EU fast trade and service agreements

This suggestion was rather quickly implemented by the EU after I proposed it to the EU Parliament. The EU Commission chose to detach investment-treaties (which require a long procedure with the member-states) from trade & services agreements, which the EU-Commission can conclude in a fast-track way.



30 January 2017

The EU needs "lego-system" for trade & services arrangements

By: Karsten Riise


The EU needs a comprehensive Africa trade deal, that can help African countries develop by allowing Africa much more access to the European Single Market. See

http://www.bmz.de/en/what_we_do/countries_regions/marshall_plan_with_africa/index.html

The EU should also quickly be able offer an enhanced trade-deal with Mexico, to assist Mexico develop, if Mexico should experience a deterioration of its trade-terms with Mexico's market to the North. When EU relations with Russia normalize, a new trade deal with Russia will be needed. Many more trade deals will be needed for the EU in the future. And of course, the EU after Brexit needs a new deal with the UK.

The ability to close a new trade-deal (or modify one) is a very important "soft-power" in EU's foreign policy and security policy. And sometimes there is need to move rather fast.

All the above examples imply larger degrees of exchange with the EU in goods, services and investments - three of EU's so-called "four freedoms". But all the examples above specifically must exclude the fourth freedom, free movement of labor.

The EU needs a principled approach - with lego-elements to build with The EU needs a concept - a "lego-system" to plug-in various elements to configure new deals with anyone - to avoid "taylor-making" every deal from scratch.

The EU also needs a treaty between all members, where the member states give a mandate (within specified limits) where the Commission with approval from the Council and the Parliament can close new trade deals - without further approval procedure within each memberstate.

The EU Commission should have a power-of-attorney, at document which specifies a range of deal-making options on behalf of all members. All member-states should sign this power-of-attorney to the EU. Member-states should so-to speak "ratify trade-treaties beforehand", on the condition that all final treaties are finally approved by a majorityprocedure in the EU Council and the EU Parliament.
The EU is at risk to lose opportunities in "soft-power" by slow maneuvering.


Karsten Riise
Partner & Editor


CHANGE NEWS &
CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Army uniting Europeans

9 September 2016

European Army - a great step to unite Europeans

By: Karsten Riise

A European Army can be a great step to unite Europeans - not just on the commanding level, but also directly at person-to-person and community-level.


I wish to make a parallel to Italy. With reference to the Danish Italy-expert Thomas Harder, when Italy was united, people from the North and South could not understand each-others’ languages. So much had 1000+ years of separation moved Italians from each other. Much like Europe's multitude of languages today. Putting soldiers from North and South into the same fighting-units, and placing them all away from their home-towns, made them learn to understand each other.

NATO cooperation has always been reduced to the top-levels. At the operational levels, each NATO-country operated its own homogeneously "national" units, confined in their national language.

The European Army must be different - mixing all nationalities into the same fighting units.

English could even be used as command language - since the UK is leaving the EU, all Europeans will then language-wise be at the same levels.

No soldier will then feel superior by having own language as command-language.
(Only the Irish will have an English language-advantage, but Ireland is a small country).

Nothing unites people as much as having to work together - especially in circumstances like achieving success in war and conflict.


Karsten Riise
Partner & Editor

CHANGE NEWS &
CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Separate coffers in Europe

This suggestion for a "Euro light" solution was never adopted by the Euro-countries. Instead he Euro-countries decided to increase their mutual risk-exposure - a path which leads to much more integration. 


29 May 2012

Create separate coffers in Europe

By: Karsten Riise

The countries of Europe are on track to take unlimited risks on behalf of each other. Richer countries
are so scared of the problems in Greece, Portugal etc. that they provide enormous guarantees to the
indebted countries. Also, the European Central Bank (ECB) takes huge risks on its balance sheet buying unknown amounts of Greek and Italian debt. To this comes talk of an EU ´Growth Pact´ with additional big expenditures and guarantees. The total EU budget can soon be added as a loan guarantee, and the public is kept ignorant of the over-all inter-country risk-picture.

The European Union´s help to fellow Europeans is on way to add more to collective risk than to safety.

It is necessary to construct Europe in a way, that EU countries and institutions basically maintain
separate coffers -- but within one overall system. Italy and Greece must still have the freedom to go
bankrupt, the Euro-system simply must be made robust enough to handle that.


Early US experience relevant for the EU
In the 1840´ies, the USA, let 9 of its states fall into bankruptcy. The 9 bankrupted states represented a
quarter of the American population, corresponding to a bankruptcy in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and
Greece at the same time(*). As we all know, the dollar still exists -- the dollar survived the bankruptcy of so many states.

The Euro with necessary precautions can also become robust enough to resist a similar bankruptcy among any or all of the European Union´s debt-loaded countries.

The ECB must elaborate two action plans: The first action plan must be carried out immediately. The
ECB must identify and map out all direct and indirect EU and inter-country guarantees and risks.
Based on scenario-analyses, the ECB must then implement a goal-oriented reduction and management of all EU and inter-country risks. The second ECB action plan must be an emergency
plan with IT-support, how to cut-off from the Euro-system any country on the verge of bankruptcy.

The financial markets must be made to trust, that any country in Europe (even Germany) safely can
be cut-off from the Euro-system at the push of a button.


Karsten Riise
Partner & Editor

CHANGE NEWS &
CHANGE MANAGEMENT

(*) See Centre for European Policy Studies 30 April 2010: Learning from the US experience.