The Austrian daily Der Standard believes many mistakes were made when Bulgaria and Romania became members of the EU: "Blocking 500 million euros in EU funding now is tantamount to applying the emergency brake - only after the accident has already happened. For the crash occurred when the two countries joined, and the mistake was to give Bulgaria and Romania a fixed date for accession while negotiations were still in progress. It is a bit like telling a school pupil he has passed his exams before he has even taken them - the enthusiasm to learn and engage in reforms quickly waned in Sofia and Bucharest. This has caused enormous damage not only to the two countries, for the millions that have seeped away into mafioso structure provide welcome ammunition for those venomous populists with their own axe to grind. Of course the abuses must be put a stop to straight away, and it is clear that Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU too early. Nevertheless, it is only fair to point out that at the end of the day both Austria's and the EU's economic balance with both countries is still positive - among other reasons because their accession established an important framework." (24/07/2008)

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All available articles from » Michael Moravec

According to the daily Evenimentul Zilei the warning to Romania will do no good. The European Commission's judicial report "follows the typical pattern of hypocritical behaviour of Brussels' wavering bureaucrats, who under political pressure have undermined their own report. The warning that Romania's integration into the Schengen area and the Eurozone could be postponed disappeared overnight from the report, presumably at the request of Bucharest's lobbyists. The EU commissioners have shown Romanian politicians that they can bark but lack the courage to bite. A contrived phrase that found its way into an unreadable passage in the report explains that without efficient controls we could one day end up like the Bulgarians: without full access to structural funding. So what? The clients who with political blessing had access to the funding did not even manage to spend all the money on offer from the European Samaritans. The real problem is we cannot steal as much as they are offering us. ... Instead of using the whip good old President Barroso has offered Rumania's corrupt politicians a sugar cube and asked them to be sensible." (24/07/2008)

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All available articles from » Mircea Marian

Bulgarian Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin declared yesterday that the frozen EU subsidies were in any case no longer a mainstay of the Bulgarian economy. The daily Klassa takes him to task for this statement: "To claim that stopping [payments] on account of the irregularities in the justice system and high-level corruption is not as bad as if investments were curtailed is highly irresponsible, because the reduction in subsidies sends a signal to investors that the climate in Bulgaria is not suitable for investment. It is likewise irresponsible to declare that 11 billion euros are not all that important for the development of small and medium-sized companies. For it is precisely these companies that cannot secure their success via political connections. And there is another reason why this statement is irresponsible: Bulgaria will now become a 100-percent net contributor to the EU - paying in but getting nothing in return." (24/07/2008)

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In view of the EU's experience with Romania and Bulgaria the liberal daily Sme calls for it to be more cautious in admitting new members: "According to Romanian ethnologists there are 30 different words for corruption in Rumanian. This linguistic creativity speaks volumes and bodes ill. A survey of the Romanians completes the picture: 80 percent say they have experienced corruption. ... And the situation is similar in Bulgaria. While it would be unfair to claim that there is no corruption in the old countries of the EU, it nevertheless is a disgrace when in Bulgaria ministers are also involved and those accused remain silent. ... The EU should learn its lesson from Romania and Bulgaria before admitting any more new members and let ethnologists, as well as economists decide." (24/07/2008)

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All available articles from » Katarína Mallok

The daily Kauppalehti sees the EU measures against Bulgaria and Romania as a signal for the rest of the Union: "The signal is: ... Things cannot go on like this! ... Corruption is a serious problem in the new member states - and of course in the old ones too - on which the EU Commission has spent tens of millions of euros trying to solve in recent years. ... The sanctions ... against Bulgaria are [also] a ... hint to the Finnish government ... following the depressing election financing scandal this spring... to see that our political culture is a fair one." (24/07/2008)

