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Scotland: address to haggis and Europe
25 January 2012 marks the 253rd birthday of Robert Burns, the most famous Scottish bard. Supermarkets all over are going haggis-crazy. Haggis is delicious, but not for the faint hearted. Recipe
united kingdom, recipe, scotland, food, edinburgh, yum nyam, haggis
Scottish independence: Haud yer weesht, Cameron
On 9 January, British prime minister David Cameron offended pretty much everyone in British politics by telling the Scots to hurry up with their referendum on independence. Now the Scottish parliament has confirmed the vote will take place in autumn 2014. One Scot explains why Cameron should stay out of it
united kingdom, scotland, david cameron, independence, referendum, politics
Dinner for one in 2012
The Brits have spent the end of year in a 'lull' whilst the Germans are going through 'new year's fatigue'. In their new year's addresses at least, Europe's Franco-German leaders warned us it won't be getting any better this new year
united kingdom, cinema, tower of babel, christmas, germany, alcohol, languages
'What if?': students re-imagine 2011's big events
Protests, eurocrisis and elections: it's all too easy to assume the events we read about in the news are inevitable. Yet so often they are instead the result of chance encounters, spontaneous decisions and personal feelings. We asked four European students to re-imagine the big events of 2011
united kingdom, protest, angela merkel, london, russian federation, nicolas sarkozy, 'indignant citizens' movement
Britain-Europe: confessions of an angry Lib Dem
Type 'What Defines an English Person' into google right now and see the top result - this is how unpopular we are with the rest of the world, especially after the UK chose not to join a new EU treaty governing the finance system. Europe has divided a two-headed monster, 'Clammeron', in half: the government led by David Cameron and Nick Clegg since 2010 has been spliced together by iron threads of political contingency
united kingdom, liberalism, identity, lisbon treaty, brussels, london, opinion
Slovenian, British, Spanish and German media on UK’s EU veto
British prime minister David Cameron defended his EU veto in the British house of commons on 12 December, while French president Nicolas Sarkozy lamented that he was ‘splitting Europe in two’. Britain is simply more eurosceptic, replies the rest of Europe, who stress the advantages that the British can offer Europe
united kingdom, david cameron, economy, euweek, eurozone, european union, monetary union
Big city life: Europe’s pigeons
Doves and pigeons are one and the same except that the former got the 'symbol of peace' gig and the latter became the grey critters affectionately known as ‘rats with wings’. Whence the flight of fancy?
united kingdom, italy, tower of babel, germany, animals, languages, europe
How to make Polish potato pancakes
It’s cheap and available, warm and nourishing, omnipresent in most traditional European cuisines – but the starchy crop only hit the continent from South America as late as the 16th century
united kingdom, italy, netherlands, poland, potato, yum nyam, france
Bonfire night: Guy Fawkes, Europe's first 'indignant' citizen
The image of Guy Fawkes is everywhere at the moment, inspiring the worldwide anonymous and occupy movements. What would he have thought if he had known that over four hundred years after his death thousands of people in Europe and beyond would be wearing masks of his face while protesting against today’s all-encompassing global political system?
united kingdom, history, london, culture, 'indignant citizens' movement, politics, death
Question of the week: so what do you do with your rubbish?
What do you do with your rubbish? Do you care what happens once it leaves your house? Should this be an important issue for politicians? That’s this week’s theme on Europa plus. One young Brit tells us what she thinks
Tunisia’s Arab renaissance comes out of London exile
On 23 September the arab spring achieved its most significant achievement yet. It was a rebirth for the modern Arab world without spilt blood nor fiery rhetoric in the dust and the death; instead it used ink and consensus to rebuild a country. Moderate islamist party ennahda, coming out of exile in the UK, won 41% in the country's first democratic elections on 22 October
united kingdom, london, tunis, children, arab spring, tunisia, jasmine revolution
The rise of divorce parties in Europe
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
united kingdom, money, italy, business man, divorce, germany, men and women
Riots: Britain's boring thugs and Europe's burning thread
Don't synonymise the London rioters with the protesting Greeks or Syrians; it is just plain offensive. Yes, Londoners mobilised for four days, but it can't compare to the months of social, political and economic agitation across Europe and the Arab world
united kingdom, italy, tax, greece, london, youth, syrian arab republic
Sherry, an English love story
One of the most typical European wines has to be 'vino de Jerez', a white wine fortified with brandy which is known as 'sherry' in the English-speaking world and 'Xérès' amongst French-speakers. The name comes from the vineyards near the town on the southern tip of Europe
French perspectives on London riots: 'so 2005'
Rioters were brought before the courts, police failings were discussed. What were the causes of the unprecedented violence that the UK witnessed in August? The authorities, driven by traditional populism and reactionary politics, refused to analyse them in-depth in the moment. Perspective from across the channel
united kingdom, discrimination, london, david cameron, violence, economical crisis, civil society
Libya after Gaddafi: Europe’s Iraq?
The post-Gaddafi era is taking shape around the national transition council, which is currently in control of Tripoli. Uncertainty about the future is already taking hold though, with fears that Libya could become a new Iraq. This time it falls to Europe to avoid repeating the post-Saddam disaster
united kingdom, italy, war, libya upraising, saif al-islam gaddafi, europe, euweek
Edinburgh fringe festival 2011: the problem with passing around the hat
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
united kingdom, money, edinburgh international festival, scotland, theatre, culture calendar
Germans ban ‘I Like’ facebook button, Spanish want to ‘Dislike’
The north German state Schleswig Holstein has announced that it is banning facebook’s famous ‘I like’ button, with websites which haven’t removed it before the end of September facing fines of up to 50, 000 euros (44,000 pounds). Whilst Germany and the UK have raised more general concerns, the Spanish were there first
united kingdom, twitter, belarus, tower of babel, germany, social networks, poland
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