Economy: Patrick Love-Triple A shocks
Thursday, December 22nd, 2011The causes of the Great Recession risk being repeated, Patrick Love contends, as he reviews the downturn. Globalisation multiplies the effect of new shocks in a way never seen previously. Financial crises and recessions are nothing unusual. There were 195 stock market crashes and 84 depressions between 1860 and 2006. However, the 2007 crisis marks a turning point in that for the first time the entire world was affected. The trigger was the collapse of Lehmans, which called into question one of the unspoken assumptions of global finance: some banks are too big to fail. This assumption...[full story]
Energy: Arthur Cox-evolution or revolution?
Thursday, December 22nd, 2011Alan Bissett and David Trethowan emphasise the need for the main energy sectors to comply with EU law. The European energy market is the last large scale market which has not been widely harmonised to date. This is unsurprising due to the vastness of the market and its highly technical nature. The EU Third Energy Package, which is made up of a series of directives and regulations, forms a regulatory framework designed to reinvigorate the integration of the European energy markets for electricity and gas. Aims and goals It is hoped that the implementation of the Third Package will go...[full story]
Energy: North sea supergrid
Thursday, December 22nd, 2011North Sea states are making progress in plans for a connected offshore grid, due to strong government support. Political will is crucial for developing offshore energy, European energy representatives have emphasised. As part of the Open Days conference, agendaNi attended a seminar on supergrids in the North Sea and English Channel, hosted by the Norwegian mission to the EU. While not a member state, Norway co-operates closely with the EU on energy and produces as much oil as the entire union. In contrast, it generates virtually all its electricity from hydro plants. Friends of the Supergrid...[full story]
Energy: IBEC-CBI–European input
Wednesday, December 21st, 2011The IBEC-CBI Joint Business Council (JBC) Energy Stakeholders Group is an all-island forum funded through the European Union INTERREG IVA Programme for debating and representing the views of IBEC and CBI members engaged in the provision and consumption of energy (primarily electricity and gas) on all issues relating to the fostering and development of a sustainable, competitive and cost-effective energy market for Ireland at all-island, regional, and European Community level. The SEM is a successful cost-reflective wholesale electricity market. It has encouraged new entrants, new investment...[full story]
Energy: Nuclear’s 21st century potential
Wednesday, December 21st, 2011William Nuttall, a technology policy specialist at Cambridge University, discusses the future of nuclear energy with Meadhbh Monahan. Nuclear energy doesn’t necessarily have an essential role to play going forward, but it is not “evil” either, according to William Nuttall. The academic is Director of Cambridge University’s Management of Technology and Innovation (MoTI) Programme and Assistant Director of its Electricity Policy Research Group. “In the UK, when the ordinary members of the public think of nuclear, they think of themselves as the potential victims of a future accident,...[full story]
Europe: Bairbre de Brún – greening the recovery
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011Europe’s economy will be left behind without a green recovery, according to Bairbre de Brún. Extra investment is needed in the environmental sector but her fellow MEPs want more corporation tax. Climate change is a key interest for de Brún who is this month representing her GUE/NGL group at the UN climate change conference in Durban. GUE/NGL, which stands for the Confederal Group of the European United Left – Nordic Green Left, is the Parliament’s sixth largest group with 34 MEPs. The aim at Durban is to get progress on a replacement for the Kyoto protocol, although the USA refuses...[full story]
Europe: Diane Dodds – time for an exit
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011Rising costs and interference mean the UK is better off outside the EU, according to Diane Dodds. The DUP MEP discusses Northern Ireland’s place in Europe and her priorities with Peter Cheney. Diane Dodds is in the conflicting position of wanting the best financial deal for Northern Ireland in Europe and also wanting the UK to quit the EU, therefore cutting off those funds. However, she sees no such contradiction when the point is put to her. As part of a net contributor, Northern Ireland must “get more back out of Europe than it currently does” and leaving the EU would ultimately...[full story]
Europe: Jim Nicholson – Europe and enterprise
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011Jim Nicholson wants to promote a new narrative about Northern Ireland, with more businesses exploring European opportunities. Peter Cheney asks him about his current impressions of the EU. Europeans still associate Northern Ireland with conflict but a single visit makes visitors want to come back. That’s what Jim Nicholson found when he organised a regional tour for the bureau of his European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group. MEPs were “highly impressed” with Parliament Buildings despite the September rain, took a trip to the North Coast “and they really loved the scenery...[full story]
Europe: How others see Europe
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011Insularity and caution will damage Europe’s standing in the world, according to diplomats. Peter Cheney considers the view from New Zealand and the USA. Foreign observers are warning that an inward-looking and risk-averse Europe will fall behind the rest of the world. agendaNi asked American and New Zealand diplomats for their perspective on a continent in crisis. Vangelis Vitalis is New Zealand’s Ambassador-designate to the EU, and the son of Greek migrants. “The euro zone crisis is transfixing us in Wellington,” he states. However, Vitalis is also troubled by Europe’s changing...[full story]
