The daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung is confident that the WTO negotiations will reach a successful outcome: "[The director general of the WTO] Pascal Lamy was last week among the incorrigible optimists who still believed that the Doha round on the liberalisation of trade would be successful. ... Lamy was pinning his hopes on the talks in the smaller forum of the seven most powerful trading groups. ... This group has found a compromise whose most prominent feature is a major reduction in EU agricultural subsidies (which even then will still be too high). The sudden power game of the major nations, which until then had been exchanging tough words, took everyone by surprise. Many states will try in the next few days to make adjustments to the principle agreement on agriculture and industry or to gain advantages in the services sector. But the future path is basically clear. There is thus good reason now to hope for a compromise that will boost world trade." (28/07/2008)

» more information (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Trade, » Agriculture, » Economic Policy, » Global
All available articles from » Jürgen Dunsch

The Swiss Le Temps concludes that the planned reform of agricultural subsidies makes sense even though it could deal a hard blow to local farmers: "'Disaster', 'victims' - the Swiss farmers have reacted fiercely to the compromise that is taking shape at the WTO. This is hardly surprising. ... It entails cutting subsidies for agriculture and reducing import duties. Switzerland, which belongs to the club of countries that gives its farmers most subsidies, will be directly affected. Farmers believe their incomes will go down by between 30 and 50 percent over the next ten years and that the number of people working in this sector will be halved in the same period. ... But the farmers have in fact been preparing for the end of the 'agricultural exception' for a long time now. Half of their income comes from subsidies. Certain duties make imported goods five times more expensive. Such protective measures make little economic sense and are hardly justifiable in a free economy. ... Farmers can count themselves lucky that the price increases on agricultural products will somewhat cushion the impact of the WTO measures." (28/07/2008)

» full article (external link, French)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Agriculture, » Economic Policy, » Switzerland, » Global
All available articles from » Frédéric Lelièvre

Despite the protests over the results of the WTO negotiations El Pais believes a successful outcome to the Doha round is indispensable. "It should be the most powerful, the wealthiest nations, that ... moderate their demands on the various forms of subsidies for their agricultural sectors and reduce the tariffs for agricultural and industrial products. Ultimately excessive subsidies and tariffs obstruct free trade and primarily harm developing countries, particularly those in Africa and South America whose export earnings depend on only a few products. If the Doha round failed ... this would hamper international cooperation, which is necessary for a number of reasons; reasons that have to do with the still very precarious financial stability, that are related to securing energy supplies, to food prices and to climate change, to name just a few examples [of issues] for which there are no national solutions." (28/07/2008)

» full article (external link, Spanish)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Agriculture, » Economic Policy, » Global

The justice ministers of the EU have failed in their latest attempt to standardise European divorce laws. Nine member states are now calling for a final solution, even if this does not apply to the whole of Europe. The liberal newspaper Sme writes: "It is a matter of giving interested countries the opportunity to commit themselves to integration projects in which others do not wish to participate. In this case it is primarily Sweden that is refusing to participate in the common EU procedure. Stockholm does not want [to risk] the possibility of its citizens having to get divorced according to Arab divorce laws in extreme cases. ... As a result the door has opened a little wider to a two-speed Europe." (28/07/2008)

» more information (external link, Slovak)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Weltanschauung, » Europe
All available articles from » Kateřina Šafaříková

At least fifteen people died in bomb attacks in Istanbul yesterday. For the daily La Repubblica, however, the crisis in Turkey has yet to reach the critical point. "The bombs exploded on the eve of a session of the Supreme Court in Ankara at which a decision is to be taken on banning the conservative Islamic governing party the AKP, which is accused of Islamising the country. The security forces have not ruled out the possibility of the attack having been an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan." The newspaper pointed out that one of the charges against Erdoğan was the introduction of the [wearing of] veils at universities. This "has put wind into the sails of the opposition and the military, which ... have not got over the appointment of Erdoğan's deputy Abdullah Gül as state president last year. ... Eleven judges appointed by Gül's predecessor, the form magistrate Ahmet Necdet Sezer, a member of the secular wing, will decide whether 71 members of the governing party have to go. Seven votes in favour are sufficient to ban the AKP. Turkey knows that and [therefore] fears new terrorist attacks." (28/07/2008)

