Europe – Page 10 – Slugger O'Toole

What have the Elizabethans ever done for us?

Brian Walker on January 2, 2012, 11:57 am

| Readers 54

If you still aren’t sure how to spend that Christmas book token, then AN Wilson’s “The Elizabethans” is a good candidate. This is a magisterial survey by the leading novelist, scholar and reviewer of the political literary and intellectual experience of a “glory age”, whose legacy in shaping modern Britain has only just come to an end, in the author’s view. Chapter One “The Difficulty” of Part One “The Early Reign” begins with this unexpected opening: “After thirty years of fighting …

“What happened to them was vindictive and not only a stain on their honour but on the honour of Ireland”

Pete Baker on December 29, 2011, 4:46 pm

| Readers 87

The BBC’s John Waite previews his forthcoming Radio 4 Face the Facts – The Disowned Army – to be broadcast 12.30GMT on Wednesday 4 January 2012. It’s subject, the post-World War II treatment in Ireland of around 5,000 Irish soldiers who deserted their own neutral army to join the British army and fought in Europe and elsewhere. From the BBC article They were formally dismissed from the Irish army, stripped of all pay and pension rights, and prevented from finding work by being …

“The Common Travel Area is only for the benefit of Irish citizens and British nationals”

Pete Baker on December 24, 2011, 5:27 pm

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We never did have that reasoned debate about Schengen… The Irish Times reports that a Dublin High Court judge has pointed out that Foreign tourists who leave the Republic for a day trip to Northern Ireland, without a passport or visa to enter the UK could, under Irish immigration laws, be refused permission to re-enter the Republic, a judge warned yesterday. The case involves a Bolivian couple, but in the absence of Schengen, it would seem to apply to all non-British …

“Very well, alone?”

Brian Walker on December 22, 2011, 11:39 am

| Readers 18

Interesting to see how the future of the Union is gradually being linked to the future of the European Union and the UK’s relations with it. In a farewell interview in the Daily Telegraph, the retiring Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell places it high among the “enormous challenges.” Over the next few years, there will be enormous challenges, such as whether to keep our kingdom united and how to make the EU operate in the best interests of its citizens. While …

Mario Draghi: “no doubt whatever about the strength of the euro, its permanence, its irreversibility…”

Pete Baker on December 20, 2011, 3:12 pm

| Readers 7

The Guardian reports the comments by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi that he has “no doubt whatever about the strength of the euro, its permanence, its irreversibility”. But then, he would say that, wouldn’t he? Meanwhile, some European countries have agreed to provide €150billion to the International Monetary Fund to cover eurozone countries’ debt – short of the €200billion they were aiming for. The UK declined an invitation to contribute. The Daily Telegraph’s Ambrose Evans-Pritchard lists 6 good reasons why. And as …

Euro crisis: “Anyone who claims to know what is about to happen to Europe is a fool.”

Pete Baker on December 14, 2011, 11:56 am

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In the Guardian, Simon Jenkins identifies a key point missing from most analysis of the aftermath of the EU crisis summit. From the Guardian article Anyone who claims to know what is about to happen to Europe is a fool. An unprecedented collapse in world credit has hit against years of reckless state borrowing to produce economic meltdown. Where there is economic meltdown, there is always a danger of political meltdown. While all other sciences have advanced over the ages, …

Does Tory eurosceptics’ nationalism boost UK breakup chances?

Brian Walker on December 13, 2011, 10:16 am

| Readers 12

The Financial Times (£) is alone today among UK national papers in spotting how the English nationalism of extreme Tory eurosceptics feeds Scottish separatism, in spite of all the fears for small nations’ survival in the gales of the eurozone crisis. First, the news story Alex Salmond, first minister and leader of the Scottish National party, accused David Cameron of blundering into apparently changing the UK’s entire relationship with the EU “without even discussing it with his own Lib Dem …

Local Political Reaction to EU Crisis Summit Outcome

Pete Baker on December 10, 2011, 4:09 pm

| Readers 5

How have our local political parties reacted to the outcome of the EU crisis summit? Well, neither the Green Party nor the Alliance Party appear to have noticed… The “Conservative and Unionist” MEP, Jim Nicholson, has, unsurprisingly, “welcomed the use of the British veto over a new EU-wide treaty by Prime Minister David Cameron”. “David Cameron was correct in effectively vetoing a new treaty and keeping the United Kingdom out of this new economic accord agreed at the EU emergency summit, …

Euro crisis: “So we have two crises now.”

Pete Baker on December 9, 2011, 2:19 pm

| Readers 3

In the FT, Wolfgang Münchau gives his initial thoughts on the outcome of the EU summit. From the FT’s A-list [free subs may be required] Thursday’s European Council meeting has demonstrated that a monetary union cannot co-exist with a group of permanent non-members in unified legal framework. The EU with its current treaties and institutions has proved to be an insufficiently flexible framework to run a monetary union and a disastrous framework for a monetary union in crisis. These latest …

Thoughts from Brussels on the euro crisis

Nicholas Whyte on December 4, 2011, 3:29 pm

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I have been prodded – both by being on a radio panel discussion today and by the awesome Catie – to assemble some thoughts on the euro crisis and what it means for both parts of Ireland. There is a certain air of pessimism at present, driven largely by recent pieces in the Financial Times and the Economist predicting that the end is nigh and that the single currency is on the verge of breaking up. I must say that …

