The European Parliament has rejected the Acta agreement by a large majority: 479 out of 682 MEPs voted against the controversial anti-piracy agreement on Wednesday. The conservative daily Večer sees this as a success: "Yesterday's decision in the European Parliament is historical. Firstly because it means that Europe's understanding of copyright triumphs over that of the US. Secondly because the people's will has defeated the will of the corporations. The civil protests played an important role in this decision, the politicians would probably not have listened to their voters if they hadn't protested so loudly against the agreement. Thirdly, it is a historical decision because the European Parliament had demonstrated its power over the Commission in the struggle among the EU institutions. When the Commission signed the agreement back then it certainly didn't reckon with the agreement being torpedoed by 'insignificant' individuals like the members of the European Parliament." (05/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Medios de comunicación online, » Economía, » Europa, » Global
Todos los textos disponible de » Samo Trtnik

The rejection of Acta by the European Parliament is a victory for the people of Europe, writes the liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza, stressing the key role played by the Poles in the decision: "The defeat of Acta is a huge triumph for civil society. Here the people of Europe have stood up and made themselves heard. Pressured by the people, the politicians who had prepared and signed the agreement voted against it after all. Special merit goes to the Poles, who spontaneously took to the streets in the depths of winter at temperatures of minus 20 degrees and jumped around shouting: 'If you're not jumping you're for Acta! Hop hop hop!' These protests spread from Poland to the entire Union: everywhere people started jumping and protesting like the Poles. Around three million EU citizens signed the petition calling for the rejection of Acta, and in this way democracy has won out." (05/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Medios de comunicación online, » Medios de comunicación, » Economía, » Polonia, » Europa, » Global
Todos los textos disponible de » Ewa Siedlecka

With its rejection of the Acta agreement the European Parliament made a rash and mistaken decision on Wednesday, the liberal-conservative daily Corriere della Sera admonishes: "Without waiting for the decision of the European Court [on Acta's compatibility with the fundamental rights] the EU Parliament has rejected the international agreement that would have coordinated the rules applied in individual countries. This is paradoxical. The rules laid down in Acta have long since been incorporated into Italy's legislation and that of other signatory countries. Europe therefore already has protection [within the Community] against Internet piracy. But it is now - paradoxically - an easy target for the countries that are world champions in counterfeiting products: Brazil, Russia, India and China. … Once again Europe's politicians have shown themselves to be receptive to the arguments of an imprecisely defined 'Internet citizenry'. But very clear interests are behind these voices, namely the interests of those who want to capitalise on the intellectual property of others without investing anything themselves." (05/07/2012)

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Todos los textos disponible de » Edoardo Segantini

Both advocates and critics should learn from the rejection of the Acta anti-piracy agreement in the European Parliament yesterday, writes the liberal Financial Times Deutschland: "The German government, the EU Commission and the parliamentarians shouldn't simply reject all criticism but in future take an argumentative stance against it. .... And they shouldn't fear criticism from the Internet. In the end Internet activists are just as much lobbyists as environmental groups, energy companies and pharmaceuticals are. They work in the same way with exaggerations, accusations and false statements - that can be refuted with factual arguments. Conversely this means for the Internet activists that they may have got their way this time but when in future they are included in political decisionmaking processes they must no longer deal in half truths. Otherwise they will quickly lose their credibility and new influence, even though they claim to be so much more competent than the established politicians." (05/07/2012)

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The Austrian parliament voted in favour of the ESM bailout fund and the fiscal compact on Wednesday. But the heated debate in the National Assembly and above all the speeches made by right-wing populist Karl Heinz Strache of the FPÖ were shameful, writes the liberal daily Kurier: "Terms with negative historical connotations were misused. Hitler consolidated his dictatorship in Germany with enabling acts (Strache). Dollfuß  [Austrian chancellor from 1932 to 1934] eliminated parliament in the same way in Austria. If Strache is comparing the attempt to stabilise Europe's financial architecture with the 1930s he has fully disqualified himself from holding any responsible position. … The politicians and the people need to ask the following question: are we prepared to live in solidarity with other nations as part of a European community? This could bring many advantages but will cost us money and sovereignty. The Austrians need to be informed about this and a majority must really want it. We need a clear Yes from the Austrians to more Europe. The government must promote this." (05/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Política financiera, » Historia, » Alemania, » Austria
Todos los textos disponible de » Helmut Brandstätter
Cobertura de debates » Salidas a la crisis de endeudamiento, » The row over debt mutualisation

The demonstrative consensus between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti at a meeting in Rome on Wednesday can't conceal the many differences that separate the two countries, the liberal-conservative business paper Il Sole 24 Ore fears: "At a linguistic and cultural level there is great harmony. But unfortunately this doesn't mean there is a consensus on approaches and goals in a Eurozone where there is neither joint political responsibility nor a just distribution of the burden among the individual states. Indeed this harmony only magnifies the frustration at the inability to bridge the gaps. We can imagine how awkwardly the main subject of yesterday's talks was broached in Rome: the euro bailout fund and the possibility of it being used to purchase government bonds. Monti is running out of time while Merkel's hands are tied. … On July 10 the German Constitutional Court will examine the urgent appeals against the ESM. It's unlikely that the court will uphold the appeals, but it will no doubt drastically limit the bailout fund's goals and areas of application." (05/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Política financiera, » Alemania, » Italia
Todos los textos disponible de » Carlo Bastasin
Cobertura de debates » The row over debt mutualisation

