euro|topics - Joaquín Roy

07/09/2008

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Roy, Joaquín

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

El Correo - Spain | 16/05/2008

The EU and Latin America

The upcoming EU-Latin America summit prompts Joaquín Roy, director of the EU centre at the University of Miami, to write the following: "The majority of the new EU members are not interested in a region with which up to now they have barely cultivated relations, and consequently there has been a shift in the EU's priorities towards its direct neighbours and the strategically important regions. On the other side, the customs unions which are gradually being formed are slowing down regional integration in America. The supranational concept is rejected and equated with a loss of sovereignty. In conjunction with flourishing populist governments, the strong position of the presidents encourages the predominance of nationalist themes. Regional integration is also hindered by competing offers for free trade areas with the US. ... On the other side of the Atlantic, the EU refuses to change its Common Agricultural policy, which [in Latin America] fuels fears of neo-imperialism in the guise of an aid programme."

El Correo - Spain | 19/07/2007

Portugal, a country of ventriloquists

Joaquín Roy reacts to Portuguese writer José Saramago's claim that "Portugal will end up as part of Spain". "The Iberian Union is perhaps the only way that Spanish people would learn Portuguese. In our time, all educated Portuguese can speak Spanish; yet only a handful of Spaniards can cope in the language of their neighbour. For the Spanish, certain obstacles seem insurmountable: on one hand, Portuguese seems easy to write; but to speak, they realise that the language is very different [from Spanish], with a richer system of vowels and fewer consonants due to the undeniable speed with which they speak. Portugal appears to be a country of ventriloquists: they speak with a closed-mouth. If Portuguese is to become the official language of 'Iberia', on equal footing with Spanish, the Spanish will have to get rid of this handicap."

El Diario Vasco - Spain | 15/06/2006

The proposal for a two-speed Europe

"Paradoxically, the European Union could die of its own success," writes Joaquin Roy, the co-director of the European Centre at the University of Miami. "The EU has achieved its fundamental objective: to put an end to European wars, enhance the quality of life of its citizens, give them a sense of security hitherto unknown. It has become a reference point, even a model to emulate, for the rest of the planet. ... Europe no longer knows which direction to take, it lacks new ideas. ... The European Council will draw up a timeline for action through 2009. It would be welcome to see the EU implement just a few of the innovative measures called for in the constitutional treaty before then. ... But electoral calendars in several countries dictate caution, which makes it unlikely any new projects will be embraced."

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