Open letter to the President of the European Commission. After Ireland
said “No” to the Lisbon Treaty with more than 53% of the poll, a
gesture, a move is much needed. Straight away.
Faces
Friday, June 20 2008
EU Treaty, may Barroso resign
By Adriano on Friday, June 20 2008, 12:01
Thursday, June 19 2008
Interview Barroso!
By Adriano on Thursday, June 19 2008, 16:53
Please send
me your question for José Durao Barroso in the aftermath of Irish "No" to Lisbon Treaty and European continuous
crisis to deal with its rules definition.
In 5 years time, the President of the European
Commission will have dealt with strong refusals from national public opinions
to European Constitution and Lisbon Treaty, getting No in three different languages from French, Dutch and Irish.
How do you judge his action? Chairing European Commission, what should he do in a different way?
Write your short question among comments below and speak your mind!
Friday, March 14 2008
I want a EU referendum in Britain
By Adriano on Friday, March 14 2008, 20:02
The 5th March has been something of a special day. I was in London, during Gordon Brown(the first)’s era. That same Brown that denied, in a heated debate in the House of Commons last week, the referendum about the European Constitution promised by Blair...under the pretext the name of that agreement is now Lisbon’s Treaty.
The core of the Treaty is still the same, everybody knows that, and the New Labour – and with it the political elites of the Old Continent – is fuelling the Euro scepticism. That was I wrote in an article here.
Apart from that my 5th March in London has been a lovely sunny day. Let’s stroll around then from St. Pancras Station to Old Street. Here on the left graffiti in Trafalgar Square, on the background is the Big Ben.
The difference between the English, not used to the light and the Italian tourists armed with the compulsory sunglasses is blatant!
I meet later on an old friend from University, a true babelian, Alberto that runs a community for social entrepreneurs, those people who do business without forgetting the general interest. Chapeau! I want to introduce a bit of Cafebabel to him but, for a change, the plugs in England are different from the rest of the Continent. Might God curse these antediluvian barriers to communication!
I meet then Annette, responsible for the local branch of Cafebabel and co-organiser of the debate I will take part in, at the London School of Economics about “New Media and European Democracy”. Stop at a supermarket. I found that London prices are now much lower compared to when I used to live here, in the Lira era, in 1998, for two months after leaving high school. Maybe it’s our prices that have soared in the meantime!
And I still have an unforgettable memory dating back to that period...memory of an evening spent with Luca’s guitar (my adventures mate), a Scottish hippy and many pleased passers by. We were in Covent Garden in front of this shop. The weird thing is that that shop is now called “French connection”.
And it is just in Covent Garden, in a place where time seems to have frozen Neal's Yard, that I came across Zsofia – an Hungarian girl former College of Europe, now in charge of the press releases of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a new centre of studies sponsored by the tycoon George Soros, that is defined as the “first pan European think-tank”.
In the lane that leads to the Neal’s Yard one could read this nice sentence that has added a bit of magic to my trip: “Live the life you have imagined”.
After the debate, debate in which Andreas, author of Kosmopolit euroblog, stood out, off we went to the pub and later to Annette’s where I took this picture, caught on the bedside table: four books in four different languages. We really are babelians!
The following day, I am nearby the brand new St. Pancras Station, (my Eurostar train to Paris sets off from here) you could have come across this funny character.
A way, from the swinging London to wish me adieu...or maybe...bye bye!
Translated by Alessandro Mancosu
Apart from that my 5th March in London has been a lovely sunny day. Let’s stroll around then from St. Pancras Station to Old Street. Here on the left graffiti in Trafalgar Square, on the background is the Big Ben.
The difference between the English, not used to the light and the Italian tourists armed with the compulsory sunglasses is blatant!
I meet later on an old friend from University, a true babelian, Alberto that runs a community for social entrepreneurs, those people who do business without forgetting the general interest. Chapeau! I want to introduce a bit of Cafebabel to him but, for a change, the plugs in England are different from the rest of the Continent. Might God curse these antediluvian barriers to communication!
I meet then Annette, responsible for the local branch of Cafebabel and co-organiser of the debate I will take part in, at the London School of Economics about “New Media and European Democracy”. Stop at a supermarket. I found that London prices are now much lower compared to when I used to live here, in the Lira era, in 1998, for two months after leaving high school. Maybe it’s our prices that have soared in the meantime!
And I still have an unforgettable memory dating back to that period...memory of an evening spent with Luca’s guitar (my adventures mate), a Scottish hippy and many pleased passers by. We were in Covent Garden in front of this shop. The weird thing is that that shop is now called “French connection”.
And it is just in Covent Garden, in a place where time seems to have frozen Neal's Yard, that I came across Zsofia – an Hungarian girl former College of Europe, now in charge of the press releases of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a new centre of studies sponsored by the tycoon George Soros, that is defined as the “first pan European think-tank”.
