Dave Keating Profile picture
Aug 29 5 tweets 3 min read
Presentation of @jonworth’s #CrossBorderRail project in Berlin.

Jon crossed every EU internal border that’s possible to cross by train this summer, and found free movement by rail isn’t a reality for most. Watch here: crossborderrail.trainsforeurope.eu/top20/ Image
Many (not all) European countries have excellent rail systems - comprehensive and widely used. But these systems have been built nationally. They stop at the border.

The result is that today there are less cross-border rail connections than there were 50 years ago. Image
National state-owned rail operators have had little incentive to maintain train routes that crossed into other countries.

Jon found many old disused cross-border rail tracks that used to carry passengers across routinely decades ago - now abandoned by the rail operators. ImageImage
🇫🇷🇧🇪🇳🇱🇩🇪🇪🇸🇮🇹 have focused mainly on high speed rail investment over past 3 decades, neglecting traditional train routes. The 1st to disappear were the cross-border connections.

For 🇫🇷🇮🇹, the only way to go from Lyon to Turin is by high speed. And Nice-Genoa is still a nightmare. ImageImage
Wendover Productions did a video about this phenomenon recently, and also about how the EU is trying to fix the situation with liberalisation - but mainly with high speed.

Europe has the best rail systems in the world. The problem is they don’t connect.

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More from @DaveKeating

Aug 31
BREAKING: EU foreign ministers have just agreed to fully suspend the union's 2007 visa facilitation agreement with 🇷🇺#Russia, announces 🇪🇺foreign affairs chief @JosepBorrellF in Prague.

He says Russians entering neighboring EU states present a "security risk" Image
Borrell says this common EU approach ending visa facilitation will prevent #Russians from engaging in Schengen "visa shopping".

"We have seen many Russians travelling to 🇪🇺 for leisure and shopping as if no war was raging in #Ukraine. This cannot be business as usual." Image
Borrell: "This [compromise] will allow visas to be granted on an individual basis after a thorough assessment of each individual case and especially specific groups of people."

"We don't want to cut ourselves off from those Russians who are against the war in #Ukraine"
Read 4 tweets
Jul 20
BREAKING: In response to threat of 🇷🇺 shutting off gas taps, 🇪🇺President @VonDerLeyen announcing now a proposal to:

🙏Ask all EU countries to reduce gas demand by 15% from August to April
👇Give Brussels ability to trigger emergency alert require mandatory gas demand reduction
EU countries asking to benefit from the solidarity gas supply cross-border flows already agreed will be required to demonstrate that they have taken measures to meet the 15% gas demand reduction target.
ec.europa.eu/commission/pre…
"#Russia is blackmailing us," says @VonDerLeyen. "Russia is using energy as a weapon"

12 EU countries have been hit by a partial or total cut-off of Russian gas. "Overall the flow of Russian gas is now less than one-third of what it used to be at this time last year"
Read 14 tweets
Jun 23
BREAKING: #Ukraine has just been given EU candidate status
President #Zelensky’s reaction to #Ukraine being given 🇪🇺 candidate status:
Following the approval of candidacy status, President Zelensky has just dialed in to speak to the 27 EU leaders by video at #EUCO.

He is speaking to them now.
Read 12 tweets
Jun 23
It appears leaders weren't able to convince 🇧🇬#Bulgaria's PM Kiril Petkov (whose government just collapsed) to end his veto on starting 🇲🇰#NorthMacedonia's 🇪🇺 accession talks this morning

The Western Balkan applicants almost boycotted this morning's meeting over lack of progress
The rumour going around is that the Western Balkan leaders are very unhappy with how this morning’s mini-summit went. Several EU leaders didn’t even bother to show up.

The press conference by VDL, Michel & Macron has been cancelled, Weatern Balkan leaders about to hold their own
This would be a pretty bad result considering the main point of this morning’s Western Balkans leaders meeting was to smooth over anger about Ukraine & Moldova being given fast-track candidate status while W Balkans have had every conceivable roadblock thrown in front of them
Read 15 tweets
Jun 15
Today the EU fires back in a brewing 🇪🇺🇬🇧 trade war.

The Commission is expected to announce unfreezing of legal action against 🇬🇧 (and the start of new actions) following the UK government's tabling of legislation to undo the #Brexit divorce deal's Northern Ireland Protocol.
Both Brussels and national 🇪🇺 capitals were infuriated by Monday's bill from 🇬🇧 government which, if/when passed, would unilaterally terminate large parts of the NI Protocol by ending checks between Northern Ireland (in EU customs area) and Great Britain (not in EU customs area).
🇪🇺VP @MarosSefcovic reminded 🇬🇧 Monday that NI Protocol was a prerequisite for agreeing the free trade deal (TCA) that came later and is now in effect.

The widespread feeling in 🇪🇺 now is @BorisJohnson signed protocol in order to get the deal, with no intention of honouring it.
Read 20 tweets
Jun 14
🇪🇺Parliament just rejected the #taxonomy list of investments considered green, which controversially included both #nuclear & #gas as a result of a delicately crafted compromise between national governments

76 members of ECON & ENVI committees voted to reject, 62 voted to accept
"Russia's invasion changed the thinking on this " one EP source tells me.

Here's the background of how we ended up with this 🇪🇺 proposal to deem nuclear & gas as green.

TLDR: it was a political compromise between anti-nuclear🇩🇪 & anti-gas 🇫🇷.
energymonitor.ai/finance/report…
The taxonomy list proposal was made before the #UkraineWar.

The thinking is it probably would have gotten through the parliament were it not for Russia's invasion. But the idea of including gas as a 'transition fuel' eligible for green funds is now unpalatable.
Read 4 tweets

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