Archive for the ‘European Union’ Category
The European Union and the Council of Europe supported the 26th generation of the Human Rights School in Montenegro, this year with a focus on hate…
The European Union and the Council of Europe supported the 26th generation of the Human Rights School in Montenegro, this year with a focus on hate speech Council of Europe
Continue reading here:
The European Union and the Council of Europe supported the 26th generation of the Human Rights School in Montenegro, this year with a focus on hate...
What could the new government of Italy mean for the European Union? – University of Miami: News@theU
Joaqun Roy, Jean Monnet Professor and director of the University of Miami European Union Center of Excellence, analyzes the recent election of Giorgia Meloni as Italian prime minister.
Any negative event impacting an important member of the European Union, most notably as a result of elections, generates a doomsday prediction about the demise of the Brussels entity.
Political observers and individual citizens customarily resort to blaming the EU for any deficiency in their economic, social, or political standing.
Problems with salaries, deterioration of public services, dangerous transportation patterns, terrorism, threatening immigration, or an affordable housing crisis are easy subjects to discover the traditional culprit of the government into the EU.
The effect of the recent Italian election that has brought Giorgia Meloni to power has developed a new version of the old excuses. This time the sudden change in government may generate a similar explanation: the EU is the culprit.
The scenario today has produced a set of predictions similar to what was claimed to be the consequences of the concrete difficulties of the United Kingdom. As an answer to the prevailing claims of some of its political and economic leadership, the UK would finally make real its leaving of the EU. A new word would appear: Brexit.
However, as it happens now, then some responsible voices would claim that the seriousness of the move would convince the British leadership and the voters not to commit such suicide. But it happened. Now, a similar scenario is on the horizon after the victory of the trio led by Meloni, the new prime minister, with the cooperation of the media magnate and former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, and the radical and former deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini.
The current panorama recalls the most famous assessments of the national fabric of Italy constructed by Massimo dAzeglio, a Piedmontese-Italian prime minister. He skillfully claimed: We have made Italy, now we have to make Italians.
Dozens of governments badly led Italy after World War II. The country is now ready to leave the EU.
But the installation of the UK in the EU was not the same as the origin and evolution of the membership of Italy in the EUa key founding member, led by moderate conservatives Christian Democrats, backed by the Americans. The UK was never well-installed in Brussels. From Winston Churchill to Margaret Thatcher, London just wanted the rebate in resourcespriming trade, never accepting the federal obligations.
The apparent catastrophe of the Italian elections would not develop in a war against the EU. The needs for the reconstruction of the economy are such that only the EU resources can cover the expense. The allies of Meloni could not expect Russia, Hungary, or Poland to pay for the cost.
It would take just a few weeks until the northern-inclined Berlusconi would continue supporting Meloni, a genuine product of Rome, the sources of waste. The same can be said about mafia-behaving Salvini, one who is eternally obsessed with opposing immigration as the cause of the problems.
Few days will pass until the Italian President, Sergio Mattarella, would obtain the cooperation of the leaving Prime Minister Mario Draghi to support the new leader, in the preparation of the paperwork to receive the needed support of the EU. There is already talk about Antonio Tajani, the former president of the European Parliament and a moderate centrist conservative, joining the new government as minister of Foreign Affairs.
In sum, Brussels and the United States will contribute all the necessary resources to cover the expenses. Vladimir Putin and the Italian sectors who have shown nostalgia for the Mussolini March on Rome of a century ago (1922) will be utterly surprised.
Joaqun Roy is Jean Monnet Professor and Director of the European Union Center of Excellence at the University of Miami.
View original post here:
What could the new government of Italy mean for the European Union? - University of Miami: News@theU
Inflation hits record 10% in 19 European Union countries using euro – The Indian Express
Inflation in the European countries using the euro currency has broken into double digits as prices for electricity and natural gas soar, signaling a looming winter recession for one of the globes major economies as higher prices undermine consumers spending power.
Consumer prices in the 19-country eurozone rose a record 10% in September from a year earlier, up from an annual 9.1% in August, EU statistics agency Eurostat reported Friday. Only a year ago inflation was as low as 3.4%. Price increases are at their highest level since record-keeping for the euro started in 1997.
Energy prices were the main culprit, rising 40.8% over a year ago. Food, alcohol and tobacco jumped 11.8%Inflation has been fueled by steady cutbacks in supplies of natural gas from Russia and by bottlenecks in getting supplies of raw materials and parts as the global economy bounces back from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Russian cutbacks have sent gas prices soaring to the point where energy-intensive businesses such as fertilizer and steel say they can no longer make some products at a profit.
Meanwhile, high prices for utility bills, food and fuel are leaving consumers with less money to spend on other things. That is the main reason economists are predicting a recession, or a serious and long-lasting downturn in economic activity, for the end of this year and the first months of next year.
The European Central Bank is raising interest rates to combat inflation by keeping higher prices from being baked into peoples expectations for wages and prices, but cant by itself lower energy prices.
European officials say the cutbacks in pipeline gas from Russias state-owned exporter Gazprom are energy blackmail aimed at pressuring and dividing European governments over Western sanctions against Russia and their support for Ukraine, including weapons deliveries. Higher gas prices feed through into higher heating bills and higher electricity costs because natural gas is used to generate power, heat homes and run factories.
Prices in Germany, the largest single eurozone economy, rose 10.9%, hitting double digits for the first time in decades. Germany plans to spend up to 200 billion euros ($195 billion) helping consumers and businesses cope with surging gas bills. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Thursday that the government was reactivating an economic stabilizing fund previously used during the global financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic.
Shoppers at a weekly outdoor market in Cologne, Germany, said higher food prices and utility bills were on their minds. Im already looking a lot more for special offers, said Myriam Maierhofer, a 64-year-old trainer and coach for staff development. I dont throw away so much so quickly, so Ive become more economical with food. And this morning, I also turned down the heating in the rooms again.
Christian Schrader, 35, is less worried about food prices but said that you start to think about which rooms need to be heated in the flat and try to explain to the children that we only play in one room. A bigger worry was the social dimension, he said. Inflation has often been a driver for social division, for extreme tendencies, for populism. This dimension worries me more.
See the original post here:
Inflation hits record 10% in 19 European Union countries using euro - The Indian Express