EU

Everything that’s wrong with Europe, it was on display in Canberra last week. Economic questions are treated as political ones; high hopes have to pass as strategies; utopias are considered realities. And if you harbour any doubts about whether all of this makes sense you better keep them to yourself. For otherwise you leave the sphere of what is officially sanctioned as respectable and politically correct politics. […]

As the whole world worried about a potential Greek collapse, another European country experienced two actual bank failures. And no, they did not happen in Portugal, Spain or Italy. In fact, the failures didn’t even occur in the eurozone. The country in question is Denmark. […]

If there has ever been a country routinely punching above its weight it is Luxembourg. And if there has ever been a politician with an influence grossly disproportionate to his country’s power, it is Luxembourg’s interminable prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker. […]

When the European Union presents its economic forecasts, it often does not receive much public attention. Granted, one could argue that with the head of the IMF spending his week in a New York jail cell it’s understandable.

However, the EU’s latest figures are so extraordinary they should have generated more headlines. Not only do they demonstrate that Europe’s debt crisis is far from over. They are also a damning indictment of Europe’s crisis management so far. […]

have always wondered why SBS keeps broadcasting the Eurovision song contest year after year. How would any sane person survive a whole evening watching weirdly dressed Ukrainian folk singers, Moldovan punk rockers or Israeli transvestites? Who cares for cringeworthy presenters in glitter suits that were not even fashionable when they were invented? And I haven’t even mentioned the absurdly tedious scoring system. […]

The evil spirits unleashed by the euro apprentices are not just a disaster for the continent’s economy. They have the potential to damage and weaken the political systems in many of its countries. There is no master wizard to stop this looming catastrophe; there is not even a master plan. […]

The European rescue package will do little to make Portugal more attractive to its young generation. They only have to watch the news from Greece to see their own future. Overly indebted, unable to fund itself at reasonable interest rates in capital markets, the government will become dependent on funds from the European rescue funds almost indefinitely. […]

Icelanders are a tough people. No one turns catastrophes into opportunities as well as the Viking descendants. Instead of seeking foreign help with their country’s financial disaster, Icelanders are turning their backs on the EU. […]