euro|topics - Christian Schwägerl

21/11/2008

English
Deutsch
Français

Español

Schwägerl, Christian

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

Der Spiegel - Germany | 25/08/2008

Beef as a climate killer

According to a study by the non-governmental organisation Foodwatch, agricultural businesses in Germany produce just as much carbon dioxide as road traffic. The news magazine Der Spiegel calls for a reduction in beef consumption: "The result [of the study] will put die-hard lovers of braised beef in a panic. Because even if all companies and methods - bio or not - were optimised to reduce their environmental impact, the fact remains that the central way of making agriculture more climate compatible involves a drastic reduction in beef production. ... The price of beef olives will then rise dramatically. ... [And] anyone who believes that buying a rib steak from an health food shop will help climate protection has another thing coming. This becomes obvious when you convert beef production to an equivalent number of kilometres driven in your car. One kilo of bio-fed meat generates the same emissions as driving 113.4 kilometres in a compact car. With conventional feed the equivalent is 70.6 kilometres because production is more intensive. ... However [politicians] only call for what has long been compulsory: not the slightest reduction in beef production."

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - Germany | 26/06/2007

No elite university for Europe

"The EU is not to found its own elite university. President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso's dream of a European Technology Institute [EIT] has been destroyed", writes Christian Schwägerl. Only the name remains as testimony to the original plans for a super-university - EIT now stands for nothing more than a network of European universities. "In accordance with the wishes of the ministers, the EU is not to found its own elite university or confer doctorate certificates embossed with the flag of the European Union or even think about spending 2.4 billion euros on its own research institute. The cream of the crop of Europe's academics are to remain where they are, whether that be London, Munich or Barcelona, rather than coming together in the ultra-modern building envisaged by Barroso as Europe's answer to the world famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). ... When it comes to the nitty gritty all the flowery speeches about a 'European Research Area' quickly dissolve in the face of national interests."

» Index of Authors

Bookmark this page at