cafebabel.com

Odd ode to Eric Cantona

('Andrew Burgess',) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:21:04 -0000

The Olympic Marseille football club is beginning to form a reputation as the starting block for 'wannabe presidents'. Following in the footsteps of George Weah and his candidacy for the presidency in Liberia, it’s now the turn of Eric Cantona to make his ambitions for high office known, writes one French blogger, 'ASL'

Economy lesson from young Europeans: move to China and start saving now

('Agata Jaskot',) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:45:00 -0000

EU officials are brainstorming the programme of Denmark's six-month presidency of the EU, as young, ambitious Europeans give us their financial lessons from the 'crisis year' 2011

From elections to christmas, same old campaign in Spain

('Elaine Jordan',) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:07:11 -0000

Spain’s recent congress and senate elections on 20 November bombarded our tired eyes and weary spirits. Now we are hit with another inevitable bomb shell: christmas. We face another equally exhausting and worrying campaign

Belgian, Polish, Spanish and German media on last EU summit of 2011

('euro topics',) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:40:36 -0000

At the EU summit that kicks off on 8 December in Brussels a number of countries are unwilling to go along with proposals by Germany and France to amend the EU treaties as a means of controlling the debt crisis. The German government refuses to make concessions. Disunited Europe must succeed even though it seems doomed to run aground, the press write

The rise of divorce parties in Europe

('Isabella',) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:15:00 -0000

Inspired by a trend from the United States, an increasing number of companies and services are being established in the UK, France and Germany. Amongst the European Union member states, divorce was not possible until 1970 in Italy, 1981 in Spain 1995 in Ireland and, most recently, 2011 in Malta

Football: a poor man's sport? Not for Qatar

('Monica Mircescu',) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 10:12:49 -0000

The Qataris now own football club Paris Saint-Germain and have spared no expense in their attempt to turn the team into a crown jewel. But of whose crown: Sarkozy's kingdom or the Qatari emirate? What prompted these billionaire sheikhs to invest in Europe?

Travel: five things not to do in Iceland

('Kris Anderson',) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:21:44 -0000

Iceland is a tourist’s Eden: pounding waterfalls, snow-capped mountains, white sand beaches, milky-blue hot-springs, glaciers, volcanoes, and wildlife galore. But its tourist infrastructure needs some spit-and-polish. Here are a few tips to get by

Fenerbahce, Besiktas, Trabzonspor: playtime over for Turkey's big football clubs

('Culturissima',) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 18:02:06 -0000

For more than a month now a new broom has been sweeping clean the streets of Istanbul – as well as the country's football and armed forces. But who’s wielding the broom? What ‘rubbish’ are they trying to get rid of? ‘Turkey eats dirt’ is cafebabel.com's response to the summer ‘dust up’ by the Turkish authorities. Read the first of three articles in a series on the shake-up of the nation’s football

Edinburgh fringe festival 2011: the problem with passing around the hat

('jellingworth',) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 17:54:44 -0000

At first glance, Edinburgh’s Royal Mile in August seems like an anarchic, free-spirited display of all that the world’s largest arts festival has to offer. But after a while you notice how rigidly the twirling street performers stick to their allocated spots, the hard-faced hard selling in the ‘bucket speeches’ after each act and the ever-present banners advertising Richard Branson’s latest venture - a credit card firm

Crisis in Europe: we’re young and we need money

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 14:00:00 -0000

‘Mr. Europe, we need to talk’... What kind of illusions are today’s youth still able to harbour in an era in which the Yalta generation propose debt for younger people and patrimony for older people? Petition

Seven (wonder) tips to visit post-revolution Egypt

('Daiva Repe\xc4\x8dkait\xc4\x97',) — Sat, 07 May 2011 16:22:45 -0000

A halt in tourism, which constitutes 11% of the country's GDP and allows over a half of Egypt's employed population to have service sector jobs, badly harmed the quality of life for many ordinary Egyptians. Scared of the turmoil following the 18-day revolution in late January, the usual number of 14 million tourists avoided Egypt for weeks - but that should change

Supper clubs between London and Paris

('Amy Tighe',) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 17:55:34 -0000

With all the talk of recession-wrought doom and gloom, cutbacks and taxation, it can be easy to forget to make lemon cheesecake out of Life’s proverbial lemons. If necessity is the mother of invention, let the economic depression yield inspiration. And let's have a slap-up meal in the process

Laszlo Tengelyi: the problem of being a philosopher in Hungary

('Emilie Prattico',) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 16:22:08 -0000

On 8 January Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban launched an investigation into the use of grant money awarded to five philosophers. Questions to a Hungarian-born philosopher who spearheaded an international petition, 'Protect the Philosophers!' from Germany, where he is based

Nantes students eat on one euro

('ClaireWhite',) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:15:00 -0000

When doing their weekly food shop in the local supermarket, financial difficulties mean students don’t even consider buying dairy products, fruit and vegetables, meat, dried products or tinned goods, all part of a balanced diet. However these goods are sold for a token one euro (88p) at the French student solidarity association market in the western French city for the past decade

