Working soon!
October 15th, 2007 by kb
Come back soon, this site will be working twice as hard as Brussels.
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New No for Netherlands?
July 10th, 2007 by Pim de Kuijer
My friend ideoblogue asked me yesterday whether I thought The Netherlands would have another referendum on the new European treaty, and if so, what the outcome would be. Here, for all those interested, my two pennies’ worth.
So, both of you, be warned. This is going to be an exercise in Dutch Parliamentary tradition. In short (!) the decision on a referendum has to be taken by the Dutch coalition government, which consists of Christian-Democrats, Social-Democrats and the small but important Christian Union. They are however waiting for advice on the matter from the Council of State, a sui generis institution whose titular head is, believe it or not, the Queen. Who is also head of the government. So she is in fact advising herself on what decision to take.
Anyway, the Council is expected to advise against a referendum, because the treaty is stripped of most of it’s ‘constitutional’ elements. Not that it really matters, because in reality the government has already decided. In the ‘ coalition agreement’, the basis for the cooperation between the government parties, a referendum has already been ruled out!
Complicated, you say? But we haven’t even started yet! So the government will most likely say no to a new referendum, thereby all but insuring the ratification of the new treaty in The Netherlands. Or so it would seem. Because the Social-Democratic party, although bound by the coalition agreement, is split on the issue of a referendum. It is very possible that they will side with other parties in the Second (lower) Chamber of Parliament, to create a temporary initiative law calling for a referendum, thereby overruling their own ministers in the cabinet. This initiative procedure is how the previous referendum came about.
So there will be a referendum after all? Eh, not quite. Because this law has to pass through the First Chamber of Parliament, the Senate. And in the Senate, unlike in the Second Chamber, opponents of a referendum are in the majority. So, all in all, a new referendum seems, perhaps not impossible, but at least mathematically highly improbable.
Lost me? Good. Then at least I succeeded in demonstrating one big flaw of the new treaty. Giving more power to national parliaments is not the good idea it might seem at first sight. Can you imagine trying to figure out the parliamentary procedures of 25 or more member states? For what it’s worth, give me Brussels any day. Perhaps less democratic, but a hell of a lot easier to understand. And that’s saying something.
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Is Russia less corrupt than people think?
July 6th, 2007 by Laura Citron
It’s common knowledge that Russia is rife with corruption and
cronyism. Rare is the Western tourist who returns from St Petersburg
without a dinner-party tale about ‘The Terrible Traffic Policeman’ or
some other familiar Russian character. Surveys such as Transparency
International’s Corruptions Perceptions Index support this image -
Russia ranks 127 out of 142 countries, just one place above Rwanda.
But after three months of living and working in Moscow, no-one had
asked me to pay a bribe. I hadn’t even seen anyone pay a bribe. I
started to worry that I was living an excessively sheltered life and
missing out on the ‘real Russian experience.’ Actually, it turned out
that my experience is quite normal.
When asked the question (for TI’s Global Corruption Barometer) “In the
past 12 months, have you or anyone in your household paid a bribe in
any form?” only 8% of Russians answered “Yes.” Compare that to 17% in
Greece and the Czech Republic, or 20% in Romania. When asked to rate
the extent to which “corruption affects family and personal life,”
Russia scored just 1.9 out of 5. Compare that to an average 2.6 for
North America and 2.8 for South East Europe and things in Russia look
quite rosy.
What can explain the huge disparity between the results of the
Corruptions Perceptions Index and the Global Corruption Barometer?
Simple: the CPI is a survey of experts such as businessmen and policy
analysts, whereas the Barometer is a survey of general public opinion.
The experts in the CPI survey see the rampant corruption in the sphere
of political parties, arms deals, oligarchs and oil – but the vast
majority of Russians do not live in that world. The level of petty
corruption - everyday, street-level bribery - is actually slightly
lower in Russia than the global average and significantly lower than
in South East European countries such as Greece or Romania.
How can corruption be so rife in the elite spheres, but relatively
modest at the grassroots?
The economist Pranab Bardhan offers one interesting explanation: in
countries with a strong central state, corruption is centralised to
the single source of power. You only have to pay once – he calls it
‘one–stop-shopping.’ In a decentralised system, you have to pay bribes
all over the place to get the same job done. Perhaps Putin’s policy of
strong central government has succeeded in centralising corruption?
