Europa Film Treasure is back

Old European movies again available after the 2013 black-out. Arte.tv replaced the original platform, saving 194 artistic products from 1890 to 1970

English translation of my article for Eunews

Europa Film Treasure is back. The masterpieces of the European cinema from 1890 to 1970 digitally remastered and collected in the special webisite closed in 2013 are now available and watchable again. Arte tv (Association Relative à la Télévision Européenne), the French-German network specialised in art and culture, started uploading a part of the old European movies on Europa Film Treasure, a special section of its website created for the specific purpose. This is a good news for cinema itself, for cinema lovers and as well as for the European Union, who financed Europe Film Treasure with 1.239.000 Euro between 2007 and 2011 through the Media programme.
Europa Film Treasure is project developped by Lobster Films, a Paris-based company specialised in the restoration of old movies. In partnership with some of the most prestigious European cinema institutions, Lobster worked on recovery, restoration and digitalisation of films realised between 1890 and 1970. These treasures of the European cinema were originally available on a special website (www.europafilmtreasure.eu), switched off the 12th of April 2013, because of the financial crisis that hit Enki Tchnologies, who was the society responsible for the software management. As a result Europa Film Treasure was blacked out, and all movie were lost.

Quotes

«You are mistaken if you think democracy is that one election result can change the way we work in the eurozone» 
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, president of the Eurogroup, during a public hearing in the European Parliament (Brussels, 24th of February 2015)

«Now Tsipras explain the deal to their voters»

German minister of Finance made statements containing the sense of what is happening in Greece: it was promised too much

Alexis Tsipras

by Emanuele Bonini

«Greeks certainly will have a difficult time to explain the deal to their voters». German minister of Finance Wolgang Schaeuble's words need to be explained. An agreement for an extension of the assistance programme for Greece was reached yesterday in Brussels, and of course great attention has been dedicated to the deal. But there is now the need of an analyses to what happened in the EU capital city, and what happened is Syriza promised something impossible to honour. Thinking to can re-write the financial arrangements is impossible, since who set conditions are always creditors. And creditor can accept to be convinced, but they will never accept to be forced to review the rules of the game. At the same time the idea by which is possible to review laws and agreements just because governments change is a foolish one. «Elections don't mean everything changes vis-a-vis EU partners», recalled the German minister of Finance. And all that is something Syriza and his leader Alexis Tsipras had to be aware of before running for the elections. And here we have Wolgang Schaeuble's sentence meaning: in politics everybody is responsible in front of his own voters as well as his national Parliament.

Quotes - About men and women

«You’re an actress. You see, now I don’t know whether you’re telling lies or telling the truth».
«I could say the same thing to you».
«No, I say it because... Because you’re an actress».
«I said it because you’re a man».
«Ah, touché!»
(dialogue taken from Les temps de l'aventure, France, 2013)

Greeks considered as «not credible» in Europe

People close to the dossier confirm it is not possible trust the Hellenic authorities

by Emanuele Bonini

Greek speakers «lack of credibility», EU officials admitted today in Brussels. We already said it, but of course having a confirmation from the European Institutions makes it official, even if the declaration were off the records. It is more than a rumour, it is exactly what all the minister of Finance of the Euro area think at the moment. All of them share the same vision, and it is not a case if «the Eurogroup member States are more unite than ever», EU sources added. Since the beginning the Greek attitude has been seen as inappropriate. «Aggressive» and «thoughtless» are the words used in Brussels to define Alexis Tsipras and Yannis Varoufakis' behaviour. No proposals, no figures, a parliamentary vote on social reform scheduled the same day of a possible new Eurogroup meeting are all reasons to believe Greece doesn't want to talk to creditors. And of course, there is last Friday Eurogroup meeting. In that occasion Varoufakis gave his green light to a draft of joint statement, but immediately after a phone call with his prime minister Tsipras, Varoufakis changed his mind. How trust a partner like that? And, above all, is Mr. Varoufakis able to take a decision without consulting his government in Athens? All this is something contributed to create a general negative feeling around the Greek authorities paving the way for a Euro-ultimatum. Let continue with the current program, which is something clear, and then we will see. Of course, hoping Greece will be able to resolve the problem of its credibility gap.

