Podcasts and RSS feeds - Presseurop

'Is Milan in danger of losing Expo 2015?', asks Il Post, after revelations came to light concerning a litany of problems. Mired in 'delays in infrastructure projects, disputes over the assignment of specific duties, conflicts among local organisations and (News in brief)

US political scientist Charles Kupchan’s pronouncement of the death of the EU has caused quite a stir in Europe. The handling of the euro crisis shows, however, that, despite all the recent trials and tribulations, EU integration is still forging ahead, argues Il Sole 24 Ore. (Article)

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While the 'Sarrazin debate' concerning the lack of integration on the part of Muslim immigrants into mainstream German society continues, Der Freitag takes the opposite tack, proposing the integration of... the upper middle class! (News in brief : cover)

'The vice-minister: how we cheated' headlines Mladá Fronta DNES, which secretly recorded a business meeting between a high-ranking official of the Czech Defence ministry and an arms industry representative. The daily reveals how the ministry was able to get around the European laws governing arms contract offers in public markets: it suffices to create a 'strategic project' with another member state, such as Slovakia. (News in brief : cover)

Brussels has laid the groundwork for 'the establishment of three pan-EU watchdogs to oversee controls on banks and insurers', reports the Financial Times. On September 2, Europeans agreed on the creation of agencies that, as of next year, will oversee 'banks, insurers and securities markets'. This will involve 'the creation of a European Systemic Risk Council to assess threats to regional financial stability', the daily continues. (News in brief : cover)

On 7 September, José Manuel Barroso is to deliver his first State of the Union Address to the European Parliament. (Editorial)

We fear China because we, who are now so ambivalent about modernity, see our former selves in its development. How surprising to read an article in Holland’s De Standaard telling us to not “be afraid of China”. After all, Sinophobia has been a defining theme of western politics in the last decade. (Billet de blog)

A new European Union-funded report has declared that buying counterfeited designer goods can benefit consumers and the companies whose brands are being ripped off. (Article)

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has demanded 5 billion euros from Europe, and unless he gets what he wants, he has threatened to stop policing the Mediterranean for illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa in search of a better life in Europe. Isn't this blackmail? Perhaps. But in the absence of an alternative to the problem, Gaddafi's proposition at least makes financial sense for the EU, according to economist Mario Deaglio. (Article)

On September 2, Israelis and Palestinians are meeting in Washington to have yet another go at the Middle East peace talks. But while the discussions are taking place under the aegis of the United States, the European Union remains absent from the event. (News in brief)

'The German Federal Bank (Bundesbank) has fired Sarrazin', the Berliner Zeitung reveals, reporting that the board of directors of Germany's central bank voted in favour of dismissing their controversial member. (News in brief : cover)

'International cyber-mafias are operating and laundering their profits in Portugal', reports the Lisbon daily i. Russian and Brazilian crime rings adept at phishing (using various computer-aided techniques to obtain private personal information) have netted 2 million euros since the beginning of the year, which represents 75% of cybercrime. Online banks and money-transfer sites are the most often targeted, particularly those used by immigrants from Eastern Europe. (News in brief : cover)

“Medical tourism has become Poland’s specialty”, Rzeczpospolita excitedly leads on its front page. In the first half-year, some 120,000 foreigners visited Poland to use medical services, spending over €0.25 billion. What has been driving this boom? “The main draws are competitive prices, especially for dental and plastic surgery services”, explains the daily. (News in brief : cover)

Want to get the dole? Get to work! That’s the Irish government’s plan, anyway. (Billet de blog)

Renationalisation of politics, a painful economic slump, hasty enlargement, populism - some of the reasons why insiders in Washington believe the EU is a thing of the past. (Article)

“God did not create Universe,” headlines The Times. In his new book entitled The Grand Design, Britain’s most eminent scientist Stephen Hawking argues against the role of a creator for the Universe. (News in brief : cover)

Leading with the main front-page story in today’s British press, The Independent reports on the publication of Tony Blair’s “long-awaited memoirs.” In a number of related articles, the daily examines some of the points addressed by the former prime minister in his book (News in brief : cover)

A wave of protest has overrun Germany. People everywhere are coming out against politicians’ pet projects. Democracy seems alive and kicking, but oftentimes self-interest and the general welfare collide head-on. And this naysaying spree could stymie the country’s modernisation. (Article)

'Heavy-duty return to work for the EU' headlines La Voix du Luxembourg in a round-up report on issues tabled for discussion by Europe’s 27 member states in the coming weeks: 'Economic governance, the multiannual financial framework, the (News in brief : cover)

