End of break

Time to resume the daily routines, after a period of rest in Southern Spain. And the first thing I notice is that the key people in the European institutions are still too much focused on security issues. It´s not a good idea. The security mechanisms are in place and they can do the job at hand. The politicians do not need to meddle too much with the security domain. They just need to provide the necessary legal and financial support. And then concentrate their minds on the economic and social challenges that are at the centre of the citizen´s preoccupations as well as on the relations between Europe and some key outside nations. That should be the agenda for the rentrée.

Intermezzo

The first half of August is peak holiday time in our part of Europe. It´s beach time, for many. Even key politicians are walking in their shorts and do not want to be caught by reality. Issues like the one in Calais with the immigrants or question marks about Turkey´s air campaigns in Syria and Iraq, even Greece and its deep economic impasse, are to be kept outside the main screens. During this intermission, it is the temperature of the sea water that matters. And the excellence of a good glass of white wine. The rest will have to wait until the second half of the month.