» full article (external link, Italian)
More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Turkey
All available articles from » Marco Ansaldo

The writer and essayist László Végel analyses the situation in Serbia for the daily Népszabadság following the arrest of the purported war criminal Radovan Karadžić : "If one looks at the seizure of Radovan Karadžić through the prism of political life in Serbia, one finds a good few contradictions. ... Nationalism is not the issue dividing Serbia today but Kosovo and Serbia's strategy for joining the EU. How can one reconcile these two things? ... Will the negotiations on Serbia's accession to the EU come to a halt if its recognition of an independent Kosovo is made a condition for joining? This awkward question is one that no-one currently dares to ask, although it is the most important question. ... The capture of Karadžić was a slap in the face for Serbian nationalism. Yet for the governing parties cultivating nationalism is not a priority. It too is a thing of the past, they say. It was not addressing the past that forced the arrest of Karadžić but the fact that the EU made this a condition for Serbia's becoming a member." (28/07/2008)

» full article (external link, Hungarian)
More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » EU Policy, » Europe, » Serbia, » Kosovo
All available articles from » László Végel

A few days ago US presidential candidate Barack Obama called in Berlin for Europeans and the US to work closer together. In its leading article Berlingske Tidende asks what form this cooperation would take: "Obama did not mention the UN, which many Europeans see as the most important forum for international dialogue and resolving conflicts ... even once in his speech. We must assume that this was intentional. The speech was aimed not at a European but at an American audience and for Americans international organisations like the UN and the WTO are of little importance. On the contrary, in America you get elected by portraying America as a self-sufficient superpower. Obama had to be careful not to make any false promises in Berlin. Should he become president Europe's realpolitik would soon catch up with him and this in turn could cause him big problems at home." (28/07/2008)

» full article (external link, Danish)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Europe, » U.S.

A solution to the crisis on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, which has been divided for 34 years, seems just around the corner: this autumn the Greek and Turkish Cypriots plan to conduct direct negotiations aimed at putting an end to the division. The monthly magazine Le Monde Diplomatique points out that the current political crisis in Turkey leaves little room for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem. "Since [2004] the power struggle between the Kemalist camp and the ruling AKP in Turkey has intensified. This leaves the leadership of the Turkish Cypriots in a precarious position. ... By September ... the most fierce opponents of a Cyprus solution may already have won the upper hand. ... An important question ahead of this next and possibly last round of negotiations is whether the Annan Plan ... which two-thirds of the Turkish Cypriots voted for in 2004, is still the basis for discussion. ... Reaching a settlement regarding the important internal issues in Cyprus will only be possible if [the Cypriot President Mehmet Ali] Talat does not commit himself to ... fulfilling the military's maximum demands. [Cypriot Prime Minister Dimitris] Christofias can only agree to the painful concessions that a compromise ... would entail if they benefit the Turkish Cypriots and not the Turkish army."  (22/07/2008)

» more information (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU enlargement, » Cyprus, » Europe, » Turkey
All available articles from » Niels Kadritzke

For the newspaper Die Presse Europe's only chance of survival in a globalised world is to focus on education and research: "The current sparring between employees and employers' representatives about the consequences of globalisation is an unncessary public display of strength because the problems actually lie elsewhere. They lie neither in inadequate protection of markets nor in excessively high wages and decent working conditions. Europe has a high level of productivity that can scarcely be increased. But because for demographic reasons its workforce is shrinking it can hardly achieve [further] growth. The only engine Europe still has is its ability to be innovative. That is why it is so wrong to spend state funds propping up certain sectors or exports. All the available money should flow into the area that represents our only chance for the future: education and research." (28/07/2008)

» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Science / Research, » Economic Policy, » Europe, » Global
All available articles from » Wolfgang Böhm

