The European Council 1-2 March 2012 trailer (= synthesis report)

The only document submitted to the European Council 1-2 March 2012, according to the relevant EUCO web page, is the annotated draft agenda (English version, dated 23 January 2012). The latest EUCO background note is for the meeting 30 January 2012.

For the public, the preparatory work by the General Affairs Council (GAC) remains hidden. Hidden or scattered is how the rest of the input from the Council configurations and others can be described as well, despite many resolutions and letters specifically addressed to EUCO.


EUCO synthesis

Few have either the time or the inclination to go out on a wild-goose chase on the broken paper trail. However, many would profit from some sort of pre-view beyond the recycled agenda items.

What should you choose, if you have time for one document only?

The following paper from the Danish presidency of the Council of the European Union fits the bill, because it brings together a number of inputs in summary fashion:

Implementation of the European Semester - Synthesis report; Brussels, 22 February 2012, Council document 6662/12 (21 pages)

In addition to the Annual Growth Survey (AGS) from the Commission, which kicked off the European Semester 2012, and the recent resolutions by the European Parliament, various Council configurations have made contributions: Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN); Employment, social policy, health and consumer affairs (EPSCO); Competitiveness; Transport, Telecommunications and Energy (TTE); Environment; as well as Education, youth, culture and sport.

Even if links to the sources are not provided, the references are mostly specific enough to enable fairly easy search for those who want to dig deeper.



Ralf Grahn
speaker on EU affairs, especially digital policy and law

P.S. For better or for worse, between the global issues and the national level, the European Union institutions and the eurozone coteries shape our future. At the same time we see an emerging European online public sphere. Grahnlaw, Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish) are among the more than 900 euroblogs aggregated by multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. Is your blog already listed among them? Are you following the debates which matter for your future?

European Council versus sewing circle governance

Oblivious of its two years as the most important official institution of the EU, the European Council (EUCO) convenes 1-2 March 2012 at the same level of governance as a sewing circle (thematic page).

In order to prolong this sad state of affairs, the preparatory General Affairs Council (GAC) left us with these recycled generalities (page 8):

PREPARATION OF THE MARCH EUROPEAN COUNCIL

The Council examined draft conclusions for the European Council meeting to be held on 1 and 2 March.

The European Council is due to focus on:

• Economic policy:

– assessing progress made in implementing country-specific recommendations under the EU's European Semester and commitments under the Euro Plus Pact;

– giving guidance to member states, on the basis of the Commission's annual growth survey, for the preparation of their national reform programmes (structural reforms) and stability or convergence programmes (fiscal policies);

– highlighting labour market reforms and employment and competitiveness issues; and

– providing guidance to the Commission and the Council on the implementation of flagship initiatives for jobs and growth.

• International summits: preparations for a G-8 summit on 19-20 May, a G-20 summit on 18-19 June and a UN "Rio+20" conference on sustainable development on 20-22 June;

• Foreign policy, including the southern neighbourhood (one year after the start of the Arab
Spring) and Syria;

• Other issues, including EU enlargement (Serbia) and accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area.

The Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union ("fiscal compact") will be signed in the margins of the meeting.

The draft conclusions will be reviewed in the light of the Council's discussion. An annotated draft agenda was discussed by the Council on 27 January (5354/12).

***

In short, there is no documentation of the input to the coordinating General Affairs Council and there is no meaningful public output from the GAC, which sits on the draft conclusions.

The European Council continues to act like a club of ladies meeting for tea, gossip and sewing, with the tiny difference that the EUCO happens to be the supremo among official instutions for 502 million EU citizens.

Here, at least, the Lisbon Treaty would allow the GAC and EUCO more than perennial underachievement with regard to the openness (transparency) mandated by Article 1 TEU.



Ralf Grahn
speaker on EU affairs, especially digital policy and law

P.S. For better or for worse, between the global issues and the national level, the European Union institutions and the eurozone coteries shape our future. At the same time we see an emerging European online public sphere. Grahnlaw, Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish) and more than 900 other euroblogs are aggregated by multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. Is your blog already listed among them? Are you following the debates which matter for your future?

Information society, ACTA and copyright legislation

Here they are, in all their glory, the 22 language versions of ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. But, as we soon find out, the European Union and its Member States, Australia, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United Mexican States, the Kingdom of Morocco, New Zealand, the Republic of Singapore, the Swiss Confederation and the United States of America did not limit their ambitions to anti-counterfeiting.

