A special edition on energy efficiency is featured this month.

You can download a free PDF version of the Energy Special here.

It did work. And now, The Atlantic Times has three siblings: The German Times, The Asia Pacific Times and The African Times. Around the globe, we inform 150,000 readers about events in Germany and international trends.

As we approach the 7th anniversary of our first appearance, we are proud and deeply grateful to our readers. Many letters to the editor, comments and suggestions have inspired us to rethink our editorial concept and the layout of our paper. We shall present a relaunched “Times” in January 2012. It will combine continuity and innovation in the spirit of candidness and professionality that our readers are used to. Looking forward to your reactions next year.

Europe lacks a policy compass – By Theo Sommer

The European Union is in a pitiable state. Its leaders are, in the words of the Financial Times, “economically out of their depth and politically driven by conflicting national dogmas and parochial vested interests.” No wonder that the 27 members are divided on almost everything.
They are split, first and foremost, over how to solve the eurozone debt crisis. Let Greece go bankrupt by restructuring? Reschedule or “re-profile” its debt? Hand over more bailout money? Let the careless investors bleed, or not? They debate, dawdle and delay.

Nor is there greater unanimity on a slew of important political questions. Take Libya. While Germany abstained on Resolution 1973, France and Britain, dragging in the United States, started the campaign against Muammar Gaddafi. The Americans quickly dumped the operation into NATO’s lap. Now the alliance, having exhausted the military possibilities circumscribed by the UN mandate is no closer to its political aim: the toppling of the desert despot. Egged on by France, some favor raising the stakes, extending the range of targets, intensifying the air strikes or even deploying boots on the ground. Others are dead-set against any of these measures, and still others dither or dissent. Europe is hardly speaking with one voice. The EU’s inconspicuous top team in Brussels lacks both presence and clout.

Stephan Kohler is the Chief Executive of Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena), the German Energy Agency.

An intelligent exit from nuclear energy is possible and would be instructive, says dena chief Stephan Kohler

The German Times: Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Germany was notable for the scrutiny it applied to its energy policy. How are we to understand this?

Stephan Kohler: The critical approach toward nuclear power in Germany goes back to the 1950s and 1960s, when there was a strong movement against nuclear armament. In the 1970s and 1980s it turned into a movement against nuclear power for civilian use. We have had an intense debate over the risks of nuclear energy since the 1970s – and at the same time a lively discussion about the alternatives. Back in 1980, the Institute for Applied Ecology in Freiburg published its energy revolution study, so for 30 years there have been scenarios of how we can organize energy supplies without nuclear power.