Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his two phase-model to reach a minimum consensus in December and agree on specific climate goals next year will be important in any future climate protection agreement, the business daily Diário Económico writes. "The negotiations on the climate conference to be held in December took a step backwards this weekend. Yet this step backwards may actually mean much more rapid progress being made to solve the world's climate problems. Rasmussen changed the strategy: instead of forcing heads of state and government into the difficult task of finding a global solution, he called on them instead to think about a two-phase model. Step by step. ... It is very positive for the world to have Rasmussen hosting this important climate conference, because he takes a moderate and realistic approach. But the state leaders should not take advantage of this approach to shirk responsibility for finding a solution to the urgent problem [of climate change]." (16/11/2009)

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The news that there will be no binding agreement at the Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December can also be taken as a positive sign, writes the daily Berlingske Tidende: "The Danish acceptance of the realities of targeting a climate agreement has apparently stunned the environmental organisations. ... But while so many well-meaning organisations are attacking the government for foresaking the vulnerable island groups in their fight against rising sea levels, in fact pragmatists should praise the government for making the best of the situation and choosing a two-thirds solution. This solution may be getting bad press in Denmark, but it gives the environment better chances for an orderly agreement, hopefully in the not-too-distant future." (16/11/2009)

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China and the United States are to blame for the fact that no global climate agreement will be reached in Copenhagen, the left-liberal daily La Repubblica believes: "The two economic superpowers, who together are responsible for the majority of harmful emissions, have agreed between themselves to make the Copenhagen summit superfluous. ... Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the host of the Copenhagen summit, hurried to Singapore only to discover that no operative decisions can be taken in Denmark. ... It was already clear that it would be difficult in the space of the month of December to obtain binding conditions [for climate protection], but now the official end to the plan [to reduce greenhouse gases by 50 percent by 2050] comes as a severe blow." (16/11/2009)

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All available articles from » Federico Rampini

The fight to reach a climate agreement must not be abandoned, writes the daily Sydsvenska Dagbladet: "Of course the best thing would have been for the Copenhagen summit to adopt a new global climate agreement. But that was politically not on the cards. Nevertheless this should not lead now to a break-off in negotiations, which would mean an irreparable setback [for climate objectives]. In Sweden the opposition has accused Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of putting a damper on the hopes for Copenhagen. By arousing expectations you also put pressure on the politicians, argue the socialists and greens. That is true. ... But unrealistic expectations don't help the climate either." (16/11/2009)

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Elections took place in Kosovo on Sunday for the first time since the country's declaration of independence. Serbs in Kosovo have begun to recognise the new state, writes the liberal conservative daily Corriere della Sera: "With its first and consequently 'historic' local elections held in 36 communities, Kosovo has taken another step in consolidating its democracy. ... But the Kosovo of yore has not gone away, with the same protagonists and the same problems. And relations between Albanians ... and Serbs ... have not improved in the least. .. For Belgrade Kosovo simply doesn't exist, and consequently the same goes for yesterday's elections. Serbian President Boris Tadić, the Serbian political establishment and the Church all called on the Kosovan Serbs not to go to the polls. And yet, of the 100,000 Serbs living in the country - just as many fled the country - not everyone heeded this call. ... The myth of the total boycott among Kosovan Serbs has been broken for the first time." (16/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Elections, » Serbia, » Kosovo
All available articles from » Mara Gergolet

The former president of Latvia, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, has entered the race for the job of president of the European Council. The daily Ouest France is pleasantly surprised, and examines the advantages of the Latvian candidate: "She is receiving more and more support from people like Simone Veil, who see in her a woman who embodies 'reconciliation among peoples'. Mrs Vike-Freiberga has personally experienced the tragic falling out of nations. Her family, chased from Latvia during World War II, travelled war-torn Europe before seeking refuge in Morocco and then in Canada. As a result she speaks at least 5 languages fluently, French without an accent! From immigrant to president, Mrs Vike-Freiberga has had an astounding career. ... Today she is a European politician of extraordinarily high calibre. With deep roots in European culture, she is familiar with the grand strategic challenges facing the world. ... Her candidacy deserves serious consideration." (16/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » Europe
All available articles from » Jeanne Emmanuelle Hutin

In Italy the rule of law is under threat, the liberal daily La Vanguardia believes, referring to a controversial law to shorten legal proceedings that would spare Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi undergoing lengthy trials for corruption which he currently faces: "Silvio Berlusconi is once again trying to use his position as head of government and his party's parliamentary majority to outwit the judiciary. It seems he is using all the political powers he has to avoid the legal proceedings that once again threaten him. ... Respect for the principles of the state based on the rule of law are at stake." (16/11/2009)

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Despite all good intentions the number of people starving has risen to one billion. Therefore the outcome of the food summit in Rome can only be regarded as bitter, the left-liberal Süddeutsche Zeitung believes: "It is quite obvious that international development aid has failed. For decades now the rich nations having been pumping billions into the poorest regions of the world on the false assumption that by dispensing such charity they can eliminate the causes of hunger and misery. ... Sharp increases in food prices are threatening the means of existence of millions of people. If we seriously want to fight hunger we must begin by ensuring affordable food supplies. For in theory enough food is produced worldwide. ... The situation is likely to become dramatically worse if as forecast the world population grows from the current six billion to nine billion by 2050." (16/11/2009)

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All available articles from » Silvia Liebrich