FACT SHEET/ European banks and States exposure to Greece

(click to enlarge)

Infographic by ilSole24ore. English translation by thepressedworld

Italy missing in the EU

No communications, no presence. Italian role in the European affairs is not a front line one

by Emanuele Bonini

From leading actor to walk-on actor. Italy changed its role in the EU affairs, and now the ancient importance as a member State and the old relevance as contribution made to the European Union are just a remember of the olden days. In a context where it is extremely important to be present, Italy is missing. Prime ministers and ministers never hold press conferences, never express the official position, and never offer a point of view of the situation. In Brussels politicians always speak at the arrival and, above all, at the departure. It is useful to can understand how the general feelings are before meetings and what has been decided at the end of the meeting. More simply is just communication. Communicating Europe is key, and there are those who speak a lot (even too much), and those who, on the contrary, doesn't speak at all. Italians belong to the last category. Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, the United Kingdom: all the relevant countries spend time to explain what their position are, how they conducted meetings and negotiations, where problems have been meet. Italy prefers a quick doorstep, which means a couple of questions and nothing more. We already wrote about this topic: the point number four of our analysis on Matteo Renzi's skills remained unchanged. But this is Italy today: just a «bad-willing tourists of democracy», to said it as it would do an Italian expert of the subject. No way: in time of troubles what is constantly visible is the Italian absence from the European political scene. What a shame! Italy has been one of the six founder of the European Union. But, of course, it happened in the 50's.

Philosophy makes Varoufakis not credible

Concrete measures and figures only count in a political debate, otherwise there is no common ground and credibility is at stake

Opinion

Yannis Varoufakis is a sort of strange creature populating the EU institutions. He doesn't want to talk to anybody who says anything about the current assistance programme running in Greece. All the other European partners see in Varoufakis a strange and perhaps a very old conception of market, economy, growth. In other words, a man coming from another planet. Just on Monday the Greek minister of Finance said the current programme is something unacceptable. The new Hellenic government doesn't like «the philosophy» behind the cure thought for Greece by the Eurogroup and the Troika. «Philosophy» was the word used by Varoufakis in his final press conference, and then we can image how, despite all, the Greek minister could be considered. First of all there are no possibilities to change the treaty just because a democratically elected government has been elected. Such a scenario is not foreseen by the International law. According to it just in case of coups or creation of new States all the agreements signed by previous national authorities can be considered as expired. In all other case any contract remain legally binding. So conditions are not in place to call for another assistance programme, and that is something both Varoufakis and his prime minister, Alexis Tsipras know really well. At the same time a minister for Finance can't come to Brussels to talk about philosophy. In Brussels only concrete measures and numbers count. Neither philosophy nor academic discussion have sense in policy, and they have even less sense when a quick agreement is needed, as Greece needs.

Italy is not a country for women

«Still far from satisfactory results in gender equality», according to a study issued by the European Parliament

by Emanuele Bonini

According to the European Gender Equality Index Italy is ranked amongst the countries in the EU with the lowest gender equality, revealed a study from the European Parliament. Italian performance is above the EU average in one area only, namely health, thanks to Italian women’s long life-expectancy. «In any other respect the situation is far from being satisfactory». Policies to re-address the gender unbalance «have been cautious», while progress in the legal framework has been promoted mainly by Directives coming from the EU or by pressures of the civil society. More in general, «Italy lacks of a proper gender infrastructure at central level to promote, coordinate and monitor gender-equality initiatives». According to "The policy on gender equality in Italy" report, the in-depth analysis for the committee on Women’s rights and gender equality, some legislations have been introduced but they are far from a full implementation, and the economic crisis is threatening some of the achievements. Right now the overall supply of care services that are meant to support female employment «is weak and affected by budget cuts». This is particularly true as regards services for the elderly and out-of-school childcare, «since little investments can be expected in this area». Women’s employment and economic independence is jeopardised both by increasing difficulties in reconciling work and family life and by the increasing loss of jobs in the service sector in the second wave of the crisis since 2010. Italy is not a country for women. The overall picture which emerges from the report is that «in many fields Italy is still far from reaching satisfactory results in gender equality, in spite of relevant progress under the pressure of women’s movement, civil society and European legislation». Criticalities are a lot, and the report explain in detail where gender equality is still missing.

