With the Czech signature on the Treaty of Lisbon the EU can finally cooperate better and face the challenges of the future, the daily Berlingske Tidende writes jubilantly: "After the last country in the EU, the Czech Republic, signed the Lisbon Treaty yesterday, Europe can breathe a sigh of relief. Following an unbelievably arduous and bureaucratic process the 27 EU member states have succeeded in adopting a treaty that establishes firm ties between the different countries in many areas and creates the possibility for the EU countries to work much more smoothly together … in the face of many international challenges. With the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty it will be much easier to find common solutions to climate problems, globalisation and international cooperation." (04/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » Czech Republic, » Europe

Now that Czech President Václav Klaus has signed the Treaty of Lisbon the daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna calls on the EU to set up strong institutions: "The Lisbon Treaty has been adopted. Without it the EU would not only have come to a standstill, it would have gone backwards in its development until it finally dropped out of the major power league. But this Treaty is naturally only the first step. And it must now be filled with new content to give the EU strong institutions. It is no mere coincidence that the US no longer sees Europe as its most important partner. This is above all because the Old Continent has no power to make decisions and its national politicians hold each other back. Washington lacks a partner that speaks with one voice on the other side of the Atlantic." (04/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » Europe, » U.S.
All available articles from » Andrzej Talaga

Business paper Il Sole 24 Ore uses the Benjamin Button character from American author F. Scott Fitzgerald's novella to illustrate how the Lisbon Treaty is already outdated. "The new Treaty has made its entrance into the world … not as the long dreamed-of constitution, nor as a handbook for the 27 [member states]. Don't get out the champagne. Like the father of Benjamin Button, Scott Fitzgerald's character who is forced to live his life backwards, when we look into the cradle we find a wrinkled old man rather than a vigorous newborn baby with 27 souls. … The greedy distribution of the newly created posts doesn't presage … renewal. … Europe should quickly find its way back to itself to avoid its downfall. We - unlike Benjamin Button - don't have our whole lives in front of us to grow younger." (04/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » Europe
All available articles from » Enrico Rivio

"Europe has heaved a sigh of relief", writes the left-leaning daily Právo after the Treaty of Lisbon was declared compatible with the Czech constitution by the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic and signed by President Václav Klaus: "Nevertheless Klaus retained his dismissive attitude and didn't hesitate to rake the Constitutional Court judges over the coals. He insists that the Czech Republic is losing its sovereignty. ... But the fact is that no state has unconditional sovereignty. A state doesn't lose its sovereignty like adolescents their virginity, sovereignty can be renewed by a state decision. ... The opponents are wrong in saying that the development of Europe is uncontrollable and independent of the will of the Czech people. Only when the lawmakers and government give their permission will the state have to divest itself of further elements of its sovereignty." (04/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » Czech Republic, » Europe
All available articles from » Petr Uhl

The British Conservative Party's dispute with Europe will continue despite the ratification of the EU Reform Treaty, writes the daily The Irish Times: "Party leader David Cameron is reported to be ready to acknowledge that, with ratification a fait accompli, the issue is now moot. ... His belated reconciliation to the treaty, however, does not mean that in government he will let the matter of the British-EU relationship rest. The Tories remain committed to repatriating substantial powers from Brussels. ... Sadly, it seems, even before the ink is dry on Lisbon, the promise that its enactment should put an end to constitutional/institutional wrangling in the EU for a generation appears wishful thinking. Not a happy prospect." (04/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » United Kingdom, » Europe

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that hanging crucifixes in classrooms violates the European Convention on Human Rights. Italy must now pay a fine of 5,000 euros to a woman who argued that crucifixes violate the secular principles schools are meant to uphold. The daily Die Presse is critical of the judgement: "What if someone wants for example certain teachers to be replaced because they oppose the teachings of that person's prophet? ... There is no such thing as neutrality in such matters. Every solution will go against the interests of one group or another, taking something away from someone and benefiting someone else. Secularism as a state religion is perhaps the vision of the European human rights judges. But it's a sterile concept from which nothing can grow but a void into which other, more powerful beliefs will penetrate. Then that will also be the end of our concept of human rights - which by the way are also the offspring of Christianity, even if unloved initially." (04/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Italy, » Europe
All available articles from » Michael Prüller

After boycotting his trial on three occasions, the former leader of the Bosnian Serbs Radovan Karadžić appeared on Tuesday before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The judges must counter his provocative behaviour, writes the left-liberal Berliner Zeitung: "The Yugoslavia Tribunal in The Hague has been treading for 16 years on the thin ice between criminal law, international politics and historical investigation. More than once was it on the verge of failure. With the Karadžić trial the court is now once more on the brink of this abyss. Until now the accused has refused to take part in the proceedings, and now he has appeared before the judges with the sole objective of winning time. ... If the judges in the Tribunal can now confound Radovan Karadžić's obstruction tactics it will represent a further important milestone for the development of international criminal law." (04/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Netherlands, » South East Europe
All available articles from » Frank Herold

US President Barack Obama was elected exactly a year ago today. The daily Diário de Notícias takes stock of what it sees as a mixed performance: "Barack Obama has not disappointed the majority of his voters, ... but his popularity has dropped. Understandably,  because politics is the art of the possible: a politician must adjust his actions to the circumstances. In domestic politics the first Afro-American president has come under fire from the conservatives, who accuse him of wanting to introduce socialism because of his ambitious healthcare reform. In foreign policy he has ordered the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and boosted the troops' mission in Afghanistan. Both decisions have had unpleasant consequences and violence is endemic in both countries. … But there is progress as far as relations with Cuba and environmental issues are concerned, and the economic crisis also seems to be easing. More than any other politician Obama has become an icon, and the Nobel Peace Prize underscores this. A year after his election the hope lives on, if somewhat less powerful. It's simply not that easy to change the US and the world." (04/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Domestic Policy, » Health Policy, » Economic Policy, » U.S., » Global

