Whenever you change cities you find yourself in the situation of not knowing your surroundings. You end up straying through your area until you assemble the mosaic of its character. I’m embarrassed to admit that it took me two months to figure out that my quarter in Brussels is actually the Polish quarter. The fact […]
After losing the election at home, Martin Schulz now wants a United States of Europe
Martin Schulz thinks he has a brilliant idea. In reaction to his party agreeing to commence coalition talks with Angela Merkel’s center-right CDU/CSU, the former German Social Democratic leader issued a fresh call for a “United States of Europe.” He made the announcement in a tweet sent on December 7:
Thank you for 2017!
Usually WordPress has been so kind to offer an automated ‘year in review’ (as in 2014 and 2015). Since this is not the case this year, I have collected my numbers from this on my own! Thousands of views and visitors and over 350 publications. It’s been good!
The EU spends millions to lobby itself
In order to balance the democratic deficit that the European Union has been accused of having, the EU’s Commission has been extensively engaged in the subsidization of civil society. The result: NGOs are non-pluralistic, politically biased in favor of the EU, all while funding remains nontransparent.
Fir de Marc Ruppert als Lëtzebuerger vum Joer !
Bis haut 12 Auer kann een op http://www.rtl.lu fir de Lëtzebuerger vum Joer wielen. De fréieren DP-Generalsekretär Marc Ruppert gouf nominéiert, a verdéngt et ze gewannen ! De Link ass hei: http://www.rtl.lu/aktiounen/letzebuerger2017/voting_m17/
5 years of plain packaging, 5 years of failures
On this day, Dec. 1, five years ago, the Australian government implemented the mandatory plain packaging of all tobacco products. This means that cigarettes, rolled tobacco, and the likes, can only be sold in packs that do not show the particular brand in question. This is to deter especially young people from getting their hands of […]
The Brexit-mess proves its supporters right
In an attempt to break the deadlock in the ongoing Brexit negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union, the United Kingdom has agreed to give in on key negotiating positions. According to estimates, the bill for leaving the union will now land somewhere between 45 and 55 billion pounds sterling ($61 to $74 […]
La fausse bonne idée du paquet neutre
Il y a cinq ans, le gouvernement australien mettait en place le paquet neutre obligatoire pour tous les produits du tabac. La France a été le premier pays en Europe à lui emboiter le pas. Avec quel effet ?
The UK was the best part of the European Union
In the debate around the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom, the side arguing on behalf of Britain remaining a part of the EU wasn’t a particularly convincing one. Positions for “Remain” were largely based on emotions. There is however, one very convincing point for a British remainder in the union.
The paradise of envy
The latest revelations in the so-called “Paradise Papers” have joined the list of investigative reports into corporate and personal taxation of known enterprises and people. What began with leaked CD’s in Germany during the European debt crisis, also listed the LuxLeaks and Panama Papers; all allegedly exposing massive tax optimisation. Many European countries now see […]