British business leaders: The economic case to stay in the EU is overwhelming

British business community responded to increasing anti-EU political rhetoric. Does British business community has a potential to significantly influence the debate on the future of UK in the EU and how?

Hollande’s EU vision. Is it genuine and realistic?

Read few comments.

Questions:

1. Do you think Hollande’s proposals about the economic government with its own budget and right to borrow are only political in the sense he needed something strong to counter the recession news or that this is really Paris’ plans?

2. Do you consider it realistic? Can he eventually win the support of the other Eurozone countries for such proposal?

Answers:

Robert Ladrech, Professor of European Politics, School of Politics, International Relations & Philosophy, Keele University

1. I think it is both; in other words, he needed to have an initiative to counter the accumulating bad news, especially economic, and second, as a French Socialists, this proposition which puts some content into notions of political union are consistent with the general line of the party. Added details of course would be due, and to assuage his left-wing, he would need to show that such an economic government was not simply an extension of the ECB. Bear in mind also that German elections are only 4 months away, so it positions France to keep this idea alive whichever side wins.

2. It is not realistic in the short term, but if all the proposed changes of the past year or two become the basis of a new treaty – that is, further development to the Fiscal compact – then a model of such a ‘deepened’ EU-core needs to be articulated. In this respect, say a few years from now, and if the economy turns around, then maybe this will not sound too far-fetched.

(Thanks to @SunWuKchung for providing this).

What can the EU do on possible Brexit amid Tory civil war?

The Conservative leadership will publish a draft Bill to guarantee that an in/out referendum on Europe will be held by 2017. From the outside it seems that PM Cameron is first of all trying to please the part of his Conservative Party. But would you say that the EU, members states should somehow react on what is going on in the UK or not, and why? Read few comments.

German neo-Nazi trial begins. What to expect?

Eight Turkish men, a Greek man and a German policewoman were killed by the neo-Nazi cell National Socialist Underground. The surviving member of the far-right gang Beate Zschäpe goes on trial.

UKIP’s remarkable night. And what’s next?

Nigel Farage said that for UKIP it was a remarkable night. Do you agree with his statement  and would you say there are some implication for the future of British politics? Read few comments.

European Union: France versus Germany. Or not?

How would you evaluate French-German relations one year after François Hollande’s victory in the French presidential elections? Is the Franco-German engine still working? Read few comments.

SPD plus Greens: A pre-election coalition?

German Social Democrats have appealed to Greens to consider forming a coalition in the build up to the national election. Would you say that the pre-election SPD-Greens coalition may have some positive effect on the combine election result of SPD and Greens or not, and why? Read few comments.

Irregular quote of the day

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble in ”U.S. Advice to Europe Gets Polite Refusal.”

A blow on Portuguese government’s austerity plans?

Portuguese Constitutional Court rejects some budget articles. What kind of impact, if any, the decision may have on the government and on the politics in Portugal, respectively on the austerity measures introduced by government? Read few comments.

Blame Germany! Blame Germany?

Spanish El Pais was just recently forced to retract Chancellor Merkel comparison to Hitler.  Frankly speaking, I find this kind of comparison totally idiotic. But on the other hand what do you think about the German leadership in the EU? Does it deserve some portion of criticism or not, and why? Read few comments.