The leftist intellectuals Aquilino Morelle and Manuel Valls write in the daily Le Monde that the debate on national identity launched by French President Nicolas Sarkozy is being used to fish for voters on the extreme right: "With this initiative Nicolas has committed a moral and a political mistake. Not that the question of the French identity should't be subject to debate. On the contrary, this old nation impregnated with politics and history must scrutinise, rightly or wrongly, its future, its values, its place in the global world, its role in today's fast-paced world and the very meaning of its existence. The problem is the president's hidden agenda. He chose to launch this debate ... to lure the voters of the [extreme-right] Front National in the secret hope of destabilising the left, which is supposed to be uncomfortable with such an issue. ... But such tactics and manoeuvring is unworthy of the office of president." (03/11/2009)

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All available articles from » Aquilino Morelle, » Manuel Valls

A series of major corruption scandals is rocking Spain's political parties. This prompts Lluís Bassets, deputy chief editor of Spanish daily El País, to compose a ranking list of corruption in his blog: "The main culprits are the corrupters. Second place goes to the corrupted. Third place goes to all the facilitators, all those who contribute their technical know-how and their skills: the urban planners, architects, lawyers, tax advisers and the economic experts. Lastly you have those who turn a blind eye: the opposition, the accountants and auditors, the prosecutors and judges, the journalists. Each of them could carry on filling in the list, taking into account that the positions can change very quickly within the ranking. There's the bribed who turn into bribers, the facilitators who are bribed, the clueless who become facilitators. It is the fate of society that it does not know how to eradicate the disease: it spreads down the body until everything is infected. There is no corruption without corruptors. The more powerful they are, the more intense the corruption. … The more powerful they are, the more hidden they are, and the more difficult it is to find them. … And the more powerful they are, the more responsibility they have. The fish begins to rot from the head down. But the responsibility to stop the process and prevent the rot from spreading lies with all of us." (04/11/2009)

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All available articles from » Lluís Bassets

The daily Postimees comments on the economic prognoses presented on Tuesday by the EU Commission pointing to economic recovery after the worst recession in EU history: "On the one hand the countries of Europe have passed enormous rescue packages, and on the other the anticipated global upturn in the economy and trade are grounds for optimism. While in 2009 Poland was the sole EU member to post growth figures, things should change across Europe in 2010. By contrast the biggest crisis-related problem will be unemployment: The job market was deeply effected by the economic collapse and the rise in the number of jobless is putting a brake on recovery. A second, particularly long-term problem is that governments have taken on a huge debt burden. According to Monetary Commissioner Joaquín Almunia this is normal in a crisis, but it must be monitored closely: presumably in the coming year only Bulgaria will remain under the [Stability Pact's] three percent deficit limit." (04/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Social Policy / Employment, » Labour market / Services, » Trade, » Economic Policy, » Tax Policy, » Europe

The famous French ethnologist and anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss died in Paris on Friday. The daily The Independent reviews his intellectual legacy: "Lévi-Strauss was the quintessential man of his own culture and the global age. He was at once steeped in the ultra-rational intellectual tradition of France, while drawing universal rules from his myriad observations and experiences around the world. Born in Belgium, persecuted in Vichy France and given refuge in the US until the war's end, he won fame, and then reverance, as the father of structural anthropology. Structuralism has its critics; it may in time seem less revolutionary, and revelatory, than once it did. But as a great international man of letters, Lévi-Strauss bequeathes a legacy that transcends the narrow academic labels of his time." (04/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Public Culture, » Science / Research, » France, » Global

In the Netherlands the government-subsidised "Gays in the Class" project is being launched at the country's strict Protestant schools in a bid to combat discrimination against homosexuals. But the daily De Volkskrant takes the view that it won't change the convictions of the Calvinist organisers of the project in the slightest: "On the websites of the organisers you can read what they really mean: homosexuality isn't criticised, but homosexual intercourse is. We must lovingly tolerate the sinners as long as they don't commit the sin. … The testimonies in the blogs are heartbreaking: depressed homosexual fathers suffering from years of abstinence; a woman who broke off her relationship with her girlfriend with a bleeding heart because God demanded this of her. … Is this what [Minister for Education Ronald] Plasterk wants the students to learn? The person in charge of education must ensure that Article 1 [of the constitution on equality] is applied. At schools it's not the parents who have the final say, it's not the directors, and it certainly isn't God." (04/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Minorities, » Gender equality, » Netherlands
All available articles from » Aleid Truijens

The case of a radiologist who was literally eaten up by a tumour and died under inhumane circumstances following a failed suicide attempt prompts the left-liberal daily Népszabadság to make the case for euthanasia: "Did she earn this terrible end? Didn't she deserve euthanasia if she had decided she wanted to die because of her excruciating pain? Why was she forced to do this alone and in secret? Why did she have to try to take her own life when she was so sick and suffering unbearably? Our laws punish any kind assistance to suicide. … Wouldn't it have been more humane if someone had stood by the patient at this terrible time and helped her to pass on? If someone had held her hand and given her the last injection? … Each of us should reflect on this and find the answer for themselves." (03/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Crime and Law, » Health and Medicine, » Weltanschauung, » Hungary, » Global
All available articles from » Gábor Vadász