Latest update: 11/10/2011 

- euro - Europe - European Union - food aid - Latvia - Netherlands


EU food aid programme: is Europe abandoning its poor?

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A 480-million euro budget to supply food to Europe's poorest could be slashed by 80%, the prospect of which has alarmed NGOs and charities. In April, the EU Court of Justice said the programme could only use supplies from EU food stocks. But stocks have fallen dramatically in recent years following reforms in the bloc's farming policies, forcing the use of EU money instead to buy supplies on the markets.

TALKING EUROPE

Guests:

  • Jan MULDER, Dutch MEP, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
  • Sandra KALNIETE, Latvian MEP, European People's Party
     

Programme prepared by Marie Billon

Lucinda Creighton, Irish European Affairs Minister
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Lucinda Creighton, Irish European Affairs Minister

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Italy's political stalemate: no government in sight in Rome
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Italy's political stalemate: no government in sight in Rome

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Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, President of the Republic of Iceland
09/03/2013 - TALKING EUROPE

Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, President of the Republic of Iceland

In 2008, Iceland's three banks collapsed, leaving mountains of debt and a nation in shock. Five years later, the country is growing again and unemployment has fallen below 6 percent (less than half the eurozone average). Olafur Ragnar Grimsson explains how this small nordic island has managed to rise from the ashes so quicky.
Credit Rating Agencies: The new masters of Europe?
09/03/2013 - TALKING EUROPE

Credit Rating Agencies: The new masters of Europe?

Three weeks ago, the UK lost its cherished triple A credit rating for the first time since the 1970s. Moody's now expects that economic growth will be sluggish in the second half of the decade. In our programme, we look at the role of credit rating agencies. Have they become the new masters of Europe? Are their assessments credible?
General Patrick de Rousiers, Chairman, EU Military Committee
02/03/2013 - TALKING EUROPE

General Patrick de Rousiers, Chairman, EU Military Committee

The EU’s most senior military official says he wants signals from political leaders that there is a will to invest in European defence. General Patrick de Rousiers, who chairs the EU Military Committee, dissects budget cuts and ponders how nations can still pool resources effectively. De Rousiers also gives us his take on security threats in Mali and Syria.

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