Editors parents speak: Generations 1950 and 1960 on Generation 1980

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:45:00 -0000

A generation separates us. The space of two decades allows our parents an affectionate but criticial vision on our generation, born in the eighties. From video games and unemployment to travel and money, time for one last pan-European lecture

Ireland, bailout and latest cafebabel.com blog 'Euromyths'

('ggbrunt',) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 17:45:34 -0000

Once again the presentation in the media of the financial rescue package of a eurozone country is plainly wrong. The so-called 'bailout' does not consist in a gift of capital to Ireland, and taxpayers are most likely not to pay anything as a consequence. Extract from cafebabel.com's blog in the dock

Brand Lennon: 70 years on and still very much alive

('Elaine Jordan',) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 12:14:39 -0000

'I can see myself in an Irish village, swimming in a river, sleeping outdoors, playing darts.' John Lennon would have been 70 years old on 9 October. Yet in a way he is 70, because no man who has died is more alive than Lennon. On that 8 December 1980, when Mark David Chapman shot him dead in New York, Lennon’s persona took on a new dimension

81 billion pounds later: Brits avoid bankruptcy

('euro topics',) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:02:44 -0000

The British government announced a barrage of drastic austerity measures on 20 October: major cuts in social welfare and almost half a million jobs in the public sector axed. British, Finnish, Danish and Dutch commentators find these public sector cuts, the biggest since world war two, harsh, unfair and extremely dangerous for the economy

Jerome Kerviel: Europe’s poorest man

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 13:15:00 -0000

Will the 33-year-old really pay back 4.9 billion euros - that's 170, 000 years of his former salary. Is Societe Generale going to reduce the gigantic sum for this black sheep? Or will his future children be slaves to the banks and have to keep paying off their unhappy inheritance for generations to come?

Puerto Guesing in Munich: close it all down

('Marta Nathansohn',) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:00:00 -0000

The economic crisis brought about the shutting down of many firms, companies and chain stores. The former department store Hertie in Munich took example from the Tacheles squat in Berlin and transformed itself into a cultural centre: Puerto Giesin has revolutionised the bourgeoisie image of the Bavarian capital

Optimistic ideas for a low-cost August

('Franglesa',) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 10:36:34 -0000

If your work or your wallet are forcing you to stay at home…congratulations! Seriously, congratulations. Let's be positive - you have spared yourself from traffic jams, excess baggage, queues for beach bars and air traffic controllers

Greece crisis: profiling rich, scot-free yacht-owners

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:45:00 -0000

The economic flavour of the Greek crisis tastes different for those on top - the shipowners, the yachting association bosses - than the diet prescribed for the masses. In Athens though, the latter rage against the state rather than the privileged classes. Lucky richies

'Come to Romania': quest to brand Bucharest

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:15:32 -0000

Forging a skate culture, redesigning lei banknotes and offering a story to tourists, aside from the palace of parliament hotspot, the result of dictator Ceaucescu's tearing down a third of the city in communist times. These are just some of the ideas to boost the image and GDP of a crisis-riddled country

EU expats: foreign fashion of cross-border mobile phone calls

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:00:00 -0000

Pinch, punch, first of the month - though you'll now be feeling the pinch less. From 1 July, Europeans across the old continent will be saving four cents when they make or receive calls in the 27 member states. Travellers and businessmen aside, we expats have long since shunned using our mobiles

Swedish royal wedding: boosting neither tourism nor young spirits

('Emilie Prattico',) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:40:49 -0000

Victoria Bernadotte, the 32-year-old heiress to the throne, will wed commoner Daniel Westling, 36, in the capital's cathedral on 19 June. Despite the smorgasbord of fun on display in Stockholm, the widespread feeling amongst Swedes and expats is that the merriment is wasteful and annoying

University-educated flee and woo Lithuania: emigration and erasmus

('Krisztian Gal',) — Wed, 19 May 2010 10:07:53 -0000

An increasing number of students are asking professor Žilvinas Martinaitis at the University of Vilnius to let them take their exams at the end of May. This would allow them to go abroad - most popularly, to the UK, Ireland or Scandinavia - to work, and return with some extra money in October, a month after the official term start. Lithuanian and eramus students, professors and politicians explain the phenomenon

Gogo Paris, go go digital? Ditching European travel guidebooks

('Tim Mac an Airchinnigh',) — Wed, 12 May 2010 19:02:44 -0000

In Europe, we don’t go on city breaks any more. We ‘pop over’ to foreign capitals like we pop downstairs to get a pint of milk. So where does that leave the traditional travel guide? One Paris-based webzine is pioneering a new species of travel guide with Europe’s new jet-setting, PDF-ing urbanites in mind

There's something suspect about the Greek crisis

('Elina Makri',) — Wed, 12 May 2010 16:32:46 -0000

The crisis that started in Greece has gone beyond control. Who is making money on the collapse? Murmours from the official blog of the cafebabel.com in Athens

