unemployment
My Zagreb Vitriol: remembering Croatia’s anti-government protests
As France, the UK and the Netherlands keep the country at arm’s length, the fact is that its almost six-year candidacy to the European union is almost complete in 2011. Anti-government protests against corruption and political incompetence marked the Croatian capital in February, and cafebabel.com sampled the ongoing street passions in March
unemployment, youth, croatia, demonstration, civil society, zagreb, egypt
Seville’s photovoltaic energy, as invented by Archimedes
In March 2011 wind energy production surpassed that of nuclear energy production, marking a first in the history of renewable energy in Spain. Yet the underlying paradox is that wind has supplied 16% of the electricity produced in 2010 in the sunniest country in Europe - but the sun is responsible for a mere 2.7%...
unemployment, cities, solar energy, regions, green europe on the ground, seville, european union
Iberian, Italian and German press on: No Zapatero for Spain 2012 election
On 2 April José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, prime minister of Spain and the leader of the Spanish socialist workers' party, announced that he will not run for re-election next year. Zapatero leaves with dignity, but his policies were dashed on the rocks of the economic crisis, Europe's press writes
unemployment, josé luis rodríguez zapatero, politics, euweek, economical crisis, piigs, spain
Kosovo: no country for bland men
Kosovo is like a good strong coffee: one sip is enough to alert your five senses. In barely a fraction of history its people have swapped communism for apartheid, war, controlled independence and a status which is disputed by the countries of the world. Its political elite are suspected of corruption and criminal activity, whilst its population is the youngest and has the highest rate of unemployment in Europe. The old mistrust between the ethnic Albanian and ethnic Serbian Kosovars is watched from the west. Maybe it's a lethal cocktail, maybe not: a team of pan-European and Balkan journalists headed to Kosovo where they met young artists, students, film entrepeneurs and politicians between the most modern bars of the capital to the prime minister's entourage and the tense Serbian areas. As part of the 'Orient Express Reporter' project, they help us see what Kosovo is made of, a taste which is decidedly not suitable for the bland tongue
Konik: life in biggest Balkan Roma refugee camp, Montenegro
This important refugee camp in Podgorica of Roma hailing from Kosovo had their homes referred to by The Guardian as a 'stinking rubbish tip'. Yet the ambitious young people living there are future masters of hip-hop and their destiny
unemployment, education system, discrimination, nicolas sarkozy, roma, ethnic minorities, montenegro
Editors parents speak: Generations 1950 and 1960 on Generation 1980
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
unemployment, money, safety and security at work , europe, parents, social networks, eurogeneration
Job hunting in Brussels: serenity of the hopeless
Anna is a German university student who has just turned twenty and is looking for a job in the European capital. She ould like to remain anonymous – but her story is representative of an entire generation of young Europeans
unemployment, labour, lifestyle, labour market, youth, brussels, eurogeneration
81 billion pounds later: Brits avoid bankruptcy
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
unemployment, money, churchill, great-britain, politics, second world war , euweek
Europeans terrorised by unemployment, not by terrorism on TV
Particularly in Italy, European television is obsessed with crime and terrorism,but the economic situation and the employment crisis are our real concerns. A recent report on the 'fears of Europeans' seeks to explain why
unemployment, italy, politics, europe, european media, media, terrorism
Get a job (for a bob)
So you’re a young graduate in Europe. You’re part of the revolution; adapting yourself to the tempest. It’s a constant effort of imagination – you might be jumping from roots in journalism to hospital corridors, or from debating Socrates to selling high-end clothing. Crisis asks you to do that, to imagine doing the non-job of your dreams. It defines a generation lost and paying the costs
Irish artists in Berlin, a city 'always and never in crisis'
Whilst Irish artists like Paul Diamond and You're Only Massive become better known in Berlin, stages in Irish bars remain empty. With less people investing in upcoming Irish talent, the young generation will continue to migrate to artistic-friendly places like Berlin to follow their musical dream
unemployment, eucrisis on the ground, labour, dublin, germany, berlin, immigration
To be or to be in Berlin: poor but (creatively) rich
Money and the crisis are not on the agenda for Berliners who can focus on different things, such as art. 'Being poor is not cool, but OK,' is the word on the street. It all looks very promising for someone from Bulgaria, the EU's officially poorest country, where a lack of money, unlike cheap glamour, can never be a virtue
unemployment, eucrisis on the ground, labour, cities, germany, berlin wall, berlin
Spain's EU presidency: Numantian resistance?
The Numantians burnt their own city down when they lost a thirteen-month Roman siege. There are references to Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's similar resistence with the current Spanish presidency of the European Union, which ends on 1 July. The term has limped along with more grief than glory, despite propaganda efforts in Brussels. Opinion
unemployment, josé luis rodríguez zapatero, labour, politics, seville, economy, madrid
Vilnius, crisis from beginning to end
Does crisis come in twos? There's always a definite serving of anger, often directed against 'the others'. It might come in threes too, because apathy is never far behind, which in the darkest of cases can lead to the deliberative loss of one's own life – why does Lithuania have the highest suicide rate in Europe? Less dramatically, it can force the fresher, younger ones to emigrate for brighter horizons. When six pan-European journalists spent a few days under the watchful eye of an Icelandic volcano in Vilnius in April, they encountered these different facets of the economic crisis (Image: ©Pablo Pecora – PnP!/ Flickr)
A whopping 79 million Europeans are 'poor'
cafebabel discusses three main points for the '2010 European year for combating poverty and social exclusion'; and they all fit in with popular stereotypes. Those living in the east are poorer than those in the west, thanks to higher poverty thresholds. Women suffer more social exclusion than men, though groups like the divorced and separated fathers in Italy are fighting back. The most modern calamity in 2010 though comes in the form of an armada of graduates. The young unemployed are flooding the internship markets, keeping a more than beady eye on the average European minimum wage. The clock is striking, and dignity is no longer the chime; it remains a vain word for too many Europeans. Try that for a new stereotype
- Read the special edition A whopping 79 million Europeans are 'poor'
- 'Conciliabules': French women fight for European poverty via theatre
- In Italy, divorced men are down and out
- Europe makes 2010 its year for fighting poverty and social exclusion
- Introducing Italian poet Vanni Santoni's 'precarious characters'
- Europe’s graduates: lecture halls to poverty lines
- Minimum European income to fight poverty?
PIIGS unwelcome in the EU parlour: war of words rocks Eurozone
Despite Silvio Berlusconi’s dreams, the next member of the Eurozone is unlikely to be Israel; even Croatia or Turkey have taken a back seat. The current pan-EU squabble is over who should have been admitted to the eurozone in the first place
unemployment, economic growth, tower of babel, germany, languages, expressions, eurozone
Anderlecht, Molenbeek, Schaarbeek: spot the crime in Brussels
Petty crime and unemployment rates (17.6%) are high in inner city Brussels, which registers a low violent crime rate in Europe. Nevertheless, police arrested 12 Belgian Albanians linked to a crime gang on 15 February*, whilst certain districts remain dangerous. Is this down to the crisis?
unemployment, eu crisis on the ground, belgium, cities, balkans, sex, violence
