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Mayer, Thomas
4 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Hollande has Merkozy in a panic
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced that she will accompany French President Nicolas Sarkozy to several election campaign events to support him in his battle to be re-elected. Merkel's lobbying is hardly surprising given that Sarkozy's re-election is in her own best interests, the left-liberal daily Der Standard comments: "It is an affront that as chancellor she is not willing to receive the rival candidate (Socialist François Hollande) even briefly in Berlin, as has been standard practice in the past. But it is pretty revolting to see how the two are currently exploiting the Greek crisis for their conservative slogans. The two Conservatives Merkel and her obedient servant Sarkozy ... must really be in a panic to resort to such base tactics. The chancellor fears that her austerity dictatorship would soon come to an end if Hollande took the helm in Paris in May. But the whole affair has an interesting new aspect: European politics has definitely become domestic politics, and vice-versa - now even at the highest level of power politics."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » Germany, » France, » Europe
EU seeks economic government
With the presentation of the EU growth strategy for 2020 in Brussels, calls for a common economic government have gained strength. But leaders like French Present Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angella Merkel both mean something different with the phrase, writes the daily Der Standard: "The European Union has reached a state of reciprocal solidarity (and dependency), and now a fundamental decision is called for: Should integration go even further, should national states be curtailed (which was the idea behind the French notion of "economic government")? This is the variant traditionally favoured by the European Commission and the EU Parliament. Or should Europe go in the other direction, with the individual states joining forces and taking the most important decisions independently of the EU's institutions in the European Council, comprising the heads of state and government? There the powerful countries would dominate. This variant is what Merkel means by 'EU government'."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Europe
No Central European oil corporation
The Austrian energy concern OMV has been prevented from taking over the Hungarian oil company MOL by concerns on the part of the EU Commission that the move would infringe antitrust regulations. The daily Der Standard welcomes the decision: "Once more the manager of a corporation with close ties to the state has spouted high phrases but reckoned without his host. In this case the host is not the MOL or the Hungarian government (which went against the spirit of the free market in fighting the OMV with antitrust laws and quirky nationalistic rhetoric). The host who scuttled plans for the construction of a quasi-monopolistic Central European oil company was the EU Commission in Brussels. But this will benefit consumers, because a successful takeover would have meant higher prices. The Viennese fuel traders were only thinking about themselves and their profits, but not about those at the fuel pumps."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Energy, » Corporations, » Hungary, » Austria
The fight against terrorism in the EU
Thomas Mayer says he can't believe how uncoordinated the EU's reaction has been to the revelations about the planned attacks in London. "It's hard to believe that five years after the New York attacks there is apparently still no basic infrastructure for integrated, legally controlled pan-European police activities. What should be a priority for the EU if not those issues that are of most concern for EU citizens? But even more irritating is the fact that the intelligence and security services are being allowed to put people under surveillance as they see fit and according to each country's laws – and also in the legal grey zone. There is virtually no parliamentary control at a European level."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Europe
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