The EUROPP team take a look at the week in Brussels blogging

The EU centre and the crisis

This week the European Commission was issued a ‘yellow card’ by national parliaments over its proposal for a European Public Prosecutor Office. Open Europe write that the decision illustrates the depth of feeling against EU centralisation among national parliaments, and proves that they are capable of agreeing to joint-positions against Commission proposals.

Simon Wren-Lewis at Mainly Macro writes on the cost of austerity in European countries. The article includes a table showing the estimated cost, as a percentage of GDP, of the fiscal consolidation measures undertaken in the Eurozone between 2011 and 2013.

Elsewhere, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta has an article at Policy Network on European solidarity during the Eurozone crisis. He argues that a genuine economic and monetary union will also require some degree of ‘risk sharing’.

Across Europe

Following the Greek government’s crack-down on the country’s Golden Dawn party, Jan-Werner Mueller writes at Project Syndicate on whether banning extremist parties is justified. He argues that banning parties does not have to mean silencing citizens, and concerns should still be heard and debated.

Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, also contributes a piece to Project Syndicate. He discusses the contribution of Poland’s first post-communist Prime Minister, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, who died earlier this week.

Meanwhile, Simon Tilford at the Centre for European Reform assesses the idea that there is a regulatory burden on the UK from EU regulations. He makes the case that the UK is held back more by its own business culture than it is by the EU.

The European neighbourhood

Karl-Heinz Kamp writes at the Strategic Europe blog that it will be difficult for the EU and NATO to foster any meaningful co-operation in the short-term, despite talk of a ‘strategic partnership’ between the two organisations.

On a more philosophical level, Matt Finucane at the e-International Relations blog asks whether war is a product of human nature. He argues that one of the defining facets of human nature is ‘blindness to the intentions of others’, which combined with competition over resources often leads to war.

And finally…

Rachel Gibson at the Manchester Policy Blogs takes a look at the effectiveness of social media as a tool for encouraging citizens to vote.

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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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