The German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk has suggested a change of paradigm in the policy of redistribution. In the conservative Welt am Sonntag Thomas Schmid praises Sloterdijk's suggestion to rely on citzens' voluntary payments rather than taxes. "People like to describe the welfare state as an achievement, but in its current form it also represents a defeat: There is an excluded class. ... Those who believe today's welfare state is beyond question, will be renouncing an idea of how ... social peace can be preserved. The idea informing the concept of redistribution is not a productive one. For fundamentally it is based on the foolish idea of an original theft, which we must keep responding to with 'counterthefts' (Sloterdijk). Here wealth is a crime, and solidarity is only conceivable as something obligatory. For this reason this concept is incompatible with the dream of a civil society. Slotedijk has good reason to praise voluntary actions: for they are the life elixier of a free society." (15/11/2009)

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All available articles from » Thomas E. Schmidt

The new generation of politicians in Germany find it difficult to understand the feelings of their Czech and Polish neighbours, Adam Michnik, chief editor of the left-liberal Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, believes. In an interview with the conservative Czech newspaper Lidové noviny he cites as evidence the debate over the expulsions [of Germans] following the Second World War: "Of course it is possible to discuss whether it was OK to make the Germans emigrate. If Czechs and Poles hold debates on this question that is positive. But there's something wrong when German politicians claim that really everyone was to blame because although the Germans occupied Prague the Czechs then drove them out of Karlsbad [Karlovy Vary]. You can't compare those two things. Neither the Czechs nor the Poles had a Hitler. I have the impression that the new generation of politicians in Germany does not understand this." (16/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » History, » EU neighbourhood policy, » Germany, » Poland, » Czech Republic
All available articles from » Adam Michnik

The Dutch want to abolish car tax and instead introduce a charge per kilometre. People would then only have to pay for the number of kilometres they drive. The left-liberal daily De Volkskrant sees a Brave New World ahead for car-drivers. "The kilometre charge will reduce traffic jams by 50 percent and emissions of CO2 and fine particles by 10 percent. In addition driving will become cheaper for 59 percent of drivers. The price of a car will fall by 25 percent, because the BPM [purchase tax] will be abolished as well. And miraculously the state will still receive as much revenue as it does now. ... One cause for concern, however, will be the Big Brother metres that will be installed in every car to register every journey made. ... And of course people will think of all kinds of ways of manipulating them to save money. And what about data protection? Our lives will no longer be private, the metres will reveal everything. ... The kilometre charge is almost too good to be true." (16/11/2009)

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All available articles from » Bert Wagendorp

Last Saturday Slovenia signed a cooperation agreement with Russia on the South Stream gas pipeline. The daily Delo comments: "The triumph may well quickly turn into a Pyrrhic victory. On the one hand because it is unclear how the EU, which has not abandoned its dreams of a common European energy policy, will react. On the other hand, because Russia uses gas as a lever for achieving its geopolitical goals. When the Slovenian leader Borut Pahor claimed before the qualifying game [between Russian and Slovenia for the World Cup] that Slovenia would win, Russian Premier Vladimir Putin retorted that one 'should not count one's chickens before they are hatched.' A proverb that could no doubt be applied to Slovenian-Russian energy cooperation as well. The agreement signed on Saturday specifies neither where the pipeline should run nor what volume of gas it should transport. So like the Nabucco gas pipeline this is primarily a political project and only secondarily an economic project." (16/11/2009)

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All available articles from » Polona Frelih

Today is the International Day for Tolerance, and homosexuals in Poland are using it to fight discrimination in their country. Pior Pacewicz comments good-naturedly in the left-liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza on a discussion on homophobia organised in the northern Polish town of Olsztyn: "I hope many gays and lesbians will come to the meeting in the 'Gazeta Cafe' and that they will have the courage to stand up and be counted. Everywhere in the world a massive 'coming out' has changed the way people think. Something changes in the hearts and minds of 'heteros' when they find out that their colleage is gay or that their next-door neighbour is lesbian. Until now the large majority of Poles - including no doubt the population of Olsztyn - haven't shared in this development. On the one hand they prefer hateful discrimination to understanding, and on the other hand it suits them just fine when gays and lesbians remain hiding in their closets." (16/11/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Social movements, » Gender equality, » Poland
All available articles from » Piotr Pacewicz

Bo Jacobsen complains in the daily Politiken that the 1,000 year tradition of good eating in Denmark has met a bitter fate, and that in just 40 years the Danes have forgotten how to cook, shop or even taste: "High quality meals have disappeared from our menus, as has the art of preparing them and the money to shop for them. The Danes' food budget has shrunk to almost nothing, and has had to make room for meaningless objects that you can flaunt in front of your neighbour. ... Consequently the Danes can't cook a thing, don't want to spend a penny on quality food products and haven't the slightest idea how a good meal should taste, because they've grown accustomed to the very worst. Moreover their consumption habits hardly leave a krone for food." (16/11/2009)

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All available articles from » Bo Jacobsen

The Italian Northern League has started a campaign against foreign food. The daily The Guardian makes fun of this chauvinism: "Italy's Northern League is not just anti-immigration. It's anti-kebab. The agriculture minister, Luca Zaia, a league member, said that Italy must block the arrival of all food that had nothing to do with the country's rich agricultural heritage. What, like tomatoes, which came from Peru, or pasta, which probably arrived from China? They claim that all they are doing is to protect their culinary patrimony in a campaign that is as much directed at McDonald's as it is at kebab restaurants. A fatwa has been declared against the use of French butter in parliament, and illegal Chinese vegetables have been uprooted in Tuscany. French restaurants pass muster, but Sicilian cuisine, heavily influenced by Arab cooking, must also be a cause for grave concern." (16/11/2009)

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