What a silly question.
“European leadership?” There is no such thing. It’s just that now and then little reminders like this pop up in the news. Europe doesn’t lead. Europe doesn’t produce. It redistributes. It redistributes until there is nothing less to distribute.
First France, Now Germany: What Is Going On in Europe?
Germany’s government collapse and imminent snap elections mark the latest crisis amid an ‘uneven’ state of European leadership, an expert says.
They’ll come to their senses soon enough.
Or maybe they won’t. Hard to say for sure.
Swedish minister open to new measures to tackle energy crisis, blames German nuclear phase-out – Sweden is ready to introduce new measures to tackle the country’s soaring energy prices, Energy Minister Ebba Busch announced on Thursday (12 December), blaming Germany’s nuclear phase-out for the crisis in the country and at EU level…
One main reason Busch cited for the surge in electricity prices is Germany’s decision to dismantle its nuclear power plants, saying it also has detrimental effects for Europe.
“I’m furious with the Germans,” Busch told Swedish broadcaster SVT.
“They have made a decision for their country, which they have the right to make. But it has had very serious consequences,” she added.
The Chip War Western Front.
EU approves German state aid for $11 billion TSMC chip plant – Taiwan’s TSMC (2330.TW), opens new tab on Tuesday launched a major new computer chip plant in Dresden, Germany, expected to be a key supplier to European industry and carmakers after the EU Commission approved 5 billion euros ($5.5 billion) worth of state aid.
The large aid award for the project, which will cost 10 billion in all, is the biggest approved so far under the EU Chips Act, and the first in Germany.
It is also the first project in Europe under TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, and is expected to improve Europe’s resiliency if a chip shortage of the type experienced during the COVID pandemic happens again.
The Germans call them “irregular migrants.”
But even the wacky German left is starting figure out that “irregular migration” is maybe sort of not such a good thing. Not that they’ll ever actually do anything about it. But still.
Germany: Scholz says irregular migration must ‘come down’ – First-time claims for asylum in Germany fell by a fifth in the first six months of the year. The chancellor said border checks will continue, to further limit the number of migrants entering through the land borders.
“In general, we intend to continue strictly controlling the German borders,” Scholz told the regional paper. “We want to limit irregular migration, as I have announced. The numbers have to come down.”
But Germany-shaped void?
That tune will never be a hit.
The Germany-shaped void at Europe’s heart – Olaf Scholz’s government is punching below its weight in Brussels.
Last month Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron entered an eu summit with a plan. The German and French leaders agreed that a “strategic agenda” document, drawn up to set the eu’s priorities for the next five years, was inadequate. The passages on climate and migration were weak, and what about defence? But their extensive rewrites, drawn up just before the meeting, sparked a revolt among the other leaders, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni among them. Voices were raised, fingers jabbed, and the pair retreated in humiliation…
And jackpot! 1,400 unauthorized entries and 173 arrest warrants issued in one week.
Maybe we should do this more often. Like, for always and forever. And not just for Euro 2024.
Germany detects 1,400 unauthorised entries ahead of Euros, Bild says – Border authorities in Germany, host nation of Euro 2024, detected 1,400 unauthorised entries and issued 173 arrest warrants in the week preceding the soccer tournament, according to German newspaper Bild.
Expanded border controls introduced temporarily for the championships prevented 900 people from entering the country between June 7 and June 13, the Sunday paper said.
It’s inexplicable. Why on earth would Europeans by voting for the right?
Something seems to bothering the electorate that we professionals in power have not been able to understand. Oh well. I suppose it’s one of those mysteries we will never be able to solve…
In Germany, the EU’s most populous nation, projections indicated that voters had not been dissuaded by the AfD’s scandals as it rose to 16.5%, up from 11% in 2019. In comparison, the combined result for the three parties in the German governing coalition barely topped 30%.
And nothing, absolutely nothing will have changed.
The people who say it know it. The people who hear it know it. The people who commit these crimes know it.
Germany’s Scholz vows to step up deportations after killing of police officer – The stabbing of an officer by a suspect from Afghanistan has put the chancellor under pressure to take a tougher stance on migration ahead of the EU election.
The gruesome killing of a police officer by a 25-year-old Afghan suspect has put German Chancellor Olaf Scholz under renewed pressure to take a tougher stance on migration days ahead of a European election in which the far right is expected to make sizeable gains.
To find a job in a country that has…
some of the lowest salaries in Europe,
the highest taxes in Europe (if not in the world),
the highest social “contributions” (taxes) in Europe,
some of the lowest retirement pensions in Europe (unless you’re a civil servant),
the highest energy prices in Europe,
the highest water and sewage costs in Europe,
some of the highest real estate taxes and related bureaucratic costs in Europe,
some of the highest rents and real estate prices in Europe and
a catastrophic lack of available apartments.
I’ll stop there. For now.
So don’t miss out on this opportunity, millennials!
Desperate for millennial talent, Germany launches ‘Opportunity Card’ giving migrants a year to look for a job – Between an aging population and an economy in seemingly perennial stagnation, Germany faces some major challenges. Could a visa aimed at attracting more young, hungry workers be the answer?
Germany is set to launch an “Opportunity Card” just in time for the summer, aimed at young foreign workers hoping either to eventually secure a long-term job or simply work in the country for a while.
Observing Hermann 