Originally posted in Atlantic Cities’ blog (December 2012) Awareness on the importance that city identity has on attracting tourists and businesses and even on retaining population has been exponentially increasing on the last ten years. However, this race against the machine (!) can be very tricky at times. From all the strategies used by Atlantic Arc Cities, four …
Biodiversity in the Atlantic Arc
Originally posted in Atlantic Cities blog (November 2012) In an Atlantic context marked by the crisis, the measures proposed must point to a balanced development of the territories as whole, avoiding artificial differentiation. The definition of the Atlantic Strategy and its Action Plan should reflect the development strategies identified by the Atlantic territories, allowing for …
What if …? Scotland and the European Union
Originally published at United Explanations Blog (November 2012) One of the questions raised by the possible Scottish referendum on independence, which has been previously discussed in several articles, is its implication for the European Union membership of a newly created Scottish State. The European Treaties do not have a specific clause stating the procedure for such a case, but some …
Some notes on Community Led for Local Development
Originally posted at Atlantic Cities’ blog (October 2012) Analysis of the COTER Commission (CoR’s) position on the proposal of the Commission Based on the LEADER experiences, and with the aim to foster the ownership of the EU 2020 strategy, to facilitate bottom-up and integrated initiatives, the Commission proposed new tools such as “Community Led for Local …
From Tobin to Robin: Ins and Outs of the Financial Transaction Tax
What is a Tobin Tax? Despite the fact that the Tobin Tax is a fairly widespread idea, there are several concepts converging on this proposal for a new tax and a significant amount of skepticism around it. Even the economic theorist behind this speculative tax, Mr. Tobin, expressed some serious doubts regarding his own proposal in an interview conceded …
New ways for South-South Cooperation: Haiti joins the African Union.
Originally published at United Explanations Blog (Mars 2012) The Republic of Haiti (Haiti) is a country located in the Antilles, in the Caribbean Sea, that includes the western third of the island of Hispaniola, where Christopher Columbus first arrived. This island is currently divided into two countries: the Dominican Republic in the east and the Republic of Haiti …
The Lego pieces of the Scottish referendum
Originally published at United Explanations Blog (February 2012) When you are introduced to a person coming from the United Kingdom, you may feel tempted to call him “my English friend”. But, if s/he is coming from Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland or even Cornwall, the answer will be “I am not English”. Currently, Scottish and the …