If you look at the proposal, you soon find out that the aim of ACTA is ”to effectively combat the infringement of intellectual property rights (IPR)” in general, including by ”provisions on civil, criminal, border and digital environment enforcement measures, robust cooperation mechanisms among ACTA Parties to assist in their enforcement efforts, and the establishment of best practices for effective IPR enforcement”.

Intellectual property in ACTA refers to all categories of intellectual property that are the subject of Sections 1 through 7 of Part II of the TRIPS Agreement, including copyright.


Troubling questions

How should governments and parliaments legislate for the information society, where they easily seem to end up defending outdated models and particular interests against the digital natives (who are also citizens) and, perhaps, the general interest?

How important is trust and interaction between governments and the governed? Legitimacy?

When does legislation drive innovation, and when does it drive it away?


Infosoc roundup

These questions have cropped up in my latest blog posts, written in Finnish (FI), Swedish (SV) and English (EN).

Grahnlaw (EN): ACTA update (in part)

Grahnlaw (EN): ACTA in European Parliament committees: International Trade and Development

Grahnlaw (EN): ACTA in European Parliament committees: Legal Affairs (JURI)

Grahnblawg (SV): Framtiden online i Riksdagen

Eurooppaoikeus (FI): Tekijänoikeustoimikunta verkkopiratismia vastaan

Grahnlaw (EN): Information society, online media and Bloggingportal.eu

Grahnlblawg (SV): Upphovsrättskommissionen i Finland angriper nätpiratismen

Grahnlaw (EN): A communication disaster called ACTA

Grahnlaw (EN): ACTA signatures and content

Eurooppaoikeus (FI): ACTA ja fakta

Grahnblawg (SV): Lagstifta för den digitala världen, inte gårdagen – ACTA?

***

Getting the facts straight and the arguments based on evidence would help meeting the challenges of our common digital agenda.



Ralf Grahn


P.S. Bloggingportal.eu, the multilingual aggregator of euroblogs, joins the national and thematical blogospheres at the European level.

Information society, online media and Bloggingportal.eu

What can you expect from a three year old? I decided to see if the new posts on Bloggingportal.eu are good for other people than those interested in how many EU institutions can dance on the head of a pin.

Instead I opted for one or more policy areas related to the European information society (tag: infosoc) and online media (tag: media) during the last 24 hours or so.

Here is what I registered:

Eurooppaoikeus: Tekijänoikeustoimikunta verkkopiratismia vastaan

Grahnblawg: Framtiden online i Riksdagen

The IPKat: Congress 1, Public 0 – the U.S. Supreme Court's Big Decision in Golan v. Holder

The IPKat: Gambling on appeal? Seeing Red over 32

Europolice: EU surveillance

Mathew Lowry's Tagsmanian Devil: Dear Sony, so much for .eu

FT Brussles blog, Stanley Pignal: Steelie Neelie takes on the Hungarians

Google, European Public Policy Blog: Promoting small businesses and economic growth in Europe

TheIPKat: When reporting ”trumps” copyright: the sad case of Declan Hainey

Waltzing Matilda: Tools Tuesday: The Archivist

Groenlinks: ACTA rampzalig voor ontwikkelingslanden

Erkan's Field Diary: anti France imagery after the genocide bill in Turkish twittersphere

Eva en Europa: Hungría y el liberticidio se topan con la Unión Europea

Netzpolitik: ACTA: Kontaktiert den EU-Entwicklungsausschuss

Recent developments in European consumer law: EU data protection reform

Public Service Europe, Sabine Wils: Electronic waste – Europe living beyond its means

Rhein on Energy and Climate, Eberhard Rhein: EU is going ahead with stricter recycling of electric and electronic Waste


Comment

Not bad, I would say, for a day and a night. Theoretically Bloggingportal.eu has 904 euroblogs listed, but blogs come and go, so some are now inactive. However, during the last seven days close to 250 blogs have published one or more blog posts, which is quite impressive.

If I look at the information society themes, such as copyright, e-commerce, piracy, entrepreneurship, data protection etc., as well as matters related to online media, I feel that you can keep fairly well up to date by following all new posts on Bloggingportal.eu, not only the editors' choice (front page).

