Doris Kraus is convinced that none of the 27 EU states will "dare to let the reform treaty fail, because they all stand to lose so much if this project goes off the rails once again - particularly the European Union itself. ... After six years - the reform process began in December 2001 - there's a risk that the whole purpose of this enterprise could be forgotten. The original goal was to relieve the EU of its unwieldiness - criticised by friends and foes alike - and streamline it with the aid of better organisation and decision-making structures. But instead the reform process has come to be associated with failure - in the form of the constitution rejected in 2005 - and trickery." (17/10/2007)

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All available articles from » Doris Kraus

According to Nicolas Busse, we shouldn't be over-optimistic about the entry into force of a new EU reform treaty. "The most difficult obstacles will come after the summit: the reform treaty must then be ratified by all 27 member states, and the EU has often had nasty surprises during this phase. No one can tell today how the mood will develop over the next year in the individual countries. Can Gordon Brown afford to ratify the treaty without holding a referendum? Will the Irish, the Danes or another nation say 'no'? Will Nicolas Sarkozy win a three-fifths majority in the National Assembly?" (17/10/2007)

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"Whisper it who dares, but this is a week of genuinely exciting opportunity for the modernising and effectiveness of the European Union, for British engagement in Europe and for the European cause in Britain - all causes well worth supporting," notes the daily. "Tragically, you are very unlikely to hear the EU reform treaty debate … described in this positive way very often. That is because the default mode of the majority of the British press - the bulk of which is controlled by owners who hate Europe and who fear that EU competition policy blocks the road against their monopolistic ambitions - is xenophobic, scare-mongering and a permanent threat to balanced debate on this strategically vital subject. Unfortunately, with rare but honourable exceptions, too many British politicians have cringed for more than a generation in the face of the British press's fanatical hostility to Europe.” (17/10/2007)

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

"For me, Caucasia is clearly one of the most important countries for Europe's future in the years to come", explains Eric Hoesli, a Swiss journalist and Caucasia specialist, to Maroun Lakabi. It is situated on the fault lines of at least three conflicts. There is the energy conflict [around hydrocarbons], i.e. who is to control supplies and transit? There is the Islam-Christian divide, which we know will be fundamental in the future. The third fracture is Russia facing Europe. Caucasia is in the midst of these three problems. What will the chemistry, the combination of these three factors be? For me, what is going on there is like an enthralling saga." (17/10/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU enlargement, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Europe
All available articles from » Eric Hoesli, » Maroun Labaki

"There is one kind of homeland that grants us citizenship and a passport", notes the Spanish author Elvira Lindo. "And there is another homeland, which is in the heart. It is composed of intimate things that are hard to explain. ... The road you are born on, the rain of a bygone day, your parents' hands, games, silly childhood songs, words that made you feel safe and those that frightened you. ... Sometimes politicians confuse civil homeland and the homeland of the heart. ... There are citizens (including myself) who, when a politician invites them to proudly descend onto the streets for the national public holiday procession ... prefer to celebrate the event as the French singer George Brassens put it 'tucked up in their comfy bed'. This is one of the pleasures of the private homeland which I hate having anyone else poke their nose into." (17/10/2007)

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All available articles from » Elvira Lindo

Massimo Piatelli Palmarini, professor of cognitive science at the University of Arizona, considers the decision taken by the European Parliament on October 4th to say no to creationism. "I think we should applaud the European Parliament's resolution in favour of teaching the theory of evolution as a fundamental scientific theory and the consequential refuting of the teaching creationism. This is not a resolution that obliges Member States, but it is an authority. ... This is a conquest of freedom and healthy intellectual hygiene that prevents religions from interfering with scientific questions and to equally prevent science from interfering in religious questions... . A scientific thesis and a theological hypothesis cannot and should not be presented in the same way. The European Parliament was right to distinguish the borderline that separates the two." (17/10/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Science / Research, » Europe
All available articles from » Massimo Piattelli Palmarini

"Poland and Switzerland are to elect their Parliament on the same day [October 21st]", points out the editorialist Yves Petignat. He attempts to explain the populism present in these two countries. "In fact, at the heart of populism, whether Polish or Swiss, there is deep suffering. Facing the acceleration of globalisation and information, the complexity of problems and solutions, large swathes of society feel they have lost their grip on and control of their fate. Not as individuals, but as a community. People are desperately in search of the shreds of a collective identity. ... Up until now, traditional parties, cloaked in virtue, have been contented to condemn the expression of this suffering, racism, sectarianism, xenophobia. But who has really stopped to consider this deep malaise, this quest for a collective identity?" (17/10/2007)

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All available articles from » Yves Petignat

The daily's editorialist is concerned to see a rise in juvenile delinquency in Europe, and proposes a Europe-wide response with essentially repressive measures. "The number of crimes committed by youths under the age of 17, especially those under 14, has become a preoccupation for the authorities. ... In Spain, the police is going to create a special brigade in charge of fighting this type of criminality facing last year's record-breaking figures: over 94,000 Spanish teenagers were arrested. Spain is considering following the system adopted in England: to make parents responsible for the crimes committed by their children and make them pay for the damage caused. Drastic measures are also being taken in France. ... For a common problem, there should be a common solution. The Euroepan Union should think of a joint legislation." (16/10/2007)

