"If you believe the European political elites, the period of stagnation is over today," writes the Dutch daily. "The discussion of the EU's future must again be on the agenda, and preferably, with a positive attitude. ... We can debate, we certainly have the right, but only if we don't put the ratification of the Reform Treaty in danger. ... The EU's democratic deficit can only be resolved if the political elites succeed in formulating and proclaiming 'a definite idea of Europe'. ... Before a dialogue with voters can start, political parties must themselves find an answer to the essential questions related to the direction and final goal of the European Union." (13/12/2007)

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The Estonian daily sees the reform treaty as an opportunity for the EU to get out of the current impasse and move on, but at the same time it remains sceptical. "The EU is no doubt a good thing for Estonia, but certain aspects of the reform treaty will give us a headache. In the long term not all member states will have a representative on the Commission and that violates the principle of equality. We also don't know whether the EU's common foreign policy will be in our interest. And finally there's no guarantee that the reform treaty will enter force in 2009 because it's to be put to referendum in Ireland and perhaps in the UK too." (13/12/2007)

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Alexandre Defossez, a doctoral student at the European Institute for Legal Studies (IEJE) at the University of Liege, doubts "that the Treaty solves the major problem revealed by the failure of the defunct Constitution. The Union exists in the spirit of its citizens. ... [It's] an unidentified political object, with uniquely economic objectives. As such, it is a project difficult to be enthusiastic with. The symbols of the Union - its flag, its anthem, the quasi-totality of the preamble, the (unfortunate) term 'Constitution' - don't appear in the treaty. The Union has been stripped of its most beautiful finery, presenting citizens only the dreary facade of a sanitised text, made up of a litany of indigestible amendments. [The Union] thus launches an unprecedented version of international cooperation, but one which, at the same time, doesn't have the ability to overcome its divisions through the adoption of proper symbols that its citizens can identify with." (13/12/2007)

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Timothy Garton Ash considers that the Reform Treaty is an accomplishment, "but a noble constitutional document, comparable to that of the United States, it is not. ... In itself, it will do nothing to convince Europe's citizens, or the rest of the world, of what the European Union is good for. But it will help the EU to do things that may convince them. ... It should free us to concentrate on what this union does, rather than what it is, or says it is. In fact, the EU will define what it is by what it does. Will it help to create jobs, strengthen a free-trading world, encourage development, or combat climate change? What can it offer neighbours who will not become members, in the arc of crisis that surrounds us, from Murmansk to Casablanca? ... European leaders should ... contemplate the wider horizon." (13/12/2007)

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Maurizio Ferrera considers that in signing the Lisbon Treaty, "European leaders will adopt a watered-down and reduced version of the European Constitution blocked by France and the Netherlands in 2005. The fruit of patient diplomatic work, the Treaty contains different innovations that will make the EU function more smoothly... . The signatures in Lisbon are only the first step towards the process of ratification of the new Treaty. But this time the governments look to avoid at all costs popular referendums... . Better to avoid the referendums and advance Europe via agreements between the elites, negotiated by governments and ratified by parliaments... . The internal political arenas risk becoming a platform for a neo-populist movement, from the left and the right, against the governments ... , against the technocrats in Brussels, or worse, against politicians pure and simple." (12/12/2007)

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The Egyptian Islam expert Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid criticises the fact that in the debate on Islam the West and Islam are often seen as opposing concepts. "East and West are abstract concepts in our imagination. In the course of history both sides have penetrated each other, complemented each other and fought against each other. I put myself forward as an example of how I interpret this constructed identity: my background as an Egyptian Arab and Muslim means that I carry many different cultural elements in my blood - elements of the pharaohs, the Greeks, the Romans and the Copts, as well as Arab and Islam elements. I have studied and taught in the US and Japan and now I live in Europe. And who am I? Is my identity shaped by the East or the West? I call for the concept of 'identity' to be freed of simplified, mono-dimensional labels such as 'European' or 'Muslim' and replaced by a more complex notion of identity." (13/12/2007)

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"In the West, the UN is regarded as largely a good thing, with its many arms dedicated to helping refugees, resolving conflicts and, if necessary, to stepping in with the blue helmets to keep the peace," writes the columnist Adrian Hamilton. "In other parts of the world, however, the UN is no longer regarded in this benign light. Indeed, in a substantial part of the developing world it has come to seem an instrument of western oppression and US hegemony. Iraq has much to do with this change in perceptions. ... [In Iraq] the rest of the world ... saw that the UN was being pushed to impose a peace on terms dictated from outside. ... If [the UN] is to recover its former reputation as an 'innocent humanitarian organisation' welcome around the world, then it needs to rethink its mission from the bottom, stepping back from the military interventions with which the West would saddle it." (13/12/2007)

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The Swiss parliament ejected the controversial justice minister Christoph Blocher, former president of the Swiss People's Party (SVP), from the cabinet on Wednesday, December 12th. "All those who are rubbed the wrong way by the politics of Christoph Blocher, all those who are weary of the incessant flirting of the leader of the SVP with the limits of what is tolerable from a minister, all those people rejoice his ejection from the Federal Council," writes Thierry Meyer. "But there is also a lot of incomprehension, of feelings of rejection after this institutional power play, among many citizens who found in Blocher, in his ideas and his success, an answer to their worries. ... We have killed the messenger, but the message remains: in 15 years, the SVP has doubled its impact on the country. And if tomorrow, all of a sudden, those who made the decision to send Christoph Blocher packing to the opposition don't show his supporters that they have answers at least as good as his, they are setting the stage for a new dark green tsunami for [the federal elections] in 2011." (13/12/2007)

