European Union

EU overhauls space policies

More than 10 per cent of the European Union’s GDP is already dependent on space-related services and major investments by the EU have enabled progress that no member state could have achieved…


Immigration: the ugly face of Brexit and beyond

A growing tide of desperate people seeking sanctuary and a surging anti-immigrant sentiment among the native populations of some nations will lead to an even greater crisis in Europe, writes Geoff Kitney….


The art of the win-win negotiation

Or as John Egan  discovers, in diplomatic parlance, it is the art of compromise. It seemed that the time for talking was running out at the OECD yesterday. President Donald Trump’s most…


Italian storms darken European horizon

A new “anti-system” political coalition in Italy is stirring up the relative tranquillity of the Eurozone economy. Banks and businesses are fastening their seatbelts and preparing for a bumpy ride, John Egan…


How much does your neighbour earn?

John Egan takes a look at the complexities entailed in answering the question. If you would like to know how well off you are, you do not have to look far –…


When reality bites

Is Prime Minister Theresa May resigned to Customs Union membership for the UK after Brexit? Murray Ritchie suspects the answer is ‘yes’. First it was the judges who were “enemies of the…


Shifting sands of scientific progress

The economic, commercial and geo-political status of nations is derived from their scientific and technological prowess. A new report charts how this balance of power has altered since the turn of the…


Nitrate: there’s something in the water

The United Kingdom’s four nations have the highest river nitrate concentrations in Europe. The European Environment Agency is demanding change, writes James Fitzgerald. The UK’s chemical-intensive farming methods have caught us between…


Britain hit by harsh political and economic storms

It is alone in a world in which the rules-based global order of the last half-century is set to be replaced by dog-eat-dog, survival of the fittest, beggar-thy-neighbour trade policy chaos, writes…