POLITHEOR
European Policy Network
Blog 3 Columns
- Home
- Blog 3 Columns
Wasting food or creating waste?1
- Environment and Energy, Op-ed
- 12/10/2016
Organisations working to reduce food waste, and those calling for a reduction in packaging, are competing for attention these days. Which of the issues is the most pressing? When looking at the bigger picture there can be no doubt; wasting food is creating hunger and potentially a lot more environmental problems than surplus packaging.
READ MORE
TTIP, CETA, TPP and… another secret trade deal1
- International Trade, Op-ed
- 11/10/2016
TTIP and CETA have stirred up quite a debate lately. Less discussed is the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), a trade deal for global services negotiated among the EU and 22 other countries since 2013. The EU should take firmer action in defending its values regarding corporate power and global cooperation.
READ MORE
Could Brexit farm nature back to health?0
- Environment and Energy, Op-ed
- 10/10/2016
Following Brexit, the UK farming industry will lose £3 billion in EU subsidies. In its place a sustainable, logical reform has been proposed by the National Trust to pay farmers for environmental services. This should be seized.
READ MORE
Cutting towards the future with molecular scissors0
- Environment and Energy, Op-ed
- 05/10/2016
Genome editing with “molecular scissors” is becoming the method of choice for plant breeding. It offers a huge potential regarding the food and nutrition security, which is so necessary because of the growing world population and increasing consumption of meat. However, some fear that this might be another genetically modified organism (GMO).
READ MORE
Waltraud Schelkle: “Eurozone must build risk-sharing mechanisms”0
Joseph Stiglitz can certainly not be counted among the friends of the Euro. His new book, The Euro and Its Threat to the Future of Europe, provides ammunition for Eurosceptics, on whichever side of the political spectrum: a harsh critique of the Single Currency, unrealistic policy proposals on how to save it (e.g. a fiscal federation), the conclusion that an “amicable divorce” would be best. In this interview, Waltraud Schelkle, Associate Professor in Political Economy at the European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, provides an alternative read of the euro area crisis.
READ MORE
Erdogan’s purge and the rule of law0
At the heart of the latest attempted military coup is the role the Turkish people played in quashing the coup.
READ MORE
The world’s favorite drink: The right time to change producing practices0
- International Trade, Op-ed
- 21/09/2016
No, it is not beer. It is coffee. The beverage that inspired Johan Sebastian Bach to write the Coffee Cantata is a distinct and important part of our lives and cultures. Being a major export commodity nowadays, coffee is a part of the extremely developed market with a very complex production chain. While big coffee players are striving to be “green”, with a strong hue of sustainability, it is questionable how green it is, especially when considering the way coffee is being produced.
READ MORE
UN Summit: Time to name and shame0
- Human Rights and Migration, Op-ed
- 19/09/2016
The outcome of the summit is predetermined and set to disappoint since it establishes no new obligation on member states.
READ MORE
Let the next round for the lives of the bees begin3
- Environment and Energy, Op-ed
- 19/09/2016
Neonicotinoids are controversial pesticides that periodically steer political debate. Some call them bee-killing pesticides. Their defenders deny their impact on pollination and claim that without them we would be gambling with the food security. The fact is that the biodiversity of species involved in pollination and agriculture-related ecosystem services is disturbingly decreasing. And we need to stop that.
READ MORE