A five-point plan for Cameron to win an EU referendum

The politicians hardly mentioned Europe during the campaign, yet the most important consequence of Britain’s general election will be a referendum on EU membership. Prime Minister David Cameron plans to negotiate reforms to the EU and then hold an in-or-out referendum before the end of 2017. What does he have to do in order to win a referendum on keeping Britain in the club? What is he likely to ask for, in terms of reform? And what would be the impact of ‘Brexit’ on the rest of the EU? 



The voters defied opinion polls and delivered a shocking result: the centre-right Conservatives performed much more strongly than expected in England, the centrist and pro-EU Liberal Democrats lost most of their seats, and the Scottish National Party (SNP) won almost every seat north of the border. The anti-EU United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) won 13 per cent of the votes but only one seat. The centre-left Labour Party – which according to the final opinion polls had a good chance of forming a government – finished almost a hundred seats behind the Conservatives.

Developmental revolution or Bretton Woods revisited?

On July 15, 2014, the presidents of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa formally agreed to found the New Development Bank (NDB), a new multilateral development bank. Three months later, in October 2014, China announced the founding of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), to be established by the end of 2015. 

The launch of the NDB and AIIB have captured global attention and headlines and are generally considered emblematic of the rising strength of emerging countries and the parallel stagnation if not decline of the traditional western economic powers. The NDB and AIIB are seen by many as a direct challenge to the multilateral institutions of the post-war, Bretton Woods global financial order led by the World Bank, IMF and regional multilateral development banks.

Is Greek government right to claim divisions between IMF and Eurozone are harming negotiations?

The Greek government has warned that divisions between the IMF and Eurozone (its two main creditors) are becoming detrimental and holding up negotiations. Is this all just playing politics or does it have a point? Open Europe's Raoul Ruparel reviews all sides positions throughout the crisis.

Ακύρωσε δημοπρασία ομολόγων η Πολωνία - σε κλοιό πιέσεων τα ευρωπαϊκά ομόλογα

Το υπουργείο Οικονομικών της Πολωνίας ανακοίνωσε σήμερα ότι αποφάσισε να εγκαταλείψει το σχέδιο του να διαθέσει 3 δισ. με 5 δισ. ζλότι ($835,2 εκατ. με $1,39 δισ.) σε ομόλογα λήξης το 2017, 2020 και 2024 εν μέσω του παγκόσμιου selloff στις αγορές ομολόγων. 



Τα κρατικά ομόλογα παραμένουν και σήμερα σε κλοιό ρευστοποιήσεων σε μια απότομη αναστροφή του κλίματος που ακολούθησε την απόφαση της Ευρωπαϊκής Κεντρικής Τράπεζας να δρομολογήσει ένα πρόγραμμα ποσοτικής χαλάρωσης, συνολικού ύψους 1,1 τρισ. ευρώ. Η απόφαση της ΕΚΤ οδήγησε σε ράλι τις τιμές πιέζοντας τις αποδόσεις σε νέα ιστορικά χαμηλά. 

Η βόμβα του Μπλερ: Πώς η αποστασιοποίηση της Σκωτίας ανατίναξε τις βρετανικές βουλευτικές εκλογές

Μια προεκλογική αφίσα του Σκωτσέζικου Εθνικού Κόμματος που απεικονίζει την αρχηγό του, Nicola Sturgeon, στην Σκωτία, στις 4 Μαΐου του 2015. Cathal McNaughton / REUTERS

