EU Parliament: Guy Verhofstadt calls Donald Trump ‘head alligator’ of the swamp – by Paul Dallison

Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the liberal ALDE group in the European Parliament and a former Belgian prime minister, said on Twitter Wednesday that Trump had promised to “drain the swamp” in Washington, “but instead he created his own one and is acting as its head alligator.”

He added that Trump’s presidency, “one in which values and integrity do not seem to count, is detrimental to people’s faith in democracy.”

Read more: Guy Verhofstadt calls Donald Trump ‘head alligator’ of the swamp – POLITICO

The Netherlands - Weather: Four years of hot summers expected in the Netherlands - by Mina Solanki

This year, the Netherlands has experienced an unusually hot summer, with a code orange being issued due to the heat and two heatwaves engulfing the country in a short period of time. Not to mention the drought that did not go unnoticed across the land.

Well, if you thought the weather was just a tad too warm, you won’t have any luck in terms of cooler summers for the next few years. According to a new statistical analysis by KNMI climate researcher Sybren Drijfhout and colleague Florian Sevellec, globally, we are in for another four years of warmer than usual weather.

From now until 2022, the earth will be in the throes of a “warm anomaly”, in addition to the slow advance of global warming due to greenhouse gasses. Although the anomaly may only contribute to temperatures worldwide by a few hundredths of a degree, it could result in heatwaves, extreme weather conditions and hot summers.

Drijfhout credits the coming warm period to a four-year hiatus, roughly between 2010 and 2014, in which the earth’s temperature hardly increased. During this period, it seems as though the extra heat was absorbed by the sea; extra heat which could still be released into the atmosphere, he says. Up until 2022, there is a 70 percent possibility of extra hot summers and higher temperatures in general the world over, the weather model currently reports.

Read more: Four years of hot summers expected in the Netherlands

This year, the Netherlands has experienced an unusually hot summer, with a code orange being issued due to the heat and two heatwaves engulfing the country in a short period of time. Not to mention the drought that did not go unnoticed across the land.

Well, if you thought the weather was just a tad too warm, you won’t have any luck in terms of cooler summers for the next few years. According to a new statistical analysis by KNMI climate researcher Sybren Drijfhout and colleague Florian Sevellec, globally, we are in for another four years of warmer than usual weather.

From now until 2022, the earth will be in the throes of a “warm anomaly”, in addition to the slow advance of global warming due to greenhouse gasses. Although the anomaly may only contribute to temperatures worldwide by a few hundredths of a degree, it could result in heatwaves, extreme weather conditions and hot summers.

Drijfhout credits the coming warm period to a four-year hiatus, roughly between 2010 and 2014, in which the earth’s temperature hardly increased. During this period, it seems as though the extra heat was absorbed by the sea; extra heat which could still be released into the atmosphere, he says. Up until 2022, there is a 70 percent possibility of extra hot summers and higher temperatures in general the world over, the weather model currently reports.

Read more: Four years of hot summers expected in the Netherlands

German -Turkey Relations: German journalist says Turkey court lifts travel ban

A German journalist and translator who is on trial in Turkey on terror-related charges said Monday that Turkish authorities had lifted her overseas travel ban.

"The reports about the lifting of my exit ban are correct," Mesale Tolu wrote on Twitter.

"I would like to thank my supporters and all those who sympathised with me and stood by my side to win my freedom."

An Istanbul court in December had conditionally released Tolu, 34, who was held for over half a year on charges of membership of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP), which is banned in Turkey as a terror organisation.

Under that ruling, she had to report to the authorities every week and could not leave Turkey.

With the latest verdict, she will be allowed to leave the country.

However Tolu wrote on Twitter that the next hearing in her trial is scheduled for October 16. If convicted, she faces up to 15 years in prison.

In February, an Istanbul court ordered the conditional release of German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel after receiving an indictment from prosecutors seeking a prison sentence of up to 18 years.

The latest court ruling on Tolu comes amid a thaw in Turkish-German relations after months of sharp tensions.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said he was relieved by the "good news" that Tolu would be allowed to travel and called it "a step forward in improving our relationship with Turkey".

But he added in a statement that more steps must follow and said that "we continue to view critically many rule-of-law issues in Turkey and are addressing these openly with our Turkish counterparts".

Read more: Flash - German journalist says Turkey court lifts travel ban - France 24

Britain - Brexit: Fashion tycoon seeks second EU vote

Just seven months until Britain is due to leave the EU, the co-founder of global fashion chain Superdry has donated 1 million pounds (€1.1 million, $1.28 million) to a group seeking a new referendum on membership of the bloc.

Julian Dunkerton, whose streetwear brand has outlets in 46 countries, wrote in Britain's Sunday Times that he is backing the People's Vote campaign because he predicts Brexit will be a "disaster" and "we have a genuine chance to turn this around."

His donation will be spent on one of the biggest polling operations ever undertaken in the United Kingdom.

Dunkerton used Sunday's opinion piece to complain: "There is no vision for Brexit and the politicians have made a mess of it."

"Increasingly, the public knows that Brexit is going to be a disaster. Maybe they just need to be given that little bit of hope that comes when they see how opinion is moving.

Read more: Brexit: Fashion tycoon seeks second EU vote | News | DW | 19.08.2018

Global Politics: Europe must break the shackles and show off its power - by Professor Zaki Laidi

EU: Only in unity can progress be achieved

Zaki Laidi professor of international relations at L’Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), who also was an adviser to former French prime minister Manuel Valls. recently wrote in an opinion piece, which is not only worth reading, but also implementing as part of the EU's  Parliament and Commissions long range strategy.