In the lane that leads to the Neal’s Yard one could read this nice sentence that has added a bit of magic to my trip: “Live the life you have imagined”. After the debate, debate in which Andreas, author of Kosmopolit euroblog, stood out, off we went to the pub and later to Annette’s where I took this picture, caught on the bedside table: four books in four different languages. We really are babelians!
The following day, I am nearby the brand new St. Pancras Station, (my Eurostar train to Paris sets off from here) you could have come across this funny character.
A way, from the swinging London to wish me adieu...or maybe...bye bye!Translated by Alessandro Mancosu
Monday, November 12 2007
Trust Fiorella: there's a life after Erasmus (outside Italy)
By ely1984 on Monday, November 12 2007, 17:01
Here we are again talking, this time not only about (as we did in the previous post) but also with Fiorella about Erasmus, borders and periods of life.
Fiorella welcome on Eurogeneration. If you had to summarize in five words your Erasmus experience, which ones would you choose?
Hi Adriano and thank you for your hospitality. The stereotype prescribes alcohol, sex, parties, friends and fun. But I believe that a year spent living in a foreign country is not (only) this but much more: the intention to put yourself to test, the desire to have confrontation with others, to start from zero and create a new life, more mature and conscious. Ops: they’re no five words!
Two years have passed since 2004/2005 and Alicante. Did you get over the Erasmus syndrome?
I’d say it gets worse and worse every year! After the most critical phase, just after coming back, the syndrome gets "more normal" but it always stays with you. However, it’s a positive thing: the mainspring that pushes me towards new experiences and makes me always leave with a edge over the others.
What do you do now? Do you manage to express that babelianity gained in Spain?
Waiting for the umpteenth, and I hope final, departure for Spain (again!) or North Italy in October I deal with graphic and communications. This year I could improve my knowledge in this field thanks to a project sponsored by the region Calabria (named G.B.Vico). It enabled me to work for 4 months in Madrid for an art gallery: another fantastic experience abroad. I met wonderful people and I could better express that babelianity that is a bit too much compromised in my homeland (mainly in the South and above all in Cava, but that’s a different matter, that you know as well as I do)
Do you keep in contact with your friends from Erasmus?
Yes, but on alternate phases: it’s complicated to fill the distance and manage to get to see each other. Anyway, thanks to messenger and e-mails we keep in contact and sometimes we even get together once more.
Did you manage to discuss with them about the subjects that you recall in your "Antropologia dell’Erasmus"?
I did more: I could bring them over to the discussion of my thesis! In Alicante everybody knew I was writing a thesis on Erasmus, they read it (entirely, to my great astonishment) and my greatest satisfaction, when I graduated, was to see all of my friends from Erasmus and my university mates – them too Erasmus students, in different cities - get emotional with me while I was ending the discussion accompanied by the music of "Tornano in mente" by Alex Britti: "They will strongly come back in my mind, the moments that I lived intensively, and all the people that I met somehow will come back. It could see nothing to you but it means that something is still there". I hope I managed to communicate to all Erasmus students that "something that is still there", after two years and – I hope – still after many more.
Monday, July 2 2007
I am Polish but don't wanna be plumber
By Adriano on Monday, July 2 2007, 13:41
In France the eurogeneration from new member countries has a lot of problems. "We cannot work in all the fields we want. We are obliged to work as plumber or waiter... I've studied literature and have other ambitions". Joana, from Romania, confirms and adds: "We can't even work full time". Times are sad for East-Europeans in countries that, like France, still limit their working possibilities. Look at the interview (in French).
A real coffee in Paris
By Adriano on Monday, July 2 2007, 13:13
This blog is very European, international, cosmopolitan and so on. But, you know, one who belongs to the eurogeneration also like to have his roots well defined and solid. That's why I go very soon to Pozzetto, a corner of Italianess in Paris where you can find true - and it's not a joke, mesdames and messieurs - ice creams and coffee in the heart of Paris. I meet with Pierpaolo who explains us how to prepare a good coffee and how to let people - I never wouldn't - destroy it with hot water in order to make it "americano"...
I then have chat with Sandro, head of human resources, who tells: "people working here are either Italians or Italian-speakers... we want to keep this a corner of Italy in Paris".
I then have chat with Sandro, head of human resources, who tells: "people working here are either Italians or Italian-speakers... we want to keep this a corner of Italy in Paris".
Thursday, June 7 2007
Remembering Erasmus (and its super-beers)
By Adriano on Thursday, June 7 2007, 21:53
Strasbourg, 2001, in an Erasmus party. With Nicola Dell'Arciprete (left) under Réunion food effect and myself under Alsacian beers effect...
Wednesday, June 6 2007
One video, many accents
By Adriano on Wednesday, June 6 2007, 15:22
Prune, Ariadna, Alexandre and the others... They are my colleagues. Have a look to their accents and to the eurogeneration growing up in cafebabel.com team! Thanks to Ophélie for this video...
Adriano