Put the blame on Obelix

The Russian painter Andrei Budaev is known for his unique way of capturing actuality on canvas.

On this painting, German Chancellor Merkel is depicted as mistress. On the left, the Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras bows in shadow. In front of her, French President Francois Holland gazes in terror, while Christine Lagarde is reaching out as a beggar.

The table shows the figures of Herman van Rompuy, Jose Manuel Barroso, Mariano Rajoy and Mario Draghi towards whom mistress Merkel seems to be indifferent. She is focusing her gaze solely on Vladimir Putin and Gerard Depardieu, the famous Obelix, who fled France to avoid the new tax reforms.

United in adversity

The EU' motto used to be 'United in diversity'. Well united we are no more.

The connective tissue that used to bind Europeans together was the belief that the EU is the path to a more prosperous life.

Since the beginning of the crisis though, citizens' trust in the EU has been progressively declining, especially amongst those in crisis ridden countries.

In a time when the formation of a European identity is still a goal, the loss of trust may be the biggest systemic threat that EU officials may have yet to bailout.

 We are in need of a new European dream.

We are in need of a new message that spans across the continent and binds people together.

We may as well start by becoming 'United in adversity'.

5 Ideas for a younger Europe

What would you say to European lawmakers if you had the chance?

Last week the President of the European Parliament, Mr Martin Schulz said in an interview that  ‘Europe has spent hundreds of billions of euros rescuing its banks, but may have lost an entire generation of young people in the process’.

Most of us, especially those originating from PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain), have seen our lives changing dramatically since the beginning of the crisis. In Greece and Spain, one in every two young people under 25 is unemployed, regardless of their educational background. Public health and education have seen their budgets plunge, sacrificing quality over debt.

What are the changes that need to take place on a European level in order to see our lives improve on a local level?

The project ‘5 ideas for a younger Europe’ was a joint-initiative of the First Vice-President of the European Parliament, Gianni Pitella and the Vice-President of the European Economic and Social Committee, Anna Maria Darmanin.

Since October 2011 the two Vice-Presidents visited 11 universities in 8 countries. Their aim was to meet with communication and political science students to hear their fears, hopes and concerns regarding the future of the European Union. It is through discussing with these young people that the five ideas for a younger Europe were born.

Tomorrow at 14.30 CET I will have the pleasure to coordinate the final event of this project, where young Europeans will have yet again the chance to get their voices heard.

If you want to contribute to the improvement of these five ideas, please join us tomorrow, 18.03.2013 at EESC or online.

The event will be live streamed and you will also have the chance to leave your comment on Debating Europe’s platform.

See you soon!

Greece's nuclear disaster

You can not really see it, touch it, hear it, let alone smell it. Yet, it is there and it is destructive beyond imagination.

Since its first appearance, the government has issued a series of safety protection measures. Two years later, citizens have grown sick of them, with some going as far as defying them.

Numerous families have made a conscious decision to continue inhabiting the polluted area. Many others have fled the scene, never to return again.

Nevertheless, all of them seem to be doomed having to live with the haunting dilemma “Have I made the right decision or not?”. Experts say that the impact of the disaster is to be fully understood in twenty to thirty years time.

Yet, one thing is definite. Suicidal and depression rates in the area have increased dramatically in the last couple of years.  

“This is not the life I hoped for”, “Why did this happen to me?” …

Last week I had the chance to watch the documentary “Welcome to Fukushima”  in the European Parliament on the second anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The Belgian film maker, Alain de Halleux traveled to Japan to capture the stories of families from polluted Minamisoma who are facing the decision to stay or leave.

Interestingly enough, the suffering of the Japanese people bares a striking resemblance to the suffering of the crisis ridden Greeks.

All symptoms, agonies and reactions pictured on the film could have well belonged to a documentary shedding light on the daily lives of Greeks in crisis.

Financial crisis or nuclear disaster, people's suffering is the same wherever you go.