Do we really need the TTIP?

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a proposed free trade agreement between the European Union and the United States.

US and EU together represent 60% of global GDP, 33% of world trade in goods and 42% of world trade in services. The barriers between the two most important economies in the world are already law, but the purpuse of the TTIP is to consolidate the relations, improving the trade between the parts, facilitating the competition and creating new jobs.

This agreement is strongly criticized for the method of the negotiation and for the potential effects of it. In fact, the negotiation is held in a confidential way, that doesn't allow the public opinion to know the details of the agreement and it doesn't facilitate a public discussion.

Moreover, this agreement could bring damages to the consumers, to the workers and to the environment. From one side, there should be specific Institutions that could judge about the litigations between States and private companies outside the national jurisdiction. This could give more power to the biggest private corporations. From the other, Us didn't ratify many agreements related to labor rights and environment protections, and this could bring a sort of social dumping against Europe.

We can draft two kinds of considerations. First, more economic freedom can raise the level of competitions in the markets and this is reflected also in the prices: but which is the social cost of it? Second, the negotiations must be subjected to the public opinion, because the effect of TTIP will deeply touch our life.

The 10th of June the European Parliament had to express an opinion about TTIP in a special session in Strasbourg. Thanks to the pressure of a huge majority in the Parliament, the vote and the discussion has been postponed. We will see how much force the Parliament and the voice of the public opinion can have in the future discussion, also considering the pressure of G7 to reach an agreement.

Read More

Behind the F1 Gp of Bahrain: a Country in revolt

The 10^th edition of the F1 Gran Prix of Bahrain has ended few hours ago. The media attention has been focused on the sportive event, that generates millions of dollars each year. But the internal situation of the Country has been completely clouded.

The race was cancelled only in 2011, when the revolts of the population began. But in the last years the Bahrain International Circuit seemed like a happy island, far from the divisions present in the Country.

But what is the current situation in Bahrain?

First of all, it’s is important to keep in mind few data about the Kingdom of Bahrain. It is a small archipelago in the Persian Gulf with a population of 1.300.000 habitants and a GDP per capita of around 28600 $, 34^th in the International Monetary Fund classification of the richest Countries in the world.

Bahrain was part of the British colonialist empire till 1971, when it reached the independence. Now it is under the kingdom of Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, last exponent of the Sunni family of al-Khalifa, linked to the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia.

The conflicts began in 2011 after the Arab Spring. The origin of the revolt is religious. In fact, even if the 70% of the population is Shiite, King Hamad and the ruling class of the Country is Sunni. Shiites, that don’t have access to the highest positions in the State, ask the transformation of Bahrain in a Constitutional Monarchy, with the possibility of electing a democratic Parliament and with the recognition of their rights.  

The revolt didn’t stop since four years and the reaction has been reflected in  tortures, rapes and deaths. The Monarchy has the support of US that want to maintain a strong relation with this strategic Country, situated between the Shiite Iran and the Sunni Saudi Arabia.  it is not a coincidence that Bahrain hosts the V fleet of the US Navy.

Finally, can geopolitical and economical interests hide social conflicts? Apparently yes. Therefore, “The show must goes on”. But till when? 

Read More

Why a Blog?

Create a project and follow it is always a difficult choice, especially when you have a job and you have to use your free time and a part of your weekends.

I have decided to create NotonlyEurope to feed my passion, Politics. I spent so many years at the University, studying history, international affairs, law, economics, and when finally I entered in the world of work I have never used all the knowledge, I just left it in a drawer of the memory.  

Now, many years later since I finished my studies, I wanted to create something for me and for my interests. I wanted to have a space to put order to my thoughts about Europe, about the economic crisis, about the job market and so on.

Internet offers a great space to do that, using the "blog" as the best instrument.

I have chosen to write in English, even if it would be much easier for me to write in Italian, my mother tongue, and even if my English is not perfect. But I know that writing in English will increase the probability to receive, maybe sooner or later, an opinion, a feedback or a critic for a post I am publishing. 

This blog has not a specific aim to reach. I don’t want to convince anyone about my ideas, I’m not looking for supporters or for business opportunities. Nevertheless, I hope to have the occasion to touch some interesting themes, maybe acquire new information, perhaps open some discussions, for sure doing something I like.

It’s 15th of March 2014. Let’s start this experiment and let’s see how it will work.

Read More