The Economist: Charlemagne's notebook

What the EU's new leaders tell us about Europe

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:19:55 +0000

Please make the world go away

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} SO, it seems the people of the European Union—or at least their leaders—want to live in an inward-looking fortress, not an outward looking global power. And they want Britain—one of only two countries with any ambitions to project military power across long distances—to help build a defence and security policy for that fortress. That is the message I extract from the decision, just announced tonight by British officials, that the European socialists have endorsed the proposal by Gordon Brown to nominate Baroness Cathy Ashton (currently the

Civility

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:32:58 +0000

An operational note

THIS posting is a brief follow up to my call for civility, earlier this week. This blog is intended to be a place of civilised debate, and to a really cheering degree, that is what it is. That is thanks to you, the readers: be assured that I read all your comments, and take them seriously.Your arguments are also welcome, regardless of whether they support or oppose the views expressed by this blog and The Economist. Indeed, we have taken a conscious decision to moderate very lightly, leaving in place comments even when they contain factual inaccuracies, or have misrepresented arguments published by The Economist in print and online. A lively political debate remains our aim. As a journalist who

The EU top jobs race turns nasty

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:11:35 +0000

The Swedish search process comes in for stick

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} WE ARE now less than 24 hours from the summit that will choose new leaders for the EU. To my surprise, a dominant mood in this final stretch is one of hostility towards the Swedish presidency and specifically, the Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. If the briefing, which comes from several EU governments, were just sniping about incompetence, I would not be so surprised: every rotating presidency is criticised before every big summit, because everything always looks like a mess before every crunch meeting of the

Europe's global credibility in the balance

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:02:16 +0000

Just how pathetic are we?

TWO days from the summit that should choose the European Union’s most senior representatives to the outside world, it is far from clear that most EU governments want to think, hard, about the outside world at all. In 48 hours from now we could be about to anoint a Van Rompuy-D’Alema ticket, a Schüssel-Diamantopoulou slate, or a Balkenende-Plassnik team. At which point an awful lot of people will turn around and say: a decade of institutional wrangling for that?To a growing extent, I feel it is a shame that the discussion about global ambition has become bogged down in a discussion about the only world leader on the list of potential candidates, ie, Tony Blair. The fact that people have

Just what the G20 needs: more Europeans

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:47:35 +0000

A Lisbon headache emerges

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} THE ink is barely dry on the final signature of ratification, but every day seems to reveal a new headache caused by the Lisbon Treaty. This is not a cheap shot: the doubts are rife even among Brussels officials who (unlike this newspaper) believe that on balance the treaty will make the EU far more effective. Try this one for size: who, under Lisbon, will represent the EU at future summits of the G20? Talk to non-European governments in the G20, and they have two big

A return to civility

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:55:00 +0000

A gentle reminder from the barman

THERE is a lot of shouting on the internet, this website does not wish to host more of it. Some time ago, I wrote that this blog was an experiment: if we had a model it was to be a sort of European coffee house, where passing readers might find modest ideas and bits of information to prompt further thought, like a shot of caffeine during a long day. If readers cared to stay awhile, sink into an armchair and offer their comments to fellow patrons: well, that is all part of café life too. But, I wrote back in March, coffee house customers who shout their opinions rarely gain a larger audience for their thoughts. Instead, other customers may

A free market and open borders: Europe's USP

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:28:12 +0000

Liberalism makes Europeans count in the world

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} THIS week’s print column looks at the extreme jumpiness of senior EU policy types when it comes to preserving the single market when, as they see it, the consent of the European public for liberalisation is near the point of collapse. I hope the column conveys the sense of doominess that there is out there, but if any doubt remains, take it from me, the mood in Brussels is grim. Behind closed doors, at private dinners, off the record interviews and the like, people at the

