The elections in France and Greece have shown that extremist parties are gaining ever more ground, something the traditional major parties have no answer to, the left-liberal daily Le Monde comments: "Whether it's right- or left-wing extremists who are questioning current European policy, or parties on the fringes of the system: these movements are causing  the traditional political formations to falter. This holds particularly for the large political currents that have spearheaded the European project for decades. The economic and debt crises have also played a role in destabilising the major parties, in creating a problem shared by every political force in Europe. ... But until now no one has been able to face up to the challenge: it seems that none of Europe's institutions or movements has an answer at the ready. The big parties must lose no time in getting down to work." (10/05/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU neighbourhood policy, » Elections, » Politics, » Europe

Today is Europe Day, and although Europe may have little to celebrate it is far from throwing in the towel, writes the political scientist Hendrik Vos in the liberal daily De Standaard: "European policy is tough, and sticky. As soon as a decision has been reached it seems to get stuck in its tracks. Further decisions build on what has already been agreed on. Europe never starts entirely from scratch. For some time now Europe has been slogging through the swamp of the euro crisis. A pitiful slog from summit to summit. It falters, it creaks, it groans, but it does not stop altogether. It doesn't turn around. That's how European politics works. It doesn't have complete freedom to act, but it can make corrections. These are also necessary, as recent months have clearly shown. Political leaders are being voted out of office at an incredible pace. But then again, you don't win an election with austerity. At the same time it is also becoming clear that the economy won't be saved with austerity alone, either. The Union will have to offer the people, first and foremost the Greeks, prospects and hope." (09/05/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Europe
All available articles from » Hendrik Vos
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

The euro can only be saved by a common EU economic government that has democratic legitimation, representatives of the European Movement International write in an appeal published by the left-liberal daily La Repubblica: "If the situation doesn't change the euro won't be able to withstand the centrifugal forces and the increase in populist discourse. Its demise will simply be a matter of time. … However another path is possible. It consists in revising the Lisbon treaty to overcome the mere coordination among member states, which has become inadequate. … This means the process needs to take on a parliamentary dimension: the euro won't survive without substantial political progress. … The survival of the euro can only be guaranteed through a common economic government and a European budget for stimulating growth. Only federalism can prevent the collapse of the Eurozone with all its catastrophic repercussions for our current living standards. It would pave the way for a just, united and democratic Europe that is capable of assuming its role within the world." (09/05/2012)

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

The elections in France and Greece have shown that in Europe the distinction between home and abroad no longer applies, writes political science professor Peter Bursens in the liberal daily De Standaard: "Europe has (finally) become part of the national political sphere. ... The clear ideological options at the European level and their far-reaching repercussions on domestic decisions will also break through the Belgian vicious circle of an unfounded lack of interest in Europe. ... The genie is out of the bottle. However it needn't be an evil genie provided all parties deal with it properly. It can lead politicians, the media and public opinion to set the responsibilities at an appropriate level. ... It can lead politicians to promise no more than they can achieve at the level on which they are campaigning, so that the citizens may benefit in this way from a full-fledged democracy." (08/05/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Elections, » Politics, » Europe
All available articles from » Peter Bursens

Relations between Poland and Lithuania have hit their lowest point in years, prompting political scientist Vadim Volovoj to call for less emotion and more objectivity from both sides in the news portal Geopolitika: "In a nutshell, the situation is lamentable. As a strategic partner Poland is clearly vital for Lithuania. ... So it is high time the situation was given the thought it deserved and something is done to improve it. The two states now maintain 'working relations' that give no indication whatsoever that either party is ready to sit down and hash things out. The trend gives every impression that the situation will soon be as bad as that between Lithuania and Russia: mutual accusations, nothing constructive to speak of, no cooperation. ... The question is: what is to be done? The answer: leading politicians from both states must finally set their emotions aside. These are based on painful historical experience, exaggerated national pride and other such unpragmatic factors." (07/05/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Poland, » Lithuania
All available articles from » Vadim Volovoj

Europe must step up its political integration, writes the former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder in a commentary published by the left-liberal daily El País: "The European Commission must be further developed into a government elected by the European Parliament. The European Council must give up powers and should be transformed into an upper chamber with similar functions to, for example, the Bundesrat in Germany. The European Parliament must have increased powers, and in future it should be elected via pan-European party lists with top candidates for the post of president of the commission. ... I think it is now time for a core of states ready for integration to initiate a new convention for the future of Europe. ... In global political and economic competition only a united Europe will stand a chance, because a nation state alone, even a strong Germany, is too weak. We can survive between the centers of power - the US and China - if we continue the path to integration. Then the European Union will remain a socially, economically, culturally and politically successful community that will be a model for other regions. Europeanisation is a rational political response to globalisation." (07/05/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » Europe
All available articles from » Gerhard Schröder

