EU: Trump staff asked EU officials which countries will leave the EU next – by Catherine Stupp

Aides to US President-elect Donald Trump recently asked EU officials over the phone which countries will be next to leave the bloc after Britain, outgoing US ambassador to the EU Anthony Gardner said. Gardner was told about the conversations by EU institution staff members, but was not in on the calls.

Trump has expressed support for the UK’s vote to leave the EU and suggested that former UKIP leader Nigel Farage should be made the UK’s new ambassador to the United States. Farage, one of the most outspoken supporters of Brexit, was photographed smiling with Trump in his New York flagship hotel days after he won the US election.

It would be the “height of folly” for the US to express support for Brexit, Gardner told reporters today (13 January), one week before he leaves his post in Brussels.

Despite their differences on Brexit, Farage recently requested to meet with Gardner, who became US ambassador to the EU in 2014.

“I take huge exception to some of the things he’s done,” Gardner said. The US diplomat said he has never met Farage, who he called “off the political reservation”, and has responded to his request but not yet arranged a meeting.

Read more: Trump staff asked EU officials which countries will leave the EU next – EurActiv.com

Europe Needs Franco-German Action To Project Power

After the shock of the United Kingdom’s Brexit referendum and Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States in 2016, this will be a decisive year for Europe. Upcoming parliamentary elections in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and possibly Italy will decide whether the European Union will hold together, or whether it will disintegrate under the neo-nationalist wave sweeping the West.

Meanwhile, the Brexit negotiations will begin in earnest, providing a glimpse of the future of the EU-UK relationship. And Trump’s inauguration on January 20 may someday be remembered as a watershed moment for Europe.

Judging by Trump’s past statements about Europe and its relationship with the US, the EU should be preparing for some profound shocks. The incoming US president, an exponent of the new nationalism, does not believe in European integration.

Here he has an ally in Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long tried to destabilize the EU by supporting nationalist forces and movements in its member states. If the Trump administration supports or turns a blind eye to those efforts, the EU – sandwiched between Russian trolls and Breitbart News – will have to brace itself for challenging times indeed.

Read moeEurope Needs Franco-German Action To Project Power

Netherlands: Alternative Energy Railways: Dutch electric trains become 100% powered by wind energy

Dutch Trains -Alternative Energy - Wind Power

All Dutch electric trains are now powered by wind energy, the national railway company NS has said .

“Since 1 January, 100% of our trains are running on wind energy,” said NS spokesman, Ton Boon.

“So we in fact reached our goal a year earlier than planned,” said Boon, adding that an increase in the number of wind farms across the country and off the coast of the Netherlands had helped NS achieve its aim.

Eneco and NS said on a joint website that around 600,000 passengers daily are “the first in the world” to travel thanks to wind energy. NS operates about 5,500 train trips a day.

One windmill running for an hour can power a train for 120 miles, the companies said. They hope to reduce the energy used per passenger by a further 35% by 2020 compared with 2005.

Read more: Dutch electric trains become 100% powered by wind energy | World news | The Guardian

USA: President Obama's farewell speech

Click on the link below for an unedited transcript of President Obama’s prepared remarks during his farewell address in Chicago, as provided by the White House. 

 

Read the full transcript of President Obama's farewell speech - LA Times

Israel: Netanyahu questioned for second time in graft probe

Police were questioning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday for a second time as part of a probe into whether he illegally accepted gifts from wealthy supporters, media reports said.

Police declined to comment on the reports.

Read more: Flash - Netanyahu questioned for second time in graft probe: reports - France 24

The Netherlands: Far-right party still leading in Dutch polls, despite leader’s criminal guilt

Volendam is a village of clogs, canals, cheese – and anger. A former fishing village-turned-tourist-haven north-east of Amsterdam on the Markermeer lake, it offered one of the country’s strongest turnouts for far-right populist Geert Wilders the last time the country went to the polls.

Wilders was found guilty of inciting discrimination at a rally where he called for “fewer Moroccans”. His supporters in this overwhelmingly white, conservative town see the trial and verdict as political persecution of a maverick anti-establishment champion.

“We don’t like what the government does so we support him,” said Wim Keizer, curator of the Volendam museum, a small building filled with tableaux of families and fishermen in traditional dress, including a dog-drawn cart and the cabin of a North Sea fishing skiff.

Wilders’ Freedom party (PVV) has risen from being a rightwing gadfly of the Dutch establishment to one of the most powerful forces in national politics, remaking the image of a nation once regarded as a beacon of liberal values. It is currently leading in polls ahead of national elections next year.

Read more: Far-right party still leading in Dutch polls, despite leader’s criminal guilt | World news | The Guardian

EU decoupling from US? Asia, Europe must not give into protectionism: Former Italian PM Letta

Even as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump practices economic patriotism, Asia and the European Union (EU) must not respond with protectionist policies of their own, former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta warned on Friday.

"I strongly believe protectionism is the wrong answer, we need to manage the social consequences of globalization but we have to continue with progress as well," he told CNBC on the sidelines of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Conference in Singapore.

As the current dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po, Letta said Europe and Asia must continue inking bilateral trade agreements, such as the EU-Vietnam and EU-Indonesia deals currently underway, to strengthen their relationship amid expectations for the U.S. to isolate itself from global trade.

"The big problem of globalization today is how to manage the subsequent social and demographic transitions, it is a welfare problem."

In regards to the future of his home country, Letta said Italy's outlook depended on the EU's unity.
"When European integration is weak, Italy suffers. Italy is a country that needs the euro and a strong commitment to completion of the EU."

With elections due in France and Germany, as well as greater detail on Brexit, 2017 will mark "a turning point" for Europe, he continued. If these events confirm Europe's ability to stick together, Italy will do well, he said.

Read more: Asia, Europe must not give into protectionism: Former Italian PM Letta