I thought I would use this opportunity to ask friends and others who are interested in EU politics their opinion, in order to bring back some innovative and wide ranging? answers. Feel free to write short or long answers. What do you think is, or should be, the EU’s next big project?

Some ideas that are suggested:

1. Should it be to battle climate change and at the same time ensure energy security for its citizens? If so, what do you believe is the best avenue to reach this goal?
2. Is it more important to create a true foreign policy, so that the EU can talk with one voice and be upon a level with major powers such as Russia, India and China?
3. Or is more institutional reform needed in the years to come, if so why? Could federalism be the answer?

Or should the EU focus on more issue specific policies that “matter” more to the citizens, such as:

1. Making its main priority to battle poverty, inequality and unemployment within the EU?
2. To improve research and education within the EU, in order to make Europe develop the best minds in order to be at the cutting-edge of innovation and wealth creation in the world? Is the new 2020 strategy that Barroso is talking about the answer?
3. To secure the borders of Europe and at the same time ensure more legal ways of immigration and protecting those in need of protection?
4. Or should it be a more ambitious enlargement policy and strive to include the Western Balkans and Turkey in the EU?

What is your opinion? What do you believe should be the EU’s next big project?

Place du Londres in Ixelles

Where to look for a flat?

There are a few good websites offering flats of various kinds:

• One of the most extensive sites for flats in Belgium is Immoweb, a site I used to find my current flat.
• There are several websites for expats, one of them is this expatica.com and it offers many good tips on how to settle in in Belgium. If you are looking for flat now, many flats are posted in their classified section. There are several other xpats site, among them is Xpats listing a few flats right now.
• The Francophone website Quefaire.be has also been recommended to me by a friend as it has many adds too.
• As many of those moving to Brussels are newly educated or having an internship, maybe a flatshare is more of interest, then the Appartager.be has been recommended to me.

I am sure there are other sites out there as well, but this could at least be a start.

Which area to live?

The second thing you will need to consider is WHERE you want to live, but that really depends on your preferences. There are already a few websites with descriptions of the various areas, at expatica and here. Many expats prefer to live in the “bubble” of Ixelles (post code 1050) as it is close to the EU-institutions and has quite a good restaurant scene around Boniface and Flagey.

Do you have any other recommendations?

Furthermore, the EU should also formulate a policy in response to recent developments such as the increasing impact of climate change on migratory movements.

And page 9 says:

Explore the relationship between climate change and migration and gain a better understanding of the number of people affected now and in the future.

Even though a communication such as this is non-binding for member states, is it at least a step towards a more firm approach to the issue of climate change and migration.

The New York Times reported earlier this week that the Government of the Maldives is planning to buy up land through an investment fund in order to pre-empt their population status as climate refugees. This is the first initiative that I have heard of where states are considering to buy up land elsewhere to house their population in the event of rising sea levels and increased extreme weather.

The only similar adaptation measure which aims at permanently relocating a population could be the Asian Pacific Category of New Zealand, as mentioned earlier in this blog, which aims to resettle 75 to 150 persons from some selected pacific islands each year.

Many states are producing and implementing climate change action plans and equivalent, but it seems as the displacement aspects often are ignored, as pointed out in several comments recently made to the `Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan` (BCCSAP ) that the forced migration aspect, or displacement aspect, is ignored.

Can anyone let me know if there are any other resettlement schemes or similar adaptation measures initiated to address the issue of climate refugees or environmentally displaced persons?

It seems difficult to foresee that Norway will join the EU any time soon, as Norwegians narrowly have voted no to EU membership twice (1972 and 1994) and the oil-economy seems less affected by the world’s financial crisis so far.

Previous applications have not been triggered by domestic/internal events

Norwegian politicians seem to lack the political clout and guts to raise the debate, as the question is the most contentious and divisive in Norwegian politics. The 1972 application came as a result of the British application, where both Norway and Denmark applied. The 1994 application came as a result of the Swedish application. In other words, external events seem to trigger the membership debates in Norway.

Three events that can trigger an EU application in Norway

There are currently three external events I believe can trigger an EU-debate in Norway:

• Iceland applies for membership to the EU. This will leave Norway “alone” in the EEA-agreement together with Lichtenstein. EFTA will become even more irrelevant. More importantly, Iceland will be on the other side of the negotiation table when Norway negotiates their fishery agreements with the EU. This is a situation I think is unacceptable for Norwegian fishing industry who has always regarded themselves as big brothers to Iceland. Norwegian newspaper VG reported on the issue today.
• Increased pressure from Russia. Norway is currently in a long-standing border dispute with Russia for more than 30 years. If Russia continues to reassert itself in the North, Norwegians might start feeling lonely without international support for their claims. EU-membership might seem like the only viable option to secure Norwegian interests’ in the High North. Read more about it here:  Norway Urges Russia to Stick to International Law in Arctic , President Medvedev threatens Russian Arctic annexation
• Economic depression. The main rationale used to explain why Norway is outside the EU is that the Norwegian economy has been going so well due to the oil discoveries in the 70ies, leaving Norway as one of the best countries to live in world wide. Many Norwegians thus have not had a clear economic incentive to join the union. If the economy (sadly) is weakened, EU-membership might seem as the option that can boost the economy, as it has been in almost all the new member states of the union.

Read an old, but still good, analysis from the International Herald tribune on the pros and cons in the Norwegian EU debate

Do you think can trigger a new Norwegian application to the EU?

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