Under the auspices of the pan-European culture project "Cafe d´Europe" author Gabor T. Szanto pays homage to the cafe as a place for discussion and a symbol of a common European heritage. "Europe is people with different views sitting down at one table because they know how important it is to exchange their views. Together, they seek and find common ground, even though they never agree with each other. Europe is the realisation that the preservation of tradition, liberalism and social sensibility are not mutually exclusive because the world and people's feelings and systems of values simply can't be compressed into a single, all-encompassing ideology. Europe is the place where we are conscious of the tragedy of our transience and the enigmas of our existence, and where we can compensate for the pathos of our belief in the truth with a little humility and irony." (09/05/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Filosofía, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Gabor T. Szanto

In an open letter to the president of the European Commission, the British writer Percy Kemp submits a tongue-in-cheek proposal for breaking Europe's deadlock: "The new Europe should no longer be understood as a marriage of convenience between nation-states, but as an organic union between complementary social castes and professional categories, with each European people bringing their own special gifts into the mix. ... Thus, the French, 73% of whom aspire, it seems, to be civil servants, will constitute the caste of scribes and bureaucrats in the new Europe. ... The Austrians, who succeeded in convincing the entire world that Hitler was German and Beethoven, Austrian, will be Europe's ad-campaign managers. ... And the Poles shall be our stock breeders and farmers (certain will nonetheless be entitled to an exemption allowing them, if they so desire, to work as plumbers)." (09/05/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Percy Kemp

"Despite all the criticism it has had to put up with, and despite all the crises it has confronted, the EU is a successful project," Bojana Rozic insists. "There is plenty of evidence to support this. The European Union has been successful in shaping the single market and the free circulation of payments, services, capital and people..." In a few months time Slovenia plans to convert to the euro. "The most recent process of enlargement thus proves that joining the EU has a positive political, and in particular, economic effect. Finally, the fact that many more states are knocking at its doors, wanting to join at any cost, is conclusive proof of the success of the European club." (09/05/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Bojana Rozic

Tonis Erilaid, on the other hand, makes a crushing appraisal of the EU's performance. "Today, the Europe which started off with a big bang 56 years ago, must honestly admit that it has become nothing more than a lucrative playground for homesick EU officials. Brussels couldn't care less about the welfare of EU citizens, and their unanimous response, when they are given permission to open their mouths, is that the officials can get lost! This was their reply in France and in the Netherlands, and that's what the Estonians would say, too... According to Eurobarometer surveys, only the mega-rich citizens of Luxembourg have a positive attitude toward the EU - 71 percent approve of the EU. And the simple reason for this is that the Union's liberal bank policy guarantees the residents of this mini-state a lifetime of prosperity." (09/05/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Tonis Erilaid

In a special supplement French philosopher Alain Finkielkraut explains to Jürg Altwegg why he opposes the idea of Turkey joining the EU. "Anyone who opposes Turkey's accession for reasons of history or geographic affiliation is labeled a racist since he is supposedly committing a blasphemy against the religion of human rights. And that's considered dangerous. I think in different terms. I've been influenced by writers and philosophers from central Europe who have shown me just how valuable and endangered the treasures of European culture are. The price of the torment that Europe unleashed on the 20th century should not be Europe's amorphousness. The past is not solely an example of something that must now be avoided. Those who feel bound to the best of their own traditions and act accordingly are not bad people. The ostensibly so generous religion of human rights forgets that the crimes of Auschwitz do not affect the entire world." (09/05/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Alain Finkielkraut

"One of the main subjects of the period of reflection that the EU imposed on itself concerns the limits of Europe," explains the Spaniard José María Beneyto, a professor at the Institute of European Studies (IDEE). "The question of the limits of Europe cannot, and must not, be resolved in an apriori manner. We must not establish an impossible list of countries that should be considered as full-fledged candidates for EU membership status. It would be preferable to determine, on a case-by-case basis, and after an alalysis of their compliance with strict political and economic criteria, whether a country that has through its history played a role in Europe's destiny, might succeed as a part of Europe. The debate on the limits of Europe should stimulate a public discussion on both the Union's objectives and on the need to get a better sense of what determines European identity." (09/05/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Ampliación de la UE, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » José María Beneyto

