euro|topics - Adelheid Wölfl

21/11/2008

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Wölfl, Adelheid

3 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Der Standard - Austria | 03/07/2008

Cyprus' endangered reunification

The daily newspaper Der Standard discusses Turkey's role in the unresolved question of Cyprus: "With the waning hope of EU membership prompted by the anti-Turkish stance of certain European states - led by France, but also Austria - Turkey is increasingly losing its motivation to make concessions on Cyprus. Certainly, Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government did initially bring new energy to the negotiating table, however the nationalists now have the upper hand. ... And for its part the EU has nothing more to tempt either side to a compromise, after the Greek Cypriots were allowed to join even in the absence of reunification. The old battle-axes in the Greek Cypriot leadership may have been replaced, but the differing historical narratives continue to stand like walls between the south and the north."

Der Standard - Austria | 10/04/2008

EU must crank up pressure on Bulgaria in battle against the Mafia

The murder of crime-novel writer and former Mafia member Georgi Stoev has drawn attention to the shady dealings between the Bulgarian interior ministry and the Mafia. According to Adelheid Wölfl, the Bulgarian judiciary never showed any interest in Stoev's repeated offers to give evidence in court as a witness for the prosecution. "Interior Minister Rumen Petkov, who met in public with two members of the Mafia, is at the centre of the affair. However the socialist Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev doesn't have the courage to fire Petkov. He has given Petkov ten days to purge his ministry, but the powerful minister has the upper hand because without his support, the party could split up. The European Commission has now finally said harsh words about the Mafia's involvement in Sofia. It fears not only that EU funding could be finding its way into murky waters, but also that Bulgarian politicians involved in security matters could leak sensitive information to the Mafia. It will be best for Bulgaria if the pressure from Brussels continues and forces Petkov's resignation."

Der Standard - Austria | 02/03/2007

Has the EU Fundamental Rights Agency come at the wrong time?

The EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) was inaugurated yesterday in Vienna. Critics complain that the institution is only allowed to record data and that it has too few powers for the necessary leverage to ensure that member states respect fundamental rights. Adelheid Wölfi gives a possible explanation: "It's clumsy to create an institution before its field of responsibility has been fully defined and when there has been a lack of political cooperation from the very start. The delay and the dispute about the creation of the fundamental rights agency in Vienna are also a result of the failure of the EU constitution after the referenda in France and the Netherlands. This is because the fundamental rights charter on which the agency's work is based would only have become legally binding through the enactment of the EU constitution. It seems absurd that it's the charter that would have made social rights legally enforceable for the first time. This is precisely what opponents of the constitution wanted. The agency would certainly have had greater backing if the constitution project had gone ahead."

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