As Europe’s south is burning and the continent is already bracing for what’s prone to be an extended and exhausting winter, I made a decision to begin the summer time interval on a lighter notice. In the present day I performed with phrases, impressed by Billy Joel’s monster hit “We didn’t begin the fireplace”, which he wrote again in 1989.
The sense of doom and gloom has hardly modified however – as is just pure – my references are barely extra up to date and extra “European”.
Please indulge, be happy to enhance it, add your personal traces – and sing alongside!
/ / /
Robert Shuman, Berlin Wall, Widespread market, Berlaymont,
Aldo Moro, Polish Pope, Johnny Halliday
Gainsbourg, revolution, music contest on Eurovision
Winds of change, Scorpions, Yugoslav wars
Helmut Kohl and Mitterrand, Channel tunnel, Eurostar
Maastricht standards, horsemeat from Romania,
Polish plumber, Schengen, pedophiles in Belgium
Gerhard Schroeder Gazprom, Putin is our good friend
EU didn’t begin the fireplace
It was at all times burning, for the reason that world’s been turning
EU didn’t begin the fireplace
No, we didn’t mild it, however we tried to struggle it
Varoufakis, bailout, eurozone in meltdown
Franco-German engine, Merkel in command
Structure, referendum, Brexit conundrum
Lampedusa, relocation, migrant quotas, border fence
Ryanair low fares, airport strikes, Yellow vests
Irish border, Greta Thunberg, local weather change,
Pfizer bought vaccines, England stored the identical queen
Novichok in London, lockdown social gathering blues
Charles Michel in Georgia, renaming Macedonia,
NATO summit, energy play, Zelenskyy, CIA,
Crowdfunded Bayraktar, dancing ABBA avatars,
Wildfires, heatwave, what else do I’ve to say?
EU didn’t begin the fireplace It was at all times burning, for the reason that world’s been turning
EU didn’t begin the fireplace
No, we didn’t mild it, however we tried to struggle it
(To be repeated)
The Roundup
Mario Draghi, the central banker turned Italian prime minister, received plaudits for his calm management as Italy emerged from the coronavirus disaster however suffered the identical destiny as a lot of his predecessors, introduced down by fractious inside politics.
The European Fee has launched its pointers on find out how to allocate fossil fuel in occasions of scarcity, giving vital leeway to EU international locations – leaving German business fastidiously optimistic.
An EU proposal calling on member states to chop their fuel use by 15% to arrange for potential cuts to provides of Russian fuel is going through resistance from governments, casting doubt on whether or not they’ll approve the emergency plan subsequent week.
Portugal has already come out: It’s “completely in opposition to” the EU proposal for member states to chop fuel utilization till March as a result of it might hamper electrical energy manufacturing by gas-fired vegetation when the nation faces an excessive drought, Vitality Secretary Joao Galamba stated on Thursday.
Hungarian Overseas Minister Péter Szijjártó travelled to Moscow on Thursday to debate buying extra Russian fuel on behalf of his nation, the ruling Fidesz social gathering stated.
In case you haven’t learn it but, do take a look at our weekly Well being Transient – Chasing COVID variants (once more) – for a wholesome dose of related coverage information.
Look out for…
- Committee on Petitions delegation in Washington, D.C. by Friday
- Casual assembly of competitiveness ministers (Analysis) in Prague by Friday
- European Fee Vice-President Věra Jourová meets with President of Czech Senate in Prague on Friday.
- Price range Commissioner Johannes Hahn in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia to current NextGenerationEU funding technique by Saturday.
Views are the writer’s.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
