euro|topics - John Palmer

Palmer, John

4 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

The Irish Times - Ireland | 25/08/2008

A United European Commonwealth

Following the Caucasus crisis John Palmer, founder of the European Policy Centre in Brussels, calls in the Irish Times on the EU to devise a long-term strategy for dealing with Russia and found a European Commonwealth. "EU governments seem bereft of ideas for a long-term strategy to overcome a looming new division on the Eurasian continent. ... One possibility would be ... to create a United European Commonwealth. ... The mandate for such an overarching, pan-European community would have to be more limited than that of the EU itself - perhaps focusing on the security, legal, economic, human rights and energy issues at the heart of the draft EU-Russia agreement. ... It would provide a constructive alternative to further (militarily meaningless) enlargement of NATO. It could provide a multi-lateral framework for resolving innumerable border and minority-nationality disputes between states which emerged from the Soviet Union. Above all, it might replace the current exchanges of mutual abuse with dialogue about working out a common destiny."

The Irish Times - Ireland | 09/06/2008

An Irish No and British European policy

A rejection of the Treaty of Lisbon in the Irish referendum "would precipitate a major European crisis", writes John Palmer. "The main beneficiaries are likely to be the far right xenophobes, racists and euro-sceptics - Irish and European. ... There is no plan C on a desk in Brussels designed to avert a truly serious crisis in the entire European project. ... It is not entirely clear that a No vote would - in the longer run - leave Ireland's EU membership itself unaffected. ... An Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty would give a massive boost to the euro-sceptic British Conservative party - which seems increasingly likely to form the government in London. An Irish No will strengthen the Tory determination to renegotiate some key aspects of Britain's EU membership."

Open Democracy - United Kingdom | 21/12/2007

Slovenia about to preside over the European Union

Journalist John Palmer notes that Slovenia is due to take over the rotating EU presidency on January 1st. "The presidency of the European Union will pass for the first time ever to one of the so-called 'new member-states' from central and eastern Europe - specifically from the Balkans. ... The Slovenian presidency comes at a critical time in the affairs of the union, on the heels of the Lisbon agreement in December to sign the reform treaty, as the economic clouds gather across the globe and as Kosovo - and the Balkans regions generally - confronts the EU with some daunting challenges. ... Slovenia is running one of the most successful economies in the EU and has just joined the single currency euro-group at the heart of the European integration process. ... Although critics note the rather introverted nature of the domestic Slovene political debate, there is overwhelming public support for the government's strongly pro-EU orientation."

Open Democracy - United Kingdom | 16/02/2007

The necessity for foreign policy in Europe

"The case for strengthening the EU capacity to act is constantly being reinforced by the near-universal European rejection of the Bush administration's global leadership," notes John Palmer, journalist specialising in European affairs. "After the disasters in Iraq and the middle east as a whole, repeated opinion polls show most Europeans want to see the EU become a more effective global actor. Concerns about energy security and the urgent need for leadership on climate change add to a growing sense that the European Union is an essential tool for managing globalisation. However, sorting out a constructive but independent-minded European energy strategy vis-a-vis Vladimir Putin's Russia remains a particularly sensitive problem for the German government [currently presiding over the EU]. Getting an energy consensus in the EU may be as daunting a challenge for Berlin as finding a way forward on the treaty."

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