Search and Rescue in the EU

Photo by Neil Mark Thomas on Unsplash MEPs say they want to “underline” that the EU border force Frontex could do more to increase the EU and member states’ capacity to carry out search and rescue operations. It could do this, they say, by investing in appropriate assets for such operations.  Regarding the shipwreck off the coast of…

MEPs Call for “De-Oligarchisation” in Moldova

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Photo by Sasha Pleshco on Unsplash  MEPs want the EU to push for accession talks with Moldova. In a parliamentary resolution, MEPs have voted to reaffirm their commitment to Moldova’s future EU membership and want accession talks with Chişinău to launch before the end of the year. The Moldovan government has, MEPs say, “demonstrated its determination and ability”…

Renewed Momentum for Balkan Enlargement

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Photo by Despina Galani on Unsplash The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has just held the 9th edition of the Western Balkans Civil Society Forum on (19-20 October). It comes  a few weeks ahead of the European Commission’s Enlargement Package and the New Growth Plan.  The Forum signalled a renewed momentum for the region to join the…

Overseas Constituencies for UK Voters?

New Europeans

The interests of Britons living abroad would be better represented by constituencies representing their region of the world. That is one of the messages to emerge from campaigners who are pressing for the creation of overseas constituencies The reason is that this is where people are likely to have aligned interests and similar issues around matters such…

Brexit Back to the Future

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Photo by Andy Newton on Unsplash   In 2020 the UK finally left the EU, three years after the referendum and nearly fifty years since it joined what was then called the European Economic Community.  Nigel Farage confidently forecast that other Member States would soon follow suit, and that “after Brexit, the EU will no longer exist”. As…

Report confirms economic and social impact for Romania of Gabriel Popoviciu’s Băneasa development

Băneasa

The positive economic and social impact of Gabriel Popoviciu’s urban development initiative in Northern Bucharest has been confirmed by a recent assessment spanning the 2005-2022 period. The Băneasa project is one of largest urban development projects in Europe of its time. Northern Bucharest was the natural location choice, due to it already being a fast…

Violence Against Roma in Italy

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Photo by Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash Concern has been voiced after a Roma camp has come under suspected far-right attack. The incident comes in the light of increasing social tensions in Italy, A Molotov bomb was  reportedly thrown from a slowly moving Fiat Punto that drove past the Sinti village in San Giorgio a Colonica a Prato near Florence, in Italy.    The bomb…

University Students Feel the Pinch

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Photo by Dollar Gill on Unsplash New data reveals that more than seven in 10 (71%) university students in the UK in 2023 hold part-time jobs, compared to six in 10 (60%) former students.  As a result, students in the UK are managing to save an average of £399 of their annual loan for the future, with more than…

Support for Ukraine

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Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash Support for Ukraine dominated discussions of local and regional leaders from across the EU when they met in the European Capital of Culture on 18-19 September. There were strong calls for an increase in the EU’s long-term funding for Ukraine to enable its reconstruction, strengthen its decentralisation process and support it along its…