In Romania the ruling coalition on Tuesday deposed the speakers of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, replacing them with appointees from its own ranks. It now plans to present parliament with a resolution on an impeachment process against Băsescu by the end of the week. The daily România Liberă is surprised at the lack of reaction from the Romanians and Europe to this power struggle: "The transformation of Parliament into a business that merely uses its authority to place the entire state power in the hands of the duo [comprised of the National Liberal leader] Antonescu and [Prime Minister] Ponta is not particularly worrying to anyone: neither the weak civil society nor the Romanian people are bothered by these developments. Such underhanded coups are traditionally accepted with fear or indifference, but always calmly. In fact the only voices that are speaking out on the parliamentary dictatorship that is being established in Romania come from the Internet. ... The leaders of the European Union, who look on from a distance at the spectacle of the watering down of our constitutional state, also remain silent. ... After all, what is Romania but a sick, exotic country on the outskirts of Europe?" (05/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Rumania
Todos los textos disponible de » Sabina Fati

The former CEO of Barclays Bank, Bob Diamond, testified on Wednesday before the committee of inquiry of the British Parliament. He and Barclays' Chairman Marcus Agius had previously tended their resignations on suspicion of having manipulated the Libor interbank interest rate. Resignations are not enough, writes the liberal daily Keskisuomalainen: "If the suspicions that the biggest British bank manipulated the Libor rate turn out to be true, it is clear that many people and businesses have had to pay for this reprehensible deed. Because the repercussions of the interest-rate rigging would have been felt not only in Britain but throughout the world. ... It is unacceptable to try to wash oneself clean of accusations of interest rate manipulation merely by resigning. Such manipulations must be subject to criminal prosecution so that those responsible are tried in a court of law. Barclays is not the only bank under suspicion of manipulating interest rates. Similar cases have also been investigated elsewhere in Europe, in North America and Japan." (05/07/2012)

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Portugal's public-sector warning strikes enter a new round today, Thursday. Ultimately the crisis-ridden country will suffer the most, writes the business paper Diário Económico: "Not only the pilots of the state-run airline TAP, but also the railways, the state-owned bus company in Lisbon and even the doctors will go on strike. ... The loser is Portugal itself: it will be harmed by the cancellation of dozens of services and the image of labour protests and social unrest, which will lead to a loss of revenues not only in the tourist sector. These strikes seem to meet with little understanding among the people, who are the worst hit by them. ... But the unions can't be dissuaded. And all of this comes at a time when Portugal is struggling to meet its budget targets and is preparing for the fifth inspection by the troika. Taking all this together, it looks like the government is facing a 'hot summer." (05/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Asuntos de trabajo, » Economía, » Sociedad, » Portugal
Cobertura de debates » Salidas a la crisis de endeudamiento

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras plans to begin with the privatisation of state-owned enterprises this summer, as he stressed in a letter to the participants of last week's EU summit. The leftist daily Avgi warns about the exploitation of state assets: "The government is bowing to the demands of its creditors and has put the sale of public assets at the top of its agenda. … The creditors aren't interested in making investments in Greece. They're just in a hurry to snap up the bargains! They're eager to buy state-owned real estate and companies for a pittance. Only then will they examine whether and under which conditions they would invest. It's obvious that this plundering of public assets is not an investment, at least not an investment aimed at promoting growth. ... There is an urgent need and a national and social obligation to take action against this plundering." (04/07/2012)

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Cobertura de debates » Greece puts the Eurozone to the test

One of Europe's biggest rock festivals begins today near the Danish city of Roskilde. The social-liberal daily Politiken praises the event's organisers for their voluntary work: "The Roskilde Festival has long been considered an important pillar of culture. Year after year new generations of young people familiarise themselves with a broad spectrum of first-class music. ... But the festival is not only a first class cultural outlet in a musical sense. At a time when the political leadership agrees that only tax cuts and economic incentives can motivate people, a festival that owes its success to volunteers reminds us that not everything fits into neat mathematical formulas. The festival has managed to maintain, expand and modernise the spirit that brought hippies together for the first time in 1971. ... An occasion to thank the thousands of people who are showing this year once again that a sense of community can achieve great things." (05/07/2012)

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Researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research Cern on Wednesday presented results pointing firmly to the existence of the Higgs boson, a hitherto hypothetical elementary particle. This is a sensation, writes the left-liberal daily The Guardian: "The Higgs particle is the first truly new particle that mankind has conceived - and now discovered - for millennia. Philosophers and scientists have reduced the world first to atoms, then fundamental particles, and then even the very quanta of the forces such as light. The Higgs particle is not simply about the matter of which we are composed, nor about how it communicates ... nor is it another layer of an infinite onion of smaller and smaller particles. It is the first part of the mechanism that tells us why the universe is the way it is today, why the stars burn the way they do and why light and matter are the way they are. Who among us can begin to imagine where this will lead in a century, let alone a millennium?" (04/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Ciencia / Investigación, » Suiza
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The success of the physicists at the nuclear research centre is proof that international cooperation in scientific research is worthwhile, the left-liberal daily El País points out: "This makes it clear - and it is an opportune reminder in the Spain of spending cuts - that investing in science is necessary and important. It has been proven that collaboration is possible and produces results which would be impossible to achieve for individual participants, no matter how powerful each of them may be. Let us hope that this example can be extended to other areas of scientific investigation (as is already the case in the fields of nuclear fusion and biotechnology, for example) and social activity." (05/07/2012)

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