Blogs : 22nd October

Swamped ... Alpha.Source-CV (en)
Totally unaccountable. Richard, EUReferendum (en)
And another thing … Richard, EUReferendum (en)
Le Parlement européen, un espace « prostitution and pornography free » ? Jean Quatremer, Les Coulisses de Bruxelles (en)

Mind the gap. Certain of Europe (en)
" ... A new report titled "Growing Unequal?" notes that the gap between rich and poor has increased over the past two decades in more than three-quarters of OECD member-states, which are essentially the world's developed countries ..."

Iceland and the European zone of interest. Antal Dániel, Blogactiv.eu (en)
" ...Diana Wallis, a Vice President of the European Parliament and a former Chair of the Delegation to Iceland, has written to the Commissioner responsible for Enlargement, Olli Rehn, asking him that, if Iceland should be ready to apply to join the EU, they could be fast tracked towards full membership as a solution to the enormous economic difficulties the country is facing. Today a Hungarian new portal, Index has quoted Mr. Rehn’s AFP interview: He said that ‘membership talks could start soon’.

On the other hand. Helen, Bruges Group Blog (en)
" ... The question from our point of view is not dissimilar from the one posed in the previous posting. If the French government wishes to create sovereign funds to prevent its economy from acquiring international investment, that is up to the French taxpayer to mull over. But a European fund involves other taxpayers, namely us. We are already paying through the nose for Supergordon's plans ... Oh and how does that Spanish idea of courting investments from oil-rich Arab countries fit into this scheme?

France Plans Internet ID Cards EuroSoc (en)
" ... Besson was outlining France's "Plan Numérique 2012", which is designed to bring France into the front rank of online nations. Access is a major factor in the plan: describing the internet as an "essential commodity" of the 21st century, he said each French citizen should have a right to affordable access to broadband internet, costing no more than €35 per month (including materials). This part of the scheme is to be put in place no later than 2010 ...
... Ambitious plans, indeed, though the Minister's obsession with internet security will worry libertarians. France already has ID cards and chip-carrying medical cards: Combining the two in a card which can be read online does not require a massive leap of the imagination ..."

Sarkozy suggests National Sovereign funds to EU's MEPs. Ironies Too (en)
" ... The link to the video report from Euronews is here, the following is a quote:The French President declared that Europe needs a pro-active industrial policy to promote growth. And he suggested creating sovereign wealth funds in EU countries to coordinate a response to the economic slowdown wrought by the crisis ..."

Czech update. Open Europe Blog (en)

"... Sarko, Barroso et al will be watching the upcoming Senatorial elections in the Czech Republic with eagle eyes. One of the Lisbon Treaty's crucial hurdles hangs in the balance.The Civic Democratic Party ODS suffered a major blow in regional elections to the Social Democrats and is expected to lose again on Thursday and Friday, thereby risking losing their tiny majority ..."

Foreign Policy’s 2008 Global Cities Index raises questions. Vitaliy, The 8th Circle

" ...Foreign Policy, a US magazine, just published its study of the Global Cities (60 in total). The top twenty are copied below (full list here). As far as this blog goes: Moscow excepting, no city in Eastern Europe was judged to be “Global.” Although Chicago came out in 8th place, I was surprised at its relatively low score on the cultural experience dimension (#20) particularly since Toronto was ranked at #4. Now, I have nothing against Toronto, but does it really belong in the Top 5 for its cultural experience? ..."