News from members: New Zealand

This year we are celebrating 50 years since the first soil/ permafrost scientific expedition in the Ross Sea Region of Antarctica. It was undertaken by Prof. John D. McCraw and Dr Graeme G. Claridge. They set off from Scott Base on the Massey Fergusson tractors that Sir Edmund Hillary took to the South Pole in 1957/58 and drove to New Harbour, from which they travelled on foot for several weeks exploring the Taylor Valley and adjacent areas. Graeme Claridge went on to become an expert on Antarctic soil chemistry and, with Iain Campbell, authored the most authoritative book available on the soils of Antarctica. Both McCraw and Claridge are fit and well - (permafrost and cryosol research must be good for you) and we will be holding a celebration to mark their original journey in November this year

Chapter 3: The new EU members

This chapter examines how well the ten member states that entered the EU in 2004 have been doing. It is a follow-up of earlier extensive analyses in our 2004 report. The finding is that the growth performance of the EU-10 has been very good in general. The chapter warns about the dangers of keeping those countries that have entered the ERM II outside the monetary union and proposes a rebate with respect to the inflation criterion for joining the euro for fast-growing countries that are catching up with the old EU countries. The chapter also assesses the current economic situation of Bulgaria and Romania, who acceded to the EU on 1 January this year. Much of the European policy debate is about what economic model Europe should opt for. The issue is often cast as a choice between a market-liberal, Anglo-Saxon model, providing economic efficiency at the cost of low social protection, and a social European model, delivering equity but at a high cost in terms of efficiency.