However, many of the best European tech and policy blogs have not yet found their way to Bloggingportal.eu, even if the EU is an important hub for the ITC issues debated both at global and at national level.

You can propose both individual articles and new blogs to Bloggingportal.eu. Perhaps you have a few policy oriented examples you could share, because the future of Europe is online.



Ralf Grahn

EU social media and online public space

What if the European public sphere owes its existence to social media, asks Michael Malherbe (Décrypter la communciation européenne blog), continuing the interesting presentation by Mathew Lowry on the EU online public space (although reading a Prezi presentation can be a pretty hallucinating experience).


Comments

There is an online European public sphere, available through social media such as Bloggingportal.eu, Twitter and Facebook.

There are still great opportunities ahead, building bridges within groups with common interests and between national discussions and the ”Brussels bubble”.

Some EU institutions and politicians, as well as civil society groups and business associations have joined social media sites in order to narrowcast their messages, but few of them have advanced to the level of engagement and sharing (with the exception of some frontline individuals within these behemots).

Hordes of academics and teachers, as well as officials in EU institutions and agencies, or engaged in EU co-funded projects at national level are still surprisingly uncommunicative.

Language barriers are an obstacle to cross-border communication, but active and educated Europeans are often able to understand one or more languages in addition to their own. Some of them can build bridges between different language communities.


Social and other media

Malherbe and Lowry did not ponder media in general that much, but it would be well worth a separate discussion.

The EU online public space (Lowry) is broader than its social media sub-group. Malherbe seemed to reject the notion of traditional pan-EU media, perhaps rightly so if we look at the mass market level, but what about the ”movers and shakers”?

Much material from the EU institutions (primary sources) and mainstream media content is available online.

Renowned media offer both traditional editorial material online and social media content across borders, blurring the lines between the two.

Call them ”elite” if you will, but European political and business leaders are consumers of the same sources for news and opinion, de facto promoting the free movement of ideas.

It may hurt linguistic sensitivities, but many of these sources and publications operate in English (partially or wholly): The Financial Times, The Economist, WSJ Europe, BBC, DW-World, Spiegel Online (International), France24, Euronews, EUobserver, EurActiv, Presseurop, EUbusiness etc.

How does today differ from the Enlightenment with regard to the diffusion of ideas?



Ralf Grahn

Euroblogs in German

Yesterday I looked at the euro crisis and euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu, the multilingual aggregator. As I said:

Increasingly Europeans realise that they are in the same boat, although some design the improved vessels for the future, some recall scrapped luxury liners of past glory, some see the Titanic fatally heading towards the iceberg (while deck-chairs are being arranged) and some remind us of the harsh and unjust treatment (austerity) which led to the Mutiny on the Bounty.

German and Germany

According to Wikipedia, German was (2007) the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union (18 per cent of EU population; plus the mother tongue of 4.6 million in the enclave Switzerland). Some 32 per cent of people in the EU were able to speak German, making it the second most widely understood language after English (51%).

In political terms, the rest of the European Union and the eurozone have been waiting for Merkozy to stop fiddling, while the UK prime minister David Cameron can mostly watch and hope on the sidelines, so it is impossible to ignore Germany, the most populous nation of the EU in addition to having the strongest economy.

Indeed, together German speaking Germany (82 million) and Austria (8.4 million) represent about 27% of the population in the eurozone and about 18% of the EU total (Eurostat).


Euroblogs in German

In the spirit of cross-border discussion and understanding, Europaeum - @mteu on Twitter – one of the Bloggingportal editors, has compiled an English presentation of the active EU blogosphere in German, including Austrian ones, three from the Baltic states and a Franco-German blog.

Martin then continued with an entry with German language blogs listed on Bloggingportal, which have published since July 2011, a much longer list including a number of policy blogs and blogs by MEPs.

If your euroblog is still missing (or someone else's), you can propose the blog on EU politics or policy areas to Bloggingportal.eu.



Ralf Grahn

Euro crisis and euroblogs on Bloggingportal

The euro is the currency of 332 million people, more than the home of the United States dollar (about 313 million). The severe euro crisis affects not only the 17 countries of the eurozone, but the economic prospects in the whole European Union (population 502 million) and beyond, actually the world economy.