French, Spanish, Czech and British youth on euroscepticism

Thu, 06 May 2010 00:12:36 -0000

Unpaid interns, taxes, recycling, the parliament in Strasbourg...you name it, our contributors from across the cafebabel.com network have something to say about what irks them most about Europe. 9 May marks sixty years since the Schuman declaration was signed, when it was agreed that France, Germany and others would work together as a federation

Volcano: travelling Vilnius to Paris by train

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 09:19:15 -0000

Once upon a time, in the space of six days, airline companies lost 1.7 millions euros - and they weren't alone. I don't know exactly how many million euros Iceland 'owes' to the world aviation sector. With little sleep and lots of beer, it certainly owes me two days of my life by train across 2, 000 km of Europe

Happy tax day, Americans: though Europeans get more for their money

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:27:15 -0000

There is a perception that the poor Europeans are overtaxed serfs. But a closer look reveals that this is a myth that prevents Americans from understanding the vast shortcomings of our own system; 15 April is the day that income tax returns are due in the States

Social lending: Noba.hu and the problematic Hungarian 'peer to peer' system

('Alex-',) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:52:37 -0000

Since their emergence in 2005 'person to person' or 'p2p' lending platforms have become an increasing global alternative to conventional banking. But Hungary's version of the online banking model has found its ability to make the concept financially appealing to potential clientele stifled by Hungarian law

UK to Poland via France: hitch-hiking Europe

('Sara Szeremeta',) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:21:01 -0000

You could stay in a hotel in Egypt for a week. Or you can spread the same amount of money over a month and a half for a trip of an alternative kind: hitchhiking Europe. Here’s one way to do it, which included 30 drivers, volunteer work and new friends

Fancy a degree from the university of Disney?

('Tim Mac an Airchinnigh',) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:44:19 -0000

How about a stroll down Disney Boulevard, shopping in Disney outlet malls and finishing off with a cappuccino on Disney Square? Hell, you can even get your tonsils out in Disney hospital. The Magic Kingdom is building an empire of kitsch just 30 minutes from Paris, and for thousands of jobless Europeans it smells like opportunity

What crisis? Scouring for entrepreneurs in Bulgaria

('Hanna Sankowska',) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:19:13 -0000

Bulgaria’s GDP growth slowed, but nowhere close to the levels noted west of Sofia. The new coalition government has inherited nearly empty treasury coffers from the previous 'corrupt' administration. In the European Year of Innovation 2009, funding for start-ups was cut. Yet stories of determination prevail. Part three in a five part 'EU crisis on the ground' city series

Slash your bonus wrists: what bankers want for christmas

('Lindsey Evans',) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Quite a remarkable christmas list found its way into my hands recently in France. 'Basically, Father Christmas, I just don’t know what more I can do to get decent payment for my hard work and the hard work of my brothers and sisters. That’s why I’m counting on you to change things.' At first glance, who would you assume these people were? Unemployed young people hit by the recession? Generation precarity? Underpaid interns?

European social funds and the case of start-ups in France

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:45:00 -0000

Setting up in business without any advice can be a little like doing sports without any training. There’s professional help available in the form of an entrepreneurial incubator; the ESF’s purpose is to finance these intermediary structures. In the 2007 French film ‘The Grocer’s Son’, a youth takes over his father’s rural travelling store - like Caroline

Internet: 'the great anarchist event' no longer ours to 'control'

('Tim Mac an Airchinnigh',) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:10:44 -0000

When Irish telecommunications company Eircom blocked customer access to the Pirate Bay in September, you could almost hear a faint, sardonic chuckle erupt from internet users all over the world. As Britain and France impose their own legislation to cut off internet access for filesharing offenders, the EU parliament and commission hold talks to formalise their positions on 4 November

Going on a gap year? Watch out for the taxman

('Darren Thompson',) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:00:00 -0000

A year away in Sardinia rewarded one French citizen with a tax price tag of over £3, 000. She writes this rant for future gap-yearers: you might live abroad, and still be forced to pay tax at home

Low cost airlines lend citizens a 'European' identity

('Nathan Charlton',) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:00:00 -0000

Budget travel is a reality for modern Europeans, a part of everyday life. Accounting for its environmental impact may affect the as yet fragile common European identity it lends to flying citizens

Europe's political scandals: Alicante-gate, MP scandals and Berlusconi

('Andrew Christie',) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Italy's playboy PM, Britain's MP guzzlers and Germany’s 'Minister Shameless' (according to the Berliner Zeitung) are sharing the heat: the lull in the traditional summer silly season has prompted mass media coverage of affairs and scandals

Site tips: the happy trippy eco-world of European car-sharing

('Lindsey Evans',) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:00:00 -0000

The environmental concept of sharing a car with other drivers and passengers was born in Europe in the eighties. Skim of the continent's alternative transit surface, plus some popular websites

Don't be a Jew!

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 12:00:00 -0000

The anti-Semitic expressions that are still present in European languages demonstrate just how much the fear and distrust of Jewish people has been engrained into our society