"Europe is a grand enterprise that is flapping its wings. Why, and what should be done about it?" asks Jacques Naveau, an honourary professor at the Free University of Brussels (ULB). "Gradual enlargement, without adequate institutional adaptation, the ambitions of Maastricht, adopted and interpreted in different ways, all the attendant bureaucracy, and especially the absence of any popular debate - all these things have opened wide gaps of misunderstanding at the grass-roots level. So that when one finally asks the ordinary citizen for his opinion (on a constitutional project that was intended precisely to make up for the democracy deficit), he responds 'no'. As in France or the Netherlands, but it could have been the same 'no' elsewhere. ... Where are the statesmen who will resurrect the grand enterprise? Even if it means creating a hard core? If it comes to that, Belgium would perhaps even be an enthusiastic partner!" (09/05/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Constitución de la UE, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Jacques Naveau

José Manuel Fernandes, the daily's managing editor, stresses the importance of elites in getting ordinary people involved in European construction. "The European crisis is not that of the constitutional treaty, but rather that of the divorce between elites and ordinary citizens. Citizens who either sense the utility of European policies and play a part in defining them, or those who end up as victims of the demagoguery of those who exploit ignorance. In recent days, Portugal has once again demonstrated that it wishes to continue being an engine for Europe. The fact that it has acted early in granting free movement to workers from the new European member states is an excellent signal that proves, as the Portuguese prime minister indicated, that Portugal does not intend to be one of the countries that 'breaks the virtuous cycle that European construction has generated on the Continent'." (09/05/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » José Manuel Fernandes

In an interview with Véronique Brocard and Catherine Portevin, the French writer Eric Hazan, author of 'Propaganda in daily life', analyses the emergence of a new  language in the media, especially when talking about the suburbs. "This is the area in which it is the most inventive in rendering ordinary racism acceptable and neutral. One speaks about 'young people from an immigrant background' (which means they are black or Arab), who live in 'sensitive neighbourhoods' (without defining this sensitivity), and who belong to an 'Arabo-Muslim' world, an expression born after September 11. One also talks about riots and violence in the suburbs, while being careful never to pronounce the overly political word 'revolt'. On the other hand, there are 'deeply rooted French', as opposed to 'third-generation immigrants'. What is this supposed to mean? How many generations does it take to be rooted?" (09/05/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de los medios de comunicación, » Minorías, » Francia
Todos los textos disponible de » Eric Hazan

British historian Norman Stone, who lives in Ankara, talks about the protection of minorities in Turkey in an interview with Boris Kalnoky. "I'm a Scot and I believe that children should be freed from the constraints of minority languages. If we had had the Copenhagen Criteria to protect the Gaelic language back in 1707, when Scotland and England were united, I would have become a national poet – very drunk and with ten people for an audience. So when I hear people preaching about minority rights in a country like this – the very existence of which is a miracle – I get really angry. Most of them aren't even aware that Turkey is the only country between Athens and Singapore where refugees are a problem. People want to get out of all the other countries in the region, but they want to get in to Turkey." (09/05/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Minorías, » Turquía
Todos los textos disponible de » Norman Stone

Lubos Palata reports that former Slovakian Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar, who is regarded with deep suspicion by the West, could be about to make a comeback. "After eight years he won't win the elections again, but his Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) has a real chance of coming to power." This is because incumbent Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda is considering forming a coalition with Meciar's party in order to stay in power. "The entrepreneurs of the Meciar and Dzurinda era speak the same language. They want to prevent other parties from coming to power that could investigate or even criminalise the way they came to own their assets. Moreover, Meciar's supporters are profiting from the results of Dzurinda's reforms – liberalism and the newly created tax haven. Both parties represent Slovakia's economic elite and share the same interests." (09/05/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Eslovaquia
Todos los textos disponible de » Luboš Palata

