European capitals of culture

Essen, Pécs and Istanbul celebrate debut as European capitals of culture

Three European cities are set to kick off a year-long culture fest featuring exhibitions, music and theatre. The cities chosen to be this year's European capitals of culture are Essen and the Ruhr region of Germany, Pécs in southern Hungary and Istanbul in Turkey. Taking over from Linz (Austria) Vilnius (Lithuania), the three have put together a packed programme of events that should attract tens of thousands of visitors.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the EU's culture capital programme. Events must reflect the city's European character and directly involve residents. They must also promote the cities' overall development. To that end, each ‘capital' receives €1.5m in EU funds.

Organisers of the Ruhr programme hope to contribute to the revival of the heavily urbanised area in western Germany - home to well over 7 million people. A century ago, the Ruhr was Europe's biggest industrial region, teeming with coal mines and steel mills. Today the idle factories, furnaces and industrial canals are being turned into museums and tourist attractions.

Istanbul is playing up its history as a crossroads of European civilisation and a bridge between Europe and Asia. Turkey, a candidate for EU membership, is not the first non-EU country to hold the title. The Norwegian city of Stavanger was a European capital of culture in 2008.

Halfway between Essen and Istanbul, the Hungarian city of Pécs is highlighting its rich multicultural heritage. Historically a staging grounds for traders and armies that crisscrossed Europe, the city of 150 000 hopes to build ties with neighbouring countries, especially in the Balkans, to become a cultural hub for the region.

Essen and Pécs kick off their cultural programmes this weekend. In Germany the remains of the vast Zollverein coal mining complex, now a UNESCO world heritage site, will provide an extraordinary venue. The opening ceremony in downtown Pécs will feature actors and puppeteers in historical costumes and songs composed by Róbert Erdész, keyboard player in the internationally renowned band Solaris.

Istanbul's cultural celebration debuts the following weekend. More on European capitals of culture

Happy New Year!!!

Dear all, I would like to wish you a happy new year full of good health, success and joy!!!!! I would also like to wish my students a constructive academic year and good luck with their studies, exams and career!

Your life in the European Union

Information and legal advice on your rights to live, work and study abroad, including access to healthcare and consumer rights...just press the link on the title and find out...

EU fills new top jobs

European leaders select Belgian premier to be the EU’s first permanent president. EU trade commissioner Catherine Ashton from the UK lands the foreign policy spot.

After nail-biting negotiations at a council meeting headed for the history books, the decision on Belgian prime minister Herman Van Rompuy and commissioner Ashton was unanimous.

President Barroso congratulated the two. “I think it will be impossible to have a better choice than those personalities for the European Union leadership.”

A Christian-Democrat politician and economist by training, Mr Van Rompuy, 62, has served as Belgium’s premier for nearly a year. Many credit him with bringing stability to the country during tensions between the French- and Flemish-speaking communities.

“I have not sought this high position. I have intervened in no way. But from tonight, I will take it up with conviction,” he said.

In an agreement with the European commission, the council appointed Catherine Ashton, 53, to be the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy. A member of the UK Labour Party, she will also serve as a vice-president of the next commission now being formed.

The two posts were created by the recently approved Lisbon treaty, which aims to enhance the EU’s role in world affairs and streamline its decision-making.

The new president will serve for 2½ years. The position will replace the rotating presidency under which one member country chairs major EU meetings for six months.

Van Rompuy’s core responsibilities will include chairing council meetings and representing EU leaders on the global stage. He will also represent the council in relations with other EU institutions.

Catherine Ashton will have the authority to propose defence and security measures. She will also be tasked with setting up a network of diplomats around the world to support the new office.

She said she was surprised by her nomination, which must still be confirmed by parliament. "I am very honoured and proud to have been asked to take on this role. “"I will make sure I represent our values across the world.”

The post of high representative merges two existing portfolios: high-representative for common foreign and security policy and commissioner for external relations.