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"Whether as a member of the Bundesrat (the Executive Federal Council) or as leader of the opposition, Christoph Blocher will maintain his high profile in Switzerland," writes Klaus Bonanomi on the surprising ejection of the SVP politician from the cabinet. "But this doesn't mean the end of Switzerland's concordance democracy. It was Blocher's SVP that repeatedly attacked the concordance model - that is the negotiation of stable compromises, taking other views into consideration and fairness. In point of fact, even in government the SVP has conducted a policy of opposition. For its part the parliament has decided in favour of concordance by voting two moderate SVP politicians onto the Council with whom government in the traditional Swiss style will - once again - be possible." (13/12/2007)

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"Soon the fundamental rights will apply all over Europe - only the poor Brits and the Poles will be at the mercy of their respective state authorities," writes Reinhard Müller commenting on the debate over the charter of fundamental rights, which the European Parliament adopted yesterday. "Yet there has been no lack of fundamental rights in Europe up to now, whether enshrined in national constitutions, human rights conventions or the legislation of European courts. The question is how seriously these rights will be taken by individual member states. Even the charter won't be able to close the gaps that sometimes appear here. Yet it remains a commendable attempt to underline and reaffirm the foundation of Europe's common system of values." (13/12/2007)

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Denis Sieffert, director of the weekly, returns to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's controversial visit to France. "Why not admit it? There are good diplomatic dictators, and then there are just dictators. ... Gaddafi [is] a 'borderline' dictator. He isn't so unreasonable to end up like Saddam Hussein. But he isn't wise enough to move towards the appearance of democracy. His Western hosts would have to accommodate this contradiction. And, apparently, they have. This man is in the process of becoming a socially acceptable dictator. According to official criteria, what exactly is a socially acceptable dictator? He isn't less dictatorial, nor more democratic. He is a character who accepts being humbled by the great powers, who no longer threaten him, and turns his hatred against his own people." (13/12/2007)

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Chief UN War Crimes Prosecutor Carla del Ponte is ending her work with the International criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). On her departure Peter Morvay writes: "One of her merits was that she didn't see the Balkans conflict in black-and-white terms. Another merit was the resoluteness with which she and her colleagues pursued their goals. However, the tribunal could only be as successful and consistent as the international community allowed it to be. On several occasions the EU gave Serbia an ultimatum over Karadzic and Mladic. In the end it always made do with vague promises and forced del Ponte to tone down her demands. Del Ponte is right when she complains that this will undermine people's trust in justice. We can only hope that her successor is more fortunate and can rely on the courage and principles of the democratic states." (13/12/2007)

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Russia is planning to lift the ban it imposed on imports of Polish meat products over two years ago. This paves the way for a new partnership agreement between the EU and Russia, which Poland has blocked up to now because of the meat ban. Krystyna Naszkowska comments: "This is the new government's first economic success. While the previous government promised that they would reach an agreement with Russia about lifting the ban, Tusk's government has actually achieved it - and astoundingly quickly. ... Now there's the possibility that the financial situation of the importing companies will improve and the pork surplus will diminish. But above all we'll no longer feel we're being discriminated against on the international market." (13/12/2007)

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The Polish government has announced plans to cut subsidies for the ultra-Catholic radio station Radio Maryja by more than four million euros. The station's boss, Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, has accused the government of wanting to destroy him and has announced demonstrations in Warsaw. Sociologist Ireneusz Krzeminski comments: "This should be a cause of concern above all for the Polish Church. A religious institution, 'the Catholic voice in Polish households' [Radio Maryja's slogan], has called for a purely political anti-governmental demonstration. Naturally this is about money and you can't really deny priests the right to take care of their 'worldly' interests. The question is whether the bishops will be able to convince the public that Radio Maryja's anti-government stance is not representative of the entire Church." (13/12/2007)

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The 35-year-old writer Michael Stavaric, who was born in the Czech Republic (Brno) and now lives in Austria, rejects the concept of immigration literature in an interview with Tomas Dimter: "This is basically a concept that was typical of the last century. Life in today's Europe is more cosmopolitan. As a writer I can work anywhere in the world, particularly given that writers have a good status in many countries. Nowadays, the German literary scene is dominated or at least strongly influenced by immigrant authors. In Austria my background is always seen in the context of the Czech literary tradition. I'm often asked why I write in German instead of in Czech or why Czech exercises such a strong influence over German literature. ... In Austria I am part of new literature; in the Czech Republic I'm not." (13/12/2007)

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In an interview conducted by Christophe Carriere, French illustrator Tomi Ungerer explains why he gave his entire collection to the city of Strasburg, which just dedicated a museum to him. "Because it's a city between two countries. The museum will thus have as many German visitors as French ones. Culture shouldn't have borders. ... It's a particular emotion [to have a museum dedicated to you]. I'm proud of it because my whole life is there. ... What's more, illustration is a black sheep. There are museums for painters, for sculptors, but none for illustrators, who, finally, influence people on a daily basis. ... In the best-case scenario, museums would reserve a little room for illustration called the 'print gallery'. ... Each artist should have their own museum. That would be his little paradise." (13/12/2007)

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