According to Gândul, Roma expelled from France to Romania get a warm welcome on arrival in Bucharest, due to the rumoured fortunes they have made while away. (Picture)

“Absolutely no smoking in parliament, except on the balcony,” remarks an ironic To Vima. (News in brief : cover)

Anti-Muslim group the English Defence League, that includes Sikhs, Jews and gays in its ranks, is federating with other European movements that are part of a new wave far right. In October, they plan to march in Amsterdam, in defense of their hero, the immigrant baiting Geert Wilders. (Article)

“Anglo claims €25bn is total cost,” headlines the Irish Times, one day after the bank reported losses of €8.2 billion for the first half of 2010 – “the worst ever half-year results in Irish corporate history.” Saving the zombie bank, whose profligacy has come to symbolise the nation’s economic fall from grace, has so far cost the Irish state, via the taxpayer, €22.88 billion.  Over at the Irish Independent, (News in brief : cover)

When it comes to foreign policy, national interests will sometimes trump lofty moral principles. But the Libyan leader’s latest provocations and blackmail attempts beat all. (Article)

'VKO insists Swedish elections should be supervised,' headlines Jyllands-Posten. The Danish daily reports on the concern expressed by leaders of the three main right-wing Danish parties (collectively referred to as the VKO) following the Swedish TV4 television channel’s refusal to broadcast a campaign advert for the extreme-right Sweden Democrat party in the run-up to general elections slated for (News in brief : cover)

“PS and N-VA spoiling for a fight,” headlines De Standaard, which reports that two months after general elections, negotiations on the formation of a coalition in Belgium are now in total deadlock. (News in brief : cover)

As the number two power in the global economy, China's rapid development is a major worry for the other high-stakes players like the United States and Europe. However, China's growth is beneficial to European companies, and like Japan in the 1970's and 80's, it does not constitute the threat that so many fear it does. (Article)

The entire front page of SME is devoted to a single story: on 30 August in Bratislava, “a gunman shot seven of his neighbours before committing suicide.” According to the daily, the man, a former soldier, who shot “at everything that moved,” also wounded 15 people. (News in brief : cover)

RELATIONS WITH LIBYA / BERLUSCONI KISSES GADAFFI'S HAND / 'Somehow it feels like I didn't go about this properly!' Muammar Gadaffi has been greeted with all appropriate pomp and ceremony in Italy, with whom he has buried the post-colonial hatchet following a series of lucrative deals. Meanwhile, he has obtained a full apology and damages from the Swiss Minister of Foreign Affairs Micheline Calmy-Rey to close the diplomatic incident arising from the arrest of his son in Geneva. (Picture)

While the EU is slogging knee-deep through an economic crisis and a general state of political malaise, its leaders seem to lack the will to find a solution. Political scientist Rob de Wijk advises them to reverse this tendency in order to keep the Union from falling further into the abyss. (Article)

Muammar Gadaffi is back in Rome, and he's getting himself noticed, quips L'Unità. As during his controversial 2009 visit, the Libyan leader came with the usual retinue of female body guards, pitched his bedouin tent in the ambassador's garden and held a meeting with 500 girls – paid 70€ each by a hostess agency – reportedly converting three of them to the true faith. (News in brief : cover)

“Sarrazin mutates into geneticist,” headlines the Tageszeitung, re Bundesbank board member Thilo Sarrazin’s latest incendiary remarks. (News in brief : cover)

On the front page of Saturday’s Lidove Noviny, Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg condemns the French government’s Roma “repatriation” crusade. “One can’t help thinking racist standpoints are being catered for here,” he comments. (News in brief : cover)

Solidarity – a movement supported by almost 10 million members in 1981, and with less than 600,000 members today – will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 1980 “August Agreements” that led to the creation of the first independent labour representation in the Soviet-dominated bloc. The anniversary has sparked a heated debate in the Polish press. (Article)

Can we really talk about a return from the easy, slow-news days of summer holidays at a time when it seems that the whole of Europe was unable to shut down for even a weekend? (Editorial)

The EU is plunging in the polls, according to the latest Eurobarometer survey. The ranks of the disillusioned are swelling not with Eurosceptics, but with Europhile integrationists. Meanwhile, the Commission marks time and Van Rompuy gone AWOL. (Article)

'So that Germany doesn’t become even more stupid', headlines Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The paper has entered the fray in the controversy surrounding a book by City of Berlin's former financial chief, Social Democrat Thilo Sarrazin, Deutschland schafft sich ab ('Germany is self-destructing'). (News in brief : cover)

