The New York Times Says The World Must Follow Europe's Lead On Climate Change

Today's editorial at the New York Times covers the EU's ambitions on curbing climate change.

[...] Europe is moving faster and more aggressively than any other large economy to limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above the preindustrial level — a level formally acknowledged at the Copenhagen summit meeting in 2009 as the point beyond which the impacts of climate change could become unacceptable. The rest of the world needs to match Europe’s ambitions.

The editorial, though, mentions another aspect of the challenges of the EU transition toward a more sustainable energy solution, namely that there is actually no common market for energy in the EU. I.e. surplus energy from, say, Portugal cannot be used in Denmark or Sweden. If the EU is to become even more dynamic it must work toward creating a common energy market like the single market for goods and services which is currently (more or less) in place. 

P.M. Cameron refuses to pay $2.7 billion extra for EU membership

The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, wasn't at all pleased with the bill sent to him by Brussels. It's not unusual for member countries to receive a little extra - or pay a little more - than they estimated. For Britain, however, the bill turned out to be the equivalent of going on a huge bender one night and finding out that you spent $200 on drinks on a Saturday night. Not that Britain went on a bender, but you know what I mean.

In any event, Britain is asked to pay no less than $2.7 billion before 1 December. Britain, which already pays  $13.8 billion annually for their EU membership, has received the claim with... disgust, is probably the word to describe it.

"It is an unacceptable way for this organisation to work - to suddenly present a bill like this for such a vast sum of money with so little time to pay it," Mr Cameron said, according to the BBC.

The unexpected bill will hardly do much to diminish the demands of far right political fractions in Britain - like Ukip - which already believe that membership of the organization is too expensive. Whether it will actually lead Britain closer to an EU exit we will just have to wait and see.

Read more at The New York Times and The BBC.

Brits not that eager to leave the EU after all

People cheering for the UK's exit from the EU may be setting themselves up for disappointment. According to a MORI poll cited by the Guardian, support for staying in the EU is actually higher than it has been in years. 56% would vote 'yes' to staying in the EU. Read more here.