Europe is poised for a Super election Sunday on May 6th, with voters casting their ballots in both France and Greece. Then after the summer break the Netherlands will hold early elections, and Germany is due to vote next year. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Europe policy is also on the table with each election, which prompts Bernd Ulrich, chief editor of the liberal weekly Die Zeit's politics section, to ponder on voting logic in Europe: "In view of their huge cross-border clout one could ask why German voters aren't allowed to join in a little in the Netherlands and France, with say a fifth of the vote. And conversely the French and Dutch could join in here. And then there's another oddity: Angela Merkel is the strong woman of Europe, yet Europeans probably wouldn't elect her as EU President. However if she was elected directly by the people in Germany, she would obtain a majority. But owing to the pressures of coalition politics that currently prevail in Germany, she may well lose her power despite all her popularity and the coincidences. In other words: ... Merkel leads a Europe that can't vote her out of office, yet she may accidentally be deprived of her power by the Germans, who don't actually want to vote her out of office. In terms of democratic legitimation this is all pretty messed up." (03/05/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Elections, » Germany, » Europe
All available articles from » Bernd Ulrich

The sociologist Ulrich Beck and MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit have published a manifesto entitled "Let's create a bottom-up Europe" in which they advocate a European Year of Volunteering for Everyone aimed at strengthening ties across borders. The left-liberal daily El País reprints the appeal: "The young people of Europe may be better educated than ever before but they still feel powerless in the face of the looming bankruptcy of nation states and the terminal decline of labour markets. Every fourth European under the age of 25 is unemployed. In the many places where disenfranchised young people have set up camp and made public protests they are clamouring for social justice. Wherever such camps are - in Spain, Portugal, the countries of North Africa, American cities or Moscow - this demand is being made with great force and fervour. Anger is mounting over a political system that rescues banks with eye-watering sums but squanders the future of young people in the process. … For this reason, we are asking the European commission and national governments, the European parliament and national parliaments to create a Europe of actively employed citizens and to secure the financial and legal requirements for the European Year of Volunteering for Everyone - as a counter-model to the top-down Europe, the Europe of elites and technocrats that has prevailed up to now." (03/05/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Social movements, » Social affairs, » Europe
All available articles from » Ulrich Beck, » Daniel Cohn-Bendit

The euro crisis and the French presidential elections have brought Europeans closer together, write the French political scientists Maxime Lefebvre and Vivien Schmidt in the left-liberal daily Le Monde: "The crisis of the Eurozone is an important step towards Europeanisation: it obliges nations both individually and collectively to strive for the necessary economic convergence that must accompany the monetary union, which had been very largely obscured after the treaty of Maastricht. Attitudes to the European fiscal pact have become a major topic in the French presidential campaign. Merkel's support for Sarkozy and the SPD's for François Hollande has highlighted an unprecedented interdependency between domestic political debates in France and Germany. ... It is unnecessary to pitch Europe against the individual nations. Instead the construction of Europe must be reinforced by a renewed democratic approach aimed at politicising the debate so as to better legitimise European politics and the Union as a whole. Whatever its outcome, the election will have contributed to this process." (30/04/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Elections, » Germany, » France, » Europe
All available articles from » Maxime Lefebvre, » Vivien Schmidt
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Eight years after the Czech Republic's accession to the EU on May 1, 2004, the euphoria over this momentous step has completely disappeared, Jindřich Šídlo, chief commentator of the Czech Hospodárske noviny, laments in the Slovakian business paper of the same name: "Like 77 percent of my fellow citizens, I had no doubts about voting in favour of the Czech Republic joining the EU in the referendum. And even today I am still convinced that this was the right decision. However not so many people share this opinion nowadays - support for our EU membership has sunk to below 50 percent. ... We're happy enough to take the EU subsidies but we avoid the risks of membership. We reject the fiscal compact because we absurdly believe that we are the natural allies of the British - as if Slavia Prag could be compared with Arsenal London. Even in the mainstream media that enthusiastically back our EU accession Brussels comes across as something alien with which we have nothing in common. We have become something like the stowaway within the EU. And this is a fatal development." (30/04/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » Domestic Policy, » Czech Republic, » Europe
All available articles from » Jindřich Šídlo