'Kagame accused of genocide', headlines De Standaard. (News in brief : cover)

The vulnerability of museums and high-end art owners to costly thefts has been a whispered concern in France for years, but two events here are forcing the issue into the open. (Article)

“Polish abortions in clinics all over Europe”, headlines Gazeta Wyborcza. The liberal daily reports on a “citizens’ hearing” in parliament with heads of clinics from Austria, Germany, Netherlands and the UK. According to Polish feminist organisations, between 80-200,000 Polish women have an abortion every year, of which 10 to 15 percent take place abroad. However, only affluent women can afford an abortion in a Western clinic. (News in brief : cover)

All Europe has its eyes on France as it “repatriates” Roma to Romania and Bulgaria, and most deplore what they are seeing. (Article)

The 'humanitarian' repatriation of several hundred Roma from France to Romania and Bulgaria is 'cynical and demagogical', insists Bulgarian editorialist Svetoslav Terziev. And worse yet, it offers nothing toward solving the problem of their eventual integration. (Article)

Eager to join the European Union, Montenegro is cleaning up its image of corruption and pulling out all the stops to attract foreign capital. (Article)

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“Claudy, a grotesque perversion of justice,” headlines the Belfast Telegraph. Northern Ireland is reeling from an official report published August 24 that confirms that a Catholic priest was involved in the IRA bombing in the town of Claudy, Co. Derry in July 1972, which claimed 9 victims. (News in brief : cover)

'Merkel won’t give in on Greece,” headlines Pravda: the German chancellor in fact expressed her “regrets” at Slovakia’s refusal to contribute to the Greek bailout package, even though the matter was not on the agenda for Slovak prime minister Iveta Radičová’s visit to Berlin. (News in brief : cover)

“Revolt against Spanish troops”, headlines Público. The Madrid daily, along with the rest of the national press, is given over to news of the killing of two Spanish police officers along with their interpreter in the Afghanistan’s north-west Badghis province. Following the shootings, hundreds of area residents gathered at the gate to the Spanish camp of Qala-e-Naw, chanting and throwing stones. (News in brief : cover)

How does a city that symbolises Nazism or French collaboration bear such an enduring burden? Nuremberg and Vichy are each struggling in their own way to live down the past. (Article)

Germany’s economy is up and running again – and leaving the other Western heavyweights in the dust. The gap is widening between Germany and the rest of the eurozone – which in turn could derail the German recovery: wherever German exporters look, the outlook for key markets is already clouding over. (Article)

'Foreign workers, never again!' proclaims the provocative headline of Die Tageszeitung. While 'more than two-thirds of German companies are in need of qualified personnel, such as engineers, cooks or nursing aides, the government refuses to consider an increase in immigration to meet these specific needs in the workforce. And Germany will indeed need 200,000 to 300,000 more of these qualified workers per year'. (News in brief : cover)

Revelations about a bomb-happy Irish priest have set the Catholic church spinning – again. There are few targets softer these days than the Catholic church, particularly in Ireland. After decades of cloying control of Irish society, the church is now the most mistrusted organisation in the nation (with the Dáil and Seanad, Ireland’s parliaments, coming a distant second). (Billet de blog)

'Czech Republic, the new haven for murky businesses', headlines Lidové noviny for its front-page story on a flourishing new form of commercial activity: the creation of European Companies (designated by the Latin term, 'Societas Europaea' or SE). (News in brief : cover)

“Non. Nein. (News in brief : cover)

The clocks run backwards in the Ukraine: hardly six months have elapsed since the last elections and nearly nothing remains of the “Democratic Awakening” that rocked the nation in 2004. Writer Yuri Andrukhovych depicts the “internal occupation” of his country and implores Europe to watch closely what’s happening there. (Article)

'The end of the draft', headlines the Frankfurter Rundschau, following the German Ministry of Defence announcement regarding the 'suspension' of universal military service, which ' (News in brief : cover)

'The Russian spy affair'. Respekt leads off with the case of Robert Rakhardzho, a Russian psychologist who has collaborated since 2003 with Moscow's secret services. A 'veritable star in his own right', he successfully managed to infiltrate the ranks of the Czech army while assuming a high post in their prison system. (News in brief : cover)

Reminiscent of the cod wars of the seventies, Scotland and Norway are urging the EU to impose sanctions on Iceland and the Faroe Islands, accused of gobbling up North Atlantic fish stocks. (Article)