An alternative explanation could be the lack of media reporting of
cases of corruption in the Russian media. Research in Ukraine showed
that the more cases of corruption are reported in the mass media, the
more the public thinks that institutions are bribeable, so they offer
more bribes and thus perpetuate the corruption.
So why are Westerners so convinced of Russia’s rampant corruption problem?
Probably because they pay a lot more bribes than Russians. The “I
think you will take a bribe so I will offer you one” mentality may
have something to do with it. The more scare-stories they read about
Russian corruption, the more Westerners come here expecting to bribe
everyone from the passport official to the ice-cream vendor. As soon
as they encounter a touch of halting Russian bureaucracy, their first
response is to wave a 100 ruble note. What’s more, they don’t speak
the language so they can’t argue their way out of the situation; and
anyhow 100 rubles [about 4 USD] is nothing to most Westerners here.
(Incidentally, the latter also applies to rich Russians who are quite
happy to pay a petty sum to oil the wheels…) So Westerners pay more
bribes, and everybody knows it. Result? Westerners (and rich Russians)
get asked for more bribes than anybody else, and the vicious circle
continues.
Corruption is ultimately all about perceptions, and perceptions are
based on personal experience. But perhaps Westerners should be a
little less hasty in assuming that their experiences in Russia are
typical – the evidence suggests otherwise.
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Bulgarians In Search Of History
July 1st, 2007 by Viktor Dimitrov
If it is true that beauty hides in the small details, Bulgarians are the quintessential history hedonists. Did you know that Bulgaria is the only country in Europe which managed to keep its original name for more than 13 centuries? Yes, and the constitution we adopted in 1878 was the second most liberal in Europe after the Belgian one (whatever that means). Facts known to every Bulgarian with some interest in history. Facts that are interesting, curious, yet so small and useless that their relevance is questionable.
Re-burying ancient kings always has an energising effect on society. However, it leaves less space for discourse on far more important issues like reconsidering our immediate past, the 45 years of communist rule or the reason for country’s almost blind loyalty to the Soviet Union. Happily, there are signs of increased interest towards this period - two web-based projects give people the opportunity to share their accounts of communism. The first one has a bit more personal touch, the other one is set out to explore the atrocities of the regime. On the other side of the political spectrum, recently there was an international conference on Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria’s first communist leader after the Second World War, who also made it to the cover of Life magazine). Social scientists from all over the world (including Cuba) spend the weekend singing praises to one of the best pupils of Stalin.
The one thing which unites all efforts to explore Bulgaria’s communist past is their total irrelevance for an overwhelming part of the population. Terribly important issues are being disregarded and swept under the rug. A recent opinion poll showed that only 20% of the population thinks it is important to open the files of the communist secret services (a hot issue in media and politics and an opportunity to discredit your political opponent by accusing him of cooperation with the secret services).
Bulgarian society is stuck in blissful ignorance about the really important issues in the country’s hisotry. Whether it is social apathy or the unwillingness to revisit traumatic experiences, people simply can’t be bothered. After all, arguing about whether the first Bulgarian kingdom was founded in 681 or in 679 is a lot easier, isn’t it?
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Wind, wind and more wind in Brussels
June 18th, 2007 by Paolo Berrino
An unusual event happened in Brussels over last weekend. I am talking about the launch of the first European Wind Day, a Europe-wide campaign to promote wind energy and bring it closer to people.
It was a fancy act - first, a spectacular exhibition took place right on the Schuman roundabout, right between the headquarters of the European Commission and the European Council building. In the centre of the exhibition was a real wind turbine, 25 meters of height and with a diameter of 20 meters. This 100 kW model is nothing in comparison with the typical modern turbines, usually 20 times more powerful and up to four times bigger. Yet, in the middle of a city, this 40 tonnes white rotating device cut an impressive figure.
The event was unavoidably combined with a press conference attended by EU Commissioner for Energy Andris Piebalgs. “Today we see that the technology is there and we can master whatever is necessary to achieve climate change and security of supply goals,” he said. The association which organised the event pushed the point further, providing data about the current and potential development of wind energy. After the adoption of the 20% binding targets of energy that has to come from renewables by 2020, wind has the possibility to provide in between 12% and 16% of EU electricity. Now, it is at 3%. A lot of work to do.
