Wealth does not automatically make people in Europe happier, according to a quality-of-life survey conducted in all 27 European Union member states. But it certainly plays an important role. The study, released on Wednesday, Nov. 19 shows that other factors, such as social environment and health, also contribute greatly to levels of satisfaction. The happiest Europeans are the Danes and Finns, according to the findings of a representative survey of 30,000 EU citizens. At the other end of the scale, Hungary and Bulgaria returned the lowest satisfaction rates. Germans, Czechs and Slovaks lie at what might be called the happy medium, while the French, British and Spanish reported above-average satisfaction with their lot in life. In Poland, Austria and especially in Italy, people had more to grumble about. "Countries with high incomes do very well in terms of satisfaction in life," said Branislav Mikulic of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound).
The study, released on Wednesday, Nov. 19 shows that other factors, such as social environment and health, also contribute greatly to levels of satisfaction.
The happiest Europeans are the Danes and Finns, according to the findings of a representative survey of 30,000 EU citizens. At the other end of the scale, Hungary and Bulgaria returned the lowest satisfaction rates.
Germans, Czechs and Slovaks lie at what might be called the happy medium, while the French, British and Spanish reported above-average satisfaction with their lot in life. In Poland, Austria and especially in Italy, people had more to grumble about.
"Countries with high incomes do very well in terms of satisfaction in life," said Branislav Mikulic of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound).
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Bulgarians, the EU's newest members, are also by far the bloc's unhappiest citizens, a new EU survey showed on Wednesday (19 November). Bulgarians gave their satisfaction with life a rank of five out of 10, and their happiness a rank of 5.8, which is well lower than the average rank given by Europeans of seven and 7.5, respectively. On average, Europeans rate their level of happiness a 7.5 out of 10 For their part, Romanians, who joined the EU together with Bulgarians in 2007, have a more positive outlook, putting their life satisfaction at 6.5 and their happiness at seven, according to the European Quality of Life Survey carried by Dublin-based EU research agency Eurofound. The survey - which covers all 27 EU states, as well as Norway and EU candidates Turkey, Croatia and Macedonia - also ranks Nordic people among the happiest in Europe, with Danes leading the list, followed by Swedes and Finns. Of the member states that joined the EU in 2004, only the Maltese have ranked themselves among the 10 happiest peoples in Europe, while Portuguese are the unhappiest of the 15 "old" EU countries, preceded by Italy and Greece.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Bulgarians, the EU's newest members, are also by far the bloc's unhappiest citizens, a new EU survey showed on Wednesday (19 November).
Bulgarians gave their satisfaction with life a rank of five out of 10, and their happiness a rank of 5.8, which is well lower than the average rank given by Europeans of seven and 7.5, respectively.
On average, Europeans rate their level of happiness a 7.5 out of 10
For their part, Romanians, who joined the EU together with Bulgarians in 2007, have a more positive outlook, putting their life satisfaction at 6.5 and their happiness at seven, according to the European Quality of Life Survey carried by Dublin-based EU research agency Eurofound.
The survey - which covers all 27 EU states, as well as Norway and EU candidates Turkey, Croatia and Macedonia - also ranks Nordic people among the happiest in Europe, with Danes leading the list, followed by Swedes and Finns.
Of the member states that joined the EU in 2004, only the Maltese have ranked themselves among the 10 happiest peoples in Europe, while Portuguese are the unhappiest of the 15 "old" EU countries, preceded by Italy and Greece.
"We looked at 8 to 10 activities that happy people engage in, and for each one, the people who did the activities more -- visiting others, going to church, all those things -- were more happy," Dr. Robinson said. "TV was the one activity that showed a negative relationship. Unhappy people did it more, and happy people did it less." But the researchers could not tell whether unhappy people watch more television or whether being glued to the set is what makes people unhappy. "I don't know that turning off the TV will make you more happy," Dr. Robinson said.Still, he said, the data show that people who spend the most time watching television are least happy in the long run.Since the major predictor of how much time is spent watching television is whether someone works or not, Dr. Robinson added, it's possible that rising unemployment will lead to more TV time.