We have seen the leaders of the eurozone and EU countries struggling to find credible intergovernmental solutions to European level problems. Another week of high level meetings is about to begin, without clear and comprehensive proposals for all to see.

Small wonder that the crises in the euro area, which turned into the crisis of the euro itself, have spawned cross-border discussion on an unprecedented scale. Euroblogs are among the movers in the emerging European public sphere, where common challenges and shortcomings are recorded and evaluated above the level of national politics.

Increasingly Europeans realise that they are in the same boat, although some design the improved vessels for the future, some recall scrapped luxury liners of past glory, some see the Titanic fatally heading towards the iceberg (while deck-chairs are being arranged) and some remind us of the harsh and unjust treatment (austerity) which led to the Mutiny on the Bounty.

The euro crisis and other European questions are treated in the new blog posts which are aggregated on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. At this moment 887 euroblogs are listed, although not all of them remain active. During the last seven days 256 blogs published at least one post, but some blogs produce several entries each week.

Somewhat erratically the voluntary editors of Bloggingportal select good blog posts for the front page, which sends them off to Twitter and includes them in the daily newsletter (email subscription).

There are RSS feeds for the editors' choice and for all new posts. You can propose a relevant blog post or a new blog dealing with EU affairs. You could also show community spirit by volunteering for the tagging and the selection of blog posts as an active editor of Bloggingportal.eu.

Most weeks the Bloggingportal.eu blog offers a roundup of the Week in Bloggingportal, with light comment on promoted posts.



Ralf Grahn

Policy euroblogs: economy and eurozone

Ronny Patz made some interesting observations about policy-oriented euroblogs. He mentioned and linked to a number of interesting blogs in different policy areas.

Patz mentioned the growth of economic blogging during the ongoing crisis, even if he did not name individual blogs.

There are now 888 blogs listed on Bloggingportal.eu, the multilingual aggregator of euroblogs.

In order to pick up the thread where Ronny Patz had left off, I went back through the last few days of blog posts and marked the blogs which dealt mainly with the economy and the eurozone.

The choice is subjective, and some general euroblogs (not mentioned) manage to produce more quantity and quality in a few different fields than many specialised blogs in one.

Some of the economics blog are penned by mainstream media journalists, while others are written by individual economists and people interested in economic policies or politics more broadly.

Even if economics blogs tend to publish more during office days, I was surprised to find 32 blogs dealing mainly with the economy and the eurozone, and which had published these last days.


Here are the ones I stumbled across (with no claim to accurateness):

M.G. in progress

Protesilaos Stavrou

Arend-Jan Boekestijn (in Dutch)

I on Europe

WSJ Emerging Europe

FT Alphaville

Reinhard Bütikofer MEP (in German)

Kantoos Economics (bilingual German & English)

Open Europe blog

Lost in EUrope (in German)

Guardian Comment is free Europe (all areas)

WSJ Real Time Brussels

Berni's View (bilingual English & German)

Karpfenteich (in German)

Beyond Brussels (daily digest)

Social Europe Journal

Yanis Varoufakis

IIEA blogoshere (a number of writers)

Euro area debt crisis

Telos politique économique (in French)

French Politics

EU Weekly (bilingual French & English)

Revolting Europe

FinancialGuy

FT Brussels blog

European Welfare States

€uro-thoughts

A Fistful of Euros

Eurdemocracy

Place du Luxembourg

Crooked Timber

Coulisses de Bruxelles (economic and political issues, in French)



Ralf Grahn

Euroblog Thanksgiving in the eurozone

Today I want to import the Thanksgiving tradition in the USA to express my gratitude to some posts on the 890 euroblogs aggregated by Bloggingportal.eu.

The spectre of eurozone breakup seems to advance faster than the mini-summits Fabien l'Européen finds insufficient. Moral hazard pales in comparison with eurozone breakup, writes Susan Fuchs, who discusses the need for Germany to act.

The danger of gaullist regression is ever present in France, says Arnaud Leparmentier. Le Taurillon interviews professor Philippe Martin, who points in the opposite direction: The European Central Bank needs to become a lender of last resort, which requires a change of the ECB statute. The eurozone demands much deeper fiscal integration.

Place du Luxembourg offers a solid and factual roundup of the eurozone during November. Coulisses de Bruxelles discusses the eurobond proposal from the Commission, but in the short term the ECB needs to intervene in the bond markets without limit.