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The US presidential candidate Barack Obama will speak in Berlin today. The Independent calls for the Europeans to show restraint in their enthusiasm for the Democratic candidate: "To expect to deliver a speech against the backdrop of the Brandenburg Gate was always an ambition too far. ... Chancellor Angela Merkel was right to worry that such a site might be interpreted as official endorsement of his candidacy. All foreign governments have a duty to observe neutrality: the decision in November is for American voters. This does not mean that the 'Obamania' that may well break out in Berlin this evening is a bad thing, or that Europeans have no interest in who becomes the next President of the United States. It is rather that adulation needs to be tempered with realism. If, as he promises, a theme of Mr. Obama's speech in Berlin will be a commitment to listen to Europe, we should pay him the same compliment, and listen just as carefully to him." (24/07/2008)

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Italian State President Giorgio Napolitano has signed a controversial immunity law approved by the parliament, which affords the four highest state offices protection against prosecution. The leader of the opposition party "Italy of Values", Antonio di Pietro, wants to hold a referendum to topple the law. The daily Corriere della Sera defends the signing of the law criticised by Di Pietro. "The state president has managed to bring difficult negotiations to a conclusion and to strengthen the institutional authority not only of the government. Thanks to Napolitano the impression will be dispelled that the Centre-Right, which wants to force down the public prosecutor who is investigating the prime minister, is trying to bend the law. At the same time it gives the Democratic Party a good motive for not being drawn into Di Pietro's orbit. Yet the game is only just beginning. The shadow of unconstitutionality cannot be regarded as banished." (24/07/2008)

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All available articles from » Massimo Franco

Two courts have ruled that the strict criteria stipulated in the Netherlands' immigration and naturalisation law at least partially contravene European legislation. The law was pushed through parliament in 2005 by the right-wing liberal Rita Verdonk, who was minister for foreigners at the time. The daily Trouw voices mixed feelings about this law: "No one is eager to welcome an influx of immigrants who can barely speak Dutch, and some of whom would have to live on social security. In this respect you could indeed say that it is a shame that Verdonk's law is now encountering legal difficulties. ... One could [also] cynically conclude that it worked: There has been a marked decline in the number of immigrants who move to the country to join family members here. Yet the fact remains that such hotchpotch legislation makes a mockery of the rule of law. And it is hotchpotch because strictly speaking the criteria it establishes are illegal. But perhaps worst of all is the fact that the second chamber of parliament in its role as co-legislator was aware of this at the time." (24/07/2008)

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In its editorial the daily Le Monde uses the occasion of the arrest of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić to recall the bouts of "Greater Serbian" fever during the wars in the former Yugoslavia and report on the current shift of opinion in Serbia: "There were three of them. Three men who were chiefly responsible for the terrible blood-bath that spattered Bosnia-Herzegovina with blood in the name of a 'Greater Serbia': Slobodan Milošević, the master of Serbia, Ratko Mladić, leader of the armed forces in Bosnia, and Radovan Karadžić, the self-appointed 'president'. ... Of these three Radovan Karadžić embodied the most orthodox, the craziest Serbian nationalism. While Milošević, the nationalistic Socialist, strove for absolute power, and Mladić, the soldier, dreamed of conquests and blood, Karadžić lived in a world full of epos, fascinated by the idea of a 'race of warriors'. ... The worst thing for Karadžić is perhaps that he was arrested neither by the Bosnian Muslims he wanted to annihilate nor by the Westerners he so despised, but in a Serbia that has emerged from a demonic era, a Serbia that, while still very nationalistic, is ruled by democrats, a country that is gradually making peace with its neighbours and is striding towards the community of Europe." (23/07/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Crime and Law, » History, » South East Europe, » Serbia

The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammed El-Baradei, calls in the daily Financial Times for the establishment of a "global energy organisation, in order to tackle the energy crisis. "The need for coordinated political action on energy and related issues - climate change and poverty, to name but two - has never been more acute. Yet there is no global energy institution in which the countries of the world can agree on joint solutions to the potentially enormous problems we see emerging. ... A global energy organisation would complement, not replace, bodies already active in the energy field. It would bring a vital inter-governmental perspective to bear on issues that cannot be left to market forces alone, such as the development of new energy technology, the role of nuclear power and renewables, and innovative solutions for reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions." (24/07/2008)

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All available articles from » Mohammed El-Baradei