The United Nations General Assembly is to vote next month on a resolution granting special status to the European Union, reports Rzeczpospolita. Until now, the EU has only had observer status in the UN, without the right to vote. Changing this is a “very delicate matter”, stresses the Warsaw daily. EU members France and Britain, loathe to lose their influence on the UN Security Council, were initially highly reluctant about the idea. (News in brief)

As it continues to expel hundreds of Roma back to Romania and Bulgaria, Paris has decided to organise a summit on immigration for September 6, reports the EUobserver. Invitees includes interior ministers from Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and Greece. “But the list is notable for who is not on it,” the Brussels based news site notes. (News in brief : cover)

Newsweek’s lauding of Irish prime minister Brian Cowen raised more than a few eyebrows in Ireland but do any EU countries get reasonable press abroad? (Billet de blog)

Komarno and Komarom are twin towns divided by the Danube and centuries of rancour between Slovaks and Hungarians. But this flashpoint of nationalist tension that spilled over into an international incident last year is not all what it seems... (Article)

Swiss president Doris Leuthard and the head of her government's negotiating team, Micheline Calmy-Rey, reveal their new strategy in talks with Brussels  (Picture)

'I had been warned about sex traps like this,' declared Julian Assange, the controversial founder of the WikiLeaks website, after Swedish authorities issued a warrant for his arrest on rape charges on August 19. (News in brief : cover)

'Rivals,' declares Der Spiegel, devoting its cover to the struggle between China and Germany in their 'combat for world markets'. For the time being trade between the two countries is 'lucrative' for Germany, but in a few short years it could turn out to be more like a 'pact with the devil', observes the magazine. (News in brief : cover)

Only two of the EU’s 115 ambassadors come from central Europe, all the rest come from Old Europe. As the 'Foreign Affairs ministry' gets up and running, Poland warns that it will not tolerate the stitch-up. (Article)

“The end of a nightmare after 267 days,' proclaims Público's front page. The two Spanish volunteers kidnapped in Mauritania last November have been freed after almost nine months of captivity. “The longest kidnapping by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has ended with the extradition to Mali of a terrorist condemned in Mauritania,” it says. (News in brief : cover)

The British government is using up to 30,000 civil servants as whistleblowers to root out waste, The Independent reports. With the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition pushing through a package of savage cuts to reduce the country’s 156 billion pound deficit, it is examining thousands of suggestions by public servants as to where savings can be made. (News in brief : cover)

“How we have been invaded by the Mafia,” headlines l’Express, which reports on “a European economy tainted” by Italian organised crime. (News in brief : cover)

The Tribune de Genève reports on the decision of the Swiss Federal Council to dismiss accession to the EU or the European Economic Area, and even fixed bilateral agreements. (News in brief : cover)

Heard the one about the German, the Italian and the Norwegian? They are all reinventing comedy in English by playing on nuances in their own languages (Article)

To no one's great surprise, Switzerland has decided to maintain its neutrality. As a European country that has elected to remain outside the EU, its political policy on the continent is based on 120 bilateral agreements signed with individual member states. Even if these texts are often daunting and excessive in their wording, the Swiss government maintains that they guarantee 'the country's interests'. (Editorial)

Pioneering Portugal has radically reduced its dependence on fossil fuels. This year nearly half of its electricity will come from renewable sources. (Article)

Germany’s economy is set to grow by 3 per cent this year, faster than even the Bundesbank had forecast only two months ago, the Financial Times reports. What is more the German central bank said that the economic recovery in Europe’s largest economy was being increasingly generating its own momentum, not just by its tigerish export growth to the US and China. (News in brief : cover)

Sorry is the hardest word. Or at least it is for Tony Blair. The former prime minister seems prepared to pay any price not to apologise for leading his country into two wars that have come to be seen at best unnecessary, and at worst illegal. (Billet de blog)

Three weeks after the Pakistan floods claimed their first victims, Europe is finally reacting. Is this a case of complacency or prejudice, or is there a deeper malaise? (Article)

“Europe fears Google,“ headlines Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. The American search engine's controversial Street View application, which allows users to view high-resolution pictures of residential streets and homes, is now being challenged in the Spanish as well as the German courts. A complaint has just been filed with a Madrid court, accusing Google of illegal data collection and privacy infringement. (News in brief : cover)

Several states, most notably France, have deported Roma to Romania and Bulgaria.  (Picture)

Nicolas Sarkozy has put France squarely in Europe's extremist camp with his new hardline stance on security and immigration. But other countries have found far less confrontational answers to the same problems (Article)

'Czech state tightens rules for foreign workers,' headlines Hospodářské noviny on a new law (News in brief : cover)