"We looked at 8 to 10 activities that happy people engage in, and for each one, the people who did the activities more -- visiting others, going to church, all those things -- were more happy," Dr. Robinson said. "TV was the one activity that showed a negative relationship. Unhappy people did it more, and happy people did it less."
But the researchers could not tell whether unhappy people watch more television or whether being glued to the set is what makes people unhappy. "I don't know that turning off the TV will make you more happy," Dr. Robinson said.
Still, he said, the data show that people who spend the most time watching television are least happy in the long run.
Since the major predictor of how much time is spent watching television is whether someone works or not, Dr. Robinson added, it's possible that rising unemployment will lead to more TV time.
what's the data on internet (over)use? ;-)
Cultural riches from over 2,000 years of European civilization are going digital. It's part of a new European Union online library project that is set to rival Google and create a one-stop-shop to access history, art, literature, cinema and music from across the continent. Items have been collected from 1,000 museums, national libraries, galleries and archives -- including the Louvre in Paris and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam -- so users can scour for books, paintings, audio files, maps, videos and other artifacts in one website: http://www.europeana.eu Subjects are as varied as the recipe for a French ham and cheese "croque monsieur" to Homer's epics and the life of Mozart. "You can see all aspects of (Mozart's) life in the works and material that comes from our museums, libraries, audio visual collections and archives across Europe," said Jill Cousins, director of the Europeana project. She called up nearly 1,000 items related to Mozart in a sample search on the website, which is available in 23 languages including English, French, German and Spanish.
It's part of a new European Union online library project that is set to rival Google and create a one-stop-shop to access history, art, literature, cinema and music from across the continent.
Items have been collected from 1,000 museums, national libraries, galleries and archives -- including the Louvre in Paris and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam -- so users can scour for books, paintings, audio files, maps, videos and other artifacts in one website: http://www.europeana.eu
Subjects are as varied as the recipe for a French ham and cheese "croque monsieur" to Homer's epics and the life of Mozart.
"You can see all aspects of (Mozart's) life in the works and material that comes from our museums, libraries, audio visual collections and archives across Europe," said Jill Cousins, director of the Europeana project.
She called up nearly 1,000 items related to Mozart in a sample search on the website, which is available in 23 languages including English, French, German and Spanish.
A new European digital archive gives users access to about 2 million digital objects including film material, photos, paintings, sounds, maps, manuscripts, books, newspapers and other documents. Whether you are looking for Dante's "Divine Comedy," Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring" or a Mozart score, starting Thursday, Nov. 20, you'll find them all free of cost on the European digital library network. The Europeana digital library uses the latest technologies and will "enable a Czech student to browse the British Library without going to London, or an Irish art lover to get close to the Mona Lisa without queuing at the Louvre," said Viviane Reding, the European Union commissioner responsible for new technologies. Reding said the digital library would also give greater visibility to all the treasures hidden deep in Europe's libraries, museums and archives. The online collection includes works from 90 partner institutions and all the countries of Europe, according to the Europeana Web site.
Whether you are looking for Dante's "Divine Comedy," Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring" or a Mozart score, starting Thursday, Nov. 20, you'll find them all free of cost on the European digital library network.
The Europeana digital library uses the latest technologies and will "enable a Czech student to browse the British Library without going to London, or an Irish art lover to get close to the Mona Lisa without queuing at the Louvre," said Viviane Reding, the European Union commissioner responsible for new technologies.
Reding said the digital library would also give greater visibility to all the treasures hidden deep in Europe's libraries, museums and archives. The online collection includes works from 90 partner institutions and all the countries of Europe, according to the Europeana Web site.
Cuil "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
Upon reading the article:
European Union plans online library to rival Google - Telegraph
EU officials say Europeana offers a better product than Google's Book Search feature. Google has been scanning millions of books stored in dozens of libraries around the world over the past four years to lure more traffic to its popular search engine. "The Google Book Search project is a great project, but it's about books, it's not like Europeana; you see the difference," said Horst Forster, an EU official who helped coordinate the project. "What we have here does not have any commercial aims." Santiago de la Mora from Google's European office welcomed the launch, saying Google hoped to collaborate with Europeana "taking part in what could become the biggest technological leap in disseminating knowledge since Gutenberg invented the printing press."