Το 1998, το Βρετανικό Κοινοβούλιο εκπλήρωσε μια προεκλογική υπόσχεση που έκανε ο τότε πρωθυπουργός του Εργατικού Κόμματος, Τόνι Μπλερ, το 1997 και πέρασε το Νομοσχέδιο της Σκωτίας, ανοίγοντας τον δρόμο για να εκλέξει η Σκωτία το δικό της νομοθετικό σώμα. Το 1999, σχεδόν 300 χρόνια μετά την απορρόφηση των παλιών «Κτημάτων της Σκωτίας» από το παλάτι του Γουέστμινστερ, ένα ανεξάρτητο νομοθετικό σώμα επέστρεψε στο Εδιμβούργο. Για τα επόμενα 15 χρόνια, η κυβέρνηση της Σκωτίας και το Κοινοβούλιο επικεντρώθηκαν στις λεπτομέρειες της οικοδόμησης θεσμών και της διακυβέρνησης. Στην συνέχεια, τον Σεπτέμβριο του 2014, η Σκωτία εξερράγη. Το κυβερνών Εθνικό Κόμμα της Σκωτίας (SNP) προήδρευσε σε δημοψήφισμα για την εθνική ανεξαρτησία που έστειλε κύματα σοκ σε ολόκληρο το Ηνωμένο Βασίλειο.

How British Elections Represent the State of Europe

The United Kingdom is going to the polls on Thursday. Elections electrify the countries in which they are held, but in most cases they make little difference. In this case, the election is a bit more important. Whether Labour or the Tories win makes some difference, but not all that much. What makes this election significant is that in Scotland, 45 percent of the public voted recently to leave the United Kingdom. This has been dismissed as an oddity by all well-grounded observers. However, for unsophisticated viewers like myself, the fact that 45 percent of Scotland was prepared to secede was an extraordinary event.

Germany’s Nuclear Cutback Is Darkening European Skies

Germany’s influence in Europe is unquestionable, but it appears that some of its neighbors may be adversely affected by recent German decisions; and Greece is not the neighbor in question here. France has been reporting heavy levels of air pollution which authorities in the country are blaming on diesel cars there. But the real culprit may in fact be the renewed German penchant for coal power.

Up until a few years ago, Germany, along with France, was at the forefront of nuclear power use. But after the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011, the Germans were quick to begin phasing out nuclear power. In some countries, phasing out nuclear power would be easy, but in 2011, Germany obtained 25% of its power from nuclear sources. This nuclear power generated no carbon dioxide emissions of course, and little in the way of other forms of pollution. But after starting the phase out of nuclear power, Germany still needed to find a source of replacement power.

New Hope for Children in Ongoing Central African Republic Conflict

Amid reports that more than 700 women and children were freed from Boko Haram in recent weeks, the United Nations has more good news from a forgotten conflict in nearby Central African Republic (CAR). Eight opposing militias there have signed a deal to release all children affiliated with the groups.

The deal, signed Tuesday during an ongoing weeklong reconciliation conference in the capital city of Bangui, offers amnesty and medical treatment to the some 10,000 children who were conscripted against their will to fight for the groups or kept hostage as sex slaves and menial laborers.

The evil of two lessers

Britain faces some major challenges. The recovery is unbalanced, and productivity growth has been weak. Poor infrastructure, patchy skills and constrained housing supply are holding back the economy. The Union itself is in danger, with the rise of the Scottish National Party. And relations with the EU and the US are at a low point. Yet neither the Conservative party nor Labour has a compelling strategy for tackling Britain’s problems.

There are only two possible governments after Britain’s general election on Thursday: a minority government led by the Conservatives or one led by Labour. Neither main party will command a majority at Westminster, even in coalition with the Liberal Democrats. Both have ruled out going into coalition with the Scottish National Party (SNP), which will be the third largest parliamentary force following the election.

Israeli soldiers cast doubt on legality of Gaza military tactics

Testimonies provided by more than 60 Israeli soldiers who fought in last summer’s war in Gaza have raised serious questions over whether Israel’s tactics breached its obligations under international law to distinguish and protect civilians.


Israeli soldier testimony: ‘Most of our shooting was random... we didn’t think about civilian casualties’ – video

The claims – collected by the human rights group Breaking the Silence – are contained in dozens of interviews with Israeli combatants, as well as with soldiers who served in command centres and attack rooms, a quarter of them officers up to the rank of major.