Rhein on Energy and Climate

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At an emergency meeting on Syria held in Cairo October 16th the Arab League foreign ministers have called for an immediate end of violence and invited the Syrian government and opposition forces to urgently engage in a dialogue. They fell short of suspending Syrian membership, as they had done in February with Libya in protest… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Oil reserves from tar sands in Canada and Venezuela are equal to the world`s total known conventional fossil oil reserves. But the production process is extremely damaging to the environment; and it causes at least 20 percent higher C02 emissions than conventional oil. That is why oil production from tar sands has always been highly… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

The condemnation of former Ukrainian prime minister Julia Timoschenko for having negotiated unfavourable terms in the 2008 gas agreement with Russia has raised a storm of outrage in EU quarters. However justified, passion should never be a guide to external relations which need to be rationally defined on the basis of long-term political and economic… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

In the framework of Belgian`s most recent constitutional reform it has also been that as of 2014 elections for the European, national and regional parliaments should be held simultaneously. This constitutes a landmark decision for European democracy. All EU member states should follow the Belgian example. The electoral period should be extended to five years.… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

For the last two decades the international community has unsuccessfully attempted to control climate change. The next Climate Conference due to start November 29th in Durban, South Africa, does not augur any better! The failure stems from: the impossibility of reaching a consensus among 200-odd countries with widely divergent interests; the absence of tangible targets… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

The 1964 Association Agreement between the “European Economic Community” (EEC) and Turkey provided for the establishment of far-reaching economic cooperation, from a customs union to free movement of labour; in the preamble it also contained a reference to possible membership of what was at that time a union of modest ambitions and achievements. The almost… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

18 years ago, on September 13th 1993, Rabin and Arafat, the two outstanding political leaders of their communities, solemnly signed the “interim agreement” at the White House in Washington, ushering in a short period of hope for a peaceful settlement of their 60 year-old conflict. But in fact, the 18 years since the Washington ceremony… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

The rise of global population by another three billion people and the accompanying economic development until the middle of the century will exclusively take place in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Europe’s population and economy will at best stagnate. It can maintain its exceptionally high living standards only if it invests massively in education, research… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein