The vision of AALEP is to influence the direction of the global lobbying and advocacy profession. AALEP’s aim is to manage, develop and operate certification, education and related programmes for lobbying organisations to benefit the global community by establishing, upholding and promoting worldwide professional standards in lobbying and advocacy. The profession is highly competitive and like many other industries it has become difficult to penetrate the world over without a postgraduate degree or specific qualification, in addition to relevant industry experience.

In July 2011,  16 EU Member States’ were showing trade deficits: Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom.

A trade account deficit may be a symptom of a wider structural economic problem i.e. a loss of competitiveness in foreign markets, insufficient investment in new capital or a shift in comparative advantage towards other countries.

In June 1958 the British announced a plan to maintain the international status quo of Cyprus for seven years but also to establish representative government and communal autonomy. Archbishop Makarios and the Greek and Turkish governments rejected the British plan, but on October 1st,  the British put a modified version of it into effect. Talks held in 1959 among the various parties led to an agreement on the general features of a constitution for an independent Republic of Cyprus. The status of the republic was guaranteed by Britain, Turkey, and Greece.

India and the European Union: Perceptions and Policies was a paper written by Rajendra KJain, Professor of European Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. The paper was presented at the European Studies in Asia (ESiA) Network Public Panel, "EU-Asian Relations: Policies and Perceptions of the EU in Malaysia,", Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur in 2009.

The text has been abridged by AALEP.

About Perceptions:

Managed democracy controls society while providing the appearance of democracy. Its main characteristics are as follows:  

1. A strong presidency and weak institutions

2. State control of the media

3. Control over elections allows elites to legitimize their decisions

4. Visible short-term effectiveness and long-term inefficiency  

Projected GDP growth rate for 2012 in the New Member States shows the following leading economies: Romania (4.35%), Slovakia (4.15%), Latvia (4.039%), Lithuania (3.754%), Estonia (3.693%), Poland (3.611%) and Bulgaria (3.5%).

By comparison: Spain (1.613%), France (1.5%), Netherlands (1.5%), Italy (1.304%), Greece (1.079%) and Portugal (negative growth rate of -0.476%).

The roots of Italy's trouble lie in its huge debt and low growth rate. Italy's economy has been growing at only 0.3% and it is projected to grow at a similar feeble rate for the next few years. The Italian debt stands at about 127% of GDP (The fiscal deficit is € 1.84 trillion, the second highest debt in Europe).

The problem for Italy is that it is not going to be able to generate enough resources to pay for its debt. While the Italian Government has passed austerity measures, not enough efforts have been made to stimulate the economy and carry out structural reforms.

The EU needs to rebuild trust with citizens and try to implement what they want instead of telling them what they will get. There is a growing 'revolt against Brussels'. People want to reclaim some control and ownership that now reside in the EU. Populist advances should be taken seriously because they are shaping the political debate. In the absence of real alternatives to the policies in practice, the impression that left and right are alike, makes it easy for demagogues to feed the far right populism.

Military tension is building up among Greece, Turkey and Israel as Cyprus has started exploratory drilling for gas offshore in the face of threats from Ankara. All three have placed their air and sea forces in a state of preparedness along with the Cypriot army.

Turkey has placed itself into a corner:

"What works in bringing  the economy (US. economy) back says Former President Bill Clinton is cooperation. What works he goes on to say in getting on the news programme and in politics is conflict. Conflict is great for politics, great for the news coverage but lousy for economic policies. That's what the problem is.

We've got to go back to a cooperative environment where everybody kicks in."