Three of Europe's major car makers, Volkswagen, Fiat and PSA Peugeot Citroen, have presented good results for this quarter. However the business newspaper Financial Times Deutschland expects the competition to stiffen. "No doubt about it, these figures make Europe's three major producers look good - a lot better than their struggling American rivals Chrysler, Ford and General Motors. But the Europeans should not allow this lead to make them complacent because the true acid tests are yet to come. After all, even the most passionate car lovers have realised by now that the automotive industry is headed for a major overhaul over the next few years. ... The giants of today could disappear and new, technically superior suppliers could be catapulted to the top. ... But thanks to the profits they are currently posting Volkswagen, Fiat and Peugeot Citroën have at least created a solid basis for surviving the trials of the coming months." (24/07/2008)

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All available articles from » Oliver Wihofszki

At the WTO talks in Geneva, an overnight crisis meeting has failed to produce a consensus among industrialised and developing nations on the liberalisation of global trade. The daily The Guardian comments on the possible failure of the current Doha round. "This week's negotiations are the latest in a series of last-ditch attempts to save the trade round. Even so, hardly anyone expects a meaningful result. ... Would it be so bad if the Doha talks did collapse? Most would not notice. International trade has shot up over the past decade, not because of the WTO, but largely thanks to the ever-closer integration of India and China into the global economy. That said, rich countries would use the talks' failure as an excuse for their unfair individual trade negotiations with developing countries. Perhaps the gloomiest lesson from Doha's failure would be in another area: climate change. There too, international, coordinated action is needed." (24/07/2008)

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Siemens has announced plans to close down its plant in Prague, as a result of which more than 1000 jobs will be lost. The liberal daily Mladá fronta DNES fears that Siemens will not be the only company to take such measures: "Even the closure of such a major company will not endanger the Czech economy, and the workers will find new jobs in Prague or elsewhere. Nonetheless, it will be difficult to attract new companies if the big firms start packing their bags and leaving." According to the newspaper the main reason for the exodus is the extremely strong Czech koruna. "Foreign firms that calculate in euros or dollars have seen their wage and salary costs rise by up to 40 percent owing to the [current strength of the] koruna. In this kind of environment only few would hesitate to make a move. It could also hit firms that under other circumstances would stay in the Czech Republic and prosper for years to come." (24/07/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Economic Policy, » Financial Markets, » Czech Republic
All available articles from » Jiří Šticky

The daily De Morgen considers the role of the media in the current crisis of the Belgian state: "Standards of journalistic ethics do not have a Flemish, a Wallonian or a Dutch value but a universal one. Objective reporting of the facts is part of this. Many American media organisations abandoned this journalistic principle following 9/11, driven either by nationalistic motives or because they were afraid of being accused of anti-patriotism. ... Amid the turbulent political mood in Belgium there is a danger that both the Flemish and the Wallonian press will adopt precisely the same attitude as the American media did back then. ... The inherent danger here is that links will be forged between journalism and politics that compromise the press's role as a critical observer of political power. ... The deliberate use of superlatives, generalisations and exaggerations in order to win the readers' favour violate the central function of journalism." (24/07/2008)

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All available articles from » Jan van Groesen

The daily Frankfurter Rundschau comments on plans to abolish the EU norms for 26 kinds of fruit and vegetables. "Let us get one thing clear: Cucumbers are not straight and never will be and may be offered for sale even if they are really bent. The story of the bent cucumber has been around ever since some politician used the cucumber argument to vent his fury over Europe. If the EU abolishes the quality norms for 26 kinds of fruit and vegetables, it will actually change precious little. For the sale of bent cucumbers has been allowed all along, but because they are cheaper they put pressure on the price of straight cucumbers. That is why the bent cucumber does not have a future, because market gardeners want to make money on them. What is more, trading practices often employ criteria that go well beyond EU regulations. Anyone who wants to buy and sell goods blind internationally needs rules. ... To make sure it is the cucumbers and not the deals that are crooked." (24/07/2008)

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All available articles from » Stephan Börnecke