This week, the European press mainly focused on the composition of the new European Commission under the auspices of President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker, but also on the new duo to get the EU’s top jobs: Donald Tusk, appointed president of the European Council, and Federica Mogherini, appointed as the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, in short the EU’s foreign minister.
We also highlight a Greek commentary which points out the big challenges faced by the EU and suggestions in a Croatian newspaper that the EU might be facing another recession.
Croatia: EU’s rise out of the difficult situation was just an illusion (Jutarnij List)
On its website, the Croatian newspaper Jutarnij List commented on the economic challenges facedby the EU – and concluded that the EU might be heading into another recession.
After the EU summit on August 30, the EU member states announced in a joint statement that their economic data confirmed that the recovery, particularly in the eurozone, is weak, inflation is very low, and that unemployment is unacceptably high.
The political comment on Jutarnij List’s interprets this statement as a political recognition at the highest European level of the problems which economic analysts have been warning about for a while: Europe threatens to sink into another economic crisis and recession.
According to the author, the fear about the EU returning to recession is mainly a result of the surprising drop in Germany’s GDP in the second quarter of this year, but also because of the decline in Italy’s economic outlook and the stagnation of the French economy. Considering the fact that these three countries together represent over two thirds of the eurozone economy, it’s no surprise that the negative results published in August are causing so much fear, explains Jutarnij List.
Read the entire article in Croatian - recommended by the Croatian Euranet Plus partner station HRT Radio.
Poland: Many countries competed for the position of the head of the European Council (Rzeczpospolita)
Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita published an interview with Professor Roman Kuźniar, presidential advisor on international affairs, who said that the appointment of Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, as the president of the European Council will have a very positive impact on Poland’s position in the EU.
Although many commentators think that this seat won’t give him much power, Kuźniar disagrees and claims that the head of the European Council plays an extremely important and influential role. He also added that with this new seat, Poland will be at the very heart of the decision-making processes within the EU, which will increase Poland’s impact on the course Europe will take.
In Kuźniar’s opinion, Poland was awarded the seat because of the strong pro-European nature of its foreign policy.
Read the entire article in Polish - recommended by the Polish Euranet Plus partner station Polskie Radio.
Slovenia: New EU couple Tusk and Mogherini – the perfect couple (Večer)
On its website the Slovenian newspaper Večer reports about the new couple at the top of the EU institutions, Poland’s Donald Tusk, appointed as president of the European Council, and Italy’s Federica Mogherini, appointed as the EU’s foreign affairs chief.
The article points out why they complement each other: Tusk is a member of a centre-right political party, while Mogherini is a member of a centre-left party. The Pole comes from a new member state of the EU, the Italian from a southern and founding member state. Tusk is a man, Mogherini a woman. Judging from these perspectives, Tusk and Mogherini form a perfect couple.
The author added that the appointment of Tusk was a much-needed victory in Brussels, especially for the prime minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron. While Cameron failed with the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker as new European Commission president (after all, he voted against Juncker), it became clear quite soon that he would be given final say in the choice of the candidate to head the European Council. He was able to push through Tusk as the candidate whom he believed would be best suited to accomplish the British plans for EU reform.
Read the entire article in Slovenian - recommended by the Slovenian Euranet Plus partner station RTV SLO.
Italy: Tusk and Mogherini at the European summits (Il Sole 24 Ore)
This week the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore also focused on Donald Tusk and Federica Mogherini, but mainly stressed their diverging positions during the Ukrainian crisis.
Poland adopted a very hard, even aggressive attitude towards Moscow, accusing it of interfering in Ukraine’s internal affairs. Italy, on the other hand, tried to cool things down by following the diplomatic path as far as possible.
The newspaper stressed that Tusk’s appointment is a signal that Poland, the largest Eastern European country that shares borders with Russia, could no longer be ignored, not only from an economic point of view, but also from a political perspective.
The article reminded its readers how long the Eastern Europe member states have been asking to be represented at the top of the European institutions – and that intriguingly Tusk comes from a country not belonging to the eurozone, but which it is intent on joining.
Read the entire article in Italian – recommended by the Italian Euranet Plus partner station Radio 24 II Sole.
Greece: Middle East, Ukraine – and in the middle Europe (Kathimerini)
The Greek newspaper Kathimerini this week summarised the challenges the EU faces. The author argued that in addition to the ongoing financial crisis in the EU since 2008, EU leaders will now also have to worry about security issues and migration as the crisis in Ukraine, the Middle East and West Africa continue to develop.
Kathimerini suggested that not the consequences of all of these problems are important, but the causes. For instance, the West, namely the United States and the major European countries, are not blameless for the events happening in the Middle East.
Kathimerini’s analyst, Angel Stakos, added that first of all the EU has to find a way to deal with these challenges itself, by thinking foremost in terms on European interests, and not by directly searching for the requirements necessary to garner support from other important actors on the international stage.
Concerning the huge number of illegal immigrants, especially in southern Europe – in Italy, Greece, Malta and Spain – Stakos stressed that the problem is not just economical, but also social and political.
Read the entire article in Greek – recommended by the Greek Euranet Plus partner station Skaï Radio.
Latvia: Dombrovski claims his chances of getting an influential portfolio in the European Commission are good enough (Diena)
The Latvian newspaper Diena reported that Valdis Dombrovskis, prime minister of Latvia from 2009 until 2014, is actively working on obtaining a powerful portfolio in the new European Commission. In an interview he recently expressed his goal to get the post of commissioner for economic and financial affairs.
Dombrovskis had been in consideration as candidate for the post of head of the European Council, which was eventually appointed to the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk last weekend.
Read the entire article in Latvian – recommended by the Latvian Euranet Plus partner station Latvijas Radio.
The Euranet Plus News Agency suggestion
- Watch the latest edition of EUphoria, the weekly two-minute YouTube video roundup of the amusing, clever and odd social media buzzes in current EU affairs – produced by the Euranet Plus News Agency: EUphoria: Gender issues, political speed dating and Tuskotronic | 04-09-2014
