Auður Lilja Erlingsdóttir, Iceland
From the middle of the 19th century, the question of Iceland’s independence from Denmark dominated the Icelandic political scene. With sovereignty in 1918 and full independence in 1944, the Icelandic society began to change. Iceland moved from being an agricultural society to a more industrialized one, causing swift changes in settlement, life style and living conditions. The Icelandic party system was not immune to these changes in the social structure.
By Edgardo Lander, Venezuela – With the recognition of the deep civilization crisis and the limits of the planet, any project for a democratic transformation of society necessarily has to include radical alternatives to the predatory logic of this society of progress and of subjugation/exploitation of so-called “nature”. This requires, in the first place, an anticapitalist option.
Acuerdos de Asociación Europa-América Latina: Socios privilegiados o tratados de libre comercio? – RLF Brussels, 2010
Association Agreements with Latin America are increasingly pushed by the European Union. The brochure “Association Agreements European Union – Latin America – Privileged partnerships or Free Trade Agreements?” gives insights into impacts of Association Agreements with the EU on specific sectors, such as agrofuels, water and energy, investments and services, analyses the negotiation processes between the European Union and the Andean Region, and explaines the political context of the probably soon be signed EU-Central American Association Agreement.
The authors are academic researchers and/or associated with civil society organisations that are active in the Hemispheric Social Alliance, a network that originated in the opposition to the American Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA, span. ALCA).
The studies in detail: El Savador (context of EU-Central American Association Agreement and study on anticipated outcomes for micro and meso enterprises), Costa Rica (legal and institutional changes for energy and water), Nicaragua and Guatemala (changing role of agrofuels and impact on association agreements), Colombia and Peru (negotiation processes of association agreements and general overview on experiences with trade agreements in Latin America), Bolivia (role of social movements in the negotiation process), Chile and Mexico (experiences with free trade agreements, impact on investments and services).
Nicolás Muzi (Brussels) – Exceeding all expectations, a critical mass of over 50 people (a milieu of left-wing social actors, academics, politicians, radical intellectuals and employees of the European Institutions) got together on 1st March 2010 to discuss a key issue of the European Left political agenda: fighting poverty in the European Union. Under the framework of the 2010 European Year against poverty sponsored by the European Commission, the Transform! Working Group Brussels organised a debate to explore Left alternatives for the fight against poverty in the “First World”, held in the Garcia Lorca Centre, a historic gathering place of the critical Left in Brussels (home of Spain’s Communist Party during Franco’s dictatorship).
On the 31st of March 2010 the European Commission adopted its long expected “Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the citizens’ initiative“. Advocates of the Lisbon-Treaty pointed to this one element as a great step forward towards a truly citizen centered European integration. Now the question raises: what about “the small print”, the administrative implementation rules?
A detailed critical analysis of this policy instrument
by Michael Efler: PDF-file
Related Blog: http://www.citizens-initiative.eu/
Proposal by the European Commission: PDF-file
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