German Politics

UK – German relations in the context of the UK’s EU referendum

I was invited to speak at DG Cambridge on 14th October about UK – German relations in the context of David Cameron’s EU referendum. Antony Carpen was kind enough to film the speech, and put it up on Youtube: There

18.10.2015 German Politics

Touring the Berlin Brandenburg Airport: no closer to the answer

I’ve seen its lights blinking there, out across the north runway beyond Schönefeld. I have even run along its south runway in the Airport Night Run. But today I finally set foot in the as yet unopened Berlin Brandenburg Airport.

17.08.2015 German Politics

Berlin: startup city, technological backwater

Today I sent a fax. Yes, on 17th August 2015 this is still necessary. Because I had received a letter on paper from the administration of the city of Berlin and my reply had to be sent either on paper

12.08.2015 German Politics

Berlin’s future cycling plans are wrong. Here’s a way forward.

There ought to be a single aim for a city’s cycle policy: get more people to cycle. A number of factors can have an impact on this – the actual (statistically provable) safety of cycling, the perceived safety of cycling,

11.08.2015 German Politics

Radweg Bergmannstraße to Jannowitzbrücke (Kreuzberg and Mitte)

My first cycle path film documented the dangers of Skalitzer Straße. Now here is the second episode – going north through Kreuzberg from Bergmannstraße, via Baerwaldstraße, Prinzenstraße, Moritzplatz and Heinrich-Heine-Straße to Jannowitzbrücke. This one is characterised by narrow and very

01.08.2015 German Politics

Radweg Skalitzer Straße, Kreuzberg

Berlin has cycle lanes on most of its main streets, but many of these lanes are poorly designed or in bad condition. One of the worst is along Skalitzer Straße through Kreuzberg – it is an important east-west route between

15.07.2015 German Politics

The CDU strict-father model for Greece

The video above shows extracts of German Christian Democrat politicians talking about Greece. The statements are as follows: “Der Grieche hat jetzt lang genug genervt” (“The Greeks have annoyed us long enough“) – Thomas Strobl “Es gibt in Europa andere

05.01.2015 German Politics

Why 2015 is going to be the beginning of the end for Merkel

I’ve long been fascinated by the German politics, and how German politics is perceived beyond Germany. One aspect of this is how Merkel is described as the strong leader, internationally – a picture that is generally not reflected within Germany

14.05.2014 EU Politics / German Politics

“Wem gehört Europa? Welche europäischen Alternativen gibt es?” debate 17th May, Berlin – come along!

I’m the moderator of the European Alternatives debate in Berlin on Saturday between the MEPs Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann (SPD), Alexandra Thein (FDP) (yes, her of the posters fame), Helmut Scholz (Die LINKE) and Michael Cramer (Grüne). The debate is at the end of the Transeuropa

13.05.2014 German Politics

Volksentscheid Tempelhofer Feld – what’s happening?

A concise summary of what is happening with the Volksentscheid Tempelhofer Feld (Tempelhof Field Referendum) was hard to find in English. So this is my effort to write one, to help explain this rather complicated issue. At the end I’ll give

14.04.2014 EU Politics / German Politics

The empty slogans of the ‘Volksparteien’ in the European Parliament election campaign in Germany

From its headquarters at the southern end of Stresemanstrasse as far as Potsdamer Platz, the SPD has filled the street with huge election posters for the European Parliament election campaign… and they are awful. The five main posters are shown

26.03.2014 EU Politics / German Politics

Time for some policy-based evidence-making – how the Jacques Delors Institut Berlin ought to work

Back in my days as a civil servant one phrase dominated UK government-speak: evidence-based policy-making. The essential idea was to gather adequate evidence about a problem, and how various solutions could work, and determine a policy choice based on that.