Globalisation

Negotiations over the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) are being conducted as if they were private business deals. Trade policies, however, affect all of us and have implications for the global economy.

The European Citizens’ Initiative opened a much needed channel for citizens to reach the European Institutions directly, and brought with it immense potential to reinforce the EU’s democratic legitimacy.

Are political parties still capable of integrating the long term into their strategic reflections?

The specificity of ‘democratic radicality’ is by no means a bulwark for the Greens against developments or rationales that run counter to this ‘democratic requirement.’

What made these European elections of 2014 so notable? For the first time, the European parties nominated joint leading candidates. This led not only to a greater personalisation of the European electoral campaign but also gave the elections a real pan-European dimension. What does the outcome mean for the Greens, and what conclusions can be drawn?

Discussions among proponents of green growth and those of degrowth often fall within the category of debates that are not fruitful. But it is possible to give structure to it and to try to develop a better understanding of the link between growth, globalisation, new technologies and well-being.

We should recognise that the national context and legitimacy is here to stay for some time. We might overcome it one day, but not tomorrow. We therefore need to develop a new approach that allows for combining the national more legitimately and more democratically with the European.

In 2010 the Flemish nationalists became the largest party in the Belgian Federal Parliament for the first time. Does the rise in electoral support for the N-VA herald the end of the state of Belgium or can the country continue to adapt?

The Global South could be a potential loser in the negotiations over an EU-US Free Trade Agreement. The fairer alternative is to return to the post-war idea of multilateral negotiations that involve civil society and provide a fair deal for all.

While Germany phases out its atomic energy production and the expansion of nuclear power in Europe is mostly slowed down or even put to a halt, the Indian government plans to increase the country´s nuclear power production capacity by a factor of 100.