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January 4th, 2013

Brussels blog round-up for 29 December – 4 January: guaranteeing jobs for the unemployed, an uncertain future for Václav Klaus, and should academics make blogging their New Year’s resolution?

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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Blog Team

January 4th, 2013

Brussels blog round-up for 29 December – 4 January: guaranteeing jobs for the unemployed, an uncertain future for Václav Klaus, and should academics make blogging their New Year’s resolution?

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Stuart A Brown takes a look at the week in Brussels blogging.

The EU centre

Open Europe starts the new year by discussing a recent poll, courtesy of the German Council on Foreign Relations, on German attitudes to Britain’s membership of the EU. According to the poll, 64 per cent of Germans were in favour of the UK maintaining its EU membership, with only 22 per cent against. On the opposite side of the debate, Thomas Bignal at Café Babel assesses the link between ‘Britishness’ and Euroscepticism.

Meanwhile Au Café de l’Europe asks whether the Schengen Agreement and co-ordination on border policies through the EU’s institutions are making traditional European borders an outdated concept.

EU Foreign Policy and the European Neighbourhood

Credit: No Lands Too Foreign, CC BY 2.0

Micaela Finkielsztoyn at the New Federalist takes stock of recent developments in EU-China relations. She writes that the EU should “stop regarding China as a threat and start regarding her as an opportunity”.

In the European neighbourhood, Verfassungsblog (via OpenDemocracy) has a detailed study of what the result of the Egyptian constitutional referendum is likely to mean for the future of the country. The article concludes that despite the referendum, Egypt’s constitutional reform process is far from over.

Elsewhere the European Council on Foreign Relations makes ten (somewhat gloomy) predictions on what 2013 holds for European foreign affairs.

The Eurozone Crisis

The Centre for European Reform looks at the issue of budget deficits in the eurozone. The article argues that it is misleading to draw too positive a conclusion from the fact that the eurozone has averaged a budget deficit much lower than the US and the UK over the last four years.

Chris Dillow at Stumbling and Mumbling assesses the notion of guaranteeing jobs for the long-term unemployed. Taking issue with a statement made today by the Labour Party in the UK, he argues that there is little merit in such a policy if it comes at the expense of the short-term unemployed, or simply subsidises private companies to “do what they would have done anyway”.

Across Europe

Sean Hanley, writing at Dr Sean’s Diary, discusses the future of Czech Republic President Václav Klaus. His second term as President is due to end in March of this year and there are few obvious political positions for him to head to next.

On a broader topic, Ronny Patz at Polscieu argues that the dominance of English in the European blogosphere has a negative effect on European debates.

And Finally…

Simon Wren-Lewis, Professor of Economics at Oxford University, writes on the merits of academic blogging. Reflecting on his first full year as a blogger, he tackles some of the main worries which might be holding back other academics from getting started.

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Note:  This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of EUROPP – European Politics and Policy, nor of the London School of Economics.

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