The press conference ended on a jolly note with Piebalgs breaking a bottle of champagne on the turbine. Maybe symbolically, the bottle broke only at the fourth attempt, when two kids from the audience came to help the commissioner. But this solemn event was not the end of it all - in the evening a party took place in front of the Commission’s Berlaymont building. Steady wind and techno music fuelled several hundred dancers, some of whom flew kites. Yet others, among whom your correspondent, ended up dancing on the stage.
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What Putin taught Sarko
June 18th, 2007 by Laura Citron
Judging from the evidence on YouTube, French President Nicolas Sarkozy got a lesson in vodka-drinking from Russia’s President Putin at the G8 meeting last week. But has Putin also been teaching new-boy Sarko a thing or two about ‘press management’?
The French press has barely reported the infamous press conference; even the more left-wing media (Liberation, for example) have been almost silent on the issue. The clip has still not even been broadcast in France - it was first aired by Belgian broadcaster RTBF. The RTBF reporter was subsequently made to apologise. Charles Bremner in The Times and Tim King in Prospect have reviews of the limited coverage.
Yet thanks to good old YouTube, over 3 million people have watched the clip anyway. ”Was he drunk?” has become Question of the Moment in France (well, they needed something to talk about after ”Should Zidane have been sent off?” got boring).
Is this self-censorship? Or something more sinister? Either way, Sarko seems to have the French press firmly in his pocket - perhaps he picked up some tricks from the master over a couple of (bottles of) vodka?
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EU should go further on visas for Russians
June 13th, 2007 by Laura Citron
Last week 24 EU countries announced an easing of the visa regime for Russian citizens travelling to the EU. Whilst this is a step in the right direction, the reforms should go much further. The EU should abandon the principle of reciprocity (the protocol by which visa regimes are only eased in parallel by both sides) and unilaterally disarm its visa regime with Russia. It is simply perverse for the EU to implore Russia to be ‘more like us,’ whilst making it impossible for ordinary Russians to experience life in a European democracy.
As of 1 June, Russians travelling to 24 EU countries (not the UK, Ireland and Denmark) will face slightly softer visa regulations. Although the announcement has been talked up by both sides, the changes actually only apply to a few categories of travellers ( members of official delegations, close relatives, students, disabled people, participants of exchange programs, some researchers and children under 6). The changes were agreed at the EU-Russia Summit in Sochi in May 2006.
For a normal Russian citizen, getting an EU tourist visa is still almost impossible. I won’t bore you with the details, but having just tried (and failed) to get an EU visa invite for a friend, I know what a nightmare it is. So a generation of Russians is excluded from the EU, taking their holidays instead in Turkey or Morocco where the visa regimes are friendlier.
Many young Russians have never been to Western Europe or any other liberal democracy. (Though Eastern Europe was a popular holiday destination in Soviet times). Don’t be fooled by the Prada-sporting Russians who have taken over Courchevel – they are a tiny minority. The average well-educated, young professional Muscovite cannot get an EU visa. It is any surprise, then, that many are wholly disinterested in democracy? They see the current Russian ‘opposition’ as a collection of loons, troublemakers and power-seekers.
Western governments are desperate to democratize Russia. But neither headmasterly tickings-off (George W. Bush), or pouring millions into elitist NGOs (George Soros) seems to be working. Perhaps that is because the vast majority of Russians don’t believe the product we’re selling. Having lived through communism, perestroika and the Putin era, Russians are understandably cautious shoppers when it comes to political systems. If a true democratic movement emerges in Russia, it will most likely be from the new middle class. Yet our visa regime denies these very people a taste of what they could fight for. A unilateral easing of the EU’s visa regime with Russia would do a lot for grassroots democracy in Russia.
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Bus democracy
June 7th, 2007 by Laura Citron
I was on the bus the other day on the way home from uni. Driving through a residential area, one of the babushkas called out to ask the driver if he could take a different route to drop her at her door (apparently her leg hurt). A couple of other passengers chipped in that they wanted to go that way too.
The grumpy bus driver turned round: “How many of you want to turn left here?” There was a vague show of hands and a few requests (Naturally, he was still driving whilst carrying on a conversation with the back of the bus). It looked like a majority in favour, so we went left instead of following the official bus route.
