Барозо 2.0:Външната политика на новата Комисия

Тези дни най-после и в България се заговори за външната политика на ЕС. Поводът разбира се беше ресорът на Румяна Желева в бъдещата комисия Барозо 2. Дискурсът за Европейската външна политика обаче не отива много по-далеч от това дали България е получила повече отколкоото преди ли по-малко отколкото Румъния. По всяка вероятност и двете предположения са правилни, но по-важното е друго: да разгледаме външната политика на ЕС и да разберем какво означават промените в Европейската Комисия за външната политика на Съюза.

Барозо 2.0: Какво означава българският ресор?

Голямата новина от тази седмица е съставът на новата Европейската Комисия и разпределението на ресорите. Българският кандидат-комисар Румяна Желева получи ‘Международно сътрудничество, хуманитарна помощ и реагиране при кризи’. Външният ни министър изрази задоволство, че получава външнополитически ресор. Но какво всъщност означава тази позиция?

България и големите европейски назначения

Миналия четвъртък европейските лидери номинираха избраха Президент на ЕС и Върховен представител по Външната политика и Сигурността –две ключови фигури за глобалната роля на Европа. На друго място съм описал какво означава изборът на ван Ромпой за президент и Кати Аштън за Европейски външен министър. Тук питам какво означава той за България.

БЪлгаският премиер преговаря на равна нога с останалите лидери на Европа

EU’s top (talk) jobs – what went wrong?!

Happy Times (not for EU citizens)

Over the last several weeks the EU has been continuously bashed in the international scene. The fruitless visit to the US was complemented by a spectacular failure and apparent misunderstandings during the EU-Russia summit. This was not enough, but EU flopped dramatically by failing to agree on a joint financing and negotiation strategy for the Copenhagen Climate Council (see separate article here). Most recently the EU elected agreed upon a President and a Foreign Minister. This was the crown jewel of all European malfunctions – a pitiful process with lamentable results.

Muddy Green

Copenhagen - between promises and failure

A series of political events from the last days darkened the perspectives of a significant outcome from the Copenhagen Climate Council (3C). This is very unfortunate because of the enormous amount of political and media energy thrown in the preparation for the event over the last few months. The need for a far-reaching and binding global agreement on climate-related targets is beyond doubt and this is not my point here. What I am really concerned with, is that after the dramatic failure to which the Climate Council is ever more surely going, it will be even harder to get world leaders on the same wavelength about climate change again. Even the desire to meet may not be there, let alone the minutest climate packages and legislation they have to work out at home.

A Greener Life

Environmental awareness campaigns have brought to citizens’ attention a big number of issues of concern as well as ideas how to green our lives. Reuse economy, energy efficiency and using less are only a few bits and pieces of what we can do. Eco-nomy and environmentality are broader concepts of living naturally and sustainably thus putting the Earth’s carrying capacity as a foundation to our thinking and business.

Here are 16 steps from Planetgreen how to make a difference in our lives and the lives of others through making action out of the awareness we already have.

To start with:

Reuse Economy

Communities organized around keeping products in the consumer stream are a vital way to reduce waste, slow manufacturing of unnecessary items, and shift our concept of “need.” Services that help us accomplish this and that we love include thrift stores, swap parties, garage sales, Craigslist, and similar systems. They’re all part of the eco-nomics of sustainability.

Freeganism

Like a reuse economy, we’re also thankful for an economy that doesn’t require money – or even the exchange of products or services. Freeganism means zero waste, and that’s an equation we love. Freeganism covers everything from keeping perfectly good food from going to landfill, all the way to the service of tool libraries where members can utilize whatever is in the shed when they need it for free. Craigslist and Freecycle are two of our favorite community-oriented websites that help facilitate freeganism, as well as larger events such as Really Really Free Market.

Farmers Markets

Speaking of markets, farmers’ markets are of course on our list of big ideas we’re thankful for. In a way, a farmer’s market is such an old idea that it feels a little odd it would need to be included. But as we’ve moved away from buying food from local farmers and on to buying processed edible products from the agro-industrial complex, we’ve been lucky enough to realize just how incredibly valuable farmers’ markets actually are for our health, and the health of the planet. Getting to know our farmers’ markets again and creating our meals from the seasonal, sustainably grown foods found there is again a great big green idea.

Find more suggestions here

What ails Bulgarian security and defense policy in the EU?

It is hard to talk about security and defense policy in Bulgaria. Instead, there are pieces of the puzzle here and there, dispersed in different agencies without proper coordination. The new understanding of security as a product of internal security and international crisis management is not yet in the agenda of the relevant institutions. In fact, if I have to be precise, Bulgaria does not even have a strategic vision of its security and defense.