Category Archives: uk and germany

BREXIT

Posted on June 24, 2016 by johnclark

The referendum vote is taking Britain out of the EU, much to my surprise. I hadn’t expected people to vote leave, despite supporting that idea since the 1975 referendum, though I have equally wanted to see the creation of a … Continue reading →

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Brexit vote tomorrow

Posted on June 22, 2016 by johnclark

Whichever way UK people vote tomorrow, the appalling nature of the campaign to leave or remain in the EU is a cautionary reminder of the depths to which populist politics sinks political debate. The murder of Labour MP Jo Cox … Continue reading →

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BREXIT A Question of Principle, Practical politics and Prosperity.

Posted on June 2, 2016 by johnclark

BREXIT A Question of Principle, Practical politics and Prosperity. ‘Not in the room’ As Angela Merkel says she backs the UK remaining in the EU, perhaps someone should remind her that Britain is already ‘not in the room’ when it … Continue reading →

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BREXIT: A better EU without the UK?

Posted on April 29, 2016 by johnclark

There are three key factors that unite the interests of most EU members: proximity, interdependence and scale. 1. Tens of millions of Europeans live within an hour’s journey time of a border with another EU country, say 100km, and the … Continue reading →

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And still, the questions go unasked

Posted on April 6, 2016 by johnclark

A trial surrounding the murder of 9 people in a series of attacks and bombings by German Neo-Nazis was used as the basis for a group of tv movies looking at events from the point of view of the victims, … Continue reading →

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German regional elections.

Posted on March 14, 2016 by johnclark

Germany has elections every year, as some of the Federal States go to the polls. These elections determine the regional government and the MinisterPresident in each region becomes a member of the upper house of the German Parliament, the BundesRat, … Continue reading →

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Shameful, shoddy and cynical – The EU Turkey

Posted on March 9, 2016 by johnclark

The deal between Turkey and the EU, horsetrading over the lives of refugees from the Middle East, is perhaps the most glaring example yet of the European Union’s inept and ill considered political forays into issues that are outside their … Continue reading →

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Cameron, Tusk and the EU

Posted on February 9, 2016 by johnclark

The puzzling thing about Donald Tusk’s European Commission letter to UK Prime Minister David Cameron is why anyone should take it seriously. To imply that a co-ordinated series of parliamentary votes in a series of national parliaments could become a … Continue reading →

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BREXIT – narrow nationalism in the EU.

Posted on January 24, 2016 by johnclark

When I left the UK to settle in Germany after the fall of communism, it was on the assumption that a European approach to all kinds of practical and administrative questions would mean that working and running a business would … Continue reading →

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Steel and the EU

Posted on January 20, 2016 by johnclark

Adherence to the mythologies of market forces might convince in a business school classroom, or to derivatives traders and suburban politicians familiar with farmers’ markets, but to anyone involved in a $250billion turnover industry like the nexus of iron ore, … Continue reading →

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