Getting into the EU is 'like getting through the eye of a needle,' claims Svenska Dagbladet. 'EU efforts to establish a common immigration policy' are beginning to bear fruit, it reports. (News in brief : cover)

“Belgium turns a deaf ear to Pakistan's cries for help,” headlines De Morgen. (News in brief : cover)

'The European Commission has agreed to study an alternative model for calculating its public debt,' reveals Público, speaking of the letter signed by nine member states (Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia and Sweden), requesting that the Commission take into account the cost of retirement system reforms in its budget. (News in brief)

'He resigned', Il Riformista headlines ironcially after the death of Francesco Cossiga. A former premier, president, interior and defence minister, Cossiga has been one of postwar Italy's central figures, and perhaps its most controversial. A hardcore atlantist, he was part of Nato's secret Gladio 'Stay Behind' anti-communist network, a good friend of Margaret Thatcher, but also a promoter of cooperation between Christian Democrats and the Italian Communist Party. (News in brief : cover)

Even though it is supposed to be a privileged partner of the European Union, Israel regularly targets infrastructure paid for by the EU during its attacks on Palestinians. So why is Europe not demanding compensation? (Article)

Maastricht, the Dutch town that has come to symbolise a Europe of open borders, may be about start closing them again, having won the first stage of a legal battle to stop foreigners being sold cannabis in its licensed coffee shops. Thousands of 'drug tourists' pour into the picturesque frontier city every day, the International Herald Tribune reports. (News in brief : cover)

Politicians are playing on fears of a migrant 'invasion', but as The Economist's Charlemagne points out, there are fewer and fewer boat people landing on our shores. (Article)

Switzerland is set to unveil a report on its position on future ties with the EU (Picture)

'Europe fears for its lost generation,' the Czech daily Hospodářské noviny declares, leading with the claim that the level of youth unemployment is now the highest since the second world war. (News in brief)

The Swiss are about to reveal their future stance in their increasingly fraught relations with Brussels. One thing is sure, they are not about to join the anytime soon (Article)

'Poland is throwing away thousands of euros a day ' bemoans Gazeta Wyborcza. For a month now the EU has been fining Poland 40,000 euros a day for failing to make good on its accession promise to improve its waste management system. This year Poland’s use of landfill was supposed to drop by a fourth but it has only decreased by 8%. To make matters worse, some 40 % of waste is dumped illegally, the Warsaw daily estimates. (News in brief : cover)

With little or no progress toward democracy in Belarus, Brussels has shelved its decade-long campaign of sanctions against the country's autocratic leader, Alexander Lukashenko, and decided to talk directly to him (Article)

'Let there be light,' headlines the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, summarising the debate raging on electricity generation in Germany. While Angela Merkel is away on holiday, the big four companies of the energy sector — E.on, RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall — have gone on the warpath against her government's plan to tax nuclear fuel from next year. (News in brief : cover)

'What is Romania spying on in Russia?' wonders Gândul following the arrest of a senior Romanian diplomat in Moscow by the FSB, Russia's secret service. The first secretary of the political department at the Romanian embassy 'was captured allegedly attempting to obtain confidential military information', reports the Bucharest daily. (News in brief : cover)

Millions of Turks, Serbs, Moldovans, Ukrainians and Macedonians could soon be European citizens, thanks to some fancy footwork by new member states (Article)

In its enthusiastic report on a law to 'regulate citizens’ right to know', El País welcomes new legislation on transparency and citizens’ access to information, which will be presented for preliminary approval to the Spanish parliament next Friday. (News in brief : cover)

While the ongoing forest blazes in Russia continue to worry observers, record fires in Portugal have caused an estimated 210 million euros worth of damage, says the Lisbon daily i. Quoting estimates provided by the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), 70% of the nearly 128,000 hectares that have burned this summer in the European Union are in Portugal. (News in brief : cover)

“Breeze of optimism,” headlines La Libre Belgique in its report on the gruelling negotiations which took place at the weekend between representatives of Flemish and Francophone parties under socialist Elio di Rupo, who is trying to manage the 'pre-formation' of the country’s next government. (News in brief : cover)

The German eagle has picked up its feathers, and even a Superman costume, proclaims the front page of the Frankfurter Rundschau, illustrating the sensational German economic recovery in the second quarter, a growth of 2.2% since the beginning of the year. This figure, unequalled in the last 20 years, is still 'far from being a miracle', warns the paper. (News in brief : cover)

The 500 euro note is a runaway success. Smugglers and money-launderers much prefer it to the dollar, making it the underworld's currency of choice. (Article)