Ralf Grahn

Eurozone: Athens, Byzantium and Rome

We continue our exploration of euroblogs through the multilingual aggregator Bloggingportal.eu in our quest for views on the crisis in the eurozone. We visit the capitals - Athens, Byzantium and Rome – cradles of European civilisation.


Athens

Gulf Stream Blues asked: Was it all for nought? Maybe Papandreou hoped that if the Greek people themselves are forced to make the same choice he is now faced with, they too will conclude there is really no other option for the country.

Europaportalen.se noted that the Greek referendum is off the table, but Papandreou has not resigned. There are signs of some sort of cross-party solutions taking shape (in Swedish).


Byzantine politics?

According to the bilingual EUropeanista blog a referendum in Greece, at first sight a perfectly and healthy democratic act, hides treason. Greece is being betrayed, one more time, by a corrupted and incompetent political class.

Since prime minister George Papandreou has lost the confidence of his party and parts of his government, Vassilis Monastiriotis sees basically two options. One is a new party leader, Evangelos Venizelos being the only serious candidate. More probable solution is cross-party agreement on a transitory unity government to ratify the 26-27 October 2011 euro(zone) summit agreement ahead of an early election. Papandreou and the referendum seem to be goners, but the problems of instability and lack of legitimacy set to remain for Greece.


Roma aeterna?

The Open Europe blog notes the defection of two of PM Silvio Berlusconi's MPs to the Christian Democrats. The government meeting on new emergency measures and the arguments with finance minister Giulio Tremonti further weakened Berlusconi's leadership, as did a letter by six of his MPs calling for his resignation. The speaker of the lower house, Gianfranco Fini, publicly criticised the prime minister. The interest rates on Italian state bonds are worryingly high.

Papandreou is obviously finished, writes Georgi Gotev, but a failing Italy would trigger a tsunami effect. He wants Berlusconi to quit and Mario Monti in the role of Pulcinella.


Vadum Francorum

Arthur Goldhammer noted that the European Central Bank dropped its leading rate by 0.25%. So did Patrice Cardot.


Citius, Altius, Fortius

Many leaders acts as if the world hadn't changed in twenty years, opined Gunnar Hökmark MEP (in Swedish). Papandreou has wilfully undermined the confidence in him and his government. Italy is in dire need of strucural reforms. The EU more broadly has for a long time needed competitiveness, but little has been achieved. In the United States two parties prevent needed fiscal policies.


G20

Arnaud Leparmentier picked some interesting quotes from the G20 leaders.


Habent sua fata libelli

The viewpoints are different, but they all represent a part of the European public sphere, for the enlightenment of readers. Earlier roundups in the eurozone series concern possible exitus letalis, more Greek dra(ch)ma, vanishing marble(s), the need for democratic and robust government at European level, as well as calls to and from Athens.



Ralf Grahn

Eurozone: Calling Athens...

We continue to explore the euroblogs through the multilingual aggregator Bloggingportal.eu. After possible exitus letalis, more Greek dra(ch)ma, evaporating marble(s) and the need for democratic and robust government at European level, we turn to new entries about the crisis in the eurozone.


Losing appeal?

Is the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) worth its triple-A rating, asks Gli Euros (in Italian).


USA in G20

Pierre Buhler on Telos greeted the G20 leaders to Cannes by reminding us of the partisan warfare concerning the federal deficit and debt in the USA, as well as the underlying lack of competitiveness in the real economy. The indebted US projects less power globally (in French).


Calling Athens...

The Open Europe blog wondered who is actually running Greece, given the conflicting signals, which the blog followed at different times during the day.

Few options for Europe on the Greek vote, says Don Melvin, since the mere existence of the referendum on the horizon will keep uncertainty high in the markets.

Martin Nangle writes that Greece must not be coerced into a resentful position to save Brussels pride. Brussels should acknowledge that the mood of citizens is fast shifting towards direct action, social unrest and possibly revolution.

According to Hara Kouki and Antonis Vradis the Greek people are left with absolutely nothing to hope for from the mainstream political scene. After exemplifying growing misery, the authors highlight grassroots refusal to put up with austerity, which is quickly gaining momentum. In other words, civil disobedience on the rise.

Papandreou seems to have at least the Spanish socialist Carlos Carnero in his corner, with a link to the letter of the Greek PM presented in Publico.es (both in Spanish).


