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EU: Three proposals for a new and more effective Lisbon strategy
The EU Commission has only just been appointed and already the equally new president of the European Council, Hermann Van Rompuy, is busy assembling his troops. Europe's heads of state and government just met for the first time under his leadership, focusing on how to shape the follow-up strategy to the Lisbon Agenda. Above all, the new strategy must target sustained growth - an entirely feasible goal. In the current issue of "spotlight europe," however, experts from the Bertelsmann Stiftung's Europe program explain why the EU's governance needs to be changed. The authors recommend introducing a "naming and praising" benchmarking system, creating a European Advisory Council and increasing research funding in the EU budget. |
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Further Information:
spotlight europe 2010/2: Lisbon - A Second Shot EuroWire - December 2009: Barroso II: What the First post-Lisbon Treaty European Commission means for Congress |
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Forum: Brussels think tanks join forces to debate "the State of the Union"
On Tuesday, January 12, nine leading Brussels think tanks, in cooperation with Agence Europe, held the first annual forum to debate the European Union's policy and strategy agenda for the coming year. The event marks the first time the Brussels think tanks have collaborated to discuss the future of the EU, demonstrating their common desire to contribute to the European policymaking debate by providing a general assessment and concrete policy proposals. European Commission President José Manuel Barroso addressed the closing plenary session on "Defining an EU Action Agenda for 2010-2014," delivering what he termed a "message of confidence" about the EU's future prospects. |
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Further Information:  Project: The Brussels Office of the Bertelsmann Stiftung |
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Conference: The Black Sea Region will decide the future of the EU
At the invitation of the Commission on the Black Sea, 80 experts and policymakers convened at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin on January 25 to discuss the current state of affairs in the Black Sea Region, as well as the region's future prospects. In recognition of the area's increasing importance, the Bertelsmann Stiftung has joined together with a number of partner organizations to create the Commission on the Black Sea, an international civil-society initiative that wants to promote an open debate of the future of the Black Sea Region, both in the region itself and in the EU. |
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Further Information:  The Current State of Economic Development in the Black Sea Region. Policy Report I Weblink: The Commission on the Black Sea |
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Financial Crisis: Lithuania looks to high-tech
Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius concluded a five-day visit to the United States on February 5 by speaking to a select gathering of World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), corporate and media representatives at the Bertelsmann Foundation North America. The prime minister, accompanied by Finance Minister Ingrida Simonyte, stressed his government's goal of creating a high-tech service hub in Lithuania and throughout the Baltic region. The prime minister also stressed the importance of his country's European Union membership as it confronts the challenges of the financial crisis. |
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Further Information: Project: Bertelsmann Foundation North America |
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Panel Debate: How to capture and assess well-being in a changing world
On February 3, the Bertelsmann Stiftung and the World Future Council (WFC) jointly held the second of three debates in the European Parliament on the issue of "Rethinking well-being. How to keep Europe on the Sustainability Track." At a first meeting in January, participants discussed the need to go beyond the current GDP-related growth paradigm and develop a more comprehensive and sustainable understanding of how future economic models can contribute to humanity's well-being. Taking this as a starting point, the second debate focused on current tools and indicators for defining and measuring societal well-being. |
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Further Information: Briefing Paper for the Joint Seminar Series on Sustainability of Bertelsmann Foundation and World Future Council 2010 Project: The Brussels Office of the Bertelsmann Stiftung Panel Debate: Striving for a Living Economy |
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spotlight europe: Cooperation with the Kremlin
The proposal from Russian President Dmitri Medvedev for a new European security architecture has enlivened the debate surrounding the EU-Russian relationship. Yet the Russians understand something quite different when it comes to "security" than does the EU, which thinks more in terms of soft power. New forums are therefore needed in order to come to a common understanding of future affairs in the region. |
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Further Information: 12 #2010/01: Cooperation with the Kremlin |
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New Publication: Ageing and the German Economy
Until now, most studies of how demographics and economics are linked have limited themselves to the ways that changes in a population's overall size influence economic development. As "Ageing and the German Economy" demonstrates, such undertakings have systematically underestimated the economic consequences of societal ageing. This work examines the impact that demographic shifts will have on key economic factors in Germany and 18 other countries (EU-15 member states, the US, Japan, China and India) between now and 2050. |
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| Greetings from the Bertelsmann Stiftung, | |
| Karin Schlautmann | |
| Director of Communications | |
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Bertelsmann Stiftung |
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