José María Aznar, former Prime minister of Spain and President of FAES Foundation, closed on Friday, March 28, in Madrid, the annual seminar jointly organised by FAES Foundation and European Ideas Network, EIN, the network of think tanks and foundations linked to the European People’s Party. The seminar, which was opened on Thursday by Jaime Mayor Oreja, Vice-Chair of the People’s Party in the European Parliament, and Javier Zarzalejos, Secretary-General of FAES Foundation, addressed populism and nationalism as factors of social distortion as well as the new grounds for increased Transatlantic cooperation. A group of forty personalities—scholars, think tank members, MEPs and American executives—took part in the sessions.
FAES Foundation, through its imprint Gota a Gota, publishes the fourth volume of its series Biografías Políticas, dedicated to José Canalejas, four times minister and president of the Congress of Deputies. The new book, Canalejas. Un liberal reformista, written by Salvador Forner, unfolds the career of one of the greatest political figures of the early 20th century.
Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez left an important and indelible imprint on Spain’s contemporary history. Suárez was key to the successful achievement of the peaceful and legal transition from Franco’s regime to a democracy which has lasted for nearly four decades. However, nearly all his political successes were unexpected, including becoming Prime Minister in 1976.
The founding fathers of the American democracy are those who took part in the Philadelphia Convention, which approved the United States Constitution in 1787. The state delegates appointed general George Washington first President of the newly born United States of America. Among first-rate founding fathers are the three first presidents: Washington, John Adams and Jefferson. Second-rate ones include the most active delegates in favour of one of the two plans: the Virginia Plan or the New Jersey Plan. And in the third place are all other delegates who signed said Convention.
Anyone who has lived the Spanish Transition will remember with nostalgia a time when difficulties, which were many, were overcame with the eagerness of doing things well. Unlike previous times, past mistakes, which hade made Spanish democracy very brief, were known and borne in mind, and the majority willed not to repeat them. Like Suárez said, the predominant aim was to make coexistence long-lasting and not just a parenthesis.
La vulnerabilidad de un país se deriva de la existencia de una amenaza real y de la adecuación de la seguridad y defensa nacional para disuadirla o eliminarla. Con esta ecuación en la mano, España es, un año después de los atentados del 11-M, más vulnerable, posiblemente más vulnerable que nunca antes. La amenaza persiste y la defensa nacional ha empeorado para hacerle frente.
La Política de Cohesión financiada desde el presupuesto comunitario es beneficiosa para todos los países de la Unión. Permite, por un lado, a medio y largo plazo, un proceso de convergencia real de los países y regiones más pobres, aunque supone también importantes ventajas competitivas para los más ricos. Sin embargo, si las políticas regionales no van acompañadas de las reformas estructurales necesarias corren el riesgo de pretender hacer de la subvención la principal fuente de renta de amplias capas extensas de población con carácter permanente, pervirtiendo así la naturaleza y objetivo de los fondos.
Desde su inicio, la Unión Europea ha adoptado sus decisiones por consenso y respetando el equilibrio de los intereses de todos. Este afán se plasma en un sistema político-institucional sui generis en el que los Tratados atribuyen el poder legislativo, judicial y ejecutivo entre las diversas instituciones comunitarias. Dentro del entramado institucional comunitario, el Consejo desempeña un papel fundamental, puesto que es co-legislador y autoridad presupuestaria junto con el Parlamento Europeo. Además, el Consejo está llamado a ejercer un papel cada vez mayor en la definición de la política exterior de la Unión Europea y realiza una labor fundamental en la preparación de las reuniones del Consejo Europeo, verdadero vértice político de la Unión Europea. La forma en que el Consejo adopta sus decisiones está también diseñada para conseguir el consenso y mantener el equilibrio de poderes. Hasta ahora, el Consejo ha adoptado sus decisiones mediante el denominado sistema de voto ponderado.
03.28.2014. José María Aznar, former Prime minister of Spain and President of FAES Foundation, closed on Friday, March 28, in Madrid, the annual seminar jointly organised by FAES Foundation and European Ideas Network, EIN, the network of think tanks and foundations linked to the European People’s Party. The seminar, which was opened on Thursday by Jaime Mayor Oreja, Vice-Chair of the People’s Party in the European Parliament, and Javier Zarzalejos, Secretary-General of FAES Foundation, addressed populism and nationalism as factors of social distortion as well as the new grounds for increased Transatlantic cooperation. A group of forty personalities—scholars, think tank members, MEPs and American executives—took part in the sessions.
03.27.2014. FAES Foundation, through its imprint Gota a Gota, publishes the fourth volume of its series Biografías Políticas, dedicated to José Canalejas, four times minister and president of the Congress of Deputies. The new book, Canalejas. Un liberal reformista, written by Salvador Forner, unfolds the career of one of the greatest political figures of the early 20th century.
03.25.2014. Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez left an important and indelible imprint on Spain’s contemporary history. Suárez was key to the successful achievement of the peaceful and legal transition from Franco’s regime to a democracy which has lasted for nearly four decades. However, nearly all his political successes were unexpected, including becoming Prime Minister in 1976.
03.25.2014. The founding fathers of the American democracy are those who took part in the Philadelphia Convention, which approved the United States Constitution in 1787. The state delegates appointed general George Washington first President of the newly born United States of America. Among first-rate founding fathers are the three first presidents: Washington, John Adams and Jefferson. Second-rate ones include the most active delegates in favour of one of the two plans: the Virginia Plan or the New Jersey Plan. And in the third place are all other delegates who signed said Convention.
03.24.2014. Anyone who has lived the Spanish Transition will remember with nostalgia a time when difficulties, which were many, were overcame with the eagerness of doing things well. Unlike previous times, past mistakes, which hade made Spanish democracy very brief, were known and borne in mind, and the majority willed not to repeat them. Like Suárez said, the predominant aim was to make coexistence long-lasting and not just a parenthesis.
05.01.2005. La vulnerabilidad de un país se deriva de la existencia de una amenaza real y de la adecuación de la seguridad y defensa nacional para disuadirla o eliminarla. Con esta ecuación en la mano, España es, un año después de los atentados del 11-M, más vulnerable, posiblemente más vulnerable que nunca antes. La amenaza persiste y la defensa nacional ha empeorado para hacerle frente.
04.01.2005. La Política de Cohesión financiada desde el presupuesto comunitario es beneficiosa para todos los países de la Unión. Permite, por un lado, a medio y largo plazo, un proceso de convergencia real de los países y regiones más pobres, aunque supone también importantes ventajas competitivas para los más ricos. Sin embargo, si las políticas regionales no van acompañadas de las reformas estructurales necesarias corren el riesgo de pretender hacer de la subvención la principal fuente de renta de amplias capas extensas de población con carácter permanente, pervirtiendo así la naturaleza y objetivo de los fondos.
06.01.2004. Desde su inicio, la Unión Europea ha adoptado sus decisiones por consenso y respetando el equilibrio de los intereses de todos. Este afán se plasma en un sistema político-institucional sui generis en el que los Tratados atribuyen el poder legislativo, judicial y ejecutivo entre las diversas instituciones comunitarias. Dentro del entramado institucional comunitario, el Consejo desempeña un papel fundamental, puesto que es co-legislador y autoridad presupuestaria junto con el Parlamento Europeo. Además, el Consejo está llamado a ejercer un papel cada vez mayor en la definición de la política exterior de la Unión Europea y realiza una labor fundamental en la preparación de las reuniones del Consejo Europeo, verdadero vértice político de la Unión Europea. La forma en que el Con...