Greece and eurosphere

Erkan's Field Diary dedicates one of his judicious roundup posts to the deepening Greek crisis and the broader eurosphere.



Ralf Grahn

European Day of Languages 26 September 2011 is Bloggingportal day

It is time to remember the annual 26 September European Day of Languages, now into its 10th edition. Language learning is at the heart of the objectives, so become inspired.

The European Day of Languages is arranged jointly by the Council of Europe and the European Union, as well as by a plethora of organisers in the member states.

Why not make a good resolution by starting a daily check of the multilingual aggregator of euroblogs, Bloggingportal.eu, with 853 blogs already listed? A fun and profitable way to learn languages while getting to know Europe from new angles.

Today, 2011 CE could also be your Day of Multilingual Blogging.



Ralf Grahn

Eurozone: Juncker and Rostowski in European Parliament

For the first blog post we found texts with main points: Eurozone: Trichet and Rehn in European Parliament.

The second part proved trickier.

I found nothing on the Council's web pages on the euro group or the 'salle de presse' of the prime minister of Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Juncker, with regard to the meeting in the European Parliament yesterday.

They announced the coming participation of finance minister Jacek Rostowski in the ECON meeting in the European Parliament, but I do not find what he actually said on the web page of the Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union.


Media

Let us see what media representatives have caught of the contributions by Juncker and Rostowski.

Honor Mahony on EUbserver noted that the chairman of the euro group Jean-Claude Juncker was hopeful of a solution to the Finnish demands for collateral linked to the second Greek rescue package: Rehn questions political appetite for eurobonds [near end of article].

The Polish finance minister Rostowski saw the ”six-pack” of legislative proposals for improved economic governance as a litmus test for the EU. - It is a priority for the Polish presidency.

According to EurActiv, Rostowski hailed the interventions by the European Central Bank for saving Europe: MEPs rally behind ECB as savior of euro.

On the EUobserver, Andrew Rettman quoted an interview in Gazeta Wyborcza: Polish finance minister says Europe at risk of ”collapse”. European, including German elites have the choice between the survival of the euro and the collapse of Europe. A bigger EFSF and deeper integration are necessary for the eurozone. Finland's requirement of collateral is irresponsible.

Rostowski described fiscal irresponsibility in the South and lack of solidarity in the North of Europe as dangerous populism.

The European Voice has more on Juncker's and Rehn's words about the deal on Greek collateral: Trichet calls for speedy action on bail-out deal.

The blogging Swedish MEP Gunnar Hökmark, who is a member of the EP ECON committee, saw the need for stricter budget discipline and reforms aimed at increasing market dynamics and real economic growth: Pressmeddelande: Tillväxt är det enda som kan ta Europa ur krisen.

(As we saw in the previous post, commissioner Olli Rehn spoke about the need for qualitative, structural reforms for growth, competitiveness and jobs.)


Bloggingportal

For continuing discussion about the eurozone challenges and other European issues, follow the new articles from 841 euroblogs on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu, an important part of the European public space.

I invite you to read and to discuss on my four blogs: Grahnlaw (EN), Grahnblawg (SV), Eurooppaoikeus (FI) and Grahnlaw Suomi Finland (EN SV FI).

I am also active on Twitter (although I can follow new people in return only when slots become available) and Facebook.



Ralf Grahn

Jackson Hole calling US and eurozone politicians

Yesterday, I presented the speeches by the Federal Reserve chairman Ben S. Bernanke and the ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet in the blog post (in Swedish) USA och Europa: Bernanke och Trichet i Jackson Hole, as well as the message addressed to the eurozone by the IMF chief Christine Lagarde: Jackson Hole: IMF Lagarde talking to Europe.


Jackson Hole calling politicians

The central bankers and the leaders of the international financial institutions want the politicians in the USA and Europe to get their act together, Reuters reports: Analysis: Economic leaders fear policy paralysis (28 August 2011).

The Wall Street Journal chips in with: Central Bankers Worry Economy Still in Peril (29 August 2011).

A Financial Times editorial praised Lagarde for starting a debate on how to get rid of excessive debt in the USA and in Europe, but criticised her willingness to send the tab to the taxpayers: Lagarde spells out ugly truth on debt (28 August 2011).

