In The News

Antitobacco Trend Has Reached Europe

Lizette Alvarez August 11, 2003
A sip from a pint and a drag on a cigarette are almost ritualistic in pubs across Ireland. Yet, come January 1, the Irish government will impose a ban on smoking in pubs and perhaps permanently change an age-old part of Irish culture. Ireland will be the first country to impose such a ban in Europe. However, its strict new law is merely the most recent development in a growing wave of anti-...

Knock, Knock…Who's There? Many Migrants!

Joseph Chamie August 5, 2003
All people have the right to leave their country, writes Joseph Chamie, Director of the United Nations Population Division, but they do not have the right to enter another without permission. As population growth soars in the developing world, this apparent contradiction is creating a dilemma for developed countries, which are being inundated with illegal migrants. According to Chamie, the...

Moving Money from One Pocket to Another

Shada Islam August 1, 2003
Europe's new farm subsidy reform package is not perfect, but it may help break the logjam in the WTO, says Shada Islam, a Brussels-based journalist specializing in EU trade policy. The EU farm reforms replace production subsidies with direct payments to farmers who meet food safety and environmental standards. EU officials argue that "decoupling" subsidies from production will do...

German Companies Look to Iraq

Aaron Kirchfeld August 1, 2003
Germany's efforts to rebuild its once extensive trade relationship with Iraq face many obstacles, not the least of which is residual tensions with the US from the Iraq War. The US and Britain remain reluctant to contract with companies from countries that did not support the coalition. At the same time, the German companies that are receiving contracts remain reluctant to discuss their...

US and EU Seek Common Ground on Farm Trade

Guy de Jonquières July 30, 2003
At a recent meeting in Montreal, European and American trade ministers agreed to seek common ground on the issue of farm subsidies before they meet in Cancun in September. Farm trade liberalization has long polarized the US and the EU, and threatens to bring the upcoming WTO meeting to a deadlock. Indeed, although trade representatives from both sides have pledged to be more flexible during...

A New Era in EU-ASEAN Relations?

Shada Islam July 23, 2003
The two major regional organizations of Asia and Europe are meeting again, this time in Bali, Indonesia. The potential for mutual benefit through increased trade and cooperation between the EU and ASEAN is immense, but Shada Islam wonders if the two regions will be able to realize that potential. Islam, a journalist specializing in EU foreign trade policy, notes that so far there has been...

A Generation on the Move in Europe

Keith B. Richburg July 22, 2003
In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, a new Generation E (Europe) has emerged, bringing into question long-revered notions of national identity and culture among Europeans. World War II solidified national identity because it was fought along national lines. But the younger Generation E, comprised of elite and middle class university educated Europeans, is well acquainted with...