EU officials say Europeana offers a better product than Google's Book Search feature. Google has been scanning millions of books stored in dozens of libraries around the world over the past four years to lure more traffic to its popular search engine.
"The Google Book Search project is a great project, but it's about books, it's not like Europeana; you see the difference," said Horst Forster, an EU official who helped coordinate the project. "What we have here does not have any commercial aims."
Santiago de la Mora from Google's European office welcomed the launch, saying Google hoped to collaborate with Europeana "taking part in what could become the biggest technological leap in disseminating knowledge since Gutenberg invented the printing press."
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Brits are the most active users of the internet among European nations, the UK's communication regulator, Ofcom, revealed in a report, depicting the country's population as keen participants of social networks such as Facebook and huge fans of online video games. There is nearly one broadband connection for every four people across the G7 most industrialised nations plus Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Ireland, according to the International Communications Market report, published on Wednesday (19 November). Brits are heavy users of online video games and social networking services such as Facebook In the European Union, the UK, France and Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Ireland saw the highest average growth in connections between 2004 and 2007, at five percent per year. Across all the countries surveyed, more women than men were using the internet. The research found that US consumers spend most time online (15 hours per week) while Brits lead the European league with almost 14 hours. Spaniards on the other hand spend the least time on the internet: 7.5 hours per week.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Brits are the most active users of the internet among European nations, the UK's communication regulator, Ofcom, revealed in a report, depicting the country's population as keen participants of social networks such as Facebook and huge fans of online video games.
There is nearly one broadband connection for every four people across the G7 most industrialised nations plus Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Ireland, according to the International Communications Market report, published on Wednesday (19 November).
Brits are heavy users of online video games and social networking services such as Facebook
In the European Union, the UK, France and Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Ireland saw the highest average growth in connections between 2004 and 2007, at five percent per year.
Across all the countries surveyed, more women than men were using the internet.
The research found that US consumers spend most time online (15 hours per week) while Brits lead the European league with almost 14 hours. Spaniards on the other hand spend the least time on the internet: 7.5 hours per week.
EU privacy laws, which still are exponentially more restrictive than those of market outliers US, AU express a profound distrust among continental and UK ISP-subscribers of unregulated communications data collection by third parties. Change in Global TLD structural distribution (actual physical secured server locations) do not mitigate that attitude, especially given convergence in deteriorating policies.
If by "internet friendly" the reporter actually means volume of EMAIL, the reporter's inference would be correct. ITC technology is a phone sporting "party line," or broadcast capacity, and therefore ->zero value add to "fax" transmital capability. People with phone and marginal economic gut understand: I'll not pay a premium for one more minute of digital mark-up --unless of course the content is qualified "premium".
And, geezus, I'm carrying a cell phone that connects me to who I know and can touch at any time! Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
Is your point that the Internet, or Internet mediated communications, provide no value beyond that provided by a conference phone and a fax machine?
And what exactly does your point about EU privacy restrictions have to do with the notion of "internet-friendliness," a state that is admittedly hard to define?
Women are to be banned from returning to work within six weeks of giving birth under new EU plans. New mothers in Britain could also receive full pay for longer, as part of the scheme to improve maternity leave and make it uniform across Europe.But the British Government fears the European Commission scheme will pile unnecessary added costs on employers and the state.In addition, Conservatives have warned it could damage the careers of businesswomen who want to get back in the boardroom as soon as possible after having a baby.It comes amid continuing controversy over whether employment rights for women need to be extended further.Equality campaigners believe many women's careers still suffer if they take time off to raise children, with official figures showing the gender pay gap widened to 17.1 per cent in the past year.
New mothers in Britain could also receive full pay for longer, as part of the scheme to improve maternity leave and make it uniform across Europe.
But the British Government fears the European Commission scheme will pile unnecessary added costs on employers and the state.
In addition, Conservatives have warned it could damage the careers of businesswomen who want to get back in the boardroom as soon as possible after having a baby.
It comes amid continuing controversy over whether employment rights for women need to be extended further.
Equality campaigners believe many women's careers still suffer if they take time off to raise children, with official figures showing the gender pay gap widened to 17.1 per cent in the past year.
And of course with all of the documented evidence that suggests that extended time with mother in the first months and years is essential to having a socialised child, we have no idea where all of the "feral children" they write about so avidly come from do we ?
