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. 

Book Recommendation: 'Europe in the Global Age' by Anthony Giddens

Anthony Giddens is one of the world's most prolific authors in social science and the former director of the London School of Economics. He is probably most know for his theory of structuration and his role as advisor for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the political direction of The Third Way, which has inspired social democratic politicians around the world, especially in Denmark.

Europe in the Global Age deals with the challenges facing Europe in, well, the global age characterized by intense globalization and competition with a particular emphasis on the Northern European welfare state and how it must be reformed in order to continue to inspire future European development.

Giddens is a supporter of the welfare state. I, too, believe that a Scandinavian style society in many ways should serve as an example to be followed by all European countries that aspire to have low levels of unemployment, relatively high growth rates, stable and safe societies with emphasis on equality and a high quality of life. The model truly is the best way to ensure a sound compromise between economic competitiveness and social security.

You can purchase the book from Amazon via the link below.

The Danish presidency: A job well done

A while ago I wrote a post highlighting the possibility of a succesful Danish presidency of the E.U. So, as the Danes are handing over the wheel to the Cypriots, forgive me for gloating a little over my excellent foresight ;-)

While this presidency didn't draw huge headlines - until the last moment, at least - it certainly achieved important results, and at least one with long-term, positive consequences for Europe.

It seems that the Danes managed to solve a problem that has existed for roughly thirty years, namely that of a single European patent.

Boring stuff, many would agree. But in the long term it very well turn out to be a decisive factor in the E.U.'s ambitions to be one of the leaders in innovation.

As of today, one of the reasons that the U.S. has kept its lead for so long is that American entrepreneurs and businesses have only had to file for its patents in just one place to get protection on a market of more than 400 million people. This has meant low costs and little administration.

Europeans, on the other hand, have had to go through up to 27 government agencies to achieve the same protection, which has been enormously costly and complicated.

In other words, it now means that independent engineers, computer wizzes, business people, etc., will no longer have to borrow about 35,000 euros to make their ideas come to life. Not to mention the advantages of handling just one patent in stead of 27.

So, congratulations for solving a problem that for decades has stifled innovation and job creation in Europe.

The Danish Presidency - will it matter?

Denmark is currently holding the rotating presidency of the EU. It's one of the smaller countries in the Union, and it has opted out of the euro. Plus its prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, a social democrat, is new at the helm of Danish politics (and now the EU). These facts might cause people to diminish the importance of this particular presidency.

But maybe all of the above works to Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt's advantage. After all (bearing in mind Denmark's surprising win in the 1992 European Championships in football), Denmark is a country that thrives at being an underdog. So maybe a political upset is in the making, too.

Thorning-Schmidt is a skilled analyst (who holds an M.Sc. in political science and an M.A. in European studies from the College of Europe) who's is quite underrated despite her impressive resumé and ability to ride off a storm (she was falsely accused of tax fraud and met by a crowd of agressive journalists in the Copenhagen Airport without as much as a blemish or a stutter).

Nobody really expects much of this presidency (or any other due to the fact that the union now also has a permanent president in Herman von Rompuy). But maybe the Danes' ability to prepare professionally and punch above its weight might result in competent stewardship.