On Tuesday, George W Bush made a speech in Prague accusing Putin of slowing democratic reforms. Of course Russia isn’t a model of democracy – it doesn’t want to be either. But I challenge you to find bus-stop democracy in the US or EU…
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A guide to Budapest
May 30th, 2007 by Viktor Dimitrov
Budapest, “the pearl on the Danube”, is famous for its great architecture, the bridges, gulyas soup, the royal palace and many other things which make Japanese tourists anxiously reach for their cameras. As an insider here, I offer an alternative view of the specifics of the city. Who knows, you might even find this place interesting.
1. Tourists - there are lots of them, predominantly German, American and Japanese. Their favourite pastime is to spend hours stuck in traffic on a sightseeing bus and to walk around town with a map, completely disoriented and clueless. Their life is made difficult by the multitude of Hungarian coins in circulation; the smallest denomination, given the current exchange rate, is equal to 0.0000001 eurocents. Most of the pubs and cafes have a mission to take advantage of the gullible foreigners (Beckett’s, a mock Irish pub is a prime example of this tendency).
2. Vaci utca - the central pedestrian area of Budapest where women look like the characters in the articles of Laura Citron, our correspondent in Moscow. I have to confess that I was a bit mislead in the beginning - these ladies were so open and friendly to me, despite my obvious physical shortcomings. Then these kind and benevolent ladies turned their attention to a greasy, fat, Greek ship-owner with a thick moustache. This hurt me so much that my only choice to escape was to deepen my passion for alcohol.
3. Football - once Budapest was the venue of great football games, including Hungary’s famous 7:1 thumping of England. Budapest is still mad about football - Champs League, World Cup, England, Italy…but today Hungarian football is the country’s best-kept secret. Even football-stats geeks find it difficult to name the reigning champion or cup holder. It is like an underground movement which goes public only on special occasions - like Vaduz (Lichtenstein) beating Ujpest FC (Budapest) 4:0 in the UEFA cup, or yet another defeat of the national team at mighty Malta.
Overall, Budapest is a fun place to be. Just avoid looking like a silly tourist and don’t take anything for granted, especially when women are friendly to you without any particular reason. Last but not least, don’t ask questions about the big football rivalry between Ferencvaros and Ujpest. Don’t ask why - you don’t need to know.
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Where have all the bras gone?
May 29th, 2007 by Laura Citron
Summer has definitely arrived in Moscow, and it seems to have scared all the bras indoors. I can’t walk 200 metres to the metro without encountering bosoms bouncing without a care under some flimsy top. Let’s be clear – I am not a bra fascist, but Moscow seems to have become the headquarters of the Breast Liberation Army. Perhaps in the extreme heat (35 degrees and rising), Muscovite Woman is hallucinating that she is actually on the beach in Turkey. Or perhaps having kept her bootie under wraps all winter, she thinks the time has come to strut her stuff in the yard. Oddly enough, this phenomenon isn’t confined to the stick-thin-wannabe-posh-spice-types. (They already got rid of most of their clothing when the last snow melted). Last week I saw a particularly shocking case on a 50+ metro escalator attendant.
I’m not writing about this because I need to share some perverse nipple-related neurosis. The ‘hang-free-phenomenon’ is yet another enigma about being a woman in Russia which puzzles me. Russian women certainly make an effort to look sexually attractive, often dressing in ways which would be considered quite provocative in Western Europe. (Though is bra-less always better? Comments please!) Yet sex is a taboo subject in Russia, even when it’s just the girls. They will happily talk for hours about their romantic daydreams, boxes of chocolates, red roses, giant teddy bears etc – but never lust. They don’t see a contradiction between thinking like a 12 year old with a photo of Justin Timberlake, and dressing like a man-eater.
More surprising still is the reaction of the men. In my area of Brussels, the sight of a girl’s knee alone could provoke whistling and name-calling. But in Moscow no-one bats an eyelid. Is this the Garden of Eden of sexual equality, where women can dress how they want without fear of harassment? Or is the pressure to be attractive to men so great that women feel forced to hang up their bras for the summer? Whichever way, this is one aspect of Russian life I think I’ll skip for the time being…
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