Euro crisis: “Ireland sees the same information from the troika about Greece”

Pete Baker on November 18, 2011, 3:14 pm

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The answer to John’s title question is, again, NO! As the respective spokesmen for European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, Olli Rehn, and the German finance ministry explain in this Irish Times report “On behalf of the commission, the leaks are regrettable,” said Amadeu Altafaj Tardio. “We insist that this is a draft and that we have a legal obligation to share the information that we receive from the authorities in Dublin with the member states. This is actually our …

Euro crisis: “it is time to send for the Borg…”

Pete Baker on November 15, 2011, 3:25 pm

| Readers 10

You can follow the latest developments in the eurozone crisis at the Guardian’s live-Business blog as pressure mounts on Italian Prime Minister designate, Mario Monti – who was nominated to replace Silvio Berlusconi three days after the Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano, appointed Monti a Lifetime Senator. From his Wikipedia entry In 2007, Monti was one of the first supporters of the first European civic forum, Etats Généraux de l’Europe, initiated by European think tank EuropaNova and European Movement. In December 2009, he …

“Until further notice (see Preamble post-script), the Houses of the Oireachtas shall have a room containing an elephant.”

Pete Baker on November 10, 2011, 1:08 pm

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As the eurozone slides into the abyss, there’s just time for some light relief – courtesy of Frank McNally’s Irishman’s Diary in the Irish Times. Article 6 The name of the State is Eire, or in the English language, Ireland. The Government may, however, enter into periodic commercial agreements with regard to naming rights. Thereafter, the State may be known as “Ireland, brought to you in association with Microsoft”, or a like designation. Article 7 The national flag of Ireland shall be …

Berlusconi to resign [once key economic reforms have been approved]

Pete Baker on November 8, 2011, 9:59 pm

| Readers 3

As I mentioned here, Italy have called in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but no money has changed hands, according to Berlusconi… Tonight, following a technical vote which saw Silvio Berlusconi lose his parliamentary majority, and with rising yields on Italy’s 10-year benchmark bonds, the Italian Prime Minster has “confirmed he intends to resign after key economic reforms have been approved.” Speaking on TV, the [Italian] prime minister said he would have preferred to call early elections but the final decision rested …

Sarkozy: “We will fight to defend Europe and the euro”

Pete Baker on November 4, 2011, 3:23 pm

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With apologies to Moochin, here’s the real POTD [of the week? – Ed] when the Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, had his card marked at Cannes by Frau Bundeskanzlerin. Via Daniel Hannan at the Telegraph blog. Italy have called in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but no money has changed hands, according to Berlusconi… Answering questions at a press conference in Cannes this afternoon, Mr Berlusconi said he had no intention of resigning and did not believe his time in government was coming …

“if you want to show some proper respect and courtesy to the Holy See…”

Pete Baker on November 4, 2011, 1:58 pm

| Readers 7

In the Irish Times Paddy Agnew has an interesting, and prompt, response to last night’s announcement of the Irish Government’s decision to close the Irish Embassy to the Vatican. From the Irish Times article In practice, there are two types of Holy See ambassadors – those who have their own embassies in Rome and those who work out of the embassy in a neighbouring country such as France, Switzerland or Malta. Senior Vatican diplomats point out that as far as …

Of Greece Germany and Porsches

Turgon on November 3, 2011, 3:07 pm

| Readers 16

I am no economist but I thought I would try this: The interlocking woes of the Eurozone seem endlessly complex. The wasteful Greeks, Italians etc. are all denounced as compared to the hard working Germans living within their means and now being forced to bail out the profligate southern Europeans. A classic example is presented in the revelation that there are more Porsche Cayennes per capitia in the Greek city of Larisa, the capital of the relatively poor agricultural area …

Greek PM to resign Update: Not going to resign

Turgon on November 3, 2011, 12:39 pm

| Readers 4

The BBC are reporting that the Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is to offer his resignation to be replaced by a coalition government, led by former Greek central banker Lucas Papademos. It is unclear but seems likely that this will prevent the referendum on Greece accepting the latest deal on its debts. Fortunate that: Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel could not have pesky Greek democracy getting in the way of their plans could they? Already the European Commission had said …

Euro crisis: “The Greek government has become adept at playing Europe’s leaders…”

Pete Baker on November 1, 2011, 4:34 pm

| Readers 3

The Guardian’s Business blog team are live-blogging events following the ‘bolt from the blue’ that was the Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou calling for a referendum on the ‘rescue package’. And there’s an emergency Greek government cabinet meeting at 4pm [GMT]. BBC business editor, and still everyone’s hero, Robert Peston, looks at “the price of Greek democracy”. Opinion polls wouldn’t suggest there’s a high probability of Mr Papandreou winning the day. But views can change. What’s in it for the Greek people? Well, …

Euro crisis: “And all bets are off if Europe does not start to grow again…”

Pete Baker on October 31, 2011, 3:25 pm

| Readers 6

At the Guardian’s business blog, Graeme Wearden is live-blogging the European debt crisis, as the “OECD predicts some negative growth in eurozone in 2012… and calls for “bold” action from the G20, Italian bond yields hit 6.13%, Markets fall as bailout deal euphoria peters out, [and the] Euro crisis drags MF Global to the brink“. Meanwhile BBC Europe editor, Gavin Hewitt, considers “Europe after the euphoria” Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or that expectations had been exceeded, but there was a whiff …