The daily Diário de Notícias calls the agreements reached at the G8 summit in Japan nothing but empty promises: "The main actors at the G8 summit were happy with their agreement to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Of course, by then these smiling summit participants will no longer be here to be confronted with the statements they made today. Other promises made in the past do not bode well for the current ones. Three years ago the same eight countries promised to double financial aid to Africa by 2010. ... So far their aid has not even increased by a quarter." (09/07/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Environmental Policy, » Global

Greenpeace director John Suaven has harsh words for the G8 states in the left-liberal daily The Guardian: ""f the G8 wants to be taken seriously it should stop debating what the goal is for 2050 and introduce a moratorium on all new coal fired power stations in their countries. Coal burning is the biggest single cause of CO2 pollution and the greatest threat to the climate. ... This club is a powerful symbol of global inequality. If the G8 has any role at all, it should be to redress that inequality. That means taking responsibility for the climate impact of the industrialisation and consumption that has made the G8 into the biggest, richest and most powerful set of countries on Earth. The G8 nations are to blame for 62% of the CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere today. Tackling climate change is in their own interests as well as those of the 86% of the world's population not represented at the table in Hokkaido this week." (08/07/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Environmental Policy, » Global
All available articles from » John Sauven

For the daily La Repubblica, the G8's programme on climate change marks a victory for the US: "The [agreement] comes eight years too late, corresponding to the amount of time it took George W. Bush to see there was a problem at all. ... The agreement is a step backwards, bypassing and reversing the progress begun in Kyoto. The trick lies in the time frame adopted. The reduction which scientists and academics see as necessary to save the climate is 50 percent of 1990 CO2 emissions. But this date is intentionally suppressed in the G8 document. ... That means that the approach adopted in Kyoto is being cast aside. The extent of the reduction - which depends on the year taken as starting point - has been postponed to further negotiations, and will be decided according not to scientific, but to political criteria. The White House has won out." (09/07/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Environmental Policy, » Global
All available articles from » Maurizio Ricci

The daily De Standaard casts doubt on the significance of the G8 summit in view of its limited success. "How can you meaningfully talk about oil prices if only one major oil producer, Russia, is sitting at the table? And how can you seriously discuss economic and ecological challenges without China, the world's third largest economic power and polluter number one? ... One problem is that the media hype has far outstripped the modest results reached at the informal summit, where no binding decisions can be taken. ... But then the question arises: what is the purpose of the United Nations if all the important countries set up their own informal economic and ecological Security Council?" (09/07/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Global
All available articles from » Mia Doornaert

The foreign ministers of the Czech Republic and the US have signed an agreement on the construction of a radar base. The daily Süddeutsche Zeitung has its doubts about whether the project can be implemented: "Many obstacles remain before this agreement can come into effect. For that reason no one can say whether by 2013 a huge orb will stand in the Brdy forest near Pilsen, with which American soldiers will be able to chart the approach of enemy missiles from Iran. ... So it remains uncertain whether and under what conditions the Americans will succeed in stationing ten defence missiles in Poland, which the radar in the Czech Republic is meant to back up. Equally uncertain is whether the parliament in Prague will ever approve the project. ... One major obstacle to the missile shield is turning out to be the credibility of the current US government, which precipitated a disaster when it lied to the entire world in the Iraq War. As long as George W. Bush has the say, it is difficult to get the go-ahead for American military plans." (09/07/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Czech Republic, » U.S.

Journalist Vesna Kalčič comments on the collapse of Austria's Social Democrat Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer and his grand coalition: "After the elections it was only by making major concessions to the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) that Gusenbauer was able to form a grand coalition. They left him practically naked, as some commentators said at the time. ... Many important ministerial posts that the Social Democrats had wanted for themselves went to their coalition partner. ... And what happened? The coalition agreement that resulted from the coalition talks - led for the ÖVP by former chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel - bore his stamp and was what the People's Party had wanted all along: a continuation of the former black-blue government." (09/07/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Austria
All available articles from » Vesna Kalcic

Swedish trade unions and entrepreneurs yesterday called on the nation to consider restarting the country's nuclear programme although in a referendum held in 1980 the majority of Swedish citizens voted to gradually abandon atomic energy. Sweden's most widely read newspaper Dagens Nyheter takes sides with the pro-nuclear camp: "The general impatience for a decision on the nuclear energy issue is justified and understandable. By the year 2020 four of Sweden's ten nuclear reactors will be too old to operate. It takes a lot of time to build new reactors and secure investments. This is why a broad decision across the political spectrum is required. The government alliance has signalled its willingness to reach an agreement, but so far there has not been the slightest sign of it. The nuclear power issue is still dominated by political deadlocks and strategic games." (09/07/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Energy Policy, » Sweden

The Italian police have begun the process of fingerprinting members of the Sinti and Roma minorities in Milan, Naples and Rome. In a leading article the Spanish daily El País criticises the EU's failure to take action against this "xenophobic" and "racist" measure: "The government under Berlusconi has crossed one of the inviolable borders of the constitutional state with this dangerous legal instrument. It is not that [Berlusconi] is violating the law of equality by interpreting it differently for different groups. He has gone much further to create a new law that does not even apply to other Italians. ... The initiatives of Berlusconi and his government also show that it is impossible to agree a common policy in areas like immigration while he is at the core of the EU. ... The European Union, an enterprise inspired by law and justice, is delivering a sad performance in this matter and losing the soul that has given it its meaning in the 50 years of its existence." (09/07/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » Integration, » Minorities, » Italy, » Europe

