by Herman Michiel (*) 23 June 2021   You can’t be blamed if the acronym FCAS doesn’t mean anything to you. FCAS stands for ‘Future Combat Air System’, and is a French-German-Spanish project to develop a ‘sixth generation’ fighter plane, as a successor of the ‘fifth generation’. Among the latter is the American F35, actually…

Herman Michiel, 27 May 2021 – European leaders are outraged by the manoeuvre with which Lukashenko handcuffed an opponent. But the selectivity of their indignation shows that they are not concerned with human rights, but with an imperial power play.(Published in Defend Democracy Press, 31/5/2021,  translation of  De selectieve verontwaardiging van de EU.)   If…

par Herman Michiel 20 janvier 2021 Traduction par Hamel Puissant et François Houart (Gauche Anticapitaliste)  de l’article U zei: Europees burgerinitiatief?   Le principe d’initiative citoyenne européenne, lancée en 2012, est décrit par la Commission européenne comme un « outil important pour la démocratie participative ». Il suffit qu’un million de citoyen.ne.s européen.ne.s soutiennent une proposition pour…

Klaus Dräger und Herman Michiel –  27 November 2020 – Mit der SURE-Initiative stellt die EU einen Plan für ein europäisches Kurzarbeitergeld vor. Die Maßnahmen werden als Sozialprogramm für die Beschäftigten verkauft. Doch Hauptprofiteure sind wieder einmal die Unternehmen. Veröffentlicht  on Jacobin.de Hits: 29

Herman Michiel and Klaus Dräger (*) 13 November 2020   When the European Commission finally realized that something serious was going on with corona, it launched, among other things, an initiative to support short-time work schemes, as Germany did as a reaction to the 2007/9 ‘financial crisis’. Similar measures were introduced in many EU countries…

Herman Michiel 29 September 2020   The British Department of Education last week announced guidelines to assist schools and teachers in England in their approach to sometimes ‘sensitive’ issues such as relationships, health and sex education. For example, it recalled that teachers should be aware of material on the internet that is not suitable for…

Herman Michiel (Ander Europa) 25 September 2020   On 23 September, the European Commission launched its proposal for a new asylum and migration policy. This consists of five legislative texts , which must therefore be approved by both the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.  “The old system did not work, we are now…

September 2020   APPEAL TO THE LEFT PARTIES IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT On 23 July, the vast majority of the Left Group (GUE/NGL) in the European Parliament approved, together with the social democratic (S&D), Green and rightist (EPP, Renew) parties, a resolution which opposes the ‘European deal’ of 21 July, in which the Council of…