The message from Jackson Hole to politicians is that monetary policy alone can't keep the global expansion going, according to Bloomberg: Central Bankers Urge Governments on Expansion (29 August 2011).

I am still hoping to find comments on Lagarde's message to the eurozone leaders:

So Europe must recommit credibly to a common vision, and it needs to be built on solid foundations—including, for example, fiscal rules that actually work.

European Parliament

The European Parliament committee on economic and monetary affairs (ECON) meets today to discuss the sovereign debt markets with the Jean-Claud Trichet and about restoring market confidence with Jean-Claude Juncker, Jacek Rostowski and Olli Rehn (Draft agenda).

A few days ago, ECON chairwoman Sharon Bowles (ALDE) published an article about the challenges on Public Service Europe. The costs of a failure of the euro are simply too huge: Bowles: 'Saving the euro is paramount' (26 August 2011).

According to the Swedish ECON committee member Gunnar Hökmark (EPP), the continuing accumulation of debt did not solve the debt crisis. Too little has been done to enhance competitiveness and to create durable growth: En höst som måste vända utvecklingen (28 August 2011).


Bloggingportal

For continuing discussion about the eurozone challenges and other European issues, follow the new articles from 841 euroblogs on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu, an important part of the European public space. Look for the tags 'eurozone' and competitiveness'.

In addition to my four blogs (links in margin), I am active on Twitter and Facebook.



Ralf Grahn

Eurozone: Citizens concerned

If the national governments want something better than the impending crash, why don't they get to grips with the issues of democratic empowerment and sufficient powers at European level?

This is where we stand today: Eurozone: A matter of common concern, a real concern for citizens and businesses alike.

According to Jacques Delors, the former president of the European Commission, the euro and Europe are on the brink of the abyss. Notre Europe has collected the interviews and media reactions: Jacques Delors face à la crise de l'euro.

In Le Taurillon, Nessim Znaïen highlighted some proposals by Delors in the interview published by Le Temps.

Spencer Kimball, on European Dialogue, stated that US, EU debt crisis escalates in the face of political gridlock.

The Green MEP Reinhardt Bütikofer cautiously speaks about the need for empowering the European Parliament in the management of the euro crisis.

The calculus of not saving the Euro goes beyond economics, but it is in fact a political decision, Maxime Larive wrote on the Foreign Policy Association blog.

The blog of the office of György Schöpflin MEP noted the threat of intergovernmentalism. The Franco-German plans to govern the euro are expressly designed to circumvent the Commission and the European Parliament. The pressure to reassert state-national interest over a European-level interest neglects and probably damages the EU’s conflict resolution function.

Come September, when, or rather if, the permanent bailout mechanism takes over the role of the ECB, we shall see whether these crisis measures are enough to save the euro, Finn Maigaard wrote on the Foreign Policy Association blog.

Finland insists on getting collateral for participating in the second Greek rescue package. Other eurozone governments have reacted and the markets are raising alarms, Peter Spiegel wrote on the FT Brussels blog.

The current crisis in Europe isn’t just a Greek or German or Irish or Portuguese problem, it’s a European one, Jason O'Mahony wrote.

Protesilaos Stavrou wrote that if things stay as they are then we will reach a dead end that will signal the start of the collapse of the euro and of everything that took decades to build. The blog post offers practical proposals on remedies for the systemic crisis.

The European Central Bank is forced to act as a fire department, because chancellor Merkel postpones the saving of the euro. After months of silence, the German president Christian Wulff finds nothing better to say than to criticise the independent ECB, Eric Bonse wrote on Lost in Europe (in German).

Laurence Boon, on Telos, explains that eurobonds are no miracle cure, but they could be a help on certain conditions.

Megan Green reasons that Eurobonds could work, but we'll probably never know. Throughout the euro crisis, EU leaders have repeatedly demonstrated that their top priority is their own national self-interest, despite the huge potential downside risks this poses to the common currency.

Although the European Union is formally a democracy, it does not act like one. We're in the middle of a massive crisis, but when it comes to the solutions, we are talking about national solutions to European problems, wrote The European Citizen.

***

If the national governments want something better, why don't they discuss politically legitimate government and sufficient solutions to European problems?

The new articles on 841 euroblogs are just one click away. Follow and participate in the discussion about the eurozone and other European issues on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu, an important part of the European public space.



Ralf Grahn