Sir, Most countries in Central, East and Southeast Europe emerged from the trough of the crisis at the end of 2009. Several leading indicators point to a modest upswing. All countries in the region will only begin to grow again by 2011. Growth may accelerate slightly in 2012, but will in general be slower than [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Opposition leader: Bulgaria heading towards a ‘Polizeistaat’‘ As regards Bulgaria and other stressed economies in the EU, now is the time to cut off all funding for any planning of what the world will be like in 2020. What an exercise in futility! Nobody can foresee what the world will be like in [...]

Dear Ms. Kroes, As you might know, often my country tends to walk on the wrong path when it comes down to freedom of the press and information. This is really a pity since we do have the potential to do more and better. As you might also know, Italian governments, both from the centre-left [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Commission to fight VAT fraud schemes‘: The principle that you can reclaim money when you fill in a tax report is the real cause of the fraudulent situation. It should be replaced with a simple tax on turnover, with no claiming back. Olle Ekengren Private citizen

Sir, Regarding ‘Industry chief: Biofuel from waste can reduce landfill‘: At last we hear some good news from an enterprising source. How welcoming to read such positive comments. The move from Finland is not an isolated one in Europe. I have also heard that GeneSyst teams in Europe will be starting work on several major [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Jobless migrant women want more e-skills‘: Your article  highlights the significant challenges faced by job-seekers in an increasingly digitised economy, or the “i-conomy” as described by the new EU commissioner for research, innovation and science; Máire Geoghegan-Quinn. Many migrants who come to work in Europe find themselves in menial jobs that do not [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘EU, US re-assess SWIFT data-sharing deal‘: The statements made by the spokespersons of SWIFT are very worrying. They originally said that servers have been moved to Switzerland and the Netherlands, but now admit that there are still servers in the US which hold EU banking data. Could it be that SWIFT has simply [...]

Sir, 10 March has a double significance in the history of Tibet. On that day in 1959 the Dalai Lama fled the Chinese occupation. On March 10 2008 Tibetan monks took to the streets of Lhasa protesting Chinese oppressive policies. The Chinese authorities brutally suppressed the uprising. Until today, there has been no independent investigation [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Finance ministers want 3% R&D target ditched‘: The 3% is an easily memorable and therefore useful political target. However, we must look at its practical implications in a more careful and nuanced way. Simply to claim that a country with high R&D spending will become more competitive than another with lower spending (both [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘EU to pump €18m into flu research‘: The swine flu and bird flu strategies to defeat these killer diseases with drugs are totally flawed. By the time we get any new kinds of antibiotic, most of us will be dead. The reason for this is that the Spanish flu did its worst between [...]