The selections become official with the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty on 1 December.

Poverty: one of the main priorities of the European Union

'Any progress in thwarting the scourge of poverty is a success for our common values,' declared President Barroso in a video message broadcast during the conference 'Poverty, between reality and perceptions: the communication challenge'. This event was organised in Brussels to mark the launch of 2010 European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. Unable to attend in person due to meetings related to the preparation of the European Council, the President nevertheless wished to speak by this means in order to explain how strongly he felt about the issue. At present almost 80 million people in Europe are on the poverty line, including 19 million children.

You could also view President's (Barroso) video message by clicking at: 
http://c14005-o.l.core.cdn.streamfarm.net/video4/dgComm/barroso/66159W_2.mp4

If you are also interested in checking the results of the Eurobarometer survey on poverty and social exclusion visit:  http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/480&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=fr

Final political hurdle cleared – road to Lisbon open...

Road to Lisbon open

Once the EU leaders had succeeded in resolving the Czech Republic’s concerns surrounding the Treaty of Lisbon yesterday evening, the final political hurdle was cleared for the entry into force of the Treaty. Now all that remains are the verdict of the Czech Constitutional Court and the Czech President’s signature.

 

Democracy, dialogue, debate!

Help give direction to the future of Europe. Join in any number of debates and give us your views on the challenges facing Europe today.

Do you think it's going in the right direction? Are the institutions making a difference where it really counts? Are they being overly meddlesome in trivial areas and not meddlesome enough in others, such as securing jobs and protecting consumers? Where do you stand on the climate change debate?

Where do you see Europe's borders ending? Take this opportunity to play your part in defining the road ahead.

Join the forum now and have your say!

Thank you!

Dear all,

I hope you had a good time during the national holiday. Thank you all for letting me know that TEI sessions would not be held last Monday. Your direct response was great! Thank you all. I 'll see you tomorrow.

Take part!

Have your say! Join an online debate, take part in a public consultation or check out and comment on blogs and video clips.

• Join an online debate

• Have your say on policies

• Blogs

• Video – EU on YouTube

Click on the link of the title...

10 things about the Lisbon treaty you should know

"Lisbon treaty" - you may have heard quite a bit about it recently. Still baffled? Well, here we present some of the main changes that it will bring to the European Union should it be adopted. At the time of writing the treaty has been ratified by 26 of the 27 EU members. Despite the Czech Parliament passing the treaty, President Václav Klaus is still refusing to sign it pending certain guarantees.

Citizens' initiative: If 1 million Europeans present a petition to the European Commission then it would have to look at ways of introducing the proposals. Alternatively it could force the Union's executive to look at ways of repealing legislation.

Lawmaking: The European Parliament would become an equal in terms of lawmaking with the Council of Ministers, where member state national governments are represented.

Policy: Members of the European Parliament would be on an equal legislative footing with the Council regarding EU agriculture and fisheries policy, trade policy, legal immigration and EU structural funds, to name just a few.

National Parliaments gain an increased role in EU decision making with the treaty giving them eight weeks in which to argue their case if they feel a draft law oversteps European Union authority.

An EU President: European leaders will have to elect a new EU President to chair their 4 summits a year and set out the agenda ahead. This would replace the six monthly rotations and the holder is likely to be the public face of the Union.

High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy: The second new job created under Lisbon. The powerful EU "foreign minister" will chair meetings of Foreign Affairs Ministers, oversee the multi-billion EU aid budget and run the proposed European External Action Service - a European diplomatic corps.

Double majority in Council votes: The treaty changes the voting arrangements in the Council of Ministers. New arrangements mean that instead of voting by unanimity measures can now be carried if they have 55% of the votes in the Council from counties representing 65% of the EU's population.

Commission President elected by MEPs: Any new President of the European Commission would be elected by the European Parliament.

Charter of Fundamental Rights: The Charter becomes legally binding meaning all laws must adhere to it. The UK and Poland have certain opt outs on this point.

