Henrik Enderlein has granted me the privilege of making a couple of introductory remarks on the topic of the conversation between our illustrious guest Emmanuel Macron and Sigmar Gabriel, our Foreign Minister who recently rose like a phoenix from the ashes. Both men’s names are associated with courageous responses to a challenging situation. Emmanuel Macron […]
For A Democratic Polarisation: How To Pull The Ground From Under Right-wing Populism
After 1989, all the talk was of the “end of history” in democracy and the market economy and today we are experiencing the emergence of a new phenomenon in the form of an authoritarian/populist leadership – from Putin via Erdogan to Donald Trump. Clearly, a new “authoritarian international” is increasingly succeeding in defining political discourse. […]
Core Europe To The Rescue: A Conversation With Jürgen Habermas About Brexit And The EU Crisis
Mr Habermas, did you ever think Brexit would be possible? What did you feel when you heard of the Leave campaign’s victory? It never entered my mind that populism would defeat capitalism in its country of origin. Given the existential importance of the banking sector for Great Britain and the media power and political clout […]
The Paris Attack And Its Aftermath
President Hollande spoke of the need for constitutional changes to amend the processes of the state of emergency (which go back as far as the Algerian war). It’s a question of defining a “state of war” suited to a situation that is neither a “state of siege” (in order to overcome a rebellion) nor Article […]
Why Angela Merkel Is Wrong On Greece
The latest judgment of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) casts a harsh light on the flawed construction of a currency union without a political union. In the summer of 2012 all citizens owed Mario Draghi a debt of gratitude for uttering a single sentence that saved them from the disastrous consequences of the threat […]
Democracy, Solidarity And The European Crisis
The renowned German philosopher and sociologist Jürgen Habermas came to the University Leuven and shared his perspective on the future of a democratic Europe on April 26 2013 in the Pieter De Somer Auditorium. The lecture was introduced by the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy. [youtube=http://youtu.be/nKPWmuqQgj0]
The Flaw in the Construction of Monetary Union
The financial question of whether the stability mechanism agreed in Brussels, which will repay in 2013 the bail-out fund agreed in May 2010, will end speculation about the Euro, I shall leave open. What is more important is the political issue of the flaw in the construction of monetary union, about which speculation on the […]
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