts and hard work will be all in vain, might as well, not bother at all. brrr... not a feeling I like to have induced.
I like to believe that everything in nature finds it's balance, there are sinusoidal ups and downs, which are brought on by human impact or by nature itself, but in the long run, things bounce back and settle into 'norm'. This is not to say that I am a supporter of doing nothing because things 'settle on their own' (sometimes this settling can take a generation's lifetime, a century or more), just means I don't like 'scaring' with dark perspectives. Just a mistaken approach according to me. You can stimulate someone much more with a carrot than with a stick, or am I wrong?
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Can Sweden please hold the presidency for longer than just 0.5y?
Since it would not be 'constitutional', can at least the Swedish approach stay for longer? What a wonderful initiative for climate-friendly food labelling. If they also implement a ban on unnecessary food packaging, I'll apply for a Swedish passport:)
You can read all about food that has 25 % lower climate impact here.
You can read all about food that has 25 % lower climate impact here.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
se plaire
this is a very confusing verb, even if I speak other roman languages grrr!
I always get it wrong, between wanting to say: I like Brussels, I like Lucy, we like each other, Lucy likes me, gggrrr again! Someone needs to explain this to me:(
I always get it wrong, between wanting to say: I like Brussels, I like Lucy, we like each other, Lucy likes me, gggrrr again! Someone needs to explain this to me:(
plaire /plɛʀ/ (conjugate⇒)
- plaire à verb+preposition
- elle plaît aux hommes men find her attractive;
elle m'a plu tout de suite I liked her straight away;
- mon travail me plaît I like my job;
un modèle qui plaît beaucoup a very popular model.
- elle plaît aux hommes men find her attractive;
- se plaire reflexive verb (+ v être)
- [people, couple] to like each other;
- ils se plaisent ici they like it here;
- il se plaît à dire qu'il est issu du peuple he likes to say that he's a son of the people.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
vaya tela marinera: ALDE, Greens and Socialists team up
Daniel Cohn-Bendit: "(...) There must be no vote on the Commission President before Lisbon is ratified."
Guy Verhofstadt "(...) not accept timetables imposed on Parliament".
Martin Schulz: "a victory on blocking the fast-track reappointment of Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso."
EPP's 264 and European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)'s 56 votes, not enough for the 368 simple majority.
more here
Guy Verhofstadt "(...) not accept timetables imposed on Parliament".
Martin Schulz: "a victory on blocking the fast-track reappointment of Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso."
EPP's 264 and European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)'s 56 votes, not enough for the 368 simple majority.
more here
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
some European fears of the Lisbon Treaty settled
Calming all those in doubt, the German Constitutional Court ruled that the Treaty of Lisbon is compatible with the German Constitution. Quoting yesterday's Euractiv article ("German Court clears EU treaty for House approval") quoting the Court's judgement we are left with no doubt: (...) the treaty would not lead to the formation of an EU state. Rather, the EU under Lisbon would remain "an association of sovereign states to which the principle of conferral applies," the court ruled.
Moreover, (...) the treaty does "not confer on the European Union the competence to use the member states' armed forces without the approval of the respective member state affected".
Now we just wait for some necessary changes (in September) to the German national legislation (also a recommendation of the German Constituional Court), of course later (in October) for the Irish referendum, ultimately for Lech Kaczyński and Václav Klaus...
Moreover, (...) the treaty does "not confer on the European Union the competence to use the member states' armed forces without the approval of the respective member state affected".
Now we just wait for some necessary changes (in September) to the German national legislation (also a recommendation of the German Constituional Court), of course later (in October) for the Irish referendum, ultimately for Lech Kaczyński and Václav Klaus...
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