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

Ljuben Obretenov tries to explain why, contrary to all expectations, the teachers' strike has now gone on for three weeks. "The similarities with the events of ten years ago are striking. In 1997 they ended with the government's downfall. .... The striking teachers of today are the students of back then, jumping around and singing at protests. The older teachers cry with excitement because this is their first civic protest. The younger ones feel like fish in water. This is a new generation of teachers that is strong enough to act like yeast in the pastry of protest." (17/10/2007)

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BMW's "BMW-Welt" (BMW World) - a gigantic recreation complex with spectacular architecture designed by the Viennese firm Coop Himmelb(l)au - opens it doors today in Munich. BMW buyers can pick up their new cars there. Ira Mazzoni marvels at the special treatment they receive. "Customers are lead with racing pulses up a flight of steps from the sky-high lounge to the plateau (it's a good idea to practise stepping because if you keep your eyes fixed on the steps you miss the 'premiere'). On a stage are 20 vehicles, but only one rotates under the stage lights until the 'collector' reaches it. One final check and then the proud new owner is free to fire up the engine and roll down the oval ramp to the exit and the joys of the daily traffic jams. Naturally, a powerful ventilation system ensures that the air in the huge hall remains clean." (17/10/2007)

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All available articles from » Ira Mazzoni

Irish author Anne Enright has won the 2007 Booker Prize for her novel 'The Gathering'. Boyd Tonkin comments. "This decision has undoubted integrity and independence, and it rewards an author who has always shown those qualities herself. ... The Gathering sounds like a monologue by a modern Irish woman: sexually frank, unsentimental, impatient of all public and private myths. It stands in a long and illustrious line of fearless Irish naturalism. Exactly 100 years ago James Joyce was working on the stories in his collection Dubliners, a volume whose style of 'scrupulous meanness' caused outrage and disgust. Anne Enright belongs to this lineage of artistically rigorous and socially explosive Irish truth-tellers. And the truth, as the earlier naturalists believed, will set you free." (17/10/2007)

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The Danish government has proposed providing refuge for persecuted writers in Denmark. Under the proposal the country's cities would foot the bill for the authors' stay. Danish minister for culture Brian Mikkelsen had previously extended an offer to former Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali to take up residency in Denmark, and the Danish state was willing to cover the costs of her personal protection. "This inevitably leads to the conclusion that the hospitality of the government is mainly directed at internationally renowned writers," the newspaper comments. "For less well-known authors the cities will have to cover the costs. Few persecuted writers require personal protection. For most it's probably enough to be allowed to come to Denmark and live a quiet life here. ... Now there's the risk that cities that had put themselves up as candidates will follow Hirsi Ali's example and say 'no thank you'." (17/10/2007)

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The Swiss event artist Massimo Furlan recreated the 1982 World Cup final between Poland and Belgium all on his own at a Warsaw stadium. 800 enthusiastic spectators watched him slip into the role of Polish football hero Zbigniew Boniek. Agnieszka Kowalska was among them: "When Massimo Furlan, a forty-one-year old with a beer belly, ran onto the pitch wearing Boniek's strip with the number 20, the loudspeakers thundered out the national hymns of Belgium and Poland. The one-and-a half hour solo game would have been boring without sports commentator Tomasz Zimoch's lively commentary. Thanks to him the fans were able to visualise the other players, the ball and the Solidarnosc banners of the fans. Even though the spectators knew precisely in which minute the goals would be scored and that all three would be scored by Boniek, they still chanted 'After the ball!', 'Goal for Poland!'. And at the end they sang 'May You live a Hundred Years'." (17/10/2007)

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All available articles from » Agnieszka Kowalska

The daily proudly praises Malta's Special Olympics team in the World Summer Games held in Shanghai, China, October 2-11. "Nineteen athletes suffering from some disability or other flew out to Shanghai for the third edition of the Games at the end of last month to take their place against nearly 5,300 other men and women from 164 countries. They were accompanied by 2,303 coaches (including six from Malta). Remarkably, they returned to Malta and to a great reception with seven gold, 11 silver and 15 bronze medals. That is a triumph by any standard. When have we ever seen so many medals won by so few? We salute them and their families ... . How exalting it is to witness the spirit of disabled men and women rise so far above any disability that it makes them achieve what would not have been dreamed of two decades ago. Maltese society is more sane for their splendid achievement.” (17/10/2007)

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"Zeppelins", potato dumplings filled with meat, are Lithuania's national dish par excellence. Now Vincentas Sakas, Lithuania's chief restaurateur, has caused an uproar by describing the dish as a relict from the Soviet era. Monika Bonckute refutes the claim and points to the importance of the potato in Lithuanian cuisine: "Sakas claims potato dumplings are only produced in countries with a humble cooking culture, for example the Czech Republic and Poland. What a spiteful comment! If you believe his statements, Lithuania's cuisine lacks its own tradition and is just a poor imitation of imports from abroad." (17/10/2007)

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All available articles from » Monika Bončkutė

"So we have another war raging in the EU and this time it's a pretty greasy one," Kateřina Šafaříková comments, amused by the Czechs' protests against Slovakia and Poland's attempts to have their varieties of "Speckwurst" (bacon sausages) recognised as national specialities. The sausages in question are known as "špekáčky" in the Czech Republic and have long been a favourite dish there. Under pressure from Czech sausage producers, the ministry of agriculture in Prague now plans to lodge an official complaint against the efforts of the Slovaks and Poles in Brussels, in an effort "to protect Czech interests. But do sausages really belong to the category of state interests? State interests are politically defined. They include the stability of the national currency, domestic security and peaceful coexistence with one's neighbours - but sausages?" (17/10/2007)

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All available articles from » Kateřina Šafaříková