The European Parliament’s plans to resuscitate the European Constitution were thrown in to disarray after the presidents of the Austrian, Finnish and German national parliaments wrote a letter to the European Parliament’s president Josep Borrell. The letter attacks key parts of a draft report – the so-called Duff/Voggenhuber report – aimed at resuscitating the EU constitution. Ever since May and June of 2005 when the French and Dutch electorates rejected the European Union’s Constitution those who would have the Constitution brought into law have pinned their hopes on the European Parliament (EP) to jump start the ratification process.

Remember the American South in the early 1960s? Or South Africa in the 1980s? That is what Western Europe in the early 21st century is beginning to resemble. A school in Amsterdam has introduced separate entrances for white and coloured pupils. At the Rietlanden/8th Montessori school in the east end of Amsterdam there are two separate entrances 30 metres apart, one for native Dutch children and one for immigrants. The school authorities claim that this situation has nothing to do with racism because the school welcomes children from all ethnic groups. All it wants is for them to enter through different doors. The school constitutes a complex with two sections. One, the coloured section, is called “Rietlanden,” the other, the white section, “8th Montessori.”

When exactly did Iceland cease to be a geographical part of Europe? I have sometimes thought about this upon hearing Icelandic Europhiles preach that Iceland must join Europe as soon as possible. Naturally these speculations have been more in jest than in seriousness. People probably have to be quite ignorant not to see the difference between the European Union as such and Europe, besides the fact that the EU has nothing to do with whether Iceland, or any other country, is considered a part of Europe or not.

The European Parliament has called for tough action against European Union member states, such as Poland and the Baltic states, that do not uphold rights of homosexuals. Franco Frattini, the European commissioner for justice, freedom and security, told the European Parliament yesterday that the EU has powers under Article 13 of the Treaty to combat all forms of discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of sexuality.

In a recent article in the Financial Times (January 10) [read it here] scholars Alberto Mingardi and Jacob Arfwedson call for a lift of the EU ban on advertising for pharmaceuticals, because restricting such advertising represents a health hazard. As Mingardi and Arfwedson write “Patients want more information.” The ageing population in Europe and their increasingly higher standards of living has led people to be more concerned about their health – and to do something about it. As a result of patients’ concern there is a growing demand for information, which is supplied in the form of television programmes, books, magazines and websites focusing on health. This increase in information relates to basically every area, except when it comes to prescription drugs. Why? Because a 1992 European Union directive bans this form of advertising, thereby restricting consumer access to information.

Faouzia Hariche (38) is the acting mayor (or “bourgmestre” – burgomaster, from the Dutch burgemeester) of Brussels, the capital of Belgium and of the European Union. Ms Hariche was born in Algeria in 1967. She moved to Belgium when she was seven years old. Though Brussels was historically a Dutch-speaking city and is also considered to be the capital of Flanders, the Dutch-speaking northern half of Belgium, the city was forcibly “frenchified” after the establishment of Belgium in 1830 by French radicals who used French-speaking Wallonia, Belgium’s southern half, as a power base to conquer Flanders.

Since 1830 the Dutch character of Brussels has been deliberately eradicated, although the mayors of the city have usually been bilingual, speaking French as well as Dutch. Ms Hariche, who replaces Freddy Thielemans whilst he is on sick leave, is bilingual too, speaking French and Arabic but no Dutch.

Portmarnock Golf Club is one of Ireland’s oldest golf clubs. Since formally opening in 1894, the club has only admitted men as members, though women are allowed onto the course and though the clubhouse has changing rooms for women. The Irish Equality Authority believes that the club is a discriminating organisation under the 2000 Irish Equal Status Act because it excludes women from membership. As a result the club has lost its status as a “registered club” and has, consequently, been denied its licence to sell alcohol.

An article by Hjörtur Gudmundsson (with Filip van Laenen)

Condoleezza Rice has warned Norway not to boycott Israel. This week the American Secretary of State warned Oslo that there would be “serious political consequences” after last week’s declaration by Norwegian Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen, the leader of the Socialist Left Party (SV), that she never buys Israeli products and supports the commercial boycott of Israel by the Norwegian province of South-Trøndelag. The Norwegian government parties all voted in favour of the province’s boycott of Israel, but – in order to save Norway’s position as a mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – they all stress that they did not do so in their capacity of Norwegian government parties.

It is beginning to dawn on the Europeans that they are a dying breed, literally. Demographically, white Europeans are the fastest shrinking population in the world. The reason, of course, is that they do not have enough children to replace the dying generations.

Countries have tried different methods to remedy this. A frequent policy in the West is to grant bonuses to women who give birth. Estonia, for instance, has introduced a one year parent salary to the same amount as the mother received in the year before she had the baby. Such methods, however, tend to be state-centred and depend on government intervention in matters of a thoroughly personal nature.

While the US Senate is currently discussing Samuel Alito, George Bush’s pick for the Supreme Court, conservative European politicians are concerned about attempts by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to usurp legislative powers. Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel’s recent criticism of the ECJ, the European Union's top court, was backed on Wednesday by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Prime Minister of Denmark. Like Schüssel, Rasmussen wants the European Constitution to include an explicit restriction of the powers of the ECJ.