LSE - Small Logo
LSE - Small Logo

Blog Admin

December 30th, 2015

Our top 5 interviews of 2015

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Blog Admin

December 30th, 2015

Our top 5 interviews of 2015

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

To mark the end of the year we’ve compiled the top five EUROPP interviews from the last year – measured by visits.

Macedonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Poposki with EUROPP blog editors Stuart Brown and Tena Prelec (Credits: Jakub Krupa / LSEE)

[separator top=”40″ style=”none”] [title size=”2″]1. Phillip Legrain[/title]

“The Eurozone has become a glorified debtors’ prison”

With no lasting solution yet found for dealing with Greek debt, and economies in the Eurozone continuing to suffer from weak growth, how can Europe finally solve the problems brought on by the financial crisis? In an interview with EUROPP’s editor Stuart Brown, Philippe Legrain discusses the policy failures at the root of the crisis, the need to stimulate demand in Eurozone economies, and why the German focus on cutting wages to improve competitiveness is simply exacerbating existing problems.

[separator top=”40″ style=”none”] [title size=”2″]2. Tito Boeri[/title]

“We don’t just need a welfare state in Europe, we also need a welfare union”

Are Europe’s welfare states fit to meet the demands brought on by the financial crisis? In an interview with EUROPP’s Managing Editor Stuart Brown, Tito Boeri discusses the need for a ‘stress test’ of the European welfare state, why citizens in southern European countries have been much more susceptible to poverty during the crisis, and the role that EU cooperation should play in providing a more effective safety net for European citizens.

[separator top=”40″ style=”none”] [title size=”2″]3. Catherine de Vries[/title]

“The left is now split over whether they oppose EU policies or what the EU stands for overall”

How has opposition to the European Union changed in light of the Greek debt crisis, the UK’s planned referendum on EU membership, and the migration crisis in the Mediterranean? In an interview with EUROPP’s editor Stuart Brown, Catherine de Vries discusses the impact the UK’s referendum might have on the continent, the nature of left-wing Euroscepticism, and why immigration remains the most important issue for David Cameron in his efforts to reach a deal on EU reform.

[separator top=”40″ style=”none”] [title size=”2″]4. Fatmir Besimi[/title]

“Macedonia’s political scandals are taking the country in the opposite direction of where it needs to go”

Macedonia’s government has been accused by opposition politicians of operating an illegal wire-tapping programme, generating a major scandal. In an interview with LSEE’s Tena Prelec, Macedonia’s Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Affairs, Fatmir Besimi, discusses the scandal, recent protests over education reforms, and efforts to increase media freedom in the country.

[separator top=”40″ style=”none”] [title size=”2″]5. Robert Cooper[/title]

“The Brussels Agreement between Serbia and Kosovo was based on conversation, not on EU pressure”

In 2015, the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia met again to resume the dialogue which produced an agreement on normalising relations in 2013. In an interview with LSEE’s Joanna Hanson, Sir Robert Cooper, one of the lead EU negotiators in the process, discusses the logic behind the talks, his surprise at the 2013 agreement, and the prospects for reaching true normalisation between both parties.

Please read our comments policy before commenting.

Note: Interviews give the views of the interviewees, and not the position of EUROPP – European Politics and Policy, nor of the London School of Economics.

Shortened URL for this post:

About the author

Blog Admin

Posted In: Catherine E. de Vries | Fatmir Besimi | Joanna Hanson | Philippe Legrain | Politics | Sir Robert Cooper | Stuart A Brown | Tena Prelec | Tito Boeri

Leave a Reply