Withdrawal: For the first time countries have the right to withdraw from the European Union.

EU games and quizzes

Visit the foolowing site to find quizzes and games for kids!!! Although you don;t belong to this age category it is still funny!
http://europa.eu/quick-links/eu-kids/index_en.htm

welcome!

To my new students I would like to wish a constructive new academic year!
In this blog you can find announcements about the course and additional links to EU issues.

Have an unforgettably wonderful summer!!!

Thanks for visiting! Unfortunately, my blog has been inactive for about a month. I have no intention of taking the site down and hope to come back to it when the time becomes available. Until then, you can reach me at my email. Thanks everyone for your patience and support!
I wish you a nice summer holiday! Paint the town red!!!!

About Greece...

Great factsheet summarizing in just a few words the essence of Hellas (officially named Greece)! You can also check out other EU member states' factsheets!

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2009/countries/greece.htm?language=EN

June elections! You will all be asked to vote!

In the last session we discussed a little bit about the elections that are going to take place in June 2009. Since you are EU citizens entitled to cast your vote, have a look at the following site to get more informed about these elections!

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2009/default.htm?language=EN

Welcome to the Easy Reading Corner!

Here you will find booklets that explain, as simply as possible, what the European Union is and what it does.

You can also find maps, posters and postcards and booklets about the EU for young people.

You can learn abou the EU by playing!

Take some time to visit this link which offers a very interesting range of interactive games on the EU. Why don't you enjoy the challenge?

http://europa.eu/europago/welcome.jsp

New semester, new start!

We are back after a long time period of idleness....no special reason for that, just the fact that most previous semester students did not have internet access...so no time for blog surfing!
Now, I would like to welcome my new students to this spring course! You can visit this blog any tile you feel like wanting to learn what is going on at the moment in the EU. There can also be annoucements about the course, exams or extra materials, although emails can also prove similarly helpful. I wish you a fruitful semester and an enjoyable stay in this small but quite beautiful town!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is here...and it will be over...What have we done???
Let's enjoy every moment of it...but we should not forget those who need our help...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8jw-ifqwkM

December 1st: AIDS day...

Do you know everything about AIDS?

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a set of symptoms and infections resulting from the damage to the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).^[1] This condition progressively reduces the effectiveness of the immune system and leaves individuals susceptible to opportunistic infections and tumors. HIV is transmitted through direct contact of a mucous membrane or the bloodstream with a bodily fluid containing HIV, such as blood, semen, vaginal fluid, preseminal fluid, and breast milk.^[2][3] This transmission can involve anal, vaginal or oral sex, blood transfusion, contaminated hypodermic needles, exchange between mother and baby during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding, or other exposure to one of the above bodily fluids.

AIDS is now a pandemic.^[4] In 2007, an estimated 33.2 million people lived with the disease worldwide, and it killed an estimated 2.1 million people, including 330,000 children.^[5] Over three-quarters of these deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa,^[5] retarding economic growth and destroying human capital.^[6] Most researchers believe that HIV originated in sub-Saharan Africa during the twentieth century.^[7] AIDS was first recognized by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1981 and its cause, HIV, identified by American and French scientists in the early 1980s.^[8]

Although treatments for AIDS and HIV can slow the course of the disease, there is currently no vaccine or cure. Antiretroviral treatment reduces both the mortality and the morbidity of HIV infection, but these drugs are expensive and routine access to antiretroviral medication is not available in all countries.^[9] Due to the difficulty in treating HIV infection, preventing infection is a key aim in controlling the AIDS epidemic, with health organizations promoting safe sex and needle-exchange programmes in attempts to slow the spread of the virus.

(source: wikipedia).

"Streets of Philadelphia" is a wonderful song and soundrack of "Philadelphia" movie...take a look at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L9_8vwx2w8.

For more information about the movie look at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107818/.

We should raise our awareness...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkITvAd_X4Y