 "US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker may have averted a trade war last month, but the challenges confronting the EU are far from resolved. In today’s increasingly Hobbesian global environment, the EU can survive only by increasing its capacity to project power — no easy feat for an entity that was formed precisely as a repudiation of power politics.

With the 1957 Treaty of Rome, Europe shed what remained of its militaristic impulses and focused on building a sprawling and peaceful single market. From then on, Europe’s only means of projecting power would be its trade policy. Yet that policy has never been guided by strategic thinking, leaving the EU with only limited global influence, despite its tremendous success in world markets. The time has come for Europe to reestablish itself as a true global player, not by attempting to emulate a classic superpower, but rather by consolidating and deploying different types of power.

Europe already has considerable normative power — that is, the capacity to create global standards through the so-called Brussels effect, which can be seen in its efforts to rein in technology companies.

The recently enacted General Data Protection Regulation, for example, set guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information of individuals within the EU. Now, digital platforms, including powerful American companies, are scrambling to adjust. The “big four” US tech firms — Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Apple, Facebook, and Amazon — are also facing pressure from the EU stemming from their dominant market position.

Yet the EU has often failed to recognize its normative power, let alone take full advantage of it. This both reflects and reinforces weakness in three areas: Self-esteem, risk awareness, and the capacity for action.

Self-esteem includes the belief that the EU is a worthy undertaking, the confidence to express that publicly, and recognition of the EU’s true potential for power projection. Such a dispensation is severely lacking in many parts of the EU, beginning with Germany, which, despite having regained confidence in its own future, jealously guards its resources.

As Trump berates Germany for accumulating surpluses without contributing sufficiently to transatlantic defense, the country should be all the more motivated to use its capabilities to strengthen Europe. But, while the discourse in Germany on resource-sharing has begun to shift, concrete changes will take time.

Europe’s unwillingness to nurture and deploy its clout contrasts sharply with America’s assertive use of its market power to advance its interests and preferences. For example, since Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — better known as the Iran nuclear deal — and reinstate sanctions on Iran, many European companies, fearing loss of access to the US market, have decided to withdraw from the country.

To convince European companies to remain in Iran, the European Commission updated the 1996 Blocking Statute, which forbids actors under EU jurisdiction from complying with extraterritorial sanctions, allows companies to recover damages from such sanctions, and nullifies the effect in the EU of any foreign court’s judgment based on them. But the update has proved ineffective, as exemplified by the situation faced by SWIFT, the secure messaging system used for global cross-border financial transactions.

As Iran learned in 2012, losing access to the SWIFT network essentially means losing access to the international financial system. Yet that is exactly what the US is pushing for: If SWIFT fails to cut off Iran by early November, it will face countermeasures. SWIFT’s compliance with that demand, however, would all but destroy any remaining incentive for Iran to remain in the JCPOA. This would amount to a major political failure for Europe, because SWIFT is under EU jurisdiction.

Europe has also shown a self-defeating lack of confidence in the euro. Although the euro is the world’s second most important currency, it lags behind the dollar on almost all metrics, increasing the EU’s vulnerability to US trade sanctions.

The second weakness the EU needs to address is risk awareness. For example, China needs access to Europe’s industrial technology to realize its economic ambitions, and it needs access to European ports to complete its Belt and Road Initiative. Yet Europe is allowing itself to be effectively plundered, not least by China’s takeover of ports and airport facilities. The EU-China relationship must be made more reciprocal, with the EU — and, in particular, the Southern and Eastern European countries that have welcomed Chinese investment with open arms — recognizing the security risks posed by Beijing’s activities.

For that to happen, however, Europe will need a more united approach to Russia, which, despite posing less of a threat to the EU than China does, is keen to highlight — and exacerbate — internal division. How can one blame Greece for selling ports to the Chinese while Germany pursues the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which will increase Europe’s energy dependency on Russia?

All of this is complicated by escalating tensions between Europe and the US, which, among other things, is spoiling cooperation to contain China. This is where the capacity for action comes in. Rather than waiting for someone else to push back against the Trump administration’s demolition of multilateral structures, Europe must take the initiative, imagining a system without the US.

This means not only ensuring that the international trade regime can survive without the US, but also developing a military capability that can increase the EU’s geopolitical credibility and shift the global balance of power. Here, French President Emmanuel Macron’s initiative to create a European military force beyond NATO is essential. Its success will hinge on a united, cooperative approach that potentially even includes the UK. The challenge is obvious. But the payoff — for the EU and the world — would be well worth the effort ". 

Note EU-Digest: Hopefully European political leaders at all levels of the European political spectrum will take note of this report by Professor Zaki Laidi. Europe must show far more courage to quickly undo itself from the US directed policy shackles and choose it's own independent course. If not, it will be devoured country by country in today’s increasingly Hobbesian global environment.

EU-Digest

Germany′s planned immigration law – what you need to know

The German government is preparing a new immigration law aimed at bringing more skilled workers to Germany – but has apparently rejected the "points-based" system that other countries favor.
The new "key-point" paper, seen by DW, acknowledges that low unemployment and an aging population in Germany have meant that companies are struggling to fill posts with qualified people, and even creating more opportunities for other European Union citizens will not meet the shortfall – so " we will have to be significantly more successful in winning qualified specialist workers from third countries" – meaning countries outside the EU.

Read more: Germany′s planned immigration law – what you need to know | Germany| News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond | DW | 17.08.2018

EU-Turkey Relations: Ankara Notes Normalization of Relations With EU Amid Rift With US

Relations between Turkey and the European Union have begun normalizing, and Ankara idetermined to step up the visa liberalization dialogue with the bloc, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said amid recently exacerbated Ankara-Washington tensions.

Read more: Ankara Notes Normalization of Relations With EU Amid Rift With US - Sputnik International