Click here to read the article by Jean-Pierre Jouyet “How France intends to meet all those EU presidency expectations” ]]>
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Click here to read the reaction by Michael Hammer of the One World Trust
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Dmitry Medvedev was sworn in as Russia’s new President this week. Anxieties that a resurgent Russia could cut supplies of gas to Europe have provoked talk of another Cold War. But Andreas Goldthau, of the RAND Corporation, believes energy is useless to Moscow as a foreign policy instrument. (SPRING 2008)
“At the end of the day, the crucial issue in Europe’s energy supply picture is not Russian power politics but dry economics. There is a perceptible investment gap in the Russian gas sector that is likely to cause a supply gap for European households. The policy recommendation for Europe is therefore simple and straight forward: put a stop to all the philosophical debates about Russia’s gas weapon and instead initiate serious talks with Moscow on measures to stabilise production and prevent further irritations among the transit routes.”
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When it comes to a new enlargement round in eastern Europe, the EU can’t go forward and can’t go back writes Krzysztof Bobinski. (SPRING 2008)
In Ukraine, the EU’s failure to encourage the government in its European aspirations risks creating a growing disillusionment with the West. That would strengthen Russia’s position in Ukraine, where Moscow is constantly ready to point out that the country should return to its Slav roots and not flirt with a West that doesn’t want it.
In Belarus, should Lukashenko’s regime falter, then the democratic opposition would be strengthened by the promise of having the EU behind it. Otherwise, it is just as likely that Russia would step in and use its proxies to implement a more modern version of the authoritarianism that Lukashenko espouses.
This is what is at stake in the debate about the EU’s further enlargement into the post-Soviet east. The issue is whether western values are to take root in those countries that on the whole want to be integrated with “Europe”, or whether they will instead drift away into a grey area from which they will sooner or later challenge the values and democratic ways of the West.
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The economies of Central and South America offer huge opportunities for European business. But Carlo Secchi doubts whether the EU is doing enough to develop its relationship with the regionBy 2050 Brazil and Mexico will be among the world’s six leading economies. Does the European Union care? Perhaps, but almost certainly not enough. If its own enlargement is its most immediate concern, internationally it is India and China that are the hot topics. But looking over the horizon, is it Latin America that will be Europe’s next missed business opportunity?
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The bottom line is that the EU really should not, under the guise of countering unfair trade, restrict competitors from exploiting natural comparative advantages just because we cannot compete with them. When we do so we have to accept increased prices and thus lower welfare. And what will happen when our trade partners seek to even out our own comparative advantages? European companies could yet find it harder to get market access overseas, and then a vicious circle of protectionism would develop.
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A five point strategy for EU-Russia relations
The EU badly needs a new approach in its dealings with resurgent Russia, write Mark Leonard and Nicu Popescu. They set out the five broad elements of a fresh European strategy
SPRING 2008
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The reasons Europe has so disappointed Putin’s Russia
Relations between Europe and Russia, once so promising, have deteriorated badly. From Paris, veteran diplomat Jacques Andréani charts the rise of mutual distrust, much of it a reflection of European disunity over broader foreign policy issues
SPRING 2008