The EU top jobs race should be secretive and elitist

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:04:31 +0000

Thank goodness Fredrik Reinfeldt is in charge

FREDRIK Reinfeldt, the Swedish prime minister, comes across as an unusually sensible man, who says lots of sensible things. His latest contribution to the worldwide struggle against piffle, nonsense and political hot air came yesterday, when he gave a press conference in Brussels to discuss the hunt for people to fill EU top jobs, in his capacity as holder of the rotating presidency of the EU (the last under pre-Lisbon rules).Now, lots of Euro-types have been writing recently that it is a disgrace that the hunt for a new president of the European Council and for a new foreign policy supremo is being carried on in such secrecy, at the level of heads of state and government. I have lost

Immigration: Europe's dark past

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:15:28 +0000

The guest workers who found Europe a tough host

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} BORING, mild-mannered Europe may be better equipped to deal with integrating Muslims than it is given credit for. That is the persuasively-argued case made by Anne Applebaum, the historian and commentator, in a review for the New Republic of Christopher Caldwell’s book, Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West. Ms Applebaum focusses on the book's argument that a post-war European squeamishness about promoting national identity got in the way of serious attempts to integrate guest workers. I share Ms Applebaum’s hunch that

Miliband "definitely" out of High Rep race

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:41:45 +0000

A denial causes a Euro-kerfuffle

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} DAVID MILIBAND, according to several European socialist leaders, has “definitively” refused to put himself forwards for the post of European Union foreign policy chief, or High Representative, just created by the Lisbon Treaty. Really? Or has his routine denial of interest simply been over-interpreted? [see update below]The British foreign secretary is supposed to have ruled himself out of the job in a conversation with Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, the head of the Party of European Socialists, the umbrella body for centre-left parties in Europe, on Sunday. Word

The pity of Herman Van Rompuy

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:31:18 +0000

Why British Eurosceptics are rooting for Belgium's prime minister

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} I HAVE a guest opinion piece in the Flemish newspaper, De Standaard, this weekend. They asked me to offer a British view of Herman Van Rompuy, the Belgian prime minister who is reportedly a frontrunner in the race to become the first President of the European Council. Here is the piece, translated into Dutch, in the Standaard’s weekend edition. Here below is the original: IF Herman Van Rompuy fails to become President of the European Council later this month, he will still have earned himself a

Wearing a poppy, being misunderstood

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:01:40 +0000

Remembrance without jingoism

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} JUST NOW, I am wearing a red paper poppy in my lapel, a few days ahead of Armistice Day, the November 11th commemoration of the end of the first world war. Living in Belgium, and travelling round the continent for work, I have been a bit taken aback to find out how few non-British people know what the poppy is for: all the more because it is a symbol derived from the wild poppies that sprang up on the battlefields of Flanders after the ground was

Why have the French gone nuclear with the Tories?

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:32:57 +0000

A French minister feeds Tory hatred of Europe. Why?

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} SO, why exactly did France’s Europe minister go nuclear with the British Tories this morning? There is no doubt that people in Berlin, Paris and other capitals are deeply frustrated with what they see as the Tories’ refusal to engage in normal dialogue about how to make Europe work for Britain and other member nations. In private, people shake their heads and talk about madness and deafness to reason. But for all that, the astonishing ferocity of comments by Pierre Lellouche to the Guardian newspaper is

The end is nigh, we plan to do nothing about it

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:30:38 +0000

And politicians wonder where cynicism comes from

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} SO, Vaclav Klaus signed the Lisbon Treaty in the end, as has been predictable for a while. He wore a black suit and a funereal black tie, and talked of the need to keep fighting. He also said "the Czech Republic will cease to be a sovereign state" after the Treaty comes into effect. Really? Does he really believe that he will no longer be the head of a sovereign state after the treaty comes into force, probably on December 1st? Will he leave Prague Castle,

Preparing for a "post-American Europe"

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:27:35 +0000

That sounds less comforting, the further east you go

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} THERE is no shortage of gloomy commentary about America’s ties with the European Union, just now. But a new paper by the European Council on Foreign Relations, timed to coincide with the latest EU-US summit, is still well worth a look for the precision with which it fillets the blend of deference, sycophancy, self-delusion and condescension with which European politicians view America (I think that’s the full list). The paper centres on a clever and important thought, namely that America is well underway with its analysis