In her guest commentary for Helsingen Sanomat Pia Björkbacka, industrial policy expert for the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions, voices concern about the situation of foreign workers in Finland. "The number of foreign workers is growing rapidly in Finland. ... The current situation does not look good because already a fifth of the foreign migrants living here are unemployed. Immigration policy needs to focus on getting jobs for foreigners. ... Foreign workers are often used to cover labour shortages ... particularly in the trade and services sectors as well as agriculture. ... This could easily lead to the development of two parallel job markets in Finland, one for immigrants and the other for the Finns. ... To prevent [this] ... we must improve measures for combating illegal wage payments, illegal employment. ... Before the government starts initiatives to attract workers from abroad it should make sure that Finland is really ready to receive foreign workers and their families." (28/07/2008)

» full article (external link, Finnish)
More from the press review on the subject » Migration, » Economic Policy, » Finland

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung holds the view that the hike in energy prices will considerably restrict mobility in the future. "For the first time since World War II there has been a massive increase in ticket prices, and they will continue to rise. ... For the first time since railways were invented mobility in general is getting more expensive. ... There are many indications [...] that the crisis in budget air travel is just one aspect of a general transformation that will change our entire behaviour regarding mobility. ... It is clear that this will have an impact on our professional lives, the way we run our households and even our love lives. According to market observers hundreds of thousands of Europeans commute between love and work by plane. ... The democratisation of air travel - made possible by the opening up of the market and propelled forward by cheap airlines - will inevitably grind to a halt when filling a tank for the Basel-Naples route suddenly costs more than twice as much as it did three years ago."  (27/07/2008)

» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Energy, » Infrastructure / Travel and Transport, » Europe, » Global
All available articles from » Helg, Martin

The Bulgarian tourist association BABTI organised an opinion poll to find out which historical symbols Bulgarians think should represent their country in the EU. The favourite was the 'Madara Rider', a monumental relief of a horseman carved into a cliff that dates back to the early Middle Ages. But for the weekly paper Kapital there are many other worthy symbols: "Bulgaria actually  brings many associations to mind: it is the country which smells of baked peppers in autumn; the country where Dimitar Berbatov comes from; the country which has a mosque, a synagogue and an Orthodox church standing next to each other right at its centre; the country whose president dances the Horo folk dance on festive occasions and where the most commonly used word is 'Ej sega' ['right away']."  (28/07/2008)

» full article (external link, Bulgarian)
More from the press review on the subject » Cultural Policy, » History, » Tourism, » Europe, » Bulgaria
All available articles from » Zorniza Stoilova

In an interview with Newsweek magazine the anthropologist Zuzanna Grębecka from the Institute for Polish Culture says Poland has an ambivalent attitude to the former Polish People's Republic. "For many people, the world of their childhood and youth was colourful and rosy, even though one can assume that the world at the time [of communism] was actually grey and ugly. ... Those were the days when people were tortured in Stasi prisons, when [the student] Pyjas and the priest Popiełuszko were insidiously murdered, and when politics was controlled by Moscow. ... And it is this very tension between nostalgia for communism and the everyday life of that era and at the same time knowledge of the disgraceful acts and crimes that were committed in the People's Republic that is constantly visible in Poland today. If someone writes in an Internet forum that the Palace of Culture [in Warsaw] is an attractive and interesting building, then he immediately receives the answer that it is a symbol of communist enslavement. ... For not everyone feels nostalgia for the People's Republic." (28/07/2008)

» full article (external link, Polish)
More from the press review on the subject » Public Culture, » History, » Poland
All available articles from » Zuzanna Grębecka

Diário de Noticías argues in its leading article that in planning to carry out surveillance during the Olympic games the Chinese government is doing itself a disservice: "The Chinese authorities are making a big effort to ensure everything runs smoothly. It is good that this is done inside the stadiums. Yet there are other reasons for China's control mania. It fears a terrorist attack ... or political demonstrations. ... Street celebrations and concerts have been banned, ... singers have to submit their songs to the censor. ... And television transmissions within China will have a ten-second delay so that the authorities ... can censor them. ... China is ... in the process of proving its critics right. Rather than being a good publicity campaign the games may provide evidence that the regime ... is less democratic than it would like to admit." (28/07/2008)

» full article (external link, Portuguese)
More from the press review on the subject » Sport, » China