Bulgaria wants to acquire two French warships for 500 million euros. The agreement was reached by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev at a meeting in Paris. The daily Sega comments on what the deal means for both parties. "The interests of the two politicians have dovetailed. Sarkozy has been looking for clients for the French military industry and Stanishev is hoping for support from the EU Council president which will enable him to remain in office despite the highly critical progress report expected from the EU Commission on Bulgaria. ... Only political isolation can scuttle the cabinet now. But in view of the larger crisis surrounding Ireland's No to the reform treaty, France will try to avoid this outcome this autumn." (08/07/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Trade, » France, » Bulgaria
All available articles from » Svetoslav Tersiev

In light of the negotiations on the planned missile defence shield, journalist Monika Olejnik reflects on the changing relations between Poland and the United States: "For us, America is no longer a promised land, and the dollar is no longer a god. We are in the EU and that gives us the strength we lacked just ten years ago. Today our strength is Europe, and America should understand once and for all that that entitles us to respect. Today Poland is a spokesperson among the countries of Eastern European, and we show the way forward. The Polish president struggled for the enlargement of the Union to the east. The Americans do not seem to have noticed that things have changed in recent years. Barack Obama still counts the UK, France and Germany as his most important allies in Europe, and forgets about Poland. There were times when the Poles might have seen that as a tragedy, but today we tend to consider it a lapse, because we have shed our complexes. We know who we are, what we have achieved, and we know our history. ... It is high time the Americans understood that they no longer play the leading role in Polish hearts." (09/07/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Poland, » U.S.
All available articles from » Monika Olejnik

The daily Le Monde analyses Poland's position within the European Union and vis-à-vis the United States. "Sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left. At times for Europe, at times for the US. ... According to statements by Lech Kaczyński, Poland wants to be 'the strongest among the weak' in Europe. Or to put it another way: [Poland wants] to make use of its position as a 'relatively big power' to protect the interests of the 'small' or the newcomers from the bearing of the EU's founding members, which it considers hegemonial. ... The Poles rely on the United States in matters of security. They were willing to send troops to Iraq as proof of their loyalty, yet they expect a reward for this alliance. ... In both cases Poland wants to show it is a sovereign state, doggedly willing to defend its own interests." (08/07/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Poland, » U.S.
All available articles from » Daniel Vernet

The finance ministers of the eurozone yesterday fixed the rate at which Slovaks will exchange their korunas for euros at the beginning of next year: 30.126 korunas per euro. The liberal daily Sme comments: "Mum's birthday and credit card PIN numbers are up against stiff competition. The new number everyone will be learning off by heart is 30.126. It will be engraved on the nation's collective memory. ... The year of the founding of the state [1993] and the height of Mount Gerlach [the country's highest mountain at 2,655 metres] are examples of how even irregular numbers can become a symbol of national pride. ... There are few numbers people remember until the day they die, and even fewer are remembered by an entire generation. Since yesterday we have an example of such a number." (09/07/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Slovakia, » Europe
All available articles from » Lukáš Fila

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov has announced plans to stop shipping through Baltic ports by 2015 and instead use only Russian ports. The Latvian daily Lavijas Avize criticises the plans but says there is no point in panicking: "This just shows that Russia is once again using economic clout to achieve political aims. Russia will have to pay dearly for conducting all its shipping through its own ports. But Moscow has once again made it clear that it does not trust its neighbours and therefore we cannot trust Moscow. Germany and France managed to restore their political trust in each other after the war. Latvia and Russia have failed to do this so far. And statements like this only make it more difficult." (09/07/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Economic Policy, » Latvia, » Russia
All available articles from » Girts Zvirbulis

University graduates from Eastern Europe will in all probability be allowed to work in Germany without special permits from next year on. This is Berlin's only concession to relaxing its strict labour market access policy, which in all other respects will continue in force until 2011. The liberal daily Mlada fronta Dnes voices mixed feelings about the move: "The Germans will discriminate less against workers from the so-called new EU countries. This is a sensible move. ... Nonetheless, it is still rather half-hearted because it divides Europeans into different categories. ... And the problem goes deeper. On the one hand the political elite [in Germany] is supposedly wild with enthusiasm, but on the other it pulls back at the slightest sign of domestic pressure and clings on to fictitious national interests. ... The citizens, including those who do not possess a degree, are aware of this hypocrisy which has brought about the current EU crisis." (09/07/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Integration, » Labour market / Services, » Germany, » Eastern Europe
All available articles from » Martin Komárek

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced that in future he himself will appoint the president of the association of state television broadcasters. "Even some of the ministers of the French government are sceptical about the announcement. .... Sarkozy's strategy is simple. He wants to weaken state television and its 3,000 employees. The [private] channel TF1, owned by Martin Bouyguesa, a close friend of Sarkozy's, lost many viewers last year. By cutting the funding for state television he is helping his friends [at the private stations]. ... In a country in which there are already very close ties between politicians and the media, this change in state television is tantamount to an abuse of power, and France will draw ever closer to the same state of affairs as in Italy under media mogul Silvio Berlusconi." (09/07/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Media policy, » France
All available articles from » Laurent Hassid