bLOGBOOK - Special thought

See you Francesco...

bLOGBOOK - The Laughing Stock, n° 1 year III

 Good evening. Or good night. Or whatever... Anyway, hello folks!
I start feeling a light sore throat. Nothing new, it was only question of time, especially when everybody is sick. But it was not from here I wanted to start. There are a lot of think to talk about and I had to do it starting from my sore throat: what a poor fantasy man am I? Of course not an original one. Is there anything more ordinary than talking about health? Maybe the weather. It's cold here in Brussels. There was some snow, not so many days ago. But why am I writing all that? Oh  yes, I needed to free the brain from thoughts. I still don't feel like writing, communicating, working, going out, meeting people... What do I feel like, then? Good question. I don't know. I don't feel like searching for another job, that's something I know for sure. But the point there are no many alternatives, which means I have no choice. So I had to put again my hands to applications, and it's nothing but the beginning. Last month I was not even able to cover the cost of the rent: Jesus, I need an exit strategy. Ok: health, weather, work. Is all there what I can say? Come on, let's say something about myself. I still have a life after all. Ok, maybe not one of the best, but still a life. Still life. Ah, forget about these stupid word games. I'll spend my Easter holidays in Brussels, but the week before I'm supposed to be in Prague. I clarified I'm supposed to be because they already change the departure time. Let's keep our fingers crossed... Unfortunately I won't join my friend in Bratislava. There were no flights at last, not that kind of connections I need, and by bus it would even worse. No way, I'll miss you guys. I'll have to listen to your reports, and I'm ready to bet would be really funny.

«Still a lot to do in Italy and France»

Manfred Weber is the president of the EPP group in the European Parliament. Here a short interview made during his public chat on Facebook

by Emanuele Bonini (for eunews.it)

Mr Weber, what do you think about Tsipras' proposal of linking Greece debt repayments to its economic growth rate as a feasible solution to bring its sovereign debt under control?
«I think the most important question of all is to respect previous agreements».
Do you think time for Troika is over? Do you believe is time for a different way to deal with crisis and, in case, what could be the alternative to Troika?
«The Troika, the group formed by the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF, is only a tool. The question is if Member States are doing enough to create stability for investors. We need structural reforms and a stable state budget to create good conditions. That is the main question for the future».
You mentioned structural reforms, stable state budget, and creation for stability of investors. Do you believe France and Italy did enough?
«I think that the two member states have still a lot to do. The member States who did the necessary reforms are today economically more successful then the others. And very often the successful countries are governed by the EPP».

Pressmen, chapter 4

When journalists meet Italy

«Why don't you write in English»? The question mark is about a media having journalists in Brussels without producing any new in any "conventional" language spoken abroad. Well, when the press world act in Brussels in order to cover the EU institutions, could it be possible acting only on the own proper language? If we are talking about the Italian section of the press world the answer will be affirmative. «Why don't you write in English?» it would just one of the first reactions from the audience when Italy meets journalism. A lot has been said about journalism, and not just a few words have been spent for the magic of the senselessland. But there is no end to intelligence. Of course writing and working in a language different from the own one is not something easy; of course having translators is a cost, sometimes not sustainable for all; of course the main audience for every media is the national one. But despite all that, working in the heart of Europe and not investing in Europe is something difficult to explain to external people.
«You are based in Brussels»
«Yes»
«And you write about the European institutions»
«Yes»
«And you have no an English section??»
«Ehm... No»
«Why?»
Eh. This is the typical conversation you could experience abroad, and "why" is terribly a very good question, since it is not an easy one to deal with. Journalists are not the ones responsible for the policy media, thus "why" is something to be left to directors. But it would be useless.