Sir, Regarding ‘EU innovation needs paradigm shift, says commissioner‘: To achieve EU Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik’s goal of turning research into market products, we should go back to the fundamental questions of what innovation means. Innovation, unlike basic research, is an organic phenomenon. It is reactive to demand far more often than it [...]

Sirs, The European Union (EU) is said to have been established by the Treaty on European Union signed in 1992. However, taking advantage of your neutrality, I would like to question the EU’s existence based on the following considerations: First, the Treaty on European Union (TEU) explicitly states that the EU “shall be founded on the [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Europe’s education systems ‘stifling creative thinking’‘: The Bologna Process represents the greatest opportunity for higher education reform in Europe ever undertaken. It is also the subject of a large degree of misunderstanding, as shown by the recent student protests in several countries and by the comments of Erik Spiekermann in the article on [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Spain tops EU fishing ‘overcapacity’ ranking‘: I am sure you are all too familiar and have continuously read about the ocean’s dwindling fish stocks time and time again. Even Joe Borg, the EU fisheries commissioner, has admitted to getting the European’s fishing strategy all wrong. He stated that 88% of EU stocks were [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘EU leaders warned about emerging ‘major’ gas crisis‘: As the threat of another potential gas crisis looms, AEGPL, the European LPG Association, would like to highlight the availability and suitability of LPG as a back-up alternative, particularly in industrial installations. Not all back-up fuels are created equal. LPG, as a clean-burning gaseous fuel with [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘EU summit seeks to avert ‘perfect storm’‘: Rich countries cannot manage climate change alone, even if they reduce emissions to zero. To succeed will require significant contributions from developing countries, particularly the major emerging economies such as China and India. Developing countries are the most vulnerable to climate risks, the least responsible for [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Former MEP: UK far-right success ‘won’t last’‘: I was rather taken aback to see numerous references to ‘the UK’ having voted for the BNP in the interview with former Labour MEP, Richard Corbett. I think this is seriously misleading, as ‘the UK’ includes Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as England, and [...]

Sir, Concernant ‘Ecologist’s film ‘boosted’ French Greens‘: Le film ‘HOME’ de Yann Arthus-Betrand (présenté ce 5 juin sur Club RTL) devrait être visionné dans toutes les écoles, donner lieux à un concours de dissertation par les jeunes de plus de 12 à 20ans ( avec un impact sur leurs parents,) et pourquoi pas récompensé par [...]

Sir, I am writing in response to the letter ‘Water needs politics, not techno-fixes‘ by Martin Pigeon of Corporate Europe Observatory, dated 4 May 2009. Commenting on Veolia Water’s calls for a ” low-water economy “, Mr. Pigeon suggests that Veolia’s views are driven only by commercial and short-term profit optimisation purposes, and that their [...]