And right now child policy for the Tory party is being done by Ian duncan Smith who is advocating very extended periods off. His argument being, amazingly, that society is better off with properly brought up educable kids rather than those who remain unsocialised cos their parents are on the treadmill all day every day. keep to the Fen Causeway
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Poland has given the cold shoulder to concessions offered by the French EU presidency on how the union's power sector should reduce CO2 emissions. "It does not solve the problem of electricity prices in a satisfactory way," one Polish diplomat said on Wednesday (19 November) in response to the French proposal. What will happen if the 11 December summit fails to see agreement? The concessions paper is aimed at addressing Warsaw's key objection - against the buying of 100 percent of pollution permits under the union's reformed emissions trading scheme (ETS), the cornerstone of the EU's strategy against climate change. Under the reform, EU governments would no longer give away permits to pollute to the power sector. Instead, the industry would be forced to buy the right to emit carbon dioxide by auction, with full auctioning expected to kick in from 2013. To get Poland on board, the French EU presidency has offered a three-year long exemption from the regime to those countries that produce at least 60 percent of their electricity from coal and are poorly connected to the grids of other EU states.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Poland has given the cold shoulder to concessions offered by the French EU presidency on how the union's power sector should reduce CO2 emissions.
"It does not solve the problem of electricity prices in a satisfactory way," one Polish diplomat said on Wednesday (19 November) in response to the French proposal.
What will happen if the 11 December summit fails to see agreement?
The concessions paper is aimed at addressing Warsaw's key objection - against the buying of 100 percent of pollution permits under the union's reformed emissions trading scheme (ETS), the cornerstone of the EU's strategy against climate change.
Under the reform, EU governments would no longer give away permits to pollute to the power sector. Instead, the industry would be forced to buy the right to emit carbon dioxide by auction, with full auctioning expected to kick in from 2013.
To get Poland on board, the French EU presidency has offered a three-year long exemption from the regime to those countries that produce at least 60 percent of their electricity from coal and are poorly connected to the grids of other EU states.
The President of Ukraine urged Nato yesterday to resist Russian pressure and make an historic offer of membership to his country. Viktor Yushchenko said that Ukraine was "devoted" to winning support for a Membership Action Plan (MAP) at next month's summit of Nato foreign ministers despite opposition in Moscow and a bitter political crisis at home that has split the pro-Western Orange coalition. He gave warning that expansion of the military alliance was vital to European security in the wake of Russia's war with Georgia, and the only way to secure Ukraine's independence. "I am sure that the ball is not on the Ukrainian side of the field, Ukraine has done everything it had to do," President Yushchenko said in an interview with The Times.
The President of Ukraine urged Nato yesterday to resist Russian pressure and make an historic offer of membership to his country.
Viktor Yushchenko said that Ukraine was "devoted" to winning support for a Membership Action Plan (MAP) at next month's summit of Nato foreign ministers despite opposition in Moscow and a bitter political crisis at home that has split the pro-Western Orange coalition.
He gave warning that expansion of the military alliance was vital to European security in the wake of Russia's war with Georgia, and the only way to secure Ukraine's independence.
"I am sure that the ball is not on the Ukrainian side of the field, Ukraine has done everything it had to do," President Yushchenko said in an interview with The Times.
The European Union is wasting billions of euros due to sloppy bookkeeping and the sending of funds down the wrong channels, a senior European auditor said. From 42 billion euros ($53 billion) in structural subsidies provided last year by Brussels, at least 11 percent should not have been paid out, European Accounting Office chief Vitor Caldeira said Thursday, Nov. 20. Caldeira also highlighted serious inconsistencies in the EU's spending policies for agriculture, natural resources, research, energy, transport, education, foreign aid and aid to poor EU regions. These programs account for 80 percent of EU spending by respective national governments and EU agencies.
From 42 billion euros ($53 billion) in structural subsidies provided last year by Brussels, at least 11 percent should not have been paid out, European Accounting Office chief Vitor Caldeira said Thursday, Nov. 20.
Caldeira also highlighted serious inconsistencies in the EU's spending policies for agriculture, natural resources, research, energy, transport, education, foreign aid and aid to poor EU regions.
These programs account for 80 percent of EU spending by respective national governments and EU agencies.
EU farm ministers have agreed to reform agricultural policy by shifting more subsidies away from production and liberalising the dairy market. The deal on reforming the Common Agricultural Policy came on Thursday after marathon all-night talks. More subsidies will be transferred to conservation, reducing the traditional EU incentives for farmers to produce. Milk quotas will be raised initially, but later scrapped, in the biggest overhaul of farm policy since 2003. The measures will go into effect during 2009-2013. The changes build on a major CAP reform enacted in 2003, which broke the link between farm production and subsidies.
EU farm ministers have agreed to reform agricultural policy by shifting more subsidies away from production and liberalising the dairy market.
The deal on reforming the Common Agricultural Policy came on Thursday after marathon all-night talks.
More subsidies will be transferred to conservation, reducing the traditional EU incentives for farmers to produce.
Milk quotas will be raised initially, but later scrapped, in the biggest overhaul of farm policy since 2003.
The measures will go into effect during 2009-2013.
The changes build on a major CAP reform enacted in 2003, which broke the link between farm production and subsidies.
How dependent is Europe on Russian gas? November 18th, 2008 by Pierre Noël, University of Cambridge Conventional wisdom has it that Russia dominates Europe's natural gas market, and that European imports of Russian gas are growing and can only continue to grow. This supposedly places the EU in a dangerous state of dependency and compromises its strategic position towards Russia. All sides of the debate over Europe's Russia policy share these premises, including those "realists" who argue that dependency on Russian gas makes it irresponsible for the EU to pursue policies that antagonise Moscow. But the conventional wisdom is wrong: Europe's gas supply is not dominated by Russia, or, for that matter, by any other exporter. Since 1980, and particularly since 1995, Europe has considerably diversified its sources of gas imports. Today, for the EU as a whole, gas supply diversity is not a pressing problem.
Conventional wisdom has it that Russia dominates Europe's natural gas market, and that European imports of Russian gas are growing and can only continue to grow. This supposedly places the EU in a dangerous state of dependency and compromises its strategic position towards Russia. All sides of the debate over Europe's Russia policy share these premises, including those "realists" who argue that dependency on Russian gas makes it irresponsible for the EU to pursue policies that antagonise Moscow. But the conventional wisdom is wrong: Europe's gas supply is not dominated by Russia, or, for that matter, by any other exporter.
Since 1980, and particularly since 1995, Europe has considerably diversified its sources of gas imports. Today, for the EU as a whole, gas supply diversity is not a pressing problem.
However, the purpose of the analysis is supposedly to examine the implications of such an event...
The unanswered question is: How much economic havoc would the shutting off of 7% of primary energy consumption cause?
7% (or thereabouts, reading roughly off the graph) doesn't seem like much, but, for example, let's say that GDP is only half-dependent on energy... that would be 3% of GDP?
Is that significant?
A further issue raised in the comments on the blog is that Russia's internal use of gas is rising, so in the medium term we do need to be looking for alternative sources anyway.
Another example:
The European Council on Foreign Relations: The death of NATO (by Nick Whitney)
NATO is dying; it's the common condition, of course, of all living things from the moment of birth. And as NATO approaches its 60th birthday next spring, there seems no immediate urgency about writing its obituary; 60-year-olds may reasonably look forward to another decade, perhaps two or even three, of active and productive life. Nonetheless, amidst the celebrations, it is time for some discreet reflection on the fact that `the old man will not always be with us'. Human institutions, like human beings, can collapse with surprising speed once it becomes apparent they have outlived their usefulness. The dramatic dissolution of the Soviet Union stands as a reminder of what can happen to organisations when doubts take hold as to whether they still serve any real interests other than those of their own apparatchiks - and how suddenly such doubts can grow when they attempt to convert themselves into something they are not.
Human institutions, like human beings, can collapse with surprising speed once it becomes apparent they have outlived their usefulness. The dramatic dissolution of the Soviet Union stands as a reminder of what can happen to organisations when doubts take hold as to whether they still serve any real interests other than those of their own apparatchiks - and how suddenly such doubts can grow when they attempt to convert themselves into something they are not.