The historian Sergio Luzzatto is afraid of the Polish government after it accepted two new ministers from extremist parties. Luzzatto deplores the silence of European countries. "Antisemitic declarations of the variety, ' the Jewish nation is Poland's worst enemy' are of a kind with the prudence of the political and diplomatic milieux of the EU member states and the deafening silence of the media and intellectuals. ... Yet it would be a mistake to underestimate what is happening in Warsaw, for Poland is a large country whose influence in the Union is destined to grow politically, economically and culturally. It is a mistake for the present and for the future, but also with regard to the past because, where antisemitism is concerned, the Communist Poland of yesterday, as well as the Nazi-occupied Poland of the period just before that, is terrifying." (09/05/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Polonia
Todos los textos disponible de » Sergio Luzzatto

"The regional elections to be held in October will have an air of controversy about them," writes Andreas Kovaios. "The provocative decision of the socialist opposition leader, Georges Papandréou, to nominate Kara Hasan Gulbeyaz, a candidate from the Greek Muslim Pomak minority, rattled the Greek political class by raising questions of identity. The conservative prefect of Salonika, Panagiotis Psomiadis, has demanded that the candidate recognise the genocide of the Pontics [a Greek minority from the Black Sea] and the Armenians by Mustapha Kemal's army. ... The 28-year-old candidate wants people to stop asking her whether she is Greek, but she realises the debate is only just beginning." (09/05/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Grecia
Todos los textos disponible de » Andreas Kovaios

Peter Schiefer reports that the power company OMV is about to take over the Austrian Elektrizitätswirtschafts-AG (Verbund) and comments: "People in the energy industry are saying that it's those who control the entire supply chain – from the gas fields to the plug – who will win in the long term. This is why Russian energy giant Gasprom wants to buy gas suppliers and electricity companies in Europe. Why? Because a company that can produce cheap electricity using a cheap and safe supply of natural gas would really shake up the market. Managers of energy companies all over Europe are afraid of this happening, which is why Gasprom will encounter all kinds of obstacles on its westwards march... The local 'energy giant' will not be powerful enough to pose a threat to Europe. It's more likely to remain a medium-sized player on the European market... On the other hand, an OMV/Verbund merger would be unique because there is no other company that supplies electricity, gas and oil at the moment." (09/05/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Energía, » Empresa, » Austria
Todos los textos disponible de » Peter Schiefer

Aleksander Kaczorowski writes enthusiastically about the anthology "Last & Lost. An atlas of disappearing Europe", in which writers describe their quest for the lost and the forgotten in Europe. "It turns out that 15 authors from several European countries – people with lives and experiences that are as disparate as they can be only in Europe – are on the same wavelength. Despite everything, the much doubted European identity comes over as live and kicking – even in the sphere of art, where ideas and solutions are really put to the test. Although it's difficult to believe sometimes: we are genuinely proud of that dump called Europe." (09/05/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Literatura, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Aleksander Kaczorowski

London's Tate Modern, the monumental art gallery housed in a converted power station, has reorganised its collection for the first time since opening in 2000, adding new works arranged by theme, rather than chronology. Visual arts editor Tim Teeman paid a visit. "I don't want to get you too excited, but half the great rehang of Tate Modern's permanent collection is, um, already hung and available to see right now. Quietly at Christmas, two of the four main areas devoted to the ambitious project were opened. More than 40 per cent of the works have never been seen before, while 20 per cent are newly acquired. ... For every crowd-pleaser there are a few head-scratchers. No attempt at explaining the history of modern art can ever be encyclopaedic (or even successful), but this looks more adventurous, rigorous and involving than most." (09/05/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Exposiciones / Museos, » Gran Bretaña
Todos los textos disponible de » Tim Teeman

The mayor of Madrid, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, decided on Monday, May 8 to suspend the redevelopment project for the Paseo del Prado. He wants to initiate a dialogue with those opposed to the project, which critics say would threaten several hundred-year-old trees. In a commentary, one of the project's planners, the Spanish architect Juan Miguel Hernández León, denounces "the Pavlovian reflex triggered by the word tree. ... Over the past four years, about a hundred trees on the Paseo have died due to environmental conditions and the road surface has enormously deteriorated. It is harder to 'see' the forest than to look at it. This superficial perception is typical of the metropolitan consciousness that does not distinguish details and, in this case, does not perceive the state of neglect into which the Recoletos-Prado axis has fallen." (09/05/2006)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Arquitectura / Ciudades, » España
Todos los textos disponible de » Juan Miguel Hernández León