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Picture Armchair Colours of Belgian Flag

Photo by historic.brussels. CC-licence

Dossier

Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU

On 1 July Belgium took on the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union with a caretaker government in charge. The Belgian elections which had taken place two weeks before were won by the nationalist/regionalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) in Flanders and the Socialists in Wallonia and negotiations on the formation of government will presumably take some time. This should not, however, impact neither the programme nor the efficiency of the presidency. What exactly can be expected from the Belgian EU presidency and how will the interaction be between the presidency and European Council president Herman Van Rompuy? Dossier

Human Rights

COMMENTARY

Khodorkovsky Dangling between Conviction and Release: Is there a Solution?

The second trial against the former Yukos owners, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, is coming to an end. The trial and its outcome are extremely political. I will try to explain why this is so, and why it could be worthwhile making some efforts to influence the outcome.

By Jens Siegert, Director of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Russia office more»

ARTICLE

Human Rights Policy of the EU after Lisbon –

With the Lisbon Treaty coming into force, the European Parliament's role is key. But is the EP well prepared for the new task? Barbara Lochbihler, MEP for the Greens/EFA group, takes a closer look at the stronger and weaker spots of the EP's policy.

Publication

“Campo Algodonero” – “Cotton Field” –

Proposals for analysis and monitoring of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights' "Cotton Field" Case sentence, regarding human rights violations committed by the Mexican State.

On December 10, 2009, the day that commemorates the ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued the judgment on the "Cotton Field" Case

Climate Change

E-PAPER

Failure or Opportunity?

Two months after the Copenhagen climate summit, hbs staff members from around the globe shed some light on the different regional and national evaluations of the conference and analyse how perceptions on the outcome vary between key countries and regions. By Tilman Santarius, Gudrun Benecke, Thomas Fatheuer, Chen Jiliang, Arne Jungjohann, Ingrid Spiller, Sanjay Vashist, Jorge Villareal more»

Energy

Publication

Safe clean energy future unfolds on virtual Heliosthana

A how-to guide for a safe clean energy future, based around the virtual Mediterranean nation Heliosthana was launched on 11th May 2010 by WWF and the Heinrich Böll Stiftung (hbs), at the Spanish EU Presidency conference on the Mediterranean Solar Plan in Valencia.

Foreign and Security Policy

PUBLICATION

Recommendations for EU security policy based on peace building experience from countries formed by the disintegration of Yugoslavia

The countries formed after the disintegration of Yugoslavia need to be aware of their potential to enrich the European Union by making their own contribution. In this sense, paradoxically, the negative experience of war becomes an opportunity to embed their direct peace building experiences into EU security policy, and thus work together toward conflict prevention.

ARTICLE

Global Zero or Nuclear Anarchy? – Japan has been the only country in the world that suffered from a nuclear attack. Today, security and stability in Asia are at risk because of a potential nuclear arms race from the Persian Gulf to North Korea. By Ralf Fücks more»

Gender

Publication

Feminicido: Un Fenomeno Global - De Lima a Madrid

Feminicides refer to cases in which the victims women, after experiencing continuous discrimination throughout their lives, are killed because they are. Going beyond the emblematic cases in Mexico and Guatemala, this publication offers a regional perspective on feminicide in Latin America. It gives voice to prominent women activists, academics, human rights defenders and civil society.

Conference Report

2nd Conference on Feminicide and Strategy Meeting – In November 2009, the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament and the Heinrich Böll Stiftung organized the 2nd conference on Feminicide and a Strategy Meeting. The Conference Report in English and in Spanish (en Español) can be accessed here»

Publication

Gender Politics Makes a Difference - Experiences of the Heinrich Böll Foundation Across the World – Politics can only succeed when it is inclusive of all genders. Gender justice is an ambitious goal, one that the Heinrich Böll Foundation is pursuing together with many different allies worldwide. This publication gives an overview of their work. more»

Green Economics

International Conference

The Great Transformation – Greening the Economy

The international conference deals with the political framework, regulatory instruments, as well as leading technologies, key projects and new alliances for the economic-ecologic turnaround. On May, 28-29 a live-stream will be available.

Magazine

Böll.Thema Number 1/2010 - Going Green –

No doubt, Copenhagen was a major setback. Although much remains to be done, the great transformation is on its way: within the energy sector, in construction, in industry – and in Europe, the US, and China alike. To be sure, political decisions will be a major factor in how swiftly and powerfully change will occur. Yet, the future is not the exclusive domain of governments. All of us can be and will have to become actors in an ecological turnaround.

Democracy

Publication

The Class of 2009: Green Visions for Europe

To the surprise of many opinion pollsters and political commentators it became clear late in the evening of 7 June 2009 that the real winners in the European elections were the Greens. They were the only political group in the European Parliament that had managed to increase their number of seats. Few would have forecast this even a few days before. The European Union office of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung has invited eleven new Green Members of the European Parliament from five different countries to write about their ambitions for Europe. What are the goals of the new Greens and how do they want to achieve them? more»

Short films

Short films 1989 – 2009: Europe on the Move – In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the revolutionary events of 1989, the Prague office of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung has prepared a web dossier entitled “1989-2009: Europe on the